2RWF MALAYA 1954/5 Rompin Painting - The Lone Sentry

[ap1]

Whilst mooching around in the RWF Archive today, I spotted this painting:



On the reverse is written Dog Coy 2RWF…..Which I think is Jungle Don's old outfit D Coy 2RWF . The painting is dated Rompin 1955. Probably a few years since it saw the light of day:

[Rog Ball 01]

Brings back memories of the 2nd Bn in Port Dickson

[jungle1810]

Hello Al & Rog,
Yes Al I was in D Company in the 2nd. The battalion was split up for a long time on company detachments.But as Rog posted it brings back memories. In passing Al how many other interesting items are buried in the vaults? It is of course a matter for conjecture as to when we will have a new curator? Apathy leads to neglect and we may lose these vital items for ever if we do nothing. I quote the following " All it takes for anarchy to succeed is for good men to stand back and do nothing " On another subject suppose Wrexham is closed down what will happen to our archives and what have you? Will it all be buried under a mass of obfuscation in some dank and miserable cellar in the depths of Wrexham?Many thanks for a view of this painting.
Regards Don aka R B Donovan

[ap1]

The archives are safe Don, they are housed in three rooms at Wrexham museum(not cellars). We are currently checking through the computer system and ensuring everything is correctly logged. Each week as we work through the collection we are finding little interesting nuggets. In terms of accessibility, anyone wanting to see an item from the archive can contact the museum to arrange a suitable viewing. The set up is actually pretty good.

[ap1]

Some more Info Don. The subject was Cpl Boswell. The artist MJS McKenzie was an officer with the 2nd Bn:

[jungle1810]

Hello Al,
2nd Lt MacKenzie was on the strength of "D" Company in the period 1956 to 1957. Many thanks for the complete story of this painting. I was wondering about the provenance of this painting and who did it depict and the name and some history about the artist.
May I also express my thanks to you for letting me know of the circumstances of the archives, this is very good news to me. In passing as I do not wish to seem a doubting Thomas so to speak. Deep down I knew we had a lot of volunteers working in the archive department and the museum. May I take the time to thank all of these anonymous helpers even if I am not Au fait as to who is helping altogether by names, but my heart felt thanks go out to all of them as they are in my case unknown heroes for the Association and all it entails. My information on the artist it comes from the regimental history Volume 6,1945 to 1969, By the then Brigadier J.P.Riley
Regards to all R B D aka jungle1810