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American damaged helmet accidentally found by a forester in the region of Stavelot. I completed it with stained glass and placed light inside. The helmet is put on a Howitser shell (1944) and marked with the American star and wording 'SOUVENIR' (memory). Measures: height: 59 cm weight: 5,3 kg |
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This helmet was made on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge.
Through a friend digger I was able to obtain a soil sample which I finished partly with white glass indicating the sheets that the American soldiers got from the people of Bastogne to better camouflage themselves in the snowy landscape. On the helmet I placed the sign 'Ace of Spades' as a tribute to the 501th parachute infantry of the 101st airborn division which held Bastogne in its hands despite great losses. The helmet is placed on a pedestal with the colours of the city of Bastogne blue and red and on a Howitser shell marked with the American star and the word 'SOUVENIR' (memory). |
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The Little Ships of Dunkirk were about 850 private boats that sailed from Ramsgate (England) to Dunkirk (northern France) between 26 May and 4 June 1940 as part of Operation Dynamo, helping to rescue more than 336,000 British, French, and other Allied soldiers who were encircled by Germans, on the beaches at Dunkirk. The ships kept sailing back and forth, despite heavy bombardments and a rough sea, which did not deter the skippers, often volunteers. The helmet, bought in a brocanterie near Dunkirk, was found a few years after the war in the dunes. The son of the finder sold it to the antique shop. I reworked the helmet and placed it on an English obus (1942) with the engraving "DUNKIRK". Around the brass shell I made a scale model of one of the many fishing boats that helped with this operation. Measures: height: 45 cm weight: 3.6 kg |
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Hospik is an informal military term for medical and nursing personnel. Usually, hospik refers to a military wounded person in the medical service.
By marking something with a red cross, it enjoys a certain protection under the Geneva Convention. Captured medical personnel may not be treated as prisoners of war, but must be given opportunity to provide medical care to prisoners of war. I placed the helmet I found in the Bayeux area as a barn find on an obus bought at an antique market. The obus (25 Pdr - 1943) is English made (F&L Fisher & Ludlow Birmingham) with the French text 'Souvenir de la Bataille Normandie - Juin 1944'. Below the text a rose with a bird and rising sun. Probably made by a former French soldier from the First World War. Measures: weight: 3.9 kg height: 49 cm wide: 22 cm |
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This american helmet is a 'real' archaeological find in the MALMEDY region. It was certainly quite a job to restore it. I consciously kept the right side green and the left side rather white referring to the snow and the harsh conditions in which the soldiers fought. The helmet is placed on an American Howitser obus (1944) which I bought in a brocanterie in Liverchamps (village near Bastogne). On the obus we find the text Souvenir de la Bataille des Ardennes 1944-1945 Baclain - Jeanne Catherine Gustave - Jean Baptise Baclain' is a small village situated between Bastogne and St.-Vith. On 11/01/44 an american Liberator B-24 bomber crashed here and all 10 occupants died. The village was situated in the area of the Battle of the Ardennes and therefore had many victims. Measures: Height: 48 cm Wide: 22 cm Weight: 4.1 kg |
