Spell during route march, Palestine

Depicts a route march near Deir Suneid, with unidentified soldiers gathered in the shade of a tree. The artist wrote 'Under a venerable sycamore tree near Deir Suneid. These trees are famous from Gaza to Gedera. They provide the homes of countless lizards. An Arab in this locality will try to make you believe that this is the very tree in which Absalom caught his hair and hanged.' Painted as part of the Syrian Campaign series. The campaign involved Australian troops, mostly from the 7th Division, fighting alongside allied troops against the Vichy French in Syria and Lebanon.