Convoy at Sunset

Depicts ships in a convoy leaving Moreton Bay, southbound to Sydney. A lookout in the foreground stands watch complete in his Australian Comforts Fund balaclava. This painting was done from HMAS "Moresby" and the ship in the background is the SS "West Cactus", which became rather well known in these convoys. The Australian Comforts Fund (ACF) was first formed in August 1916 from a number of individual state based organisations that had been created at the beginning of World War I to send comfort to the troops. Many local women's groups formed early in the war to provide various 'luxury items' to supplement the Australian soldier's army rations and personal kit. The Australian Comforts Fund quickly grew into a fundraising, collecting, sorting and distributing machine which rivalled the scope of the Red Cross. At the conclusion of World War I, the ACF officially dissolved. However it was revived in 1939 with the outbreak of World War II to provide comforts to a new generation of soldiers. Dennis Adams (1914–2001) studied at the Royal Art Society School, in Sydney and in London. Principally known as a marine artist, he served on the sailing vessel 'Herzogin Cecilie' prior to World War II. He joined the Army in 1939 and was appointed an Official War Artist in 1942, serving in New Guinea and the Mediterranean. After the Second World War Adams lived in Sydney, where he became well known as a successful sculptor.