WW2 Veteran Signed Operation Market Garden 70th Commemorative Print

With this year commemorating the 70th anniversary of Operation Market Garden this is a rare opportunity to own a very collectable and unique ww2 print signed by three very distinguished UK and US veterans who sadly are declining in numbers.

Includes:
1 x Limited Edition Print “Operation Pegasus October 23rd 1944”  
Beautifully painted by renowned military and aviation artist Gil Cohen the print depicts the assisted rescue by US 101st Airborne Paratroopers of escaping British soldiers from Arnhem, a scene brilliantly recreated in Steven Spielberg’s Band of Brothers.
Signed by Red Devil Major Tony Hibbert (see his account on “Great escapes of WW2” on the Yesterday TV channel) and US Ed Mauser, Brad Freeman of Easy company, 506th PIR, 101st Airborne.
2 x Photo's of Major Tony Hibbert signing his print.

Price £59

• Major Hibbert was educated at Marlborough but at 16 left because of the Great Depression.

• Working for his new employer Tony was sent to Germany where he was housed with a German family. During that period he watched as the young boys joined the Hitler youth and realised the county was preparing for war.

• In 1935 he decided it was time to pack his bags and return home as quickly where he left his job and started at Royal Military Academy (RMA).

• January 1938 he passed out and was commissioned into the royal Artillery.

• In the British Expeditionary Force he commanded a half-Battery of 15 AA Battery RA.

• For the last four days of the siege he defended the Northern perimeter of Dunkirk and when ammunition ran out on the 31 May he had to destroy his guns. Tony and his men were finally evacuated and reached Ramsgate in an old Thames Tug, ‘Sun X’. He was later mentioned in despatches for his actions.

• Major Hibbert, joined No. 2 (Parachute) Commando, out of which the Parachute Regiment was born.
• Major Hibbert served with the Paras in North Africa and Italy as a Staff Office.
• July 1944 was posted to the 1st British Airborne Division as Brigade Major of No 1 Parachute Brigade.
• Major Hibbert was involved in planning for the Arnhem Operation and received orders from General Browning at Airborne Corps HQ.
• Major Hibbert led the Brigade HQ Group to the bridge after his drop onto DZ-X to join forces with Lt. Col. Frost and the 2nd Battalion, where they were under orders to hold the bridge which they did for 72hrs against overwhelming odds.
• Major Hibbert and remaining bridge party were unsuccessful in reaching the Oosterbeek perimeter and all except 2 were taken prisoner. He was being transported to Germany when he and Major Denis Munford made their escape but Major Denis Munford was wounded when the SS guard opened fire on them and Major Denis Munford was later recaptured. In retaliation for their escape the SS guard opened fire on his 6 unarmed comrades. Major Hibbert says “this is a burden I shall carry to my grave”.
• Major Hibbert finally linked up with the Dutch Resistance Army and with other British officers rounded up the remaining 1st British Airborne Division and organised the famous Pegasus 1 escape. This Operation resulted in the successful evacuation through German lines of 138 men back across the Rhine to Allied positions.
• Major Hibbert was seated on the bonnet of an overcrowded jeep when it collided in the dark with another vehicle resulting in 5 months in hospital with a broken leg.

• After Arnhem and his discharge from hospital he commanded “T” Force-Kiel.As WW2 in Europe drew to a close, the Russians and Western Allies agreed a dividing line in Europe to prevent accidental clashes as their troops converged. This line ran from Lubeck to Switzerland and left Denmark in the Allied sector.

• In April 1945 intelligence was received that the Russians intended to take Denmark to provide an ice-free naval base for their Fleet, in defiance of the Yalta Agreement. To frustrate this plan, the Allies launched a 3 pronged operation – the Navy to take Copenhagen, “T” Force Commando Group to take Kiel and the 3rd Parachute Brigade to stop the Russians at Wismar.The Paras got to Wismar 4 hours before the Russians and stopped them there – 4 hours which saved Denmark from Russian occupation and perhaps prevented WW3 starting before WW2 was finished.

• With a force of 650 men he succeeded in this task but only by disobeying his Corps Commander’s orders for which he was placed under arrest on VE day. Thus, in Tony’s words, “my military career ended in pleasing symmetry as I had also been placed under arrest by my Battery Commander on the day war was declared. I am pleased to say that after both arrests I was absolved from blame and each time was awarded a Mention in Despatches by my arrestor!”

• In 1947 Tony was discharged from the Army on Medical Grounds with a Tax Free Disability Pension and went into business.

• 1945 Major Hibbert received a Military Cross for his gallant actions at the bridge and during the subsequent escape.

• In 1947 Tony was discharged from the Army on Medical Grounds with a Tax Free Disability Pension and went into business 2009 he donated this MC to the Hartenstein Museum at Oosterbeek in recognition of the acts of heroism performed by the Dutch in sheltering and aiding the beleaguered remnants of the British Airborne Division.

• Had a very successful career in business, 1967 Major Hibbert retired and created a new Dinghy International Development Class and founded the Salterns Sailing Club for children in Lymington which still flourishes today.   

• 1981 Tony and his wife Eira bought Trebah a house nestling on the edge of the Helford estuary in Cornwall. Where they came out of retirement to restore the 26 acre grounds; it took them five years to achieve and set up the a registered charity Trebah Garden Trust.  
  

• Donated the garden, house and Trebah Lodge to the Trust. 
  

• It is now a major visitor attraction in Cornwall, attracting over 100,000 visitors every year.   Tony Hibbert was awarded the MBE for his contributions to Tourism and Sailing in 2006.
  

• Major Hibbert formed part of a team of veterans who gave talks to the students of the Army Staff College on their battlefield tours at Arnhem up until 1996. 
  

• In 2008 the Army Division of the Defence Academy restarted the tours where Major Hibbert again. Along with Major John Waddy, he continued this role when the tours were restarted by in 2008.  
  

• He remains active in the Airborne Forces community and is the President of the Royal Cornwall Branch of the PRA.