The passing of Haig

Depicts an image of a wounded soldier with a bandage on his head, surrounded by a halo, holding a rifle and bayonet. He stands beside an officer, a portrait of Douglas Haig, in uniform wearing a cap, who also has a halo behind him. This cartoon was published in the Melbourne 'Herald' newspaper on 31 January 1928 for the dedication of the Shrine of Remembrance and to mark the passing of Haig.

General Douglas Haig (1861-1928) attended Royal Military College, Sandhurst, England, before serving in India in 1886. In 1906 he took an important post at the War Office as Director of Military Training and organised a British Expeditionary Force to be deployed in time of war. In 1914 he was given command of the 1st Army Corps of the British Expeditionary Force in France and Belgium. He was praised for his Ypres campaign in 1914 and in 1918 took charge of the successful British advances on the Western Front which led to allied victory later that year. After the war he was posted as Commander in Chief of the Home Forces Unit until his retirement in 1921. He was made an Earl in 1919 and died in 1928. Haig is near a column on which the words 'Hall of Remembrance' are written. Both men stand on clouds.

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.