Exhibition Theme -Service

2/10th Australian Commando Squadron: wash and clean up

This work forms part of the 2/10th Australian Commando Squadron series that Hele worked on following his second tour to New Guinea in 1943. Although he intended the series to be the best work he had ever done, he struggled with the gravity of some of the subject matter, as well as his increasingly poor health after his vehicle accident in New Guinea. Recovering slowly, he found it difficult to complete the series.

Oil on canvas 50.8 x 61.4 cm Painted in Aldinga, SA, 1949 Acquired under commission in 1949 Australian War Memorial ART26875

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