The commission for the War Memorial Chapel at Rossall School was first made known to Gill in December 1925. Sir Robert Lorimer was the architect and Charles Rutherston proposed Gill to carve the Chapel's altarpiece, although Lorimer disapproved of the choice. Gill submitted a full-size drawing to the School in the spring of 1926 after spending January planning the design. The commission was secured after the success of the showing of a second complete drawing at the Goupil Gallery in October. The altarpiece was carved the following summer and installed on 9 March 1928.

The present drawings are studies for the second and fifth sections of the three panels and show the Penitent Thief looking towards Christ and the other Thief looking away. The other sections depict the Baptism of Christ by John the Baptist, the Crucifixion, and the Beheading of John the Baptist
(See J. Collins, op. cit., and R. Speaight, The Life of Eric Gill, London, 1966, p.192)