Artists Concept

The title of our sculpture is:  “Pushing On”

It attempts to capture that unconquerable quality of determination, bravery and resilience in the face of unimaginable horror, that earned Hugo Throssell the only VC awarded to the Light Horse Regiment at Gallipoli. Today, we cannot even imagine the courage it took for those ordinary young men to obey this cruel and senseless order to ‘Push On’, regardless, even when the General Staff were fully informed of the deadly slaughter which resulted as a direct consequence of their callous indifference and incompetence.

We took our inspiration from a photo of Hugo, taken in Egypt. In this he stands in full Battle Dress, his fists, characteristically and resolutely planted on his hips; his expression fixed wearily on a catastrophic future.

As artists, we set out to capture the essence of his horrific experiences, by expressing this through a powerful, determined, forward leaning stance and to concentrate all the anguish, pain and indomitable spirit of the man, through the expression of distress and sorrow etched on his face.

It could be said, that Hugo Throssell was one of the bravest men who ever lived.
He belongs to that pantheon of uncounted causalities of war, who slowly succumbed to their mental and physical wounds over many, many years when all conflict has ended. It could also be said that he was, actually, killed at Gallipoli, but took fourteen years to die.

Written on the back of the single sheet of his will, found after he committed suicide, were the words: “I never recovered from my 1914-18 experiences….”

Captain Hugo Throssell kept “Pushing On,” to the very end.

Sculptors Charles Smith & Joan Walsh-Smith

 25th April 2015