War in the Sunshine
ESTORICK COLLECTION, LONDON

In November 1917, British troops arriving at Ventimiglia near Genoa were greeted with showers of carnations and barrels of wine. After the Italians’ disastrous defeat at Caporetto, the British had despatched an Expeditionary Force to the Italian defensive lines on the River Piave, and the change from the trenches felt as good as a holiday. One officer described it as “war in the sunshine”.

That is the title chosen by the Estorick Collection for its unusual First World War centenary exhibition (until 19 March), which opens the curtain on a forgotten theatre of war, presenting it from contrasting viewpoints – the air and the ground – via photographs and paintings from the Imperial War Museum.

The paintings are by Sydney Carline, a young artist enrolled in the Royal Flying Corps who was posted to Vicenza in February 1918 to provide escort protection for reconnaissance aircraft, later flying combat missions. Fifteen thousand feet above the Brenta Valley and the Julian Alps, Carline reported feeling “an exhilaration … like nothing on earth” that inspired him to record the vertiginous views while flying his Sopwith Camel with his knees.