'Battery position, Anzin St Aubin, Arras, 1917'

Watercolour by Lieutenant Richard Barrett Talbot Kelly MBE, MC, RI (1896-1971), Royal Field Artillery, 1916.

As part of an 18-pounder gun battery crew, Talbot Kelly took part in many of the major offensives of the Western Front, including the Battle of Loos (1915), the Battle of the Somme (1916) and the Battle of Arras (1917) and the battle of Passchendaele (1917). He regularly served as a Forward Observation Officer (FOO), tasked with spotting where the artillery shells were landing. The unique vantage point of the battlefields that this job gave him, obviously inspired his illustrations.

Talbot Kelly served on the Arras front from December 1916-May 1917. Anzin St Aubin is a village near Arras. As this painting shows, it was virtually destroyed by artillery during World War One (1914-18).