Hospital train interior Accession Number: ART92681

Description

Depicts the interior of a hospital train in Northern Territory during the Second World War. An Australian Army Medical Corp, Unit 9 was raised in the Northern Territory to staff the Australian Ambulance Train, on the North Australian railway that ran from March 1942 until January 1945. The Ambulance Train consisted of a staff car, a van in which to store linen, medical spares, equipment and patient kits and converted cattle wagon ward cars to accommodate 100 lying down patients. The cattle wagons were fitted out with tiers of cots and they were devoid of windows, the top two boards along each side of the wagon were removed to provide light and ventilation. Early modifications to the original design were made owing to a shortage of materials. A second opening two boards deep midway down the sides was also made. The structure of the cattle wagon ward cars and cots is evident in Murch's painting. The interiors of the wagons were often painted a 'duck egg blue', chosen for its perceived properties of repelling flies. From June 1942, the ambulance trains were used to transfer patients between the two recently established military hospitals at Adelaide River and Katherine. The painting depicts the standing female figure of a nurse in uniform on the right, with bunks both behind and to the left of her, extending into the background of the painting. On the lower bunk a soldier is lying down and resting, while on the upper bunk a seated soldier dangles his legs over the edge of the bunk. An additional figure of a sleeping soldier appears in the background of the painting on one of the bunks. A box (or bucket?) appears in the left foreground of the painting , possibly used for holding medical supplies or bandages. Arthur Murch completed 47 paintings during his commission as an official war artist from July 1942 until May 1943. It was originally intended that he cover the military activities of the United States forces in central Australia, Darwin and Thursday Island, however, he was sent to record scenes of military activities in the Northern Territory. The combination of realism and Modernist elements evident in this work reveal the artist's ability to combine a scientific approach to colour with an emphasis on formal aspects of design, along with historical recording.