Pears was an Official War Artist for the Admiralty in both wars and was founder and first president of the Royal Society of Marine Artists (RSMA). Bolstered by his former work as an illustrator, Pears participated in both the 1928 Amsterdam and 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, where, in the 1932 games, he earned an honourable mention in the painting category. His illustrations of Britain's naval battles appeared regularly during the First World War in the Illustrated London News.

As a rule of thumb, Britain's colours were painted on the rudder, not the fin, of its aircrafts during the First World War, and usually blue on the front, like the French. On 15 July 1930, the RAF notified that the colours of rudder striping on aircraft were to be in the reverse order, with red leading from the rudder post and blue trailing - as it is in this painting - to distinguish between French and British aircraft. Therefore it is probable that Pears painted this picture after WW1. The aircraft is most likely a de Havilland.