Soldier Reading. At Sea, 1941

image recto: A sketch of a soldier sitting on the floor, reading, the book propped against his knees. He is wearing tropical kit. image verso: A line drawing in ink of a soldier reading and another soldier lying down and sunbathing.

"On 9 November 1941 the USS Mount Vernon, as yet not in the war, left Halifax with a casual air of innocence and, a week later, after taking on fuel and water at Trinidad, headed very positively south...On 7 December...the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour naval base and destroyed a fair slice of the American Pacific fleet. America and Britain declared war on Japan and the USS Mount Vernon headed rapidly for Cape Town." From 'To the Kwai - a

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