Artist who disguised factory in WW2 set for honour

A self-portrait by Ernest Townsend who died in 1944

An artist who disguised a Rolls-Royce factory roof as houses during World War Two to prevent Nazi aerial attacks has been nominated to have a council chamber named in his honour.

Ernest Townsend painted the factory roof in Derby so it blended in with the surrounding houses.

The factory was making Merlin aircraft engines for the British war effort.

Mayor of Derby Alan Graves said: “It can be argued that he saved Great Britain with his artistic abilities.”

The city council said Townsend, who was born in the city in 1880, protected the factory and its thousands of workers throughout the war.

The proposed tribute is due to be discussed at a council meeting next week.

An image of the factory roof during the war showing painted outlines used for the disguise

Mr Townsend’s son Bruce Townsend, said his father had a strange way of working out how he would camouflage the roofs at the factory in Nightingale Road.

“My father had a cardboard model made of the Rolls-Royce site which he used to experiment his ideas with,” he said.

“He had an artist studio at 31 Full Street in Derby which was on the second floor- this is where he came up with his plan.

Bruce said his father, despite not owning the building where his studio was located, decided to remove part of the floor so he was able to get a perspective of the model factory from the floor above.

“After many experiments, my father looked down at the model from the top floor to see what the enemy pilots would be able to see from the sky”, said Bruce.

“He experimented with oil paints, where he painted various things on a cut out of a canvas, laying them on the model buildings to then see how they looked from the sky to see if they would work as a camouflage.”

An aerial image from 1948 shows how Townsend’s paint job helped the factory blend in with nearby houses

Bruce said his father also painted the tarmac around the factory to suit the lay-out of the fictional “estate” and painted circular clock faces on the water tower on the same site to disguise them as a church with a clock tower.

Asked if he thought his father was an unsung hero, Mr Townsend said: “Yes I suppose he was.

“I’m sure he would be extremely proud and I would be extremely proud as his son to receive this honour.”

Councillor Alan Graves said: “I think he should be recognised by Derby.

“It can be argued he saved Great Britain with his artistic abilities by disguising Rolls-Royce right here in the city.

“By maintaining the secrecy of his work, he did not receive the recognition that his efforts deserved during his lifetime, so I thought why don’t we name something grand in the council house to honour him.”

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