Victory medal, 1914–1918 awarded to Hon Capt GW Lambert, AIF, c. 1920
R 344/4
Bronze with silk ribbon
When Lambert first arrived in
Egypt in January 1918 he wrote ‘I am ridiculously happy. Already I have done
three pieces of work and everywhere I look there are glorious pictures, magnificent
men and real top-hole Australian horses.’
In G.W. Lambert, A.R.A.
(Thirty years of an artist’s life) by Amy Lambert, 1938
'Lambert, with the
golden beard, the hat, the cloak, the spurs, the gait, the laugh and the
conviviality of a cavalier'.
Charles Bean
' ... essentially a
talented craftsman who gave his greatest love to his work and his horses ... '
Bernard Smith
The
Victory Medal was an Imperial Award (issued by Great Britain).
When
George Lambert enlisted he was married with two sons, he was a naturalized
British subject aged 45 years and stated his ‘trade or calling’ as artist.
On
the Attestation Paper of Persons enlisted for Service Abroad Lambert’s contact
address was given as Chelsea Arts Club, 143 Church Street, Chelsea, London.
George
Washington Lambert enlisted with the Australian Imperial Force on 13 December
1917 as an Honorary Captain. As an artist he was not allotted to a unit.
Lambert
married Amelia Beatrice (Amy) Absell, a retoucher, on 4 September 1900 at St
Thomas Church, North Sydney. Two days later they sailed for England.
(Lambert) 'was, I
think, more sensitive than the rest of us to the tragedy — or at any rate the
horror — of Anzac'.
Charles Bean