In Richard Hillary's book The Last Enemy (London: Macmillan, 1942) war is defined as "a period of great boredom, interspersed with moments of great excitement." This was the case for all services, and especially for personnel in the ranks. Aboard ship, months could pass on routine convoy duty without encountering the enemy, yet constant vigilance was required. Meanwhile there were many discomforts: cramped quarters, storms at sea, and the monotony of keeping watch. The drudgery of wartime service is well illustrated in this tempera painting (32.7 x 38.4 cm). K.P. (Kitchen Patrol) duty might be assigned as punishment, but it was most often simply a dull task performed on a rotational basis.
Frank Leonard Brooks (1911- ) was born in England and raised in Toronto. He was employed as a commercial artist even before graduating from the Ontario College of Art in 1932. Throughout the Depression he remained active in the art world by continuing his studies in Europe, working as a free-lance artist, and teaching. In 1943 Brooks enlisted in the Royal Canadian Navy. His first assignment was designing sets for The Navy Show, a service entertainment company that travelled to many communities and bases. Next came the supervision of a programme encouraging handicrafts and hobbies for naval personnel as a means of overcoming boredom. Upon becoming an official war artist for the Royal Canadian Navy in August 1944, Brooks was commissioned a sub-lieutenant. Following a year's posting in England, the artist spent the winter of 1945-46 in Halifax with a studio close to the naval dockyard. Discharged from the Navy in May 1946, much of his life since then has been spent in Mexico. Potato Peelers was painted while Brooks was attached to HMCS Hespeler in October 1944. A small escort vessel with eighty-five officers and ratings, a corvette was particularly uncomfortable in severe weather. It was said that the corvettes would "roll in a heavy dew."
Courtesy: Canadian War Museum, National Museum of Man, National Museums of Canada (10160)
