01 Work, The art of War, Cyril Henry Barraud's The Stretcher-bearer Party, with Footnotes

Cyril Henry Barraud

The Stretcher-bearer Party, c. 1918

Oil on canvas

height: 86.7 cm (34.1 in); width: 214.3 cm (84.3 in)

Canadian War Museum

Barraud depicts Highlanders carrying a wounded man off the battlefield. The shoulder patch, a light blue rectangle and dark blue circle, identify them as members of the 43rd Battalion. One soldier wears a red cross armband identifying him as medical personnel. Those who were hurt but still able to walk were called "walking wounded," like the two soldiers behind the stretcher party. More on this painting

In this painting, stretcher-bearers of the 43rd Battalion carry an injured man away from the battle. Behind them, we see the walking wounded and a German prisoner. Artist Cyril Barraud enlisted with the 43rd Battalion in 1915. For him, a pen and sketchbook were as much a part of his kit as a rifle and bullets. Wounded in early 1917, Barraud was subsequently assigned to the Canadian War Memorials Fund. The shoulder patch, a light blue rectangle and dark blue circle, identify them as members of the 43rd Battalion. One soldier wears a red cross armband identifying him as medical personnel. Those who were hurt but still able to walk were called "walking wounded," like the two soldiers with behind the stretcher party.

Cyril Henry Barraud left us with a fine collection of etchings, paintings and sketches from World War I. His careful attention to detail established a valuable record of some of the landscapes and villages that dotted the French and Belgian countryside during the war.

Born in Barnes, England, in 1877, Barraud studied art and then worked as a commercial illustrator. His commercial work experience provided him with a clear understanding of design and composition, important factors that are apparent in his later work. In 1913, Barraud emigrated to Canada and in May 1915 enlisted in the Winnipeg Grenadiers. He went overseas in August that year with the 43rd Battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force.

He was with the battalion when it left for France in late February 1916. Eight months later he was wounded in the left leg, but recovered in time to return to France a few weeks before Christmas. The Canadian War Memorials Fund (CWMF) appointed him an official war artist on Nov. 1, 1917.

Long before his appointment, Barraud was busy sketching scenes along the front. The inevitable destruction of these locations is as carefully rendered as the original idylic settings. The colours of mud and rubble have crept into much of this work, and add to its elegance. His etchings are printed in browns, greys and sepias. Even his paintings have a subdued palette.

Barraud retired from service at the end of August 1919. He died in England in 1965, but his artwork continues to offer us a rare but permanent record of the life and death of villages along the frontline in WW I. More on Cyril Henry Barraud 

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