Broken house, Dingbat Alley, Peronne

Depicts a damaged house in Dingbat Alley, Peronne. In Australian military slang 'dingbat' is a derogatory term that comes from 'ding' - a vicious dingo and 'bat' from batman which is an officers servant. Peronne, an ancient French town at the junction of the Somme and Cologne Rivers, was the objective of an intensive series of operations mounted by the Australian Corps between 29 August and 2 September 1918. Since 1916 the town had suffered badly from intense the intense shelling that was characteristic of the war. Cecil Percival, was a cartoonist and illustrator. He contributed to 'Aussie', a paper for troops in the trenches during the First World War, also to London 'Punch'. He worked with the War Records section in London and later became principal cartoonist for the Sydney 'Bulletin', from 1920 to1940.