The street, Labuan

Donald Friend accompanied the Allied invasion of Labuan, an archipelago off the coat of Borneo, in June 1945. Of the town of Labuan he wrote in his Diary on 20 June 1945; 'To the town, sketching all morning, with some interesting results. One could spend a couple of months here drawing nothing but the ruins...much of the town has been cleared up- great rubble heaps removed'.

This painting is based on one of these drawings which the artist worked up with oils on his return to Australia. The tropical conditions meant that use of oil paint was nearly impossible in the field. A closer inspection of the work reveals elements of its pen and ink beginnings.

In 1942, Donald Friend enlisted with the Australian Imperial Force and was posted as a gunner to the artillery unit near Albury. In 1945, Friend was selected for appointment as official war artist. He travelled to Morotai, Labuan and Balikpapan, recording sights which confronted him and drawing in particular on the expressive potential of human form. Friend was extraordinarily prolific, producing 53 paintings and 143 drawings for the Memorial.