Australia at War A Winter Record Made by Will Dyson on the Somme and at Ypres, During the Campaigns of 1916 and 1917

Made in the bitter winters of the Somme and Ypres, this illustrated memoir captures the stark reality of the Australian infantry in 1916‑17. The artist, once celebrated for his incisive caricatures, turns his pen to the mud‑filled trenches, rendering scenes of exhausted soldiers, bleak landscapes, and fleeting moments of fragile camaraderie. Each drawing is accompanied by brief notes that convey the cold, the mud, and the constant presence of artillery, giving listeners a vivid sense of the daily grind far from home. The work is framed by an insightful introduction that places the sketches in the larger context of the war and the artist’s own wounded experience.

The collection does not seek heroism; instead it records the melancholy and endurance that defined the front‑line winter months. Listeners will hear a voice that respects the young men’s sacrifice while exposing the grim material conditions they endured. By the end of the first act, the images and commentary reveal how ordinary Australians were thrust into an industrial nightmare, their lives marked by both routine survival and sudden, harrowing loss.