'Panoramic view of method of defence, July 1918'

Pen and ink and watercolour by Lieutenant Richard Barrett Talbot Kelly MBE, MC, RI (1896-1971), Royal Field Artillery, 1918.

As part of an 18-pounder gun battery crew, Talbot Kelly took part in many of the major offensives of the Western Front. He regularly served as a Forward Observation Officer, tasked with spotting where the artillery shells were landing. The unique vantage point of the battlefields that this job gave him, inspired him to draw his experiences.

Talbot Kelly returned to France in April 1918, after having being wounded in the opening stages of the Battle of Passchendaele in 1917. He was tasked with studying concealment techniques as German artillery had devastated the British guns at Passchendale. Talbot Kelly studied aerial reconnaissance and taught camouflage to the School of Artillery in Larkhill.