Des Bettany – retrospective of a rich life

Des Bettany 1919 -2000

Born in Burnley, Lancashire, England in 1919, Des trained as a chemist and received certificates in Organic Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics. Early in 1939 he and a number of friends joined the Territorial Army (Royal Artillery) and was mobilised in August of that year. Lance Bombardier Bettany fought in France and Belgium with the 88th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, manning 25 pounder field guns, and after evacuation from Dunkirk, served in various locations in southern England, in preparation for the anticipated German invasion.He was then re-equipped and shipped to the Far East. In the Malayan campaign he fought the Japanese in the company of the Australian 8th Division and the Indian 9th Brigade, and saw most of the major actions in Malaya until capitulation in Singapore in February 1942.

From his first camp at Towner Road, Des was among the many POWs working around Singapore to clear up and salvage damaged equipment for the Japanese war effort. Later moved to Changi gaol, Des joined working parties which, among other tasks, were required to clear swamp country to build an airfield, on the site of the current Changi International Airport. Acts of minor sabotage were carried out at great risk, and some cheeky but risky activities undertaken which, to the benefit of the prisoners, took advantage of the perceived gullibility of poorly-educated Japanese guards, such as obtaining petrol from stores for use in a steam-powered road roller, then trading the petrol on the black market for food. They also managed to sabotage a Japanese war memorial by seeding the timber flagpole with termites.

Des had carried small sketch books with him, and recorded aspects of the voyage out, the actions in Malaya and Singapore, in various media including pencil, ink, water colour and pastel. He continued his artistic endeavours during his new life as a P.O.W. As well as documentary sketches, he kept spirits up by producing a series of cartoons, some of which satirised his captors. He also became part of a ‘production line’ producing programmes for the many theatrical and musical entertainments which were produced during the years of captivity, as well as assisting with designing and building theatrical sets for plays, Christmas revues and pantomimes. Paints were manufactured from coloured earth from various depths, sometimes as deep as 12 metres.

Colours ranged from white, ochre and brown to Indian red. These were dried, ground with bottles and mixed with rice water, and worked very well. In contrast to much of the POW art which survives from this period, Des’s work finds uplifting humour in the day-to-day existence of the POW. There are serious works documenting incidents which occurred during the various campaigns, but the spirit of much of the work is one of light-heartedness, helping Des to keep a sense of optimism in the face of a brutal captor. There are also touching works of nostalgia.Des’s survival of the years of incarceration was in no small part due to his not being sent to work on the notorious Burma railway, which claimed the lives of some 16,000 Allied POWs and a much greater number of forced labour Asian workers.

Des was repatriated to England and arrived home in late September 1945.On his return to England, he married Irene Kay in 1946, and studied for four years from 1946 to 1949, gaining training in drawing, painting, commercial design, printmaking, arts and crafts, ceramics, lithography, design and art teaching. He was appointed to the South Shields School of Art in the north-east of England, eventually becoming Principal, as well as teaching night classes at a local secondary school. Des emigrated to Australia with Irene and his three children, arriving from an English winter to a very hot South Australia in February 1958.

His first art teaching post was at the technical high school in Whyalla. After several months he was transferred to the South Australian School of Art in Adelaide, rising to the position of Assistant Principal and finally Acting Principal before retiring in 1978.During his years as an educator he continued his passion for art, experimenting in various media in his home studio, and even after retirement continued to teach art to a local church group. He also indulged his interest in music, forming a successful harmonica trio (the Des Bettany Trio) which appeared regularly on national television and at many live music venues, and also produced an LP record.

It was only in 1995, on the 50th anniversary of the end of the war, that he spoke in more detail about his life as an artilleryman and a POW. At this time he was also asked if some of his artwork could be published in a book commemorating 50 years since the end world war 2 ‘Their Sacrifice: Australia Remembers 1945 – 1995’, by Rob Linn. Later, in 1999, some of his work appeared in a regimental history by Dr Stephen Bull ‘Lancashire Gunners at War: The 88th Field Regiment, 1939 – 1945’.

Des died in 2000 at the age of 81. The website https://changipowart.com/ – The Changi POW artwork of Des Bettany was developed by his two sons and daughter as a dedication to his talent and to the other POWs who suffered through this terrible period of history.

BOOKS WITH DES BETTANY CHANGI IMAGES INCLUDE:

1) Don’t Ever Again Say ‘It Can’t Be Done’: The Story of Changi Industies Inc.; by Captain John G. Clemetson; (Sept 2005); Changi Museum P/L, Singapore; ISBN 981-05-4257- 7

2) Lancashire Gunners at War: The 88th Field Regiment, 1939 – 1945; by Stephen Bull (1999); Redwood Books, Trowbridge, Wilts, UK; ISBN 1-85936-068-8

3) Nor Iron Bars: Lancashire Artists in Captivity 1942 -1945; by Stephen Bull; Lancashire County Museum, Preston, UK; (2005); ISBN 1-874181-30-6

4) Their Sacrifice: Australia Remembers 1945 – 1995; by Rob Linn (August 1995); Open Book Publishers, Adelaide, SA; ISBN 0-85910-765-5

5) Singapore Diary: The hidden journal of Captain R.M. Horner; edited by Sally Moore McQuaid (2006); Spellmount Ltd, The Mill, Brimscombe, Port Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK; IBSN 1-86227-339-1.

ARTWORK DISPLAYED AT:

1) Army Museum of South Australia, Keswick Barracks, Anzac Highway, Adelaide

2) Lancaster City Museum, Lancaster, UK

 

RUTH FLAHERTY

M.Ed, (Dip T (Adv) Fine Arts, Dip ,TAE 4, TCF cert 3

I am a practising artist and experienced Arts educator, currently working at Flinders University as an academic tutor, Education, Visual Art, as well as running art classes from my studio at home.

Having been in education for forty years, I have been a visual arts teacher in rural and metropolitan schools, an Arts focus school coordinator, forming a strong Arts network between the primary and secondary schools. I have exhibited widely, winning ‘Best watercolour’, Flagstaff Hill Rotary exhibition and the Mitcham Art prize, plus various awards for portraiture and landscapes. I have always been interested in representing the natural world, showing the colour, light and beauty of nature. My work is a visual dialogue and reflection of my life and what surrounds me, including horses, dogs, birds and flowers.

I like to capture the nature of the subject, its form, textures and use different media to capture these, from drawing media to painting using watercolour, acrylic and oils.Currently working on a public project for the Blackwood Community, I have been intrigued by the variety, colour and vibrancy of birds in my Adelaide hills garden. I love the energy and life they bring to my garden and so try to capture it in my work.

Qualifications:

M.EdDipTDipT (Adv) Fine ArtCert 3 Fashion Design

TAA level 4 Assessor trainer – accredited assessor VET programs

Exhibitions:

1998 Flagstaff Hill Rotary – Awarded Best watercolour

2006 Autumn Gate – People’s Choice Award

2007 Hahndorf Academy joint art teachers’ exhibition

2007 RSASA Artists of the 21st Century exhibition

2008 Creating for Conservation exhibition

2008 Bloomin’ Lovely – Lombards Gallery one person exhibition

2008 Mt Barker joint art teachers’ exhibition

2008 Evoke Art for Royal Society for the Blind exhibition

2009 Mt Barker joint art teachers’ exhibition

2010 RSASA Summer exhibition

2010 Mt Barker joint art teachers’ exhibition

2010 SALA Horse SA at Hagen Arms

2010 Royal Adelaide Show Art Purchase exhibition – Awarded Best Gouache

2011 Royal Society of Arts SA ‘Up and running’ Adelaide Cup Fringe exhibition

2011 Twenty Eleven CBC Fringe exhibition

2011 Stranded Woolcraft exhibition Noarlunga

2012 Twenty 0 Art Exhibition CBC

2013 VAESA members exhibition

2014 The Artisan ‘Chooks and Looks’

2015 Friends of SASA exhibition, Festival Theatre

2016 Friends of SASA members’ exhibiton

2017 Gallery One – winner Mitcham Art Prize

2018 Gallery One members and friends exhibition

2019 Gallery One Christmas members’ exhibition – best Watercolour, Best Drawing

2019 SALA exhibition – The Artisan ‘Birds of My Garden’

2020 Linden Fine Arts 10X8 exhibition, Melbourne

2020 Twin Rivers NSW

2020 Walkerville Art Show

2020 Red Rhino Room ‘Response to COVID’ exhibition

 

GRAHAM BETTANY B.Arch

I was born in Lancaster, England in 1948 and brought up in South Shields, Northumberland, at the mouth of the River Tyne where my dad Des was an art teacher at the local Art School. Ten years later I arrived in South Australia with my family of ‘ten pound Poms’, desperately trying to make the other kids at Whyalla West Primary School understand my unintelligible Geordie accent.

I grew up in Adelaide suburb St Marys, attending South Road Primary and later Kings College. Dad always used to complain about ‘blinkin’ pop music’, but in 1964 I discovered the Beatles and was hooked. The first of many bands followed in 1966, and apart from a ‘retirement’ of 17 years in the late 70s and 80s, I’m still playing my bass and enjoying playing the baby-boomer songs of the ‘60s and ‘70s!

I had always liked drawing, and when asked what University course I would like to do I chose architecture because it involved drawing. If I had been told that the future involved ‘drawing’ on a computer I never would have started! However, I completed my studies and enjoyed a 45 year CAD-free career before retiring in 2017.

My ‘art’ works reflect my interest in architecture and history, with a few portraits of people and animals, and my media are pencil, ink, felt pen, charcoal and watercolour wash. Modest but done with love!