Simon Smith
The Hell that was Bastogne - WW2 Normandy Poster - 25 ¼ ” x 17 ¼ ”
Product Info:
This WW2 poster is 25 ¼ ” wide x 17 ¼ ” high (64cm x 43.75cm) and printed on Carbon Balanced FSC Silk 250gsm paper.
Simon’s dramatic scene portrays the defiant winter defence of Bastogne in this high-quality military art poster!
Historical Context:
Outwitting their opponents through guile and stealth, on 16 December 1944, the Germans unexpectedly counter-attacked through the weakest part of the Allied front line – the heavily-wooded Ardennes. Minutes after a massive 90-minute heavy artillery barrage, three Panzer Armies advanced through the swirling mists and snow-clad forests along a front 80 miles wide. The thinly-held Allied lines wilted under the pressure. Reinforcements were needed – and fast.
The exhausted men of ‘Easy’ Company, 506th PIR, 101st Airborne Division take cover in their hastily dug fox-holes deep in the forests surrounding a now besieged Bastogne. Heavily outnumbered and lightly armed they are desperately short of ammunition and food. Equipped with inadequate winter clothing and unable to light fires for fear of giving away their positions, they are freezing but proudly defiant. Tasked to hold the perimeter, whatever the cost, the men of the 101st yielded not an inch, holding the enemy at bay for a week until relieved by elements of General Patton’s 3rd Army.
Shipping & Delivery
All our posters are rolled using acid-free tissue paper and then carefully placed into a packing tube.
Our delivery parameters are specified by the Qty of posters ordered, which corresponds to the size of packing tube required. We offer a 14-day Returns window providing the Terms and Conditions are met.
About the artist
Simon Smith
Simon Smith was born in 1960 into a military family and quickly developed an interest in history and the armed forces. Always a talented artist, he studied Fine Art and Illustration at Art School and, graduating with a First-class degree, worked as a highly successful commercial illustrator. Equally at home painting in traditional oils and using the technologies of digital creation, his pieces are often created using a combination of both processes.
Simon has won numerous awards including the Fine Art Trade Guild’s ‘Nockold’s Trophy’, the Cross and Cockade WW1 ‘Aviation Art Award’, and Flypast magazine’s award for ‘Excellence in Aviation Art’.
