Phillip Hobson enlisted in the army in 1942 and served in the Pacific theatre during the Second World War. In 1945 he travelled to Japan with the British Commonwealth Occupation Force, becoming the 67th Battalion’s photographer. Between 1950 and 1955 Hobson made at least 17 trips into Korea from Japan as an army public relations photographer. In 1955 he was posted to Malaya, where he photographed the work of the Far East Land Forces for three years. These photographs were intended for Australian newspapers and magazines to publicise the presence of Australian soldiers in Korea.
This photograph, dating from early 1950, shows the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, heavily laden with weapons, shovels, and packs, walking carefully across a valley of snow-covered rice paddies and up a hillside during an operation in Korea.