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The Longest Day Begins - Pegasus Bridge by Geoff Lea. (APB) - Regimental Art

The Longest Day Begins - Pegasus Bridge by Geoff Lea. (APB)


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The Longest Day Begins - Pegasus Bridge by Geoff Lea. (APB)

Features the successful Horsa glider borne assault on the Caen Canal bridge at Benouville in Normandy at approx. 00.15hrs on D-Day, the 6th June 1944. Troops from the second battalion of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry led by Major John Howard took the bridge which later became known as Pegasus Bridge.
AMAZING VALUE! - The value of the signatures on this item is in excess of the price of the print itself!
Item Code : DHM0286APBThe Longest Day Begins - Pegasus Bridge by Geoff Lea. (APB) - This Edition
TYPEEDITION DETAILSSIZESIGNATURESOFFERSYOUR PRICEPURCHASING
ARTIST
PROOF
Rayner / Whitbread signature edition of 12 prints from the edition of 50 artist proofs.

SOLD OUT.
Image size 23 inches x 15 inches (59cm x 38cm) Rayner, Titch
Whitbread, Alf
+ Artist : Geoff Lea


Signature(s) value alone : £70
SOLD
OUT
NOT
AVAILABLE
All prices on our website are displayed in British Pounds Sterling



Other editions of this item : The Longest Day Begins - Pegasus Bridge by Geoff LeaDHM0286
TYPEEDITION DETAILSSIZESIGNATURESOFFERSYOUR PRICEPURCHASING
PRINT Limited edition of 1000 prints. Image size 23 inches x 15 inches (59cm x 38cm) Rayner, Titch
+ Artist : Geoff Lea


Signature(s) value alone : £35
£10 Off!Add any two items on this offer to your basket, and the lower priced item will be half price in the checkout!Now : £120.00VIEW EDITION...
ARTIST
PROOF
Limited edition of 50 artist proofs. Image size 23 inches x 15 inches (59cm x 38cm) Rayner, Titch
+ Artist : Geoff Lea


Signature(s) value alone : £35
£20 Off!Add any two items on this offer to your basket, and the lower priced item will be half price in the checkout!Now : £150.00VIEW EDITION...
PRINTLimited edition of 5 artist proofs signed by the artist only. Image size 23 inches x 15 inches (59cm x 38cm)Artist : Geoff Lea£40 Off!Now : £110.00VIEW EDITION...
General descriptions of types of editions :


Extra Details : The Longest Day Begins - Pegasus Bridge by Geoff Lea. (APB)
About all editions :

Detailed Images :



Signatures on this item
*The value given for each signature has been calculated by us based on the historical significance and rarity of the signature. Values of many pilot signatures have risen in recent years and will likely continue to rise as they become more and more rare.
NameInfo


Private Alf Whitbread (deceased)
*Signature Value : £35

Alf Whitbread, known in the war as 'Lucky Jim' was born in Twickenham, London and when his father got a job in the Building Research Station in Garston the family moved to Watford. Alf Whitbread left school to become a machine engineer, but was encouraged to volunteer for the army after hearing a patriotic speech on the radio. On June 19th, 1940, Alf Whitbread went to the Edgeware recruiting office and joined the Royal West Kent Youth Battalion at the age of 18 and in 1942 in Ireland, Alf heard rumours about a newly formed airborne unit and volunteered. Alf said : 'We thought we were going to be in the paratroopers, who were mad, but we finished up in the gliders and the paratroopers thought we were mad.' Alf Served with 17 Platoon of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. He landed as part of the Coup de Main operation on Glider No.6 into Pegasus bridge in the early hours of D-Day. Alf was part of the second group of gliders which landed first at Horsa Bridge, before taking part in the battle for Pegasus Bridge, (the subject of the film 'The Longest Day'.) They sent the message 'ham and jam', a code confirming they had captured both bridges. The men held off many counter attacks by German troops and tanks until midday on June 6th. Alf would later say 'Two of our gliders were sent to secure Horsa bridge and frankly, it was a walk over. Our platoon never lost a man. We secured the bridge and then, when another platoon relieved us, we went and joined John Howard on Pegasus Bridge.' Alf Whitbread was later to take part in Operation Varsity, the last major battle of the war in Europe. On March 24th 1945 Operation Varsity was launched. The aim was to take a bridge over the Rhine again by gliderborne troops. Almost 1,500 men of the Ox and Bucks died during the operation, and Lucky Jim lived up to his reputation before his glider even landed. Alf would say: 'They say dont volunteer for anything, but I did and it worked out to my benefit. I remember when we were set to get on a glider on the way for the Rhine crossing and it was too full. I was detailed to another glider. They both crash landed. All the troops in the first glider were killed. Only three of us got out of the other glider alive, after it broke in half.' After the war Alf Whitbread joined London Transport as an engineer for 40 years and in all that time Alf never took a day off due to illness. With great sadness we have been told that Alf has passed away peacefully on 19th March 2011 at the age of 88. Cranston Fine Arts feel very honoured to have had Alf sign some of our art prints.


Sergeant Titch Rayner (deceased)
*Signature Value : £35

Titch Rayner served with the British Parachute Regiment. On D-Day he was flown into France on Horsa glider No.4, which landed off target due to a navigational problem. With the element of surprise gone, he and his fellow Paras had to fight their way through to Pegasus Bridge. He died on 2nd April 2015.
The Aircraft :
NameInfo
HorsaThe Airspeed AS 51 Horsa named after Horsa the legendary conqueror of southern Britain in the 5th century was built by Airspeed Ltd during the second world war. The Horsa was a troop carrying glider that also could carry light vehicles. On the 19th / 20th November 1942 the Horsa was used for the first time for Operation Freshman, the unsuccessful attack at Rjukan in Norway on the German heavy water plant. The two Horsa gliders, each carrying 15 sappers, and one of the two Halifax Bombers used to tow the gliders, crashed in Norway due to bad weather. All 23 survivors from the glider crashes were executed on the orders of Adolf Hitler. In preparation for further operational deployment, 30 Horsa gliders were air-towed by Halifax bombers from Great Britain to North Africa but three aircraft were lost in transit. On 10 July 1943, 27 surviving Horsas were used in the invasion of Sicily during Operation Husky. During the Normandy landings over 250 Horsa Gliders were used by British and US Forces. The first units to land in France during the Battle for Normandy were at Pegasus Bridge where 6 Horsas were used in the capture of the bridge over the Caen canal, and a further bridge over the River Orne. In 1944 large numbers were also used for Operation Dragoon and Operation Market Garden, and in March 1945 Horsas again were used during Operation Varsity and the final operation for the Horsa when 440 gliders carried soldiers of the 6th Airborne Division across the Rhine. The Horsa Glider was towed by a variety of aircraft, usually bombers. The Short Stirling, Handley Page Halifax, Armstrong Whitworth Whitley and the Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle and also the Douglas C-47 Dakota. During Operation Market Garden, a total of 1,336 C-47s along with 340 Stirlings were employed to tow 1,205 gliders, and Curtiss C-46 Commando. They were towed with a harness that attached to points on both wings, and also carried a intercom between tug and glider. The glider pilots were usually from the Glider Pilot Regiment, part of the Army Air Corps, although Royal Air Force pilots were used on this occasion.

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