Farewell

Painting, oil on canvas, "Farewell!", unknown artist after Robert Hillingford RA, about 1905. Depicts the scene at London's Waterloo station as soldiers from an infantry regiment board a train for service overseas, possibly in Sudan or South Africa. The soldiers are wearing red tunics and solar topees (pith helmets). Some are boarding London & South Western Railway carriages with destination boards for Southampton. An officer holds a baby as his wife looks on, and in the background a soldier consoles an elderly woman. A young girl sits on a trunk, crying. The guard looks at his watch as a porter carries bags, and two boys sell newspapers and snacks to the soldiers.