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Notes
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This patrol has stopped to consult the map and get its bearings. The painting’s title was a phrase actually uttered by a sergeant to his officer, in a spirit of grim humour. It refers to their realisation, by consulting the map, that they have accidentally crossed the border into the Republic of Ireland. In the countryside away from marked roads, such accidental trespassing by British soldiers has inevitably occurred from time-to-time. It is deemed a serious matter. The picture was based on the artist’s own experience as an officer in the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Margaret’s Own Glasgow and Ayrshire Regiment). In 1971, the regiment suffered its most serious incident in the Province when three off-duty fusiliers were talked into going to a party on the outskirts of Belfast.
Title
Welcome to the Irish Republic, Sir! A British Infantry Patrol Lost on the Border with Northern Ireland
Date
1988
Medium
oil on board
Measurements
H 41 x W 61.2 cm
Accession number
NAM. 1997-07-9
Acquisition method
purchased from the artist, 1997
Work type
Painting
National Army Museum
Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, London, Greater London SW3 4HT England
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Balkan Dusk, Bosnia, 1994, after a photograph taken by a member of the 2nd Battalion the Royal Anglian Regiment National Army Museum -
Welcome to the Irish Republic, Sir! A British Infantry Patrol Lost on the Border with Northern Ireland National Army Museum -
British Infantry Vehicles Advancing, Iraq, 1991 National Army Museum -
Mine-Clearing by Hand near Vitez, Bosnia, 1994 National Army Museum