Of all the official war artists contributing to the Canadian War Records Collection, Charles Anthony (Tony) Law (1916- ) had some of the most hazardous wartime experiences. He was also unique among the war artists in that he was the only one to choose the forces as his postwar career. Law was born in England, his father being in the Canadian Expeditionary Force at that time. He was raised at QuΘbec City, but much of his art training was gained at Ottawa under Franklin Brownell and F.H. Varley. He held his first one-man show at QuΘbec City in December 1937, and had won his first prizes before the outbreak of war radically altered his life.
Associated with the militia since 1937, Law switched his loyalties to the Royal Canadian Navy in the summer of 1939. He was commissioned in 1940, posted overseas, and became a Motor Torpedo Boat (MTB) officer, one of the most dangerous trades in the forces. Night after night he and his comrades would head out into the English Channel and the North Sea, bent on ambushing enemy coastal convoys which were heavily guarded by "E" Boats and other escorts. Law witnessed many exciting battles, including the "Channel Dash" of February 1942. On that occasion three large German warships (Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and Prinz Eugen) slipped out of Brest, ran the English Channel, evaded or beat off all air and naval attacks directed against them, and regained their home ports in Germany. Law was mentioned in despatches for his part in that battle; in the months that followed he was similarly honoured again and he ultimately secured a Distinguished Service Cross. Law participated in attacks on enemy shipping off the coast of Holland and in 1944, commanding the 29th MTB Flotilla, he fought several spirited actions with German warships attempting to break through the naval screen on the flanks of the Normandy invasion beaches. This was nerve-wracking warfare, waged close to inshore rocks and reefs with sea mines a constant menace. Under the strain of such action, Law turned to painting as a means of preserving his sanity.
Through his family he was known to the Honourable Vincent Massey, Canadian High Commissioner, and Massey was instrumental in having Law appointed an official war artist. Many of his works were executed in rest periods when not afloat.
Law remained with the postwar RCN, rising to the rank of commander before his retirement in 1966. His service included a period of duty aboard the aircraft carrier HMCS Magnificent, three years with the arctic patrol ship Labrador, and command of the destroyer escort HMCS Sioux. At all times he continued to paint and to encourage other servicemen to do the same. On leaving the Navy he was appointed artist-in-residence at St. Mary's University, Halifax, a post he held until 1980.
This oil painting (102.2 x 117.7 cm) shows the MTBs of the 29th Flotilla leaving their base at Ramsgate, on the south coast of England. Barrage balloons can be seen over the port. Le Havre, near the mouth of the Seine River, was a major base for small German craft operating against the invasion beaches. Armed with torpedoes and small-calibre guns, the MTBs were to keep the enemy ships bottled up or destroy them if they ventured out. Note the wake generated by these small warships which were capable of forty-one knots or about eighty kilometres per hour.
Courtesy: Canadian War Museum, National Museum of Man, National Museums of Canada (10298)
