The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
This work is from Dyson's early battlefield observations. It shows exhausted Australian troops, draped in waterproof sheets, plodding through the rain and mud as they reach Montauban, a ruined village now containing temporary army huts and supply dumps several kilometres behind the frontline. Desperately weary, they are stooped, wet and miserable. Their journey has been across ground fought over for the past six months and now consisting of nothing but mud and desolation. Dyson's drawings have become known for the way in which he recorded the soldiers exploits and suffering. He recorded their work, routine, endurance and humour and very rarely captured any heroics. He was determined that his art would not show the war 'except as the filthy business it is'. 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.
The work depicts the desolation of the battlefield emphasising the sombreness. Under a dull leaden sky the landscape is a mire of trenches and water-filled shell craters with a handful of broken trees
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 war damaged and smashed tree and a number of broken tombstones in the civilian cemetery on the Somme battlefield, France. Will Dyson was the first Australian official war artist to visit the
Depicts a soldier in uniform, wearing a great coat, standing at the entrance of a dugout, with a kerosene lamp hanging near the door, looking out onto a snowy winter landscape on the Somme in December
Depicts members of the 1st Australian Imperial Force, 4th Division, in full kit walking along duckboard tracks over trenches, in a war damaged landscape. This image was reproduced in 'Australia at War
Depicts a camp site on the Somme in 1917, consisting of a number of Nissen huts, piles of supplies, a rubbish dump and men working on a power pole. Will Dyson was the first Australian official war art