Cuthbert Orde
Encyclopedia
Captain Cuthbert Julian Orde (18 December 1888-19 December 1968) was an artist and First World War pilot. He is best known for his war art
, especially his portraits of Allied Battle of Britain
pilots.
1902-07.
His parents were Sir Julian Walter Orde (14 January 1861-17 June 1929) and Alice Georgiana Orde (née Archdale) (1862–1945) of Hopton House, Hopton, Norfolk.
Sir Julian was the long-serving - at least 1903 - 1914 - Secretary of the Automobile Car Club of Britain and Ireland (which became the Royal Automobile Club
). In response to the Motor Car Act 1903
raising the speed limit to a mere 20 mph, in 1904 he went to the Isle of Man
where, with permission of his cousin the Governor, he started the TT races
.
He was also an early member of the Royal Aero Club
of the United Kingdom, serving on its committees as early as 1909. It may be from here that his sons got their impetus to join the Royal Flying Corps
.
The family had a strong military tradition going back several centuries. Orde’s great-grandfather was Major-General James Orde.
in the Army Service Corps
on 15 August 1914.
He was a Lieutenant when he qualified as a pilot for the Royal Flying Corps in a Maurice Farman biplane on 10 May 1916
. Accordingly, on 10 June 1916 he was promoted from Flying Officer (Observer) to Flying Officer
.
On 1 August 1917 he was promoted to Flight Commander. Because he had served in the early part of the war, he was awarded the 1914 Star
. He was a Captain by time of his application for the medal in December 1917. His home address for delivery of the medal was given as Apsley House
, Piccadilly - his father-in-law the Duke of Wellington
’s house on Hyde Park Corner
, now in the care of English Heritage
.
He was given the rank of temporary Major
on 16th August 1918. He relinquished his commission on 15th January 1919 on grounds of ill health, and retained the rank of Captain.
Both of Orde’s brothers served in the war, and both died in a five year period.
His younger brother Herbert Walter Julian Orde joined the navy before the war. An episode of bravery aboard HMS Helmuth
in November 1914 saw him awarded the Distinguished Service Cross
in April 1915. He died a month later when HMS Goliath
was torpedoed off the Dardanelles.
Their elder brother Michael Amyas Julian Orde - like Cuthbert a Second Lieutenant in the Army Service Corps - qualified as a pilot a few months before Orde, on 27 Oct 1915. He was shot down and listed as missing on March 14th 1916. He was taken prisoner and held until the end of the war. He died on 6th August 1920 in a flying accident on Salisbury Plain. He was 32.
In his book Pilots Of Fighter Command: Sixty Four Portraits, Orde wrote an essay explaining the circumstances of his portraits of World War II
pilots.
Having been hired to produce illustrations of bomber stations in the summer of 1940, Air Commodore Harald Peake from the Air Ministry
saw some of Orde’s drawings was impressed by his portraiture. It was the height of the Battle of Britain
and public attention was focused on the fighter pilots. Peake asked Orde to make a large number of portraits of them, Orde enthusiastically agreed, and at the start of September set off to work.
It is unclear how many portraits he drew in the year or so with Fighter Command. Some sources say up to 300, though Orde only lists 160 in his book Pilots Of Fighter Command. What is clear is that he only drew a small fraction of The Few
.
Taking around two hours per picture, Orde drew men whose names have become familiar to those interested in the history of the Battle; Douglas Bader
, Sailor Malan, Robert Stanford Tuck
, Johnnie Johnson, Archie McKellar
, John Freeborn
. He usually created monochrome pictures of the men using charcoal and white chalk, though some colour portraits were painted, such as that of Bob Stanford Tuck and a second portrait of Sailor Malan.
In drawing the cream of the pilots, names and uniforms soon became out of date as subjects were promoted and decorated. On finishing his drawing of Hugh Dundas, Orde joked, ‘I've left room for the DFC. The people I draw always seem to get it’. Four days later Dundas did.
The daily peril of these men’s lives was apparent. Orde states that some choices were killed before he had chance to draw them. Many did not live much longer after their portrait was done. John Drummond
was drawn on 5 October 1940, shortly after landing from what turned out to be his final kill, and is pictured still in his aviator jacket instead of the uniformed outfit Orde commonly depicted. He died five days later. However, having flown in combat himself and lost both his brothers in military incidents twenty years earlier, the proximity of death will not have been new to Orde.
Although all the pilots were lauded, Orde was clear that there was an elite among them.
Despite this, he was adamant that the airmen's extraordinary deeds were the doings of ordinary people.
The drawings had already appeared in magazines even before the book was published, and have been continually reprinted in a wide variety of publications ever since.
Orde remained a professional artist, and was still taking commissions for military portraits long after the war, such as one of Air Chief Marshal Sir James Robb
in 1958.
He was an inaugural painter-member of the Society of Aviation Artists, formed in 1955. In 1962 Flight International magazine declared in stilted grammar, ‘Cuthbert Orde, than whom no-one has managed to convey more effectively the character and courage of RAF fighter pilots’.
, on 11 September 1916 at St Bartholomew-the-Great
, Smithfield, London.
They had two children. A daughter, Julian
, was born on 31 December 1917. Julian had been a common name in the Orde family for generations, for both boys and girls. A second daughter, Jane, was born on 6 March 1921. The National Portrait Gallery has several photographs of Eileen and the children taken in May 1921.
Julian became a poet, writer and actor. She married Ralph Abercrombie in London in 1949. She died in 1974, aged 56.
Jane married David Henry Macindoe
(1 Sept 1917-3 March 1986), Vice-Provost of Eton College
, in 1944. She died on 7 July 1995, aged 74. They had four children, Peter (who died in infancy), Sophia, Angus and Catriona.
Eileen Orde died on 31 October 1952, aged 65. Orde was remarried a year later, to Alexandra Dalziel. She was born on 6 June 1907, and died in London almost thirty years after her husband in May 1997, aged 89.
War art
War art is considered a genre of art. It is characterized by war, military subjects and war activities, as part of the wider field of military art. The distinction between war and military art is not clear-cut. The works described as war art represent a broad range of subject matter and styles....
, especially his portraits of Allied Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
pilots.
Family background
Orde was born on 18 December 1888 in Norfolk, the second of five children. He attended Framlingham CollegeFramlingham College
Framlingham College is an independent, coeducational boarding and day school in the town of Framlingham, near Woodbridge, Suffolk, England. Together with its preparatory school, Brandeston Hall and Little Bears Nursery it serves pupils from 2 1/2 to eighteen years of age.-History of Framlingham...
1902-07.
His parents were Sir Julian Walter Orde (14 January 1861-17 June 1929) and Alice Georgiana Orde (née Archdale) (1862–1945) of Hopton House, Hopton, Norfolk.
Sir Julian was the long-serving - at least 1903 - 1914 - Secretary of the Automobile Car Club of Britain and Ireland (which became the Royal Automobile Club
Royal Automobile Club
The Royal Automobile Club is a private club and is not to be confused with RAC plc, a motorists' organisation, which it formerly owned.It has two club houses, one in London at 89-91 Pall Mall, and the other in the countryside at Woodcote Park, Surrey, next to the City of London Freemen's School...
). In response to the Motor Car Act 1903
Motor Car Act 1903
The Motor Car Act 1903 introduced registration of motor cars and licensing of drivers in the United Kingdom and increased the speed limit.-Context:...
raising the speed limit to a mere 20 mph, in 1904 he went to the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
where, with permission of his cousin the Governor, he started the TT races
Isle of Man TT
The International Isle of Man TT Race is a motorcycle racing event held on the Isle of Man and was for many years the most prestigious motorcycle race in the world...
.
He was also an early member of the Royal Aero Club
Royal Aero Club
The Royal Aero Club is the national co-ordinating body for Air Sport in the United Kingdom.The Aero Club was founded in 1901 by Frank Hedges Butler, his daughter Vera and the Hon Charles Rolls , partly inspired by the Aero Club of France...
of the United Kingdom, serving on its committees as early as 1909. It may be from here that his sons got their impetus to join the Royal Flying Corps
Royal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...
.
The family had a strong military tradition going back several centuries. Orde’s great-grandfather was Major-General James Orde.
Military career
Orde served throughout the First World War, starting by becoming a Second LieutenantSecond Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
in the Army Service Corps
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...
on 15 August 1914.
He was a Lieutenant when he qualified as a pilot for the Royal Flying Corps in a Maurice Farman biplane on 10 May 1916
. Accordingly, on 10 June 1916 he was promoted from Flying Officer (Observer) to Flying Officer
Flying Officer
Flying officer is a junior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence...
.
On 1 August 1917 he was promoted to Flight Commander. Because he had served in the early part of the war, he was awarded the 1914 Star
1914 Star
The 1914 Star was a British Empire campaign medal for service in World War I.The 1914 Star was approved in 1917, for issue to officers and men of British forces who served in France or Belgium between 5 August and midnight 22/23 November 1914...
. He was a Captain by time of his application for the medal in December 1917. His home address for delivery of the medal was given as Apsley House
Apsley House
Apsley House, also known as Number One, London, is the former London residence of the Dukes of Wellington. It stands alone at Hyde Park Corner, on the south-east corner of Hyde Park, facing south towards the busy traffic interchange and Wellington Arch...
, Piccadilly - his father-in-law the Duke of Wellington
Duke of Wellington
The Dukedom of Wellington, derived from Wellington in Somerset, is a hereditary title in the senior rank of the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The first holder of the title was Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington , the noted Irish-born career British Army officer and statesman, and...
’s house on Hyde Park Corner
Hyde Park Corner
Hyde Park Corner is a place in London, at the south-east corner of Hyde Park. It is a major intersection where Park Lane, Knightsbridge, Piccadilly, Grosvenor Place and Constitution Hill converge...
, now in the care of English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
.
He was given the rank of temporary Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
on 16th August 1918. He relinquished his commission on 15th January 1919 on grounds of ill health, and retained the rank of Captain.
Both of Orde’s brothers served in the war, and both died in a five year period.
His younger brother Herbert Walter Julian Orde joined the navy before the war. An episode of bravery aboard HMS Helmuth
HMS Helmuth
HMS Helmuth was an armed tug of the British Royal Navy. Formally a German vessel, she was captured by the British at the beginning of World War I and placed into service as a picket...
in November 1914 saw him awarded the Distinguished Service Cross
Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom)
The Distinguished Service Cross is the third level military decoration awarded to officers, and other ranks, of the British Armed Forces, Royal Fleet Auxiliary and British Merchant Navy and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries.The DSC, which may be awarded posthumously, is...
in April 1915. He died a month later when HMS Goliath
HMS Goliath (1898)
HMS Goliath was one of the six Canopus-class pre-dreadnought battleships built by the Royal Navy in the late 19th century. In the First World War Goliath took part in the blockade of the German light cruiser in the Rufiji River but unsuccessful to bombard the cruiser in the delta.On 13 May 1915...
was torpedoed off the Dardanelles.
Their elder brother Michael Amyas Julian Orde - like Cuthbert a Second Lieutenant in the Army Service Corps - qualified as a pilot a few months before Orde, on 27 Oct 1915. He was shot down and listed as missing on March 14th 1916. He was taken prisoner and held until the end of the war. He died on 6th August 1920 in a flying accident on Salisbury Plain. He was 32.
Artistic career
Throughout his life Orde strongly identified himself as an artist. In the early 1920s he had a painting studio in Paris. His entries in phone directories for forty years – 1929 up to his death in 1968 – register him as him ‘Orde, Cuthbert; Artist’.In his book Pilots Of Fighter Command: Sixty Four Portraits, Orde wrote an essay explaining the circumstances of his portraits of 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...
pilots.
Having been hired to produce illustrations of bomber stations in the summer of 1940, Air Commodore Harald Peake from the Air Ministry
Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the British Government with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964...
saw some of Orde’s drawings was impressed by his portraiture. It was the height of the Battle of Britain
Battle of Britain
The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...
and public attention was focused on the fighter pilots. Peake asked Orde to make a large number of portraits of them, Orde enthusiastically agreed, and at the start of September set off to work.
It is unclear how many portraits he drew in the year or so with Fighter Command. Some sources say up to 300, though Orde only lists 160 in his book Pilots Of Fighter Command. What is clear is that he only drew a small fraction of The Few
The Few
The Few is a term used to describe the Allied airmen of the Royal Air Force who fought the Battle of Britain in the Second World War. It comes from Winston Churchill's phrase "Never, in the field of human conflict, was so much owed by so many to so few"....
.
In no case did I choose the sitter myself. He was selected either by Group Headquarters or by the station commander and, generally speaking, four or five in each squadron were chosen, the four or five who were considered the most valuable. So it was for them rather in the nature of a mention in dispatches, I merely being the scribe who wrote out the dispatch.
Taking around two hours per picture, Orde drew men whose names have become familiar to those interested in the history of the Battle; Douglas Bader
Douglas Bader
Group Captain Sir Douglas Robert Steuart Bader CBE, DSO & Bar, DFC & Bar, FRAeS, DL was a Royal Air Force fighter ace during the Second World War. He was credited with 20 aerial victories, four shared victories, six probables, one shared probable and 11 enemy aircraft damaged.Bader joined the...
, Sailor Malan, Robert Stanford Tuck
Robert Stanford Tuck
Wing Commander Roland Robert Stanford Tuck DSO, DFC & Two Bars, AFC was a British fighter pilot and test pilot.Tuck joined the RAF in 1935. Tuck first engaged in combat during the Battle of France, over Dunkirk, claiming his first victories...
, Johnnie Johnson, Archie McKellar
Archie McKellar
Flight Lieutenant Archibald Ashmore McKellar DSO DFC & Bar , was a top fighter ace of the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain in World War II .Most of McKellar's victories were scored in the Hawker Hurricane....
, John Freeborn
John Freeborn
Wing Commander John Connell Freeborn DFC* was a World War II RAF pilot. He was not only an ace but also held the distinction of having flown more operational hours than any other RAF pilot during the Battle of Britain....
. He usually created monochrome pictures of the men using charcoal and white chalk, though some colour portraits were painted, such as that of Bob Stanford Tuck and a second portrait of Sailor Malan.
In drawing the cream of the pilots, names and uniforms soon became out of date as subjects were promoted and decorated. On finishing his drawing of Hugh Dundas, Orde joked, ‘I've left room for the DFC. The people I draw always seem to get it’. Four days later Dundas did.
The daily peril of these men’s lives was apparent. Orde states that some choices were killed before he had chance to draw them. Many did not live much longer after their portrait was done. John Drummond
John Fraser Drummond
Flying Officer John Fraser Drummond DFC was an RAF fighter pilot, an official ace who flew in the Battle of Britain.-Background:...
was drawn on 5 October 1940, shortly after landing from what turned out to be his final kill, and is pictured still in his aviator jacket instead of the uniformed outfit Orde commonly depicted. He died five days later. However, having flown in combat himself and lost both his brothers in military incidents twenty years earlier, the proximity of death will not have been new to Orde.
Although all the pilots were lauded, Orde was clear that there was an elite among them.
I think a squadron of pilots can be divided into three groups: natural leaders and fighters at the top; then the main body of solid talent containing the germ of leaders of the future, chaps whose qualities will develop with experience; and then I suppose the tail, two or three perhaps, who will never be quite good enough to earn distinction but who nevertheless are pulling their weight for all it may be worth.
Despite this, he was adamant that the airmen's extraordinary deeds were the doings of ordinary people.
I have often been asked if I have found a definite type of Fighter pilot… I have thought about this a lot, but I feel sure that the answer is ‘No’… The most striking thing about the Fighter pilots – ‘operational Fighter pilots’, grand title that, isn’t it? – is their ordinariness. Just ‘You, I, Us and Co.’, ordinary sons of ordinary parents from ordinary homes.
So when you wonder where they come from, dear reader, whoever you may be, contemplate your own home, your profession and your background, and you have the answer. You have everything in common with them, or at least I hope you have, for they are just people who read the poster that reads ‘It all depends on YOU’. They are not a race apart.
The drawings had already appeared in magazines even before the book was published, and have been continually reprinted in a wide variety of publications ever since.
Orde remained a professional artist, and was still taking commissions for military portraits long after the war, such as one of Air Chief Marshal Sir James Robb
James Robb (RAF officer)
Air Chief Marshal Sir James Milne Robb GCB, KBE, DSO, DFC, AFC, RAF, was a senior Royal Air Force commander. After early service in the First World War with the Northumberland Fusiliers, Robb joined the Royal Flying Corps and became a flying ace credited with seven aerial victories...
in 1958.
He was an inaugural painter-member of the Society of Aviation Artists, formed in 1955. In 1962 Flight International magazine declared in stilted grammar, ‘Cuthbert Orde, than whom no-one has managed to convey more effectively the character and courage of RAF fighter pilots’.
Family
Orde married Lady Eileen Wellesley (13 February 1887 – 31 October 1952), daughter of Arthur Wellesley, 4th Duke of WellingtonArthur Wellesley, 4th Duke of Wellington
Arthur Charles Wellesley, 4th Duke of Wellington, KG, GCVO, GCTE, DL was a member of the well-known Wellesley family. He joined the military and served in the Household Division...
, on 11 September 1916 at St Bartholomew-the-Great
St Bartholomew-the-Great
The Priory Church of St Bartholomew the Great is an Anglican church located at West Smithfield in the City of London, founded as an Augustinian priory in 1123 -History:...
, Smithfield, London.
They had two children. A daughter, Julian
Julian Orde (poet)
-Family background:Orde was the eldest child of war artist Cuthbert Orde and Lady Eileen Wellesley, daughter of the 4th Duke of Wellington. The name Julian had been common in the Orde family for generations, for boys and girls.-Life and work:...
, was born on 31 December 1917. Julian had been a common name in the Orde family for generations, for both boys and girls. A second daughter, Jane, was born on 6 March 1921. The National Portrait Gallery has several photographs of Eileen and the children taken in May 1921.
Julian became a poet, writer and actor. She married Ralph Abercrombie in London in 1949. She died in 1974, aged 56.
Jane married David Henry Macindoe
David Macindoe
Major David Henry Macindoe M.C. was an English cricketer. Macindoe was a right-handed batsman who bowled right-arm medium-fast. His bowling was characterised with a long run-up and a high arm action...
(1 Sept 1917-3 March 1986), Vice-Provost of Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
, in 1944. She died on 7 July 1995, aged 74. They had four children, Peter (who died in infancy), Sophia, Angus and Catriona.
Eileen Orde died on 31 October 1952, aged 65. Orde was remarried a year later, to Alexandra Dalziel. She was born on 6 June 1907, and died in London almost thirty years after her husband in May 1997, aged 89.
External links
- Inventory of Orde's art held by the RAF Museum, including scans of many.