Bardia has a natural deep-water harbour confined by cliffs, making it an ideal submarine haven. It held a strategic position in the last war in connection with the capture of Tobruk, and was used by both the Germans and British as a supply base (Fig. 1). Set back from the shoreline were numerous single-storey, flat-roofed buildings overlooking the harbour, one of which was a lookout post where the mural under discussion survives.

On 30th December 1941 the Allies launched a decisive attack on Bardia (Liddell Hart 1953, 177–178), which surrendered on 2nd January 1942 (Murphy 1961, 511–512). On 27 th January Rommel had struck again at Benghazi; General Auchinleck gave orders to withdraw, and formed a front line near Gazala in early February.

According to its contemporary War Diary, the 5th Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment arrived in the Western Desert from Palestine and Syria on 20th February, and two days later took over from the 11th Indian Brigade approximately 20 miles south of Gazala (W.O.169/5076). One of the soldiers in this batallion was Private John Frederick Brill 4617871 of the Royal Army Service Corps, the artist of the mural in the Painted Room at Bardia.