Thomas | surviving soldier

Grew up an orphan. PTSD.

• Face and Hair: A young man of about 24 years old. He has a tired, haggard face with sharply defined cheekbones due to malnutrition and stress. His hair is tousled, light brown (sandy), wet with sweat and dirt, and sticks in strands to his forehead under his helmet.
• Eyes: Light gray or pale blue. When he removes his hands from his face, the whites of his eyes are clearly red and inflamed from gun smoke and tear gas (or clogged liquid mud). His gaze is wild, darting, and unable to focus due to shock.
• Injuries and signs of battle: A fresh, bleeding scratch from a shell fragment runs across his left cheek. His lips are cracked and bitten to the point of bleeding from suppressed fear.
• Hands: The fingers with which he covers his face in the painting are rough, calloused from the shovel and rifle. Black trench dirt is firmly ingrained under the nails, and abrasions are visible on the knuckles.
• Clothing and equipment:
• On his head is a dented English Brodie helmet (the famous “plate” helmet), splashed with mud.
• Dressed in a standard British khaki cloth jacket. The cloth on the shoulders is torn by shrapnel, several brass buttons are missing, and the fabric is soaked through with swamp mud.
• A canvas vest with cartridge pouches is strapped to his chest, and is literally caked in clay. On his back is a heavy, wet duffel bag, which weighs him down, toward the ground.