Watching the barrage from Mount Kemmel

Depicts a group of spectators, including Australian, New Zealand and British officers, on Mount Kemmel, a few miles from Ypres, watching an artillery barrage at night. The sky is lit up by German flares. This barrage was part of the week's long barrage preceding the Third Battle of Ypres. Among the spectators is Dr Charles Bean, who later became the Official Historian of the Australian War Memorial. Will Dyson was the first Australian official war artist to visit the front during the First World War, travelling to France in December 1916, remaining there until May 1917, making records of the Australian involvement in the war. He was formally appointed as an official war artist, attached to the AIF, in May 1917, working in France and London throughout the war. His commission was terminated in March 1920.