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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 |
This work is a reminder of the landing at Quisterham (Sword beach) in Operation Overlord. The turtle helmet - soil sample - was found at a collector in Caen and worked with dark green glass decorated with a red poppy. The insignia of the British regiments South Lancashire and East Yorkshire were also applied. The assembly stands on an obus 105 MMM 14 type 1 and is inscribed 'Souvenir de la Bataille de Normandie' QUISTREHAM - 6 juin 1944. Also the legendary casino destroyed by the Germans before the landing and turned into a bunker. On the reverse is the insignia of the Kieffer commandos who played an important role during the landing.
Height: 54 cm Width: 26 cm Weight: 4,476 kg |
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