Summary
In July 1940, ten months after the outbreak of World War II (1939-1945), Coldstream wrote from London to his friend John Rake, 'I suppose I shall hate being a soldier but I don't feel depressed about going. One's own development in life and art seems to march beside the general state of affairs in a curious way' (quoted in Rumley, 1986, pp.239-40). Coldstream enlisted for the army in July and on 15 August he was posted to Fort Burgoyne in Dover to train as a gunner with the 5th Field Training Regiment, Royal Artillery.
In this small drawing from a sketchbook Coldstream shows some soldiers resting within the fort, which was built on the high ground to the north-east of Dover Castle. The tall pillar and archway probably date from the late nineteenth century when the fort was constructed. Fort Burgoyne played an important role in both world wars as a defensible barrack and as a base for large weapons. Coldstream, however, humorously portrays life as a soldier while off-duty. Coldstream had been a founding member of the Euston Road School which had encouraged objectivity in painting… (read more)
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