NAM.2014-01-4-1

‘In The Middle’, 2007 Mixed-media oil collage artwork by Douglas (’Doug’) Farthing, 2007. Oil on canvas over sketches, poems and excerpts of text on paper, relating to 2nd Bn Parachute Regiment. Canvas is float mounted in a black wooden frame. Farthing conceived this piece in 2007, when he left the regular army. It focuses on South Armagh and shows G40 tower, which overlooked Forkhill Police Station and the border with the Republic of Ireland. It also includes the ‘Sniper seeking work’ sign which hung in the town of Crossmaglen. The work started as a traditional self-portrait and evolved over time. It includes pages ripped out of his Northern Ireland war diary by the artist, some of which show drawings of Mark 16 and Mark 12 mortars, used by the Provisional IRA. Other pages show Field Marshal Montgomery’s appreciation of the Parachute Regiment, entitled ‘What manner of men are these that wear the Maroon Beret?’, as well as the poem ‘Little Blue House’ by Corporal Terry Hart, who served alongside Farthing in 2 Para. See notes in Research tab.

Northern Ireland (1969-)