The Contents Of A Red Cross Parcel, 1944 (oil on linen)

Creator: Worsley, John Godfrey Bernard (1919-2000) An open Red Cross cardboard box on a wooden stool, displaying its contents, Germany, 1944: tins of Klim powdered milk, Maple Leaf Butter and Bovril Corned Beef, cartons of Players cigarettes, a chocolate bar, Atlas raisins and prunes and a bar of soap. Printed in German on the box is 'Kriegsgefangener' (Prisoners of War) and 'For Distribution'. Red Cross parcels served a vital role in sustaining the morale of prisoners of war. John Worsley was a British official war artist interned at the naval prison camp Marlag 'O' at Westertimke, near Bremen, where he made secret sketches and made containers out of Klim powdered milk tins in which to carry his pictures to freedom in April 1945.