Farewell to Anzac 20th December 1915

This painting shows a scene in the saloon of the transport ship "Arran". The saloon assumed the atmosphere of a crowded hotel parlour as friends relaxed amid the din of conversation and a haze of tobacco smoke after weary months of fighting and danger. Several Australian Imperial Force leaders are represented in the painting including Major General J Paton, Captain C A Littler, General Sir John Monash, Major General W Holmes, Brigadier General Glasfurd, Major General J Antill, Lieutenant Colonel W E H Cass, Lieutenant Colonel S Midgley, Major W J M Locke, Major F L Biddle, and Lieutenant Colonel E J H Nicholson. On 7 December 1915, after weeks of deliberation, the British Government decided to abandon the Dardenelles campaign and withdraw the troops. The Turks were deceived by the careful maintenance of "normality" in the allied trenches until the last moment. The withdrawal was carried out in precise stages until the critical night of 20 December, when thinly-held Australian positions were completely emptied and the last of the men embarked without a single fatal casualty. By dawn the hills of Anzac had faded to a dim blue line on the horizon as the ships steamed away.