[Mess hall]

Depicts sailors relaxing in a common area. The majority are drinking beer and socialising in groups, and in the top right corner one sailor is playing the piano. A sign to the left of him reads 'No more than 4 pints'. This work was most likely completed while Hall was serving upon HMAS 'Hobart'.

The artist Alan Hall (1919-1979) enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in 1936 at the age of 17 years. During the Second World War he served on several different ships, including HMAS Hobart and HMAS Australia from 5 April 1944 to 1 February 1947. Hall was a self taught artist who recorded via small sketches a variety of different aspects of naval life and service on HMAS Australia during the war. The Memorial holds a total of 35 drawings by Hall which include general sketches of convoys in the Philippines, recreational activities and in several cases the impact, both physically and psychologically, of kamikaze attacks. Hall also submitted several illustrations for the military publications HMAS Mk III and Salt.

HMAS Australia was launched in 1927 and was the first Allied ship to come under Japanese attack by kamikaze pilots in October 1944. It was targeted a further six times but remarkably was not sunk. These attacks killed 87 RAN members and left an indelible impression upon those men that witnessed and survived the attacks.