I am enormously grateful to Adrian Harvey, curator of the Andrew Paterson Collection, who shared early letters between Joe and Paterson, and many of Joe’s working drawings and war sketches. Adrian cemented my contacts with both the Black Watch Museum in Perth and the Highlander’s Museum in Fort George, where Joe’s work is held, and created the website www.josephgray.co.uk, which has brought forth many new sources. People whose relatives served with or knew Joe have generously shared documents, artworks and memories. Charles Beddington, Paul McCririck, John and Louise Mollo, Richard Van Oss, Julius Strathmore Schofield, and Sally Ashburton (née Churchill) have all offered insights into the fascinating characters in this story, and I was lucky to meet James Meade and interview him several times before his death. Harold Dickens, the grandson of Joe’s London print dealer, H. W. Dickens, kindly shared his grandfather’s original diary, documenting a decade of their transactions. I am also indebted to Gillian Ward, the daughter of Jack Sayer, who gave me a copy of her father’s charming and perceptive memoir, The Camouflage Game, which is widely quoted in these pages.
As I tracked Joe up and down the country, I visited many archives, public record offices and museums. I’m especially grateful to David Powell at DC Thomson and Tommy Smyth, the archivist at the Black Watch Museum. Thank you also to Celia Lee for her knowledge of all things Churchill, and for introducing me to Chris and Christine Halsall at RAF Medmenham where Peregrine Churchill’s photographs are housed and where Johnny Churchill once worked, and to Henrietta Goodden, whose own excellent book on art and camouflage has been hugely inspiring.
When I first began writing Joe’s story I wasn’t sure of the shape it would take. Darian Leader helped at every stage with his thoughtful prompts and queries, and his loving support has meant the world to me. Once I began writing I was encouraged along the way by many people: Ailah Ahmed, Chloe Aridjis, Devorah Baum, Marie Darieussecq, Nigel Cooke, Natasha Fairweather, Antony Gormley, the late Guy Hartcup, Gary Hume, Rachel Kneebone, Vicken Parsons, Anya Serota, Ian Strathcarron and Sarah Wood to name but a few.
The idea to make Joe’s story into an ABC came from the archives of the Imperial War Museum. I altered later verses of this poem to fit my own agenda – but the original copy remains in the files of Major Denis Pavitt. Thank you to all the staff of that museum who dealt with my endless visits and enquiries, and a special thank you to curator Sara Bevan, who was always happy to usher me into the stores, just as Ernest Blaikley did for Joe.
This book was a long time coming but I’m eternally grateful to Mathew Clayton, Anna Simpson and the great people at Unbound for their enthusiasm and committment, and to all the supporters who generously funded the project. Several are family members, or extended family, and have helped make the book what it is. Charlotte Lewis, Mary’s niece, entrusted me with private letters and diaries that first brought her to life. Tom Meade, Mary’s nephew, gave a new perspective and showed me yet more of Joe’s paintings. My aunts Victoria Barclay, Kitty Richardson and Fiona Paice were constantly revisiting the past on my behalf, and a special thanks must go to my mother Patricia Whitford for her tolerance of my interrogations.
But of course the person I most need to thank is my grandmother, Alice Maureen Barclay, whose stories about her father first started me on this process. Although she didn’t live to see this book physically published, I was able to read the draft to her in her final hours. She has left us now, but she is here on every page, as firmly as she is fixed in our hearts.