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The Kia ora coo-ee : the magazine for the ANZACS in the Middle East, 1918

Our Contributors. — Otho Hewett

Our Contributors.
Otho Hewett.

When Otho Hewett was a youthful "Crow-eater,"—he was born at Bordertown South Australia, in 1887—he didn't dream of his destiny; he was an ordinary kind of boy, and at the Public school absorbed useful knowledge because he had to. But presently Art got a look in. Otho discovered that he could draw, and he liked it better than study. He put in most of his leisure in a small studio at his home. Hewett Senr., however, was a farmer, and knew that farming fills a man's pockets, while artists too often go hungry. Therefore, he tried to persuade his son to go on the land. He didn't succeed. The young artist turned down soil tilling, and, schooldays ended, drifted to Adelaide, where heworked for his brother for a time. Then he secured employment in an architect's office. However, he soon found that home planning was not congenial to his freehand style, and he became a commercial artist. He then visited every state in the Commonwealth, except Western Australia.

When the war broke out, Hewett tried to persuade a keen-eyed Military doctor that there was the makings of a good soldier in him, but
Sergt. Otho Hewett.

Sergt. Otho Hewett.

the M.O. thought otherwise, so Otho returned to his studio. In November, '14, he again presented himself for enlistment, and this time he passed the medical test.

On the Peninsula Hewett took advantage of every spare moment to sketch his surroundings. One morning General Antill visited the trenches, and caught him in the act of drawing the barren hills in front of him. Hewett saw trouble looming, and was not surprised when he was told to report at Headquarters. Here he again met the General, who asked him to draw a panoramic sketch from an observation post overlooking Suvla Bay. Later on he turned out many other sketches of notable places on Gallipoli. Shortly afterwards, it was decided to issue "The Anzac Book", and Hewett drew several sketches for it, including a frontispiece, "The King's Message To His Troops." This drawing secured a prize.

After the evacuation of Anzac, our artist had a rest at Heliopolis, then proceeded to Serapium with the 3rd. Brigade Headquarters Staff. At Ro-mani he joined Anzac Divisional Headquarters as a panoramic artist, and since then he has sketched every battlefield on the way to Jericho. His drawings are now the property of the War Records, and will eventually find a place in the War Museum.