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Name: WORSLEY, John Godfrey Bernard
Nee: son of Francis Le Geyt Worsley
Birth Date: 16 Feb 1919 Liverpool
Death Date: 3 Oct 2000 Wandsworth, London
Profession: Artist, book illustrator; official war artist
Married: In Kensington 1947 Pamela Gertrude Isobel Hely (div.) b. 3 July 1911
Book Reference: Pembroke
School: Pembroke House
General Information:
Pembroke No. 17, 1927, Kahuku, Thika
Lived in Canada
Army recruitment poster 1960s
Anne Lesley Smith: John was born in Liverpool in 1919, but when he was only 6 months old his family emigrated to Kenya where his father ran a coffee farm. After an idyllic childhood he returned to England for school and college and became a commercial illustrator. He joined the Navy where his etchings of naval warfare caught the eye of Kenneth Clark director of the National Gallery. He was chosen to be an official war artist and became the only war artist to be captured by the Germans. He was a POW at Marlag O near Bremen where his artistic skills became very useful in the forging of official documents to aid escapees. He also made a very successful dummy from papier maché and wire which covered for escapees when head counts were done, giving them valuable time to get away. After the war he did a lot of portrait painting of officers and political figures, many of which hang in the Imperial War Museum. He also illustrated children's books and comics including the adventures of P.C.49. He assisted Scotland Yard with images of wanted criminals and also got work for T.V.