Back at Buire

Depicts two Australian soldiers, one wearing a heavy long coat and smoking a pipe, the other in uniform with his hands in his pocket, standing near a doorway. A young French woman, wearing a scarf, clogs and carrying baskets, walks past them and they glance towards her. Buire-sur-l'Ancre is a small commune in the Department of the Somme, 25km NE of Amiens and was the site of many Australian billets. 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.