Ned Kelly series.

There’s a little bit of Ned in every Sapper

For sometime now I’ve had the time to research the truth about Ned Kelly. To date my fascination with Ned Kelly led me to discover a biography of “Ned Kelly, a short life” by Ian Jones.

Not only did this book unlock my naive biography of Ned in his short life, but after reading this book it would be fair to say many Australians would only know Ned, “a famous Bushranger” and embrace Ned as a larrikin in a mythical and popular legend.

There are many comparisons with our ADF Sappers and the hard working young Ned. Wood splitter and builder, the larrikin and boxer, finding solutions under adversities and by all accounts, a brilliant horseman. Ned could have been many things in his short life should opportunities have been offered differently.

This painting series uses Ned’s iconic rough steel helmet to link the series together. ‘Ned the Samurai’, ‘Ned in the trenches of WW1’, ‘Ned in the Afghanistan war’ and ‘Ned as a Sapper in the Vietnam war’.

The comparisons of Ned and a Sapper are very close indeed. Sappers are known for their ability to “strategically locate and relocate resources”, I say this with much pride. I speak highly of RAE’s brave Sappers, as they are larrikins, cheeky and will find fun in the most serious of situations, even when injured. They are respected by all Corps of the ADF leading to the term “Follow the Sapper,” they’ll even find you a beer.