In a tribute to the centenary of the Great War and to the most successful and costly battles that Australian soldiers fought on foreign soil, I did this commemorative graphite pencil drawing, with additions, of a famous Australian War Memorial, Canberra photograph (AWM E00019) produced by Herbert Frederick Baldwin in December 1916.
It depicts unidentified men of the 5th Division AIF partaking in cigarettes and resting on a muddy bank beside the Montauban road, near Mametz, France.  The men are wearing sheepskin jackets and woollen gloves to combat the terrible Somme winter of 1916-17.  The soldiers are on their way to the trenches to face the horrific bloodbath on the Western Front, carrying full kit and .303 Lee Enfield rifles.  The only identification that I can recognised on their uniform jackets is the large vertical oblong colour patch on the shoulders which represents the Fifth Division AIF.  The absence of colour prevents the determination of their Battalion and Brigade.
The sheepskin vests were made from skins sourced by Sydney butchers and stitched by the hands of women on the home front.  Over 75,000 vests were sent to warm Australian soldiers fighting in France, Belgium and Palestine during the bone-chilling winters of World War I.
They were sanctioned by the army to be worn by servicemen as part of the uniform of the day.
Original donated to Hay Light Horse Memorial Association and was raffled to raise funds for the memorial in Hay