LZ 'P' Scenes and Photos, Operation Varsity

Great pictures - and new to me? Where do these come from?

 

Brithm,

A really great find, thanks for posting.

Regards ...

 

Found them on Battlefield Historian with no attribution for source, could be IWM but could not find it in their archive.

 

In a conference outside Div HQ 6th AB

Outside Div HQ 6th AB Div

& Gale & Hickie with US Staff Officers at TAC HQ US XVIII US Airborne Corps 23 March 1945.

US Staff Officers

 

Brigadier W.S.F. Hickie, OBE - 1st British Airborne Corps

On the banks of the Rhine, March 24th.



Regards ...

 

Bourne and Bols

Talking with reporters beside Jeep on 25.3.45 by Sgt. Jim Christie.



Regards ...

 

"Outside Div HQ 6th AB Div with Lt Col Roberts, Maj Gen Bols and Maj Gen Gale and Capt Burt ADC 25 March."



I'm guessing Captain Burt, ADC is with Major General Gale.

Regards ...

 

Crossing the Rhine

The photos found by brithm showing General Gale at Kopenhof seem to have been taken on March 25th. Did he cross the Rhine as early as the 24th, perhaps with Brigadier Hickie who doesn't show up in the later Kopenhof photos? If so there is no mention of him passing through the area on the way to Div HQ. Quite the daring ride if he did arrive then.

Regards ...

 

Source

One possible source for the pics of General Gale at Kopenhof are still frames from footage taken by Christie's cine partner, Harry Oakes. Unfortunately there is very little available online of March 25th scenes shot by him.

Bert Hardy also passed through Kopenhof on the 25th.

Regards ...

 

Robert Capa Photo

Sometime ago alberk posted this photo of Lt. Hubert Charles Cox lying dead next to a burnt-out Horsa. Cox had escaped the firery glider that brought him in only to be struck by another coming into land. Lt. Cox was a Canloan Officer with the 12th Devons. The incident occurred just south of Kopenhof Farm, off Westfeldweg.



Recently I came across a couple of photos of the same burnt-out glider taken from a distance. Presumably they were shot later, perhaps for documentation purposes.



Regards ...

 

Hi Alex,
My elderly friend is now in a care home. Are you still interested in this print of a painting. It is not in great condition but you would be very welcome to have it. We really enjoyed finding out more more about Kopenhof.
Kind regards
Jenny

 

A Reminder

The print:



The PDF which could do with an update.

Kopenhof Art - David Shepherd

Regards ...

 

I am not sure what you mean with an update of the pdf. It is just a print of a photo. Jenny

 

Hi Jennifer

The PDF is just a synopsis of the story as it played out in this thread and can be downloaded at above link. Changes can always be made to a PDF in any number of ways. New info may come in or you can just change the look of things to give it more visual appeal.

Regards ...

 

Google Images

I threw the Kopenhof picture into Google Images and not surprisingly it spit out a lot of SAS images one of which just happened to be by artist David Shepherd.



One example of that particular run is going for a mere $38,862.23 Canadian, perhaps due to the fact it was signed by David Stirling himself.



As for the Kopenhof pic was it part of an official print run? Where is the original painting and was it ever finished in true colours? Was the art based on a photo which was artistically interpreted? I'm of the opinion that the location depicted is at the 'burning farm' and not near the actual Kopenhof farm Div HQ.

The Burning Farm - Operation Varsity

Regards ....

 

The Fieldings

Without doing a lot of linking here's a summary of what we know about the Fieldings, father and son.

---------------

Jennifer Cloke:

"... on the back it says ‘Personal Property of J V Fielding’ and a sticker for Hampshire Art & Framing, 44 Alexandra Road, Farnborough Hants Phone 43202."

According to forum member Alex Collins J.V. Fielding was very likely the son of Lt-Col. J. Fielding who was the 6th Airborne's Assistant Director Ordnance Services during the war. The son, as it turns out, was an Army Officer and the CO of the 216 Parachute Signals Squadron from 1974-76. He died in 2014.

S. Hayward:

44 Alexandra Road, Farnborough Hants is less than a mile from Aldershot camp where a web link claims 216 Parachute Signal Squadron were in September 1974 when Major J V Fielding took over. Given the shops location in close proximity to Aldershot, I think it likely this is the J V Fielding who previously owned the picture, and likely had it framed in Alexandra Road. ...

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Lt-Col. J. Fielding, the 6th Airborne's Assistant Director Ordnance Services, probably travelled to Germany on March 24th on one of the 13 Div HQ Staff gliders out of RAF Rivenhall. If so no idea where he may have come down.



Is he the man behind the Jeep driver? Just a thought ...



Regards ...