Excuse me Sir, but they likes their breakfast in bed

Depicts a caricature of the war correspondent Pidgeon standing next to two "patients", the war correespondents Eddie Duncan and Jack Hickson in a bed with the words' Contagious' on the bed and other soldiers standing near by. On the verso is another drawing titled 'Which way Sir?'. This drawing accompanied an illustrated letter by Pidgeon, dated 27 January 1944. William Edwin Pidgeon (1909-1981), known as 'WEP' was a war correspondent, painter, cartoonist and illustrator. During the Second World War many of his illustrations were published in the 'Australian Women's Weekly', which made him famous nationally. His works richly convey the lives and personalities of Australian troops and their experiences in Darwin (1943-44), New Guinea (Jan-Feb 1944) and Borneo and Morotai (Jan-Aug 1945). This work is one of over 400 items by WEP donated to the Memorial consisting of illustrated letters, paintings, sketches, drawings, photographs and ephemeral material related to his time as a war correspondent.

Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Peter and Elizabeth Pidgeon in memory of William Edwin Pidgeon 2014