British Paratrooper, “Red Devils”, Arnhem, 1944

In September, 1944, after the successful landings on Normandy, the Allies decided to launch another big scale assault, code named “Operation Market Garden”, this time aimed to liberate the Low Countries in a decisive strike to Nazi Germany that hopefully would end the war as early as possible.

The Allied assault consisted on a massive airborne assault followed by infantry and armoured vehicles and had a successful start. Nevertheless the delay accumulated in achieving the capture of the strategically important objectives gave the Germans time to reorganise and defend their positions. The last objective of the campaign, the bridge of Arnhem, was only defended by a few elements of the British 2nd Parachute Battalion, the only vanguard elements that had managed to arrive there at the moment when the Germans started their counterattack. They defended their position against overwhelming forces during a few days but the bridge was finally taken back by the Germans. As a result, the whole operation failed and the Allied forces had to retreat. The war would last seven months more.

Our bust portrays one of those brave paratroopers, wearing the famous red beret that earned them the nickname of “Red Devils” and a Denison camouflage jacket.