Australian Red Cross Society: Dedication to Service

Depicts a young woman in an orange cardigan sitting on a stool with a book on her lap, gazing into the distance. The text beneath the image, from a volume of poems by Henry Lawson, reads, 'While her soldier patient rests, a young Red Cross Aid muses over the story of Dunant, the man whose compassion for the helpless wounded of a great battle was the beginning of the world-wide brother hood of mercy we know today as Red Cross.' Behind her is a middle aged man, a soldier invalid in a maroon bathrobe. he is resting on a rocking chair with a pillow to support him. To his left and behind the Aid, is a tea set on a wooden table. it is a restful and domestic scene, conveying the calm and healing atmosphere created by the Red Cross volunteers.

The Red Cross commissioned Ernest Buckmaster to create this poster to launch their 1950 appeal. Merle Amos the fair skinned gold haired nurse from Apsley Garden, East Melbourne and Francis George "Digger" Hill, the handsome old man, a lighthorse veteran from the first world war, were chosen to convey the story of the Red Cross. Buckmaster as an Official war artist had formed a bond with Australian Service men and completed the painting free of charge in the hopes that the painting would bring in funds for the Red Cross with its poster appeal and help them with their work for our sick and wounded ex-servicemen.