Above him in the sky is a formation of bombers from his squadron flying safely back to England. “Watching the Boys Going Home” is a scene with Jordan crouching on the ground in an empty field after parachuting to the ground. In “Just Before Bail Out,” two crew members prepare to bail out of the plane. A spread of empty ammunition shells from the waist gunner’s position covers the floor of the aircraft. A large gaping hole in the side of the aircraft confirms one of the places they were hit. A sketch captioned “No Fox Holes in the Sky” depicts two men wearing oxygen masks tumbling inside of the B-24 aircraft cabin. Jordan recorded some of the experiences that day through a series of drawings, now located in the collection of the New Hampshire Historical Society. That November day, four other planes from the 445th Group were also shot down and a total of 45 crewmen were on board the other lost aircraft. At approximately 12:40 pm, the plane went down about 15 miles southeast of Hanover, Germany and all nine members of the crew were captured. Daniel Snow, the plane was nicknamed “Snow Ball from Hell.” Under weather conditions noted as haze with one-tenth cloud cover, the crew was in the midst of a bombing mission over Misburg, Germany, when their plane was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire and they had to parachute out. Furthermore, bailing out was also problematic and a challenge for crewmembers to reach their respective hatches in order to jump out. The B-24 was sometimes referred to as a “Flying Boxcar” or “Flying Coffin” because of its large, squarish fuselage. Stationed at the Tibenham Royal Air Force Base near Norfolk, England, the young airman was with the 445th Group and assigned to the 703rd Squadron as the tail gunner of a Consolidated Liberator B-24J bomber aircraft. Robert Jordan was a nineteen-year-old when he and his aircrew were shot down on November 26, 1944. Details of this painting as described above suggest that November 1944 is based on “memory truth” rather than “memory myth” as the artist suggests.ĭetail image of the painting Missing Air Crew Report # 11217 Stillness overwhelms the atmosphere of this hauntingly beautiful rendering of an aircrew. Unlike typical smiling or boastful crew members often seen in WWII photographs, the overall body language of this group evokes a quiet sense of shared despair. Instead, their facial expressions are introspective as if in deep thought. The gazes of the figures are downturned and are not engaged with the viewer. The attire worn by these men is the standard flight gear from the WWII era.Ĭrew members stand with slightly drooped shoulders with arms crossed or hands in their pockets while others crouch or kneel. The life vests are the brightest color in the painting and shine like beacons in the otherwise solemn color palette of dark blue, green, and brown. Others wear yellow rectangular life vests (also known as “Mae Wests”). Some of the men wear fleece-lined brown bomber jackets or flight suits, while others wear parachute harnesses, goggles, or have flying helmets on their heads. In a style reminiscent of the American artist Edward Hopper (1882–1967), Jordan presents a crew of nine men positioned in front their aircraft along with the U.S. November 1944, 1966, Robert Jordan, oil on canvas, 73.25” x 94.75.” The Group Portrait The artist refers to the painting as a “memory myth,” but a little research tells otherwise. At the end of the war, the crew was forced to march to avoid the advancing Russians. His crew was shot down on their fourth mission near Hanover, Germany, and they were imprisoned in Stalag Luft IV Prison of War (POW) camp. I was working from a twenty-two-year-old memory of faces, and really wanted it to be general for any crew.” In a modest tone, the artist also shared his experience as a B-24 tail gunner in the 8th Air Force during World War II. Jordan also stated in his letter, “The painting by no means is a true group portrait. With the chiaroscuro technique, Jordan painted the crew members in the duality of light and shade in front of an aircraft hidden in shadow. Rembrandt was notorious for his chiaroscuro technique, in which subjects are rendered in strong contrasts of light and shadow-this painting certainly reflects those characteristics. Jordan’s donation letter to the Museum reveals that his impetus for the painting came from an admiration of group portraits by the seventeenth-century painters Frans Hals and Rembrandt van Rijn. In 1976, the artist donated the painting to the National Air and Space Museum’s art collection while teaching art history at the Washington University in St. November 1944 by Robert Jordan (1925–1993) is a massive oil painting representing an American aircrew.
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