Tpr W T Neilson NX669 2/6 Div Cav Reg

Depicts a portrait of William Thomas Neilson, who enlisted in November 1939 and served with the 2/6th Cavalry (Commando) Regiment in the NT from October 1942.

Born Anthony Raftopoulos, Tony Rafty (1915-2015) was largely self-taught and joined 'The Sun' in 1940 as a cartoonist. He enlisted with the Commonwealth Military Forces on 29 December 1941 and in early 1943 was invalided from the Northern Territory, where he had created drawings while a hospital patient in Darwin. Rafty was brought to the attention of Lieutenant Colonel Treloar, and a few months later transferred to the Military History Section in Melbourne. Here he was employed in connection with the production of the Services Annuals; the original drawings he produced for these are held in the Australian War Memorial’s Art collection. Although employed as an illustrator, Rafty was sent to New Guinea in early 1944. Rafty served as a war artist and journalist for the Australian Army, serving in New Guinea, Borneo and Singapore. He sketched the surrender of the Japanese in Singapore, and covered the release of POWs from prison camps, including Batu Lintang camp in Kuching, Sarawak.