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Red Cross Magazine 1919-03

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Veterans of all the Allied forces celebrate their victory in the First World War. Except for one, who kneels in desolation: a Belgian soldier, holding his tattered flag. The odd orientation of the head of the soldier on the right is very confusing, as it seems to belong to someone other than the Italian soldier. No Russian flag is in evidence.



Artist: N. C. Wyeth

Source: ebay seller powerangers

Restoration by: magscanner

Special Thanks to: Gregory Ellis, Archivist at the Naval Heritage and History Command, Washington DC, who writes:


"The kneeling soldier...is not a Czarist (1914-17) or Provincial Government (1917, Kerensky) Russian soldier, nor is he a Soviet trooper (1918-1919). He is indeed a Belgian soldier with an (extremely faded) Belgian tri-color. Also in evidence is the helmet the soldier holds, which is the Belgian M-15 steel pattern modeled on the French design.


"...I believe that N.C. Wyeth...painted this soldier as such due to Belgium being a desperate battleground during the Great War; it was the site of many battles throughout the entire conflict, and in 1914 saw many atrocities committed against civilians by German troops."