1943.06.25 “Bombing of the Ruhr”
by AW Mackenzie (1895-1972)
11 x 14 in., ink on board
Coppola Collection

Mackenzie was a student of Van Dearing Perrine and attended the Art Students League about 1915. He started as a freelance cartoonist in 1941 and in May 1945, he attended the first United Nations Conference on International Organizations in San Francisco as a political cartoonist for the New York Post newspaper. His cartoons appeared daily on the editorial pages of the New York Post, Newsday and in the New York Daily.

The Battle of the Ruhr (March-July, 1943) was a British campaign of strategic bombing during the Second World War against the Ruhr Area in Nazi Germany, which had coke plants, steelworks, and 10 synthetic oil plants. The Battle of the Ruhr severely disrupted German production of steel and armaments, including aircraft.

The cities noted on the cartoon help to pin down the date: Dortmund May 23-24, Oberhausen June 14-15, Duisburg June 19-20, Huls June 22, Mulheim June 22-23,
and Krefeld June 21-22.