Battlefield of Romani looking S. W. from Canterbury Hill

Depicts a panoramic view of an undulating desert landscape near Romani, with various locations indicated by the artist; 'Signal Post', 'Mount Meredith', 'Mount Royston', 'Scrubby Knoll' and 'Katib Gannit'. The Battle of Romani (3-5 August 1916) was fought east of the Suez Canal, near the Egyptian town of Romani and the site of ancient Pelusium on the Sinai Peninsula during the First World War. From 6 to 9 August, the Ottomans and Germans fought a number of strong rearguard actions against the advancing Australian, British and New Zealand light horse, yeomanry and mounted rifle brigades. The battle was over on 12 August, when the German and Ottoman force abandoned their base at Bir el Abd and retreated back to El Arish.
Otho Hewett (1887- 1942) served with the 9th Light Horse Regiment and 3rd Light Horse Brigade Headquarters during the First World War. Trained as a designer is South Australia, he joined the ANZAC Divisional Headquarters at Romani as a panoramic artist and sketched each battlefield on the way to Jericho. He also contributed illustrations to Kia-Ora Coo-Ee, the magazine which was written and edited by Australian and New Zealand troops serving in Egypt, Palestine, Salonica and Mesopotamia, printed in Cairo and appeared in monthly issues between March and December 1918. Returning to Australia, Hewett lived in Adelaide during the 1920s and then moved to the town of Tintinara where he lived between 1929 and 1942, working as an artist, craftsman and cafe owner. He also made furniture and musical instruments. Hewett painted an Egyptian drop scene for the Tinitinara Hall when it opened in 1931 and died in 1942.