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| Artist Details : Derek Gardner |
| Click here for a full list of all artwork by Derek Gardner |
 Derek Gardner Derek George Montague Gardner, artist, born February 13 1914; in Gerrards Cross, Gardner was the son of a Grimsby-based Great Central Railway docks engineer. At a very early age Derek Gardner had a keen interest in ships and often drew sketches of various ships, which earned him an art prize at Oundle School near Peterborough. This interest increased when the family was in Glasgow where his father was the Chief Engineer of the Port of Glasgow and the Clyde Navigation Trust. In 1931 Derek Gardner trained as a Civil Engineer on Clydeside and for a while worked in the drawing office of Sir William Arrol & Co, builders of the Forth Bridge. At 20, Derek Gardner joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. He also started to sketch warships and brush up on naval history. In 1938, Derek became assistant docks engineer at North Shields. Then in August 1939, weeks before the outbreak of war, he was called up and despatched to a Scapa Flow inspection unit. He then joined HMS Broke as an anti-submarine officer. The vessel escorted Atlantic and Arctic convoys before being sent to the Mediterranean to aid the North African landings. HMS Broke was to help secure the port and power station at Algiers and prevent sabotage by Vichy French forces. We charged the boom at 25 knots just as daylight was coming, expecting it to be mined, Derek Gardner recalled. But there was no explosion. We broke the boom and landed our troops, but the French brought up mortars and guns and we came under heavy fire. I went ashore to deal with a warehouse fire. As the ship was a sitting target alongside the quay, the only course was to retire. This we then did under intense gunfire, sustaining many hits as we cleared the harbour. We were told to return to Gibraltar under escort, but the gallant Broke sank the next day when under tow by the destroyer Zetland - which, by expert handling, saved those on board without any loss of life.Mentioned in despatches for distinguished service, by 1943 Gardner was on the destroyer Highlander as the battle of the Atlantic climaxed. Promoted to lieutenant commander he joined the staff of Admiral Sir Max Horton, Commander-in-Chief of Western Approaches, in Liverpool. With victory in Europe he was promoted to acting commander, served as assistant chief staff officer Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) until the end of 1946, and retired a commander. Today Derek Gardner is considered to be one of the leading maritime artists of his era. His work is in a number of public collections including the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich, the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth, the museums in Bermuda and Tenerife. Derek Gardner lived in Hampshire and was a self taught artist who preferred the medium of Oil on Canvas and Watercolours. He specialised in Maritime subjects and has exhibited at the RSMA (a National Maritime Museum). Sadly, Derek Gardner suffered a stroke a month after his 92nd birthday and died on 11th February 2007. More about Derek Gardner |
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