Laying the duckboards, France 1917, 1924 (oil on canvas)

The Pioneers were a battalion attached to a division, with the men were trained to carry out light engineering and infantry duties. When reproduced in the publication, 'Australian Chivalry' in 1933, this work was accompanied by the following text; 'Wooden slats nailed crosswise onto longitudinal beams to form short ladder-like lengths were known as 'duckboards'. The [duckboards]...laid down in succession as shown in this painting, became duckboard 'walks' between important points over the quagmire which at times, especially during the terrible Somme winter of 1916-17, was so deep that an unknown number of men drowned in it. '