The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
Depicts an officer, most likely a Colonel of the 17th Field Company Australian Engineers. Behind him is his piebald horse, who is mangy and half-starved. The benighted horse is having his tail docked by another soldier. In the foreground the Colonel is possibly receiving money for his piebald horse from a trench soldier. However, this seems unlikely, as the horse appears later in the series after its tail has been docked. The Colonel's spruce uniform and appearance is in stark contrast to the trench officer he is talking to. Where the officer is wearing his full riding kit (complete with jodhpurs, his slouch hat with a AIF rising sun badge, and a riding crop) the old soldier is unkempt and has the large nose of an alcoholic. .
This officer is a recurring character in the series. Bespectacled and bearing a look of smooth arrogance on his face, it is possible he is the artist's direct commanding officer. The 17th FC, which was the company the artist was in, was composed of men from other units of engineers and had the nickname "The Fragments of France".
Depicts a Colonel of the 17th FC Australian Engineers with his colour patch visible on his right arm. He is dispassionately observing a starved piebald nag, whose eyes are closed. The head of the nag
Depicts a Colonel from the 17th FC AE riding through a desolate and dry terrain. A biplane hovers in the upper left corner, and crows fly in the upper right corner. The officer is riding a piebald hor
Depicts an engineer being thrown from a thoroughbred horse. A mounted soldier is observing from a distance in the background. The man being thrown has an odd expression on his face, seemingly unconcer
Depicts an engineer who is identified as a Colonel at other points in this series. He is in a singlet and shorts, which gives a strong indication of how hot the environment is, as in other drawings he
Depicts an engineer from the 17th FC AE seated on an emaciated horse, luring it forward using the ploy of a carrot on a stick. The hoof, saddle and rump of the horse are branded with '17th F.C'. The
Most likely a self-portrait of the artist. He has the rank of lieutenant. He is prodding a dead piebald horse with a riding crop. Crows gather ominously in the sky, and another crow sits atop a pil