A notable aspect of fighting on the Western Front from 1915 to 1918 was the extensive use of artillery by both sides. The elaborate trench systems, incorporating concrete bunkers and machine-gun nests, turned frontal attacks by infantry into costly affairs. Artillery fire was intended to destroy opposing defenses, or to compel enemy troops to seek shelter during a barrage. Counter-battery work sought to silence enemy guns. Infantry, however, found it very difficult to advance over terrain that had been torn up by prolonged shelling.
The artist of this canvas (157.5 x 245.3 cm) did not witness the precise event but it was described to him in detail. The six-inch howitzer battery was supporting a British attack towards Thiepval on 16 July, 1916. An intense German barrage inflicted many casualties but the gallant survivors, most of them wounded, remained at their posts throughout the attack and kept their guns in action.
Kenneth Keith Forbes (1892- ) was the son of a distinguished Canadian portraitist and specialized in that field himself. Much of his training as an artist was in England, where he became, as well, a noted lightweight boxer. When the First World War began he enlisted in the Stock Exchange Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers. Twice wounded and twice mentioned in dispatches "for gallant and distinguished services in the field" Forbes attained the rank of captain, and in 1918 was loaned to the Canadian War Memorials Fund. He produced four portraits and two reconstructions of battles.
Courtesy: Canadian War Museum, National Museum of Man, National Museums of Canada (8158)
