The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
Depicts an exhausted Australian soldier wearing full kit and greatcoat, sleeping in a tunnel during the Third Battle of Ypres. Indistinct figures of two other soldiers seen in the background. Dyson, appointed the first Australian official war artist in 1917, had no illusions about war. He declared: 'I never drew a single line except to show war as the filthy business that it was'. In this drawing his empathy with the weary soldier is keenly communicated. Will Dyson was the first Australian official war artist to visit the front during the First World War, travelling to France in December 1916, remaining there until May 1917, making records of the Australian involvement in the war. He was formally appointed as an official war artist, attached to the AIF, in May 1917, working in France and London throughout the war. His commission was terminated in March 1920.
Depicts a group of weary Australian soldiers from either the 2nd or 3rd Australian Division walking along the road in Passchendaele. The soldiers are carrying personal and military equipment, one has
Depicts a landscape, with Hill 60 in the background, and the entrance to the Australian Brigade Headquarters in the foreground. Will Dyson was the first Australian official war artist to visit the fro
Depicts a camouflaged gun position, with field guns and piles of artillery draped in camouflage netting at Hill 60, near Ypres, in August 1917. In the foreground is a soldier and on the horizon are pu
Depicts a field gun in a trench, under a temporary shelter, covered with a tarpaulin, in August 1917. Will Dyson was the first Australian official war artist to visit the front during the First World
Depicts several soldiers seated in trenches and dugouts, some checking over canteen accounts, on the battlefield, while explosions go off on the horizon. Will Dyson was the first Australian official w
Depicts an elderly soldier, in uniform, in a tent sitting on box beside his camp bed. Will Dyson drew this image of a veteran at Etaples in December 1916. Will Dyson was the first Australian official
