'Edward Ardizzone began to work full-time for the War Office from 1940. His first commission was to follow the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) to France and record their activities. During this period of the so-called 'Phoney War’, Ardizzone found little to record in terms of combat activity. His drawings show the routines of army life: drills, passing time in mess rooms, eating and drinking, as well as the incongruity of the presence of British troops within the local French culture' (Imperial War Museum).