Revealed: No man's land sketches by 'hero' British WWI artist who crept behind enemy lines to gather intelligence



He was no doubt handy with a bayonet and a rifle.

But as a young soldier in the First World War, Len Smith's deadliest weapons were his pencil and his pad.

In the days before satellite surveillance provided detailed images from the sky, Private Smith would creep behind enemy lines - and draw.

Drawing of Vimy Ridge showing German positions in 1916 from the diary of unsung WW1 hero Len Smith who crept into no man's land to draw spy pictures of the enemy

Heralded at last: Artist Len Smith crept behind enemy lines during the First World War to draw sketches of German positions

His sketches were so accurate they could identify exact enemy numbers, the type of weapons used and the geography of the land ahead.

One of Private Smith's remarkable missions included making a sketch of German positions at Vimy Ridge, subsequently the scene of one of the war's most bloody and strategically significant battles.

He spent four days avoiding mortar shells while drawing - in intricate detail - the entire panoramic section of enemy troop positions.

In another mission, the sapper with the Royal Engineers Special Branch crawled to within a few yards of an enemy HQ and drew a tree so accurately that his comrades were able to create a hollow steel replica.

The real tree was then removed under cover of darkness and replaced by the replica - with a soldier stationed inside who was able to report back on German activity.

Astonishingly, Private Smith's courageous role with the 7th London Battalion has remained a secret to all but his closest family for almost 90 years. He was never decorated and died in 1974 aged 83.

But now - just weeks ahead of the 90th anniversary of the end of the war - his incredible story has been revealed in the pages of a new book.

The Pictures and Diary of a Wartime Artist was compiled by the soldier's great-nephew Dave Mason. It includes sketches, observation notes and extracts from Private Smith's wartime diary.

Mr Mason, 62, of Woodford Green, Essex, said yesterday: 'I was amazed when I read the diary to find out how much he had been involved in the Great War.

'He talks of his friends and how most of them were killed, of the narrow escapes he had, but at the same time he is very conservative about the German soldiers he killed.

'Len, like most of his generation, was a humble man who did not boast or revel in what he had been through during the war. He always said, 'I would rather have a WC than a VC'.'

Daring: Mr Smith crept into no man's land to draw sketches, such as this one of Vimy Ridge, showing German positions

Describing his Vimy Ridge mission, Private Smith wrote in his diary: 'The Hun's shelling was almost incessant.

'I had to scramble over the top, making rough pencil notes over a period of four days - real hard risky work, and at dusk pulling back to the billet cellar to prepare the whole thing as a finished coloured sketch by the aid of the candle.'

The result of his efforts an incredible two-yard long panoramic view of enemy front line troops.

In the Battle of Vimy Bridge in 1917, the Canadian Corps captured the majority of the ridge during the first day of the attack.

In another diary entry the artist, known as 'Smithie', recalls risking sniper fire to crawl behind enemy lines in Arras, France, in 1915 to draw a tree positioned just 20ft from enemy barracks.

Mr Smith's sketch of a periscope view of German trenches. His drawings were so accurate they identified exact enemy numbers, weapons and military positions

After it was replaced by the steel replica, a network of tunnels gave soldiers access to the 'tree'.



Private Smith wrote in his diary: 'One special job would be to go a stipulated section of the front line trenches, and by means of a carefully drawn map, find the exact spot indicated where an observation post or listening post was needed (always as close as possible to the enemy).

'In this case it was a tree, which was standing among the Hun's barbed wire.

'I would make a careful sketch showing all the detail, which when completed would be sent down the line to the workshops, where they would proceed to make a facsimile tree in iron and steel hollow, with a ladder running up the centre to the top.

'This would then be painted in natural colours and dispatched to its destination.'

Len Smith's drawing of this battle-damaged tree near German trenches allowed British army chiefs to replace it with a hollow replica with a soldier inside

He continued: 'The old tree would be brought down, the new steel one take its place, all in the darkness of one night.

'If all went well, a man would be able to go through the short tunnel the miners had made previously, climb up the ladder and sit among the tangled branches up at the top seeing much, hearing plenty and coming in at night full of information.'

In another incident Private Smith suffered shrapnel wounds in a shell attack that killed ten soldiers.

James Taylor, head of research at the Imperial War Museum, said: 'The work of artists was absolutely crucial during the First World War.

A drawing of a disguised observation hide-out used by Mr Smith as he sketched the German front line

'Photography was obviously pretty unreliable and difficult for the operator to get focus and colours right. Artists really came into their own in this period.

'To crawl into No Man's Land and make these sketches was very brave.'

The original diary includes two still-red poppies picked from No Man's Land in 1915.

Private Smith, from Bexhill, East Sussex, joined up in 1914 aged 22. He married his wife, Jessie Hookman, while on leave in 1917, but the couple never had any children.

Mr Smith became a successful commercial artist after the war and designed Christmas cards and chocolate boxes.

The diary - published as an ebook - is available from www.greatwarartist.com for £9.97.