Half moon street, Changi

Ernest Buckmaster was born in Hawthorn, Melbourne on July 3 1897. After being rejected for military service due to his physical frailty Buckmaster attended the National Gallery Art School from 1918-24. Ernest Buckmaster was first offered a position as an official war artist on January 20 1945, following the recommendation of the previous Director of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales, James Stuart Macdonald, though he did not accepted his appointment until August 24 1945, following the completion of a commission in New Zealand. Due to his age of 48 and poor health Buckmaster was not enlisted in the army and was accredited as a war correspondent. Despite being commissioned to paint the Japanese surrender, after a lengthy process preparing to be transported to Singapore, Buckmaster, along with a group of correspondents and photographers arrived two days after the surrender ceremony.

This painting shows a thoroughfare within the walls of Changi Gaol, the main prisoner-of-war camp of the Japanese in Singapore. The main entrance to the gaol is at the top of the street. The buildings at the right were, in peace time, the warders' quarters, whilst during the occupancy of prisoners-of-war, some of the officers lived in them.