Poignant story behind Horsham Museum painting

The tragedy behind this painting of a young five or six -6-year-old Victor St Gregory de la Rue was revealed on Wednesday last week (October 28) in a Friends’ talk titled ‘Oil Paintings in the Horsham Museum Collection’ by Rick Domas, Director of Horsham-based Kate Gallery and a museum cataloguing volunteer.

Victor was the son of Sir Evelyn de la Rue, 2nd Baronet, and Lady Mary de la Rue, and lived at The Normans, Rusper, Sussex.

Tragically, he was listed as Missing in Action after a Japanese ambush of his unit in Burma (now Myanmar) in World War II action in 1943.

Lady de la Rue continually sought information on her missing son, including placing a notice in The Times in February 1944 asking for information about her missing son.

Over the years she provided whatever information she received to The War Office and, in January 1949, she and the Baron got the closure they so desperately sought: word that the remains of her son had been identified and their location known.

Victor now lies in the Taukkyan War Cemetery, approximately 35 km north of Yangon (formerly Rangoon), in Myanmar. The epithet on his gravestone (pictured) reads as follows:

“A Hero’s Death He Died To Save His Fellow Men. Loved By All Who Knew Him”

Rick’s interesting and informative talk, peppered with anecdotes about the painting subjects and artists, touched upon paintings by John Hugh Padwick, Edward Bainbridge Copnall, John Davies, and T. B. Mills, all artists from Horsham or the surrounding district.

In addition, he presented a sampling of other portraits and landscapes in the museum’s extensive art collection.

At one point Rick noted that “the museum punches above its weight”, explaining that for a small local/regional museum with limited financial resources, the Horsham Museum and Art Gallery has a significant and important art collection.

A group of roughly 35 people attended the presentation.