The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
Showing the interior of the SAS sleeping quarters at the Bagram airbase in Afghanistan. Peter Churcher recalled, "The SAS soldiers lived in one of the partly ruined buildings within the Australian compound, known as the "Ranch". I was taken by the crowded and crammed feeling of the sleeping quarters that these men had been living in for the last six months. Whilst I was painting the work some of the men from Squadron 3 were packing and preparing to return home in the next few days. As the space was made vacant by one of those departing, it was quickly filled by a new incoming soldier from the next Squadron posted in Bagram for the next six months. I liked the way the personal effects of the soldiers were casually strewn together with their instruments of war".
An SAS soldier is walking in the village of Bagram. Peter Churcher recalled, "Just outside the main gate of the airbase is the village of Bagram, in which the locals live. I was eager to go into the v
Landscape view across Afghanistan, showing wreckage and refuse from the Russian/Afghan war in the foreground, with local people fossicking through the rubbish. Peter Churcher recalled, "It's what you
Two SAS soldiers with Simpson the donkey, in the Australian compound, Bagram. Peter Churcher recalled, "The SAS squadron had four donkeys that they purchased from the locals. The donkeys proved to be
Painting of a wrecked Russian Aircraft in Bagram. Peter Churcher recalled, "'These wrecks are a vestige from the Russian/Afghan war (Bagram was then a Russian air-base) - They have been piled in one p
Three SAS soldiers sitting in their vehicle. There is a grenade gun on top of the vehicle. Peter Churcher recalled, "These vehicles, of which there were about ten, were one of the important tools of t
Showing the entrance to the Australian compound, known as 'The Ranch'. Peter Churcher recalled, "This typifies the general state of the buildings in the area, which were largely destroyed during the R