Craterland

Depicts a wounded man on a stretcher being carried by four German prisoners of war while under armed escort of an Australian soldier. They are walking along a duckboard track past shell holes filled with water. The landscape has bits of war debris such as destroyed wagon parts and shell casings. In the distance are bombardments, explosions and smoke from the Third Battle of Ypres on the Western Front in 1917.

Frederick Leist was a painter, illustrator and teacher. He studied at the Sydney Art School and the Art School of New South Wales from c.1894-95. During the 1890s he worked as an illustrator for the 'Bulletin' and 'Sydney Mail' and trained as a furniture designer with the David Jones department store. In 1908 he went to England and became an artist with the London 'Graphic' while exhibiting his art work at the Royal Academy in 1911. He worked for the British War Office between 1915 and 1916 and worked for His Majesty's Stationary Office designing posters for First World War recruitment. Leist was appointed an official war artist in September 1917, attached to the 5th Division AIF and worked twice in France between September to December 1917 and from June to August 1918. His commission was terminated in 1920.