John Perry (left) with world renowned aviation artist Robert Taylor. John has been an admirer and collector of Robert Taylor's art prints for many years and has a small collection signed by many of World War 2's finest pilots.

John Perry was born in Brighton, England and moved to Canada at a very early age. His parents were both involved in World War 2 with his father serving as a Warrant Officer at Canadian Military Headquarters in London, where he met his future wife who was serving as a member of the British Empire Service League - Canadian Legion.

Military roots run even deeper for John, with a grandfather serving in World War 1 with the South African Heavy Artillery and a great-great-uncle, a Sergeant in Bettington's Horse during the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War.

John's first taste of military life began as an Air Cadet in England where he lived the dream of flying the deHavilland Chipmunk and the Sedberg glider out of RAF Tangmere, the famous Battle of Britain airfield. Representing the South East Region Air Cadets, he completed the grueling 4-Day Nijmegan march. In 1972 his family moved to Durban, South Africa and after graduating from high school, John served with an infantry commando regiment and then an armoured reconnaissance regiment, the Umvoti Mounted Rifles, during the border wars of the late 1970s/early 1980s.

Returning to Canada in the mid-80s, John volunteered for service in the Canadian Army Reserve where his various locations of civilian employment saw him serve with the Queens Own Rifles of Canada (Toronto, Ont), the Governor General's Horse Guards (Toronto, Ont), the 1st Hussars (RCAC) (London, Ont) and finally the British Columbia Regiment (Duke of Connaught's Own) (Vancouver, BC) with whom he currently serves as an armoured reconnaissance officer.

John's formal artistic training began in at high school, from where he continued on to the University of Natal (Durban) with studies for a degree in architecture. During this period he was approached to produce a set of four illustrations to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Anglo-Zulu War.

John Perry reviewing the progress of the art for the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada's commemorative print with the (at the time) last surviving Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross, "Smokey" Smith at his home in Vancouver.

These illustrations, together with a set he produced honouring the regiments of the Rhodesian Army, caused John to reconsider his career path and as a result he switched his studies to a Diploma in Graphic Design from which he graduated Cum Laude.

He has worked as an art director for the advertising firm Batten, Barton, Durstine and Osborne (BBDO), commercial interior designer with firms in Johannesburg, Toronto and Vancouver and has operated his own design studio, John Perry Designs, in various capacities and locations, since 1983.

One of the most memorable and significant commissioned pieces of art was that celebrating "Smokey" Smith who, in 2004, was the last surviving Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross. John met with Smokey in his Vancouver home and had the opportunity to discuss his rather "eventful" military escapades. While very frail at the time, Smokey maintained a keen eye for detail and a sharp sense of humour. The intent had been for him to sign each of the commemorative prints for his old regiment, the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, but when it became obvious that he would be unable to do so, he painstakingly signed the original art instead, possibly one of the last times he signed his signature before passing away shortly after. That was a sad day indeed and the closing of an era...

Aside from art and the military, John also has ties to Security and Emergency Planning/Exercising and was under contract with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police led Integrated Security Unit to assist with security planning and preparations for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. He operates an emergency preparedness consulting firm, OpsCentre, which provides emergency planning support to companies, municipalities, and provincial and federal departments.

John resides in Cloverdale, British Columbia with his wife Sherri Ann and daughter Camryn.