Before the advent of photography, the ability to sketch or draw was an important skill for a soldier, who needed to be able to record or report back on the lay of the land, plot territory and terrain.
He could also deploy these skills at times of leisure, to pass the time, entertain his friends or to make a creative record of his life in the regiment or his experience of the things he could see around him. Sketches, paintings, cartoons and caricatures all feature in the paper archive we hold for many of the soldiers who served.
