Samuel Begg was a popular and successful press artist who worked for the Illustrated London News from the early twentieth century until after the Great War. He was particularly successful in depicting Royal ceremonies. The drawing shows King George V on his sickbed in a hospital train at Aire. Sergeant Brooks is on one knee as the VC is pinned to his breast. The third figure is a Commander, in greatcoat, holding the citation. Sergeant Brooks was awarded the VC for an act of gallantry at Loos, France, on 8 October 1915. The King, who was visiting the British Forces in France, had been thrown from his horse a few days earlier. The drawing was reproduced in the Illustrated London News.