The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
In 1942 Donald Friend enlisting with the AIF, was posted as a gunner to the artillery unit near Albury. In 1945, he was selected for appointment as official war artist. He travelled to Morotai, Labuan and Balikpapan, recording sights which confronted him and drawing in particular on the expressive potential of human form. Friend was extraordinarily prolific, producing 53 paintings and 143 drawings for the Memorial. In August 1945 he travelled to Balikpapan in Borneo. The Army and RAAF lived amongst the ruins of Balikpapan. This work depicts a number of men in a primitive shower made between wrecked walls and burnt wood. On 13 August in his Diary Friend noted; ' Another dull, cool, grey day. I worked on a picture of boys in the showers- an excuse for the pleasure of drawing nudes'.
Portrait of a sailor reclining. Donald Friend enlisting with the AIF, was posted as a gunner to the artillery unit near Albury. In 1945, Friend was selected for appointment as official war artist. He
Depicts three unidentified Japanese prisoners. In 1942, Donald Friend enlisting with the AIF, was posted as a gunner to the artillery unit near Albury. In 1945, Friend was selected for appointment as
Depicts a wrecked Japanese bomber on the air strip at Labuan, Borneo. In 1942, Donald Friend enlisting with the AIF, was posted as a gunner to the artillery unit near Albury. In 1945, Friend was sele
Japanese prisoners of war and their belongings being searched by Australian personnel on arrival at prison camp. In 1942, Donald Friend enlisting with the AIF, was posted as a gunner to the artillery
Depicts exhausted Australian soldiers asleep in the carriage of a railway train at Albury, New South Wales during the Second World War. In 1942, Donald Friend enlisting with the AIF, was posted as a g
This work depicts Australians liberated from Japanese custody in Balikpapan, Borneo. Friend shows the deteriorating physical condition of the men held prisoners of the Japanese after such a long perio
