Searching for German booby traps near Ligny-Thilloy

Early in 1917 the German army staged a strategic withdrawal to a new defence system – the Hindenburg Line – to shorten their line and disrupt Allied planning. Australian soldiers pursued them and on 17 March 1917 entered Bapaume just hours behind the Germans. The town was a scene of burning ruins and held hidden dangers in the form of German booby traps and mines. Dyson followed closely on the heels of the advancing Australians and depicted the anxiety of men searching warily for booby traps in vacated German trenches at Ligny-Thilloy.