The series of ten works forming A Line of Retreat charts the dramatic egress of O'Donoghue's father, and the British Army, from France during 1940. The series was conceived after the artist came into possession of journals left to him after his father's death, and would inform his work almost entirely for the next decade.

The set comprises the following works in order (illustrated left to right, descending):

i)     Wagons to Rouen

ii)    Death or Glory I

iii)   Death of Glory II

iv)   A Monument in Rouen

v)    North of Rouen, South of the Somme:

       A Crossroads in France

vi)   German Tanks, Forges-les-Eaux

vii)  A Road West

viii) Crossing the Seine (illus. right)

ix)   Clay Feet

x)    Getting out at Cherbourg (illus. right)