Portrait of Warrant-Eng S. Ball, MBE, BEM, RN, 1943 (paper, pastel)

Creator: William Dennis Dring In 1940 when Dring was employed by the War Artist Advisory Committee, first as official war artist to the Admiralty and later to the Air Ministry. He made a large number of portrait drawings of individuals and groups. Dring created this vivid portrait on a visit to Londonderry in May or June 1943, as part of a series of portraits of naval captains. Warrant-Engineer Stanley Ball was stationed on HMS ‘Black Swan’, which escorted and defended convoys in the Atlantic, the North Sea, and off the coast of North Africa. In 1943 Ball was awarded an MBE for ‘bravery and skill in fighting fires’ when the HMS ‘Black Swan’ helped extinguish a fire on the non-navy ship SS ‘Benedict’.