| Place | Oceania: Australia, Victoria, Melbourne |
|---|---|
| Accession Number | ART12504 |
| Collection type | Art |
| Measurement | Overall: 66.8 cm x 62.6 cm x 40.8 cm |
| Object type | Sculpture |
| Physical description | bronze |
| Location | Main Bld: First World War Gallery: Sinai Palestine 1918 |
| Maker |
Bowles, Leslie |
| Place made | Australia: Victoria, Melbourne |
| Date made | 1935 |
| Conflict |
First World War, 1914-1918 |
| Copyright |
Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain
|
Zero hour (8th August, 1918)
Description
Three infantrymen, depicting the neat, tidy, steady-going, public school boy; the tall, rangy, country lad; and the hard, industrial, larrikin 'Ginger Mick' type. The central figure is carrying a Lewis Mark I machine gun (Ginger Mick is a character in C J Dennis's 'Sentimental Bloke' poems). Bronze cast 1936, Melbourne; plaster cast 1935, Melbourne.
It is interesting to compare this sculpture to a photograph (E02790) taken at Warfusee-Abancourt, France. Lieutenant Rupert Frederick Arding Downes MC is addressing his platoon, who stand in a row. This photograph is most likely a reference for Bowles in creating the sculpture. This comparison is particularly clear when considering the dates of both objects, as well as comparing the stance, uniform, weapons and implements of the first four soldiers in the photograph.