Study for Leslie Hales

Leslie Hales put his age up and enlisted under the name of Hayes to join the AIF in Melbourne, 1914. He left Australia with the first convoy and landed in Gallipoli with the 16th Battalion in Anzac Day. He was later evacuated to Egypt with illness, but returned within one month and was in the final evacuation. Leslie later went to France with the 16th Battalion in 1916 and fought there until the end of the war. He was awarded the Military Medal in 1917 for a major battle action at Vaire Wood involving heavy losses. He was also evacuated from France with illness, but returned to the front line within two months. Depicts a study for portrait of 1416 Private Leslie Hales, MM, drawn on pilgrimage for the 75th anniversary of the Landing at Gallipoli. In his portrait of Leslie Hales, Westwood has shown the Gallipoli terrain reflected in the glasses. In this way, the painting suggest the power of the Peninsula on the veterans memory and the force of the Anzac experience on his vision of the world. Leslie was 95 when this picture was painted.