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Pegasus Dawn by Simon Smith

Pegasus Dawn by Simon Smith
Pegasus Dawn by Simon Smith
Pegasus Dawn by Simon Smith
Pegasus Dawn by Simon Smith
Pegasus Dawn by Simon Smith
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Commemorating the 78th Anniversary of D-Day and the Battle for Normandy: 1944 – 2022 From the moment the Battle of Britain was over, the Allies had planned for the invasion that would liberate Europe...  >Read More
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Prints are signed by the artist and numbered

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  • 95 Limited Editions....$210
  • 25 Artist's Proofs....$315
  • 15 Remarque Editions....$495
  • 10 Double Remarque Editions....$795

  • Overall size: 30 1/2" x 23 1/2"
  • Image size: 26 1/2" x 17 1/2"
  • Commemorating the 78th Anniversary of D-Day and the Battle for Normandy: 1944 – 2022


    From the moment the Battle of Britain was over, the Allies had planned for the invasion that would liberate Europe from the tyranny of Hitler’s thuggish Reich. On 6 June 1944 those plans were put into practice on the beaches of Normandy when the world witnessed the largest amphibious landings ever seen. But before the vast Allied armies could storm ashore on D-Day, the flanks of the chosen 50- mile long beach-head had to be secured – and held. The task of seizing the left flank fell to the British 6th Airborne Division whose first objective was to capture the two Orne bridges that controlled access to Sword Beach.

    Midnight had scarcely passed when three Horsa gliders swept out of the night to land within yards of the Bénouville Bridge over the Caen canal. Led by Major John Howard, the small force of men drawn from the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry supported by sappers from the Royal Engineers sprang into action. Quickly overcoming the dazed defenders they seized the canal bridge, the nearby bridge over the river was soon also taken without a shot being fired.

    Simon Smith’s masterful piece Pegasus Dawn portrays the scene a few days later at the Bénouville Bridge, later renamed ‘Pegasus’ after the British 6th Airborne’s flying horse emblem. Now reinforced by other units, including commandos, the British are in full control of the area, allowing free movement over the canal and river. Overhead Mk.IX Spitfires from 340 (Free French) Squadron RAF, part of 145 Wing, Second Tactical Air Force, provide fighter cover across the area.

    Signatures: Printed onto borders that were personally signed over many years, each copy carries the original and authentic autographs of eleven WWII Normandy veterans:

  • Sergeant RAYMOND ‘TICH’ RAYNER - 2nd Battalion, Ox & Bucks Light Infantry, 6th Airborne Division – Glider No.4 into Pegasus Bridge
  • Corporal WALTER ‘BABS’ PEARSON - 5th Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment, 69th Infantry Brigade, 50th (Northumbrian) Division – first wave to assault Gold Beach
  • Private CHARLIE HILL - D Company, 6th Battalion Green Howards – first wave to assault Gold Beach
  • Craftsman ALBERT HOLMSHAW - Royal Engineers attached to the 7th Field Regiment Royal Artillery 3rd Division – landed at Sword Beach on D-Day
  • Corporal DOUG PARKER - 2nd Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment – first wave to assault Sword Beach at H-Hour
  • Corporal GORDON DRABBLE - 1/6th South Staffordshire Regiment, 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division – landed at Gold Beach
  • Trooper DON WALKER - 147th “Hampshire” Battalion, Royal Armoured Corps on Churchill Tanks – landed at Gold Beach
  • Private PATRICK STRAFFORD - D Company, 1/4th Kings Own Light Infantry – landed at Sword Beach
  • Private BERT COOPER - 5th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, 50th (Northumbrian) Division – first wave to land at Gold Beach
  • Gunner WILLIAM HARTLEY - 27th L.A.A. Regiment as a Driver/Operator – landed in Normandy on D-Day +1
  • Gunner GEORGE SHARMAN - 259th Battery, 65th (Norfolk Yeomanry) Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery, as part of the 7th Armoured Division, ‘The Desert Rats’ – landed at Gold Beach on D-Day
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