AWM Collection Record: ART02495
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ID Number: | ART02495 |
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| Title: | Death of Baron von Richthofen | ||
| Maker: | Fullwood, A Henry | ||
| Object type: | Drawing | ||
| Place made: | France | ||
| Date made: | 1918 | ||
| Physical description: | watercolour with pencil and charcoal | ||
| Measurements: | 39.2 cm x 57.1 cm | ||
| Summary: | Depicts the death of Baron von Richthofen, otherwise known as the Red Baron, his crashed aircraft which was a Fokker Dr.I triplane and Australian stretcher bearers from the 5th Australian Division carrying the body away. The death of Manfred von Richthofen, or the Red Baron, on 21 April 1918, has been the subject of much interest and controversy. Canadian, Australian and British servicemen have all claimed the right to be accredited with striking the blow that ended the career of Germany's greatest ace pilot, with 80 victories to his credit. Albert Henry Fullwood was born in Birmingham, England in March 1863. In 1883 he sailed to Australia and began work as a lithographic draughtsman, working on the staff of illustrated journals such as 'Australian Town and Country Journal' and the 'Bulletin'. In 1900 he went to the United States, then to London, as an expatriate artist where he worked as a freelance illustrator, receiving commissions from newspapers and journals, including the London 'Graphic' and designing postcards. From April 1915 until November 1917 Fullwood served with the Royal Army Medical Corps as an orderly at the 3rd London General Hospital at Wandsworth in the company of fellow artists Coates, Roberts and Streeton. He was subsequently appointed an official war artist , attached to the 5th Division AIF, working in France between May and August 1918 and from December 1918 to January 1919. His major contribution as a war artist was to record aspects of the war which others may not have noticed or taken for granted. His works have a narrative element and captured Australian soldiers in 'straightforwardly picturesque views of their environment'. Fullwood returned to Australia in 1920 after his commission had been terminated and became a foundation member of the Australian Painter Etcher's Society in 1920 and the Australian Watercolour Institute in 1924. He died from pneumonia in October 1930. |
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| Copyright: | AWM copyright | ||
| Related subject: | Aircraft crashes and wrecks; Casualty movement; War damage | ||
| Related unit: | 1st Australian Imperial Force; German Air Force | ||
| Related place: | France; France: Picardie, Somme | ||
| Related conflict: | First World War, 1914-1918 |
Last-Modified: Thu, 04 Sep 2008 17:36:50 GMT
