A Wartime Log: A Remembrance From Home Through The American Y.M.C.A. - Hardcover

Art Beltrone; Lee Beltrone

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0943231906 ISBN 13: 9780943231907

Publisher: Howell Press Inc., 1995

Synopsis

With watercolors extracted from food can labels and paint brushes made from their own hair, downed WWII American flyers recreated their recollections of combat and experiences as prisoners of war in blank books provided by the YMCA. A WARTIME LOG compiles selections from some of these original books. 82 color paintings, 112 b&w photos and illustrations

About this title

Review:

Format: Hardcover "A Wartime Log" is a collection of photos of World War II aviators' artwork created while held prisoner in Germany. During the war, the YMCA distributed logbooks to prisoners through the Red Cross. Bored and fatigued through hunger, the prisoners expressed their yearnings for freedom, the girl back home, a good meal, and other things through drawings, sketches, and cartoons in these books. The POWs created paint thorugh colored Red Cross parcel labels and brushes from their own hair. The results are beautiful sketches that depict the frustration of sitting out the war in captivity, the wistfulness of missing your loved ones, and the simple joy of dreaming about the meals you'll eat when you're finally free. The pictures range from humorous drawings of daily camp life to the hauntingly stark sketches of a lonely Christmas in captivity. Many of the prisoners were artists before the war, or discovered latent talent while serving as POWs. The work inlcuded here rivals the best efforts of professional artists. More than anything, these drawings serve as a testament to the will, ingenuity, and faith of these great men. Along with the pictures, the book includes a text which explains the stories behind the sketches, and provides background information on POW life. While informative, the text doesn't try to overshadow the book's real purpose, which is to display these wonderful pictures. --By A Customer

This is a great book by just about any standard. These log books that were created in POW camps are historic artifacts that will be honored for another thousand years. The author did amazing work by find so many of these log books for illustration. Get one of these books. --By Carlton F. Schwan

From Library Journal:

Among supplies shipped via the International Red Cross to U.S. prisoners of war in Germany during World War II were blank books supplied by the YMCA with an inscription that read partly, "This log book is really a gift from the folks at home." Some of those former prisoners now return that gift by letting us see the thoughts and images they recorded at the time. What emerges is as vivid a picture of a POW's life as is possible after this past half-century. Reproduced here and supplemented with information from other sources about conditions and events in the camps are evocative drawings ranging from the simple to the professional and commentary that is sardonic, wistful, forlorn, or defiant-all speaking the language of the hunger for freedom. Unexcelled in its recall of this aspect of the war, this is recommended for public libraries.
Mel D. Lane, Sacramento, Cal.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Howell Press Inc.
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0943231906
• ISBN 13: 9780943231907
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 208