AWM Collection Record: ART03590
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ID Number: | ART03590 |
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| Title: | Dawn at Hamel, 4 July 1918 | ||
| Maker: | Bell, George | ||
| Object type: | Painting | ||
| Place made: | Australia: Victoria, Melbourne | ||
| Date made: | 1921 | ||
| Physical description: | oil on canvas | ||
| Measurements: | 127.7 x 244 cm | ||
| Summary: | Depicts the Battle of Hamel, July 1918. Australian Corps were under the command of General John Monash (the Battle of Hamel was his first operational success; the Australians had artillery support of great precision and co-operated enthusiastically with tanks, some of which acted as supply carriers, saving the effort of hundreds of troops; ammunition was dropped by parachute over the forward areas); and this work incorporates a view of approaches to Hamel and Wood in the right distance. German prisoners are being brought back, wounded being attended to, and the officer in left foreground is writing a message with his runner (red wrist band) waiting. In the foreground are a German flare pistol, several German stick grenades, an ammunition can for the belt of a Maxim machine gun and a wrecked 1908 Maxim machine gun, while a biplane flys over dropping supplies by parachute. In the background the smokescreen that covered the advance lingers. George Bell (1878-1966) studied at the National Gallery of Victoria School, Melbourne from 1896 until 1901 and during the First World War he worked at a boy's preparatory school and in munitions. In 1918 he was appointed official war artist attached to the 4th Division, AIF, working in France from October 1918 to April 1919 and returning there again in July 1919. His commission was terminated in December 1919 and he returned to Melbourne in 1920. | ||
| Copyright: | AWM copyright | ||
| Related subject: | Aerial operations; Casualties; Casualty movement; Casualty services; Corpses; Defences; Entanglements; Entrenchments; Medical services; Military operations; Prisoners of war; Smokescreens; War damage | ||
| Related unit: | 1st Australian Imperial Force; Australian Flying Corps; German Army | ||
| Related place: | France; France: Picardie, Somme, Vaire | ||
| Related conflict: | First World War, 1914-1918 |
Last-Modified: Wed, 28 May 2008 18:10:13 GMT
