“Going Over” through a Wheatfield

Lester Hornby captioned this etching as “a charge on wooded machine gun nests near Soissons, July 1918.” Hornby would have observed this action shortly after arriving in France as he made his way to the front. The Marines of the 4th Brigade advanced with other Allied forces to capture and secure the Soissons-Chateau Thierry road. They experienced heavy fighting when the 6th Regiment moved up to the front to begin the assault on the German machine gun positions sheltered by thick woods. With no cover, the Marines and other Allied forces were in clear view of the Germans. The Regiment lost 50 per cent of its men during this offensive. Hornby’s etching illustrates how exposed the Allies were during the advance against the well protected enemy.

Biography: Lester George Hornby studied at the Pape School of Arts in Boston, the Rhode Island School of Design, and the Art Students League in New York City. In 1906, he began traveling and studying in France, creating his first copper engravings. He received international recognition for his artistry as an engraver. When war was declared in 1914, Hornby was living in France. He returned to Boston and in 1916 went back to France to live and work. After the entry of the United States into the war in 1917, Hornby obtained a pass to allow him to travel to the front lines. He did over 50 drawings and sketches a day. In his later years, he focused on teaching and rarely exhibited his works.