The
Safe Blower
When I was a boy I wanted to be a spy, an assassin or a safe-blowing
burglar. I would still like to be a spy and sometimes I pick someone in a
public and follow them. I’ve got a 100% record for not being spotted and beaten
unconscious by the target. I’ve always been virtually invisible to women and can
walk through the females changing rooms at the local swimming baths and not get
noticed (these days I don’t go and just watch my hidden live cameras.)
I would still
like to be a safe-blowing cat burglar. One of the best stories from the Second
World War is that of Eddie Chapman who was a safe-blowing burglar and wartime
spy. While in prison in Nazi-occupied Jersey he offered his services to Germany
as a spy and subsequently became a British double agent (his story is told in the
brill book Operation Zigzag by Ben
McIntyre.)
Before fleeing
to Jersey Eddie had been a safecracker with a London West End gangs. He and his
associates were known as the "Jelly Gang" as he was one of the first
criminals to use gelignite to blow safes apart for mountains of cash. His
speciality was hiding himself away in a cinema on Sunday nights, waiting until
everyone went home, creeping down to the safe and then blowing the door off to
take the weekend’s takings.
As I’m too much
of a coward to do this for real I thought I’d do a quick painting. Here it is
but I can’t pretend it’s my idea. I was watching a documentary about Eddie and
paused it when the narrator was blowing a safe. I printed it out and made my
own version. It all came together quickly but most of what I painted was obliterated
when I daubed in the explosive flames. I knows it’s only 32% good quality but
the pleasure of doing it was about 88%.
If you would like to know about Eddie the link is here...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_c5-ouZqQY
If you would like to buy the painting its £40,000.
About to add the flames….
The painting was loosely based on this bit of the documentary…
