Departures of note

John Worsley, an official war artist during the Second World War, was the only one captured by the Germans. While imprisoned in the Marlag O camp, he used his artistic talent to forge identity papers and construct Albert R.N., a life-size figurine made from newspaper, wire, and human hair. Albert, with blinking ping-pong ball eyes powered by a sardine-tin pendulum, successfully deceived guards during roll-call for four days, allowing the lieutenant he replaced to escape, though the escapee was later recaptured.

Worsley's wartime career began after he joined the Royal Navy in 1939, serving on convoy escort duty. His sketches of life at sea, including the sinking of HMS Laurentic in 1940, caught the attention of Kenneth Clark, who appointed him as a full-time artist attached to the Commander-in-Chief's staff in Malta. In 1943, he was sent to an island in the north Adriatic to record an Allied sabotage attempt, but his party was intercepted and forced to surrender.

After the war, Worsley continued as a naval artist, painting portraits of high-ranking officers for the Admiralty. He then found success as an illustrator, most notably with the comic strip 'The Adventures of P.C. 49' for the children's weekly Eagle. He also illustrated over forty books, including classic stories like 'The Wind in the Willows' and 'Treasure Island', and created hundreds of plates for televised adaptations. His ability to draw from description also assisted the Metropolitan Police in capturing a nurse involved in a 1990 baby-snatch case.

Worsley died on 3 October 2000 at the age of 81. A collection of his wartime sketches, discovered in his studio after his death, was later displayed on a special edition of the BBC's Antiques Roadshow in 2019, marking 80 years since the start of the war.