The correctness of the title is open to question; the Royal 22e RÄgiment (Van Doos), the subject of this canvas, does not appear to have carried out any attacks from Neuville-Vitasse. The work was a favourite of Major-General Georges P. Vanier, who was a major at the time it was executed. Vanier claimed that he was the officer holding the pistol but there is insufficient detail to permit confirmation of his assertion. A distinguished painter and art teacher, Alfred Theodore Joseph Bastien (1873-1955) was born in Belgium. Following the German invasion of his country, he escaped to Holland and thence to Great Britain. From there he was able to return to the Continent and join the Belgian Army which was still fighting in southern Flanders. Bastien was wounded in November 1915, but in May 1916 he was assigned to the art section of the Belgian forces. From October 1917 until January 1919 he was on loan to the Canadian War Records Office and much of his time was spent with the Royal 22e RÄgiment. From his period with the Van Doos came a series of distinguished drawings, watercolours, and oil paintings. In this oil painting (140.7 x 229 cm) Bastien effectively captured the desolate setting and the surge of energy and force in response to the command to advance.
Courtesy: Canadian War Museum, National Museum of Man, National Museums of Canada (8058)
