Battle of the Espero convoy. Part 9

Battle of the Espero convoy. Part 9

An Italian seaplane flies over a life raft with six people on board. Two white pieces of cloth are flying from posts. A distress flare has been fired into the sky and is exploding. Two people are sitting, whilst four others are standing and waving, one with a piece of red material in his hand.

Label reads “15”; signed by the author; caption reads “(9) … passò il primo giorno, il secondo cì accorgemmo, che un’altra zattera navigava non lontano da noi, la raggiungemmo. A bordo erano in 25, si cercò di stare uniti, di legare i due natanti, ma ci si accorse del pericolo, che si rompessero le casse d’aria, si rinunciò, fù molto penosa questa seconda giornata, molti feriti della battaglia morirono, di sete, o dissanguati, o uccisi dal sole, e dalla stanchezza. In tutte due le zattere la situazione era tragica…”

Caption translates as: “(9)… The first day went by. On the second day we noticed another raft sailing not too far from us, and we reached it. 25 men were on board. We tried to stay close and to tie the two rafts together: since this could damage the buoyancy tanks we gave up. This second day was distressing, many who had been injured in action died of thirst or bled to death; others were killed by heat or exhaustion. The situation was tragic on every raft…”

One tempera on paper, pasted on mount board

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