Allied MVs in Libya

[philb]

No, no, we haven't invaded, a long time ago. Well, drawings of them anyway.

 

This is the quite famous Lady of Garian. Drawn on a wall of a building at the WWII army camp in Garian, about 60 miles south of Tripoli, by an American serviceman Clifford Saber in 1943. This picture was taken about 1964, when I lived there for a few years. The mural had already suffered somewhat from embellishments.

 

I now expect you all to tell me more about it and compile a complete and accurate list of all that is depicted (I know the big lumpy thing in the middle is a girl).

I've got a feeling the image may have lost some resolution in the attachment process but I'm sure it won't hinder your analysis! Also, in the preview I see two images but the attachment manager says there is only one?

[philb]

Alright, I know, there isn't enough detail in the picture I posted and you wouldn't want to make wild guesses, would you?

 

I don't think I can post the detailed images that I've found because of copyright but here is a link to the "Desert Rat sketch Book" that Saber wrote. Fascinating commentary and sketches. http://www.ourstory.info/library/4-ww2/Saber/desertTC.html#intro

 

Illustration 103 on this page http://www.ourstory.info/library/4-ww2/Saber/desertpix.html shows the superb detail of the Lady of Garian map.

 

Enjoy.

[LongJohn]

I first saw The Lady in the mid-fifties when my father was posted to Tripoli. My parents had a photo of me(aged about five), stood in front of the mural, what became of that photo, I know not.

It was only fairly recently that I thought about this painting, wondering whether it had survived the Ghaddafi years, apparently it had.

What is not shown in this photo, is the graffitti scratched into the black border below the actual painting, quite a bit, it seems, created by British squaddies judging by the names "West Ham", and "Andover, Hants". To the best of my recollection, this graffitti was there when my photo was taken.