The Bardia Mural was created in a building on a clifftop overlooking the bay in Bardia

Bardia

Bardia is a geographic region in the Democratic Republic of Nepal.Bardia comprises a portion of the Terai, or lowland hills and valleys of southern Nepal. The Terai is over 1,000 feet in elevation, and extends all along the Indian border...

, Libya

Libya

Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....

, during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 by John Frederick Brill

John Frederick Brill

John Frederick Brill was an English soldier and painter who created the Bardia Mural. A photograph of John Brill painting his mother can be found here. On 1 July 1942, the Axis launched an attack with the target being the capture of Alexandria, which was to become known as the First battle of El...

 just prior to his death at the age of 22. It depicts a collage of images that range from the horrors of war shown by skulls to the memories of home, shown by wine, women and song.

The mural still exists and can still be visited. It has, however, been defaced and its state has declined with a large crack in the wall on which it was created. Much of the lower part of the mural is lost.

As of April 2009, renovation work has been started by Italian artists who have filled the cracks and replaced broken plaster. Parts of the mural have been cleaned removing graffiti and restoring some of the 'blackness' of the paint.
A photograph of John Brill painting his mother can be seen here.

Mural description

As can be seen from the photograph taken in the sixties, while the mural was still largely intact, it originally depicted Brill's memories of home, as well as the horrors of war. From left to right images of a boxer overlay a newspaper, beneath which money and piles of skulls, are followed by grasping hands reaching up to repeated and overlaid images of apparently naked women, whose facial features change subtely. Above these women can be seen the artists signature reference to the R.A.S.C.

Royal Army Service Corps

The Royal Army Service Corps was a corps of the British Army. It was responsible for land, coastal and lake transport; air despatch; supply of food, water, fuel, and general domestic stores such as clothing, furniture and stationery ; administration of...

 and the date of 21 4 42, with a further repetition of skulls above the signature. The image continues to unfold, on the other side of what appears to be a curtain separating the two sides of the mural, with pages of music, a grand piano and a table laid for a sumptious meal (many knives and forks), under which are fitted a number of books, which according to Lydia Pappas
represent the works of Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens

Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...

 From left to right: A Tale of Two Cities

A Tale of Two Cities

A Tale of Two Cities is a novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. With well over 200 million copies sold, it ranks among the most famous works in the history of fictional literature....

; Barnaby Rudge

Barnaby Rudge

Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of Eighty is a historical novel by British novelist Charles Dickens. Barnaby Rudge was one of two novels that Dickens published in his short-lived weekly serial Master Humphrey's Clock...

; David Copperfield

David Copperfield (novel)

The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery , commonly referred to as David Copperfield, is the eighth novel by Charles Dickens, first published as a novel in 1850. Like most of his works, it originally appeared in serial...

; The Old Curiosity Shop

The Old Curiosity Shop

The Old Curiosity Shop is a novel by Charles Dickens. The plot follows the life of Nell Trent and her grandfather, both residents of The Old Curiosity Shop in London....

and The Pickwick Papers. The image flows on to a conductor with more music, followed by a number of men's faces watching three ballet dancers, who are dancing on a floor of musical notes, the mural ends with the image of a face looking out of a window high up in a brick wall at the top right hand corner of the mural, which has variously been suggested to be the artist himself, or a relative back in "blighty

Blighty

Blighty is a British English slang term for Britain, deriving from the Hindustani word vilāyatī , from Persian vilayet and ultimately from Arabic wilayah, originally meaning something like "province"...

" awaiting his return.

History

According to his mother, Brill developed a passion for art at a young age. Having studied at the Royal Academy

Royal Academy

The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...

, he then went on to pass the entrance exam to study a 3 year diploma course at the Royal College of Art

Royal College of Art

The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...

 when the war broke out. His mother wrote, "His creed was that in order to become a great artist, he must suffer. Consequently he joined the Infantry, believing that to be the roughest and hardest of the services." He fought in Europe and survived Dunkirk, after which his regiment was posted to the Middle East

John Frederick Brill was a Private in the 5th Battalion of the East Yorkshire Regiment

East Yorkshire Regiment

The East Yorkshire Regiment was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army, first raised in 1685 as Sir William Clifton's Regiment of Foot. It saw service for three centuries, before being amalgamated with the West Yorkshire Regiment , becoming The Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of...

. He signed the mural on 21 April 1942, a matter of weeks before his death. He died on 1 July 1942, the first day of the First Battle of El Alamein

First Battle of El Alamein

The First Battle of El Alamein was a battle of the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War, fought between Axis forces of the Panzer Army Africa commanded by Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, and Allied forces The First Battle of El Alamein (1–27 July 1942) was a battle of the Western Desert...

, aged 22. He was buried at the El Alamein War Cemetery.

Controversy

Early versions of the history of the Bardia Mural involved controversy. While it is commonly accepted that the mural was painted with paint, some versions stated that the material used to create the murals was Boot Black. There were also arguments over John's status when he painted the mural, indicating him as a prisoner of war

Prisoner of war

A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...

 or even under a death sentence

Death Sentence

Death Sentence is a short story by the American science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the November 1943 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and reprinted in the 1972 collection The Early Asimov.-Plot summary:...

. These three questions were referred to in a letter to the "Old Codgers" section of the Daily Mirror.

Brill's mother later wrote a letter, to answer the controversies, on 31 January 1966, having been shown a copy of the article about the mural which she knew her son had painted before his death. In the letter she stated that he originally painted a mural on each of the "four walls of the lad's canteen, which represented 'A Soldier's leave in Cairo'. This - I understand, afforded them much interest & amusement".
Following this the Officers asked Brill to create Murals in their Officer's Mess. According to John's mother the picture below represents one of these murals. The subjects being "The Pleasures of Avarice" and "The Pleasures of Art", and a third subject of "The Last Supper', "but this was never finished as his company was moved up the line." The Bardia Mural is likely to be one of these. She goes on in her letter to state "I am thankful to say, that he was not under sentence of death, neither was he ever a prisoner." She also states that the material used to create the various murals he painted during this period was paint, and not boot black; "paints were bought in Cairo, by the lads on leave and sent up by Convoy to Bardia. I understand that the costs were defrayed from the N.A.F.F.A. (sic) funds." It is likely that she meant to refer to NAAFI funds.

External links

• FPRI.org, reference to the Bardia Mural by a U.S. visitor
• Yourmailinglistprovider.com, mention from another U.S. visitor
• Don-simmonds.co.uk, latest updates including renovation
• link to Google Map