"Back Sheech"

Drawing of a Turkish soldier observed by Hewett in the Middle East. Otho Hewett (1887- 1942) served with the 9th Light Horse Regiment and 3rd Light Horse Brigade Headquarters during the First World War. Trained as a designer is South Australia, he joined the ANZAC Divisional Headquarters at Romani as a panoramic artist and sketched each battlefield on the way to Jericho. He also contributed illustrations to Kia-Ora Coo-Ee, the magazine which was written and edited by Australian and New Zealand troops serving in Egypt, Palestine, Salonica and Mesopotamia, printed in Cairo and appeared in monthly issues between March and December 1918. Returning to Australia, Hewett lived in Adelaide during the 1920s and then moved to the town of Tintinara where he lived between 1929 and 1942, working as an artist, craftsman and cafe owner. He also made furniture and musical instruments. Hewett painted an Egyptian drop scene for the Tinitinara Hall when it opened in 1931 and died in 1942.
This work is an illustration associated with the 'Kia-ora Coo-ee', the official magazine. The Kia Ora Coo-ee' magazine was written and illustrated by Australian and New Zealand troops serving in Egypt, Palestine, Salonica and Mesopotamia, was printed in Cairo and appeared in monthly issues between March and December 1918. With ten issues in a single year it seems to have been the service magazine with the longest and most regular record of publication. The security of the base in Cairo, and the availability of a commercial printing establishment, enabled the editors to produce a magazine which was in every respect thoroughly professional, attracting advertising revenue and making a comfortable profit. Australian soldiers wrote about all aspects of their war experience in broadsheets, newspapers and magazines which were produced on the troopships, in the trenches and back at their bases. The Kiaora Coo-ee was one of the most successful widely distributed of these publications. It was the official magazine of the Australian and New Zealand armies in the Middle East and was professionally printed by the Sphinx Press in Cairo. The average monthly distribution of The Kiaora Coo-ee was some 13,000 copies and it covered themes ranging from the quality of the food and the level of physical discomfort to irreverent digs at authority. The magazine ran poetry, prose and illustrations. There was a large pool of talent on which to draw; possibly the most famous contributor was Banjo Paterson, who contributed several poems and short stories while serving as an officer in Egypt. The Kiaora Coo-ee was keenly sought as a souvenir, and some soldiers arranged for copies to be sent directly home, with payment being deducted from their wages. This may explain why so many copies have survived.