page_title: Guy Grey-Smith
section_title: Military service
hierarchical_section_title: Guy Grey-Smith / Biography / Military service
caption_attribution_description: English: Blenheim Mark IV, L8756 ‘XD-E’ of No. 139 Squadron RAF, based at Plivot, France, in flight over northern France.
context_page_description: Guy Grey-Smith AM was a Western Australian painter, printmaker and ceramicist. Grey-Smith pioneered modernism in WA, and has been described as "one of Australia's most significant artists of the 20th century".
context_section_description: He joined the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) when he was 20 and trained as a pilot. In 1937, he transferred to the British Royal Air Force (RAF) on a Short Service Commission and moved to England. He married an Englishwoman, Helen Dorothy Stanes, at Godmanchester on 19 October 1939.
  After the outbreak of World War II, he served with No. 139 Squadron RAF, and flew Bristol Blenheim bombers during the Battle of France, with the rank of Flying Officer On 12 May 1940, the squadron was stationed at Plivot and undertook a mission to attack German positions near Maastricht and Tongeren, in the Netherlands. Grey-Smith's aircraft (N6219) was attacked by a Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter and caught fire. As he parachuted out of the stricken bomber, Grey-Smith was hit by the tailplane and received severe head injuries, but landed safely. He was captured and kept at Stalag Luft III as a prisoner of war. During his time as  POW, Grey-Smith began to explore an interest in art, with materials sent by his wife. He contracted tuberculosis and, as a consequence, was repatriated to the UK in 1944 for treatment, which included art therapy.
caption: A Bristol Blenheim belonging to Guy Grey-Smith's squadron, over France in 1940.
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