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All prints are sold unframed
- When Screaming Eagles Aided Red Devils -
a fine art print by
Just after midnight on October 23, 1944, approximately twenty paratroopers of E-Company, 506th PIR, 101st Airborne, led by Lt. Fred “Moose” Heyliger, crossed the Lower Rhine into German-held territory in Holland. Their mission—evacuate 125 men of the British 1st Parachute Division, survivors of the Arnhem fighting, along with a mixed group of Dutch resistance fighters and downed American airmen.
Not long after crossing
the river, the E-Company paratroopers made contact with their British counterparts
whose gratitude could not be contained despite the danger nearby. Amidst
handshakes, gifts of red berets, and the frequent expression, “God
bless you, Yank,” all would make it to the boats, across the river,
and by 1:30 a.m. were safely behind American lines, thanks to the daring
of Operation Pegasus. 
Only
300 prints*, signed by artist Gil Cohen
and now issuing the following Market Garden veterans:
"Red
Devil" paratrooper Major Tony Hibbert -
rescued during Operation Pegasus
Ed Mauser - participated
in Pegasus
Brad
Freeman - participated
in Pegasus
Earl
McClung - participated
in Market Garden
ALSO
INCLUDES:
Certificate
of Authenticity
All prints are sold unframed
$125 + $45 express airmail
CO residents add 4% sales tax
Only
400 prints*, signed by artist Gil Cohen
and now issuing the following Market Garden veterans:
Brad
Freeman - participated
in Pegasus
Earl
McClung - participated
in Market Garden
ALSO
INCLUDES:
Certificate
of Authenticity
All prints are sold unframed
$75 + $45 express airmail
CO residents add 4% sales tax
Only
250 prints*, signed by artist Gil Cohen
and now issuing the following Market Garden veterans:
"Red
Devil" paratrooper Major Tony Hibbert -
rescued during Operation Pegasus
Ed Mauser - participated
in Pegasus
Brad
Freeman - participated
in Pegasus
Earl
McClung - participated
in Market Garden
Clancy
Lyall - participated
in Market Garden
Joe
Lesniewski - participated
in Market Garden
ALSO
INCLUDES:
Certificate
of Authenticity
All prints are sold unframed
MAJOR TONY HIBBERT
He then joined No 2 (Parachute) Commando and served in North Africa and Italy. In 1944 he was posted as Brigade Major to the 1st Parachute Brigade for Operation Market Garden.
During Market Garden, Tony was one of approximately 750 paratroopers of the 1st Parachute Brigade to reach Arnhem Bridge and attempt to hold it. After 72 hours of fierce fighting, the Germans had concentrated a ring of tanks and artillery around the British perimeter which was by then only 150 by 200 yards, with less than 100 of the original 750 “Red Devil” paratroopers still standing.
Tony asked the Germans to agree to a two hour “Cease Fire” and for their help to help to get the wounded out of the cellar of a Dutch manor house that served as the Red Devil’s HQ, which they provided. Following the cease fire, Tony split the remaining defenders into escape & evasion parties although he would be captured.
Enroute to a POW camp, Tony jumped from a truck’s rear gate and escaped. Linking up with the Dutch resistance, he then worked to collect other Airborne evaders and moved them into position for the great “Pegasus 1 Escape” on October 23, 1944, the culmination of which is depicted in Gil Cohen’s masterful art. The only casualty of Pegasus happened to be Tony, who was injured in a jeep accident caused by a salvo of Germans mortars fired shortly after the rescue.
Following six months in a hospital, on April 29, 1945, Tony, still on crutches, was ordered to take a “T-Force” Commando group and seize the town of Kiel, Germany, to stop the Russians from reaching Denmark. Upon reaching the town, his Commandos were ordered elsewhere, as Tony puts it “leaving me and my jeep driver to repel the Russians!”
“Feeling somewhat lonely, I decide to take the bull by the horns and tell driver to drive to German Naval HQ and see if German Navy will accept the order to surrender . . . I stop the car by a huge flight of steps and discover I haven’t mastered art of climbing steps with crutches. I look up to find immaculate German Naval officer glaring at me with a Schmeisser pointing at me.
I dropped my crutches and put my arms up in surrender and said ‘Sir, I’ve come here to help you end this bloody war and if you would come down and help me up these steps I think we can do it together.’ He looked at me with astonishment and then put down his gun, roared with laughter and helped me up the steps and within ten minutes he was talking with Admiral Doenitz . . .”
For his involvement in
Operation Pegasus, Tony would receive the Military Cross. In June 2010, he
was presented the Great Seal of Kiel by representatives of the German government
in appreciation for saving the city from the advancing Russians.
The release of “Operation
Pegasus” is bittersweet for Valor Studios and history buffs everywhere,
because our friend, Ed Mauser, is no longer here to enjoy this moment.
Ed, “The Oldest Eagle” of the Band of Brothers, passed away from
pancreatic cancer on January 21, 2011. His illness came on rapidly but Ed
remained in unbelievably high spirits.
Luckily, he got to enjoy “Operation Pegasus,” “his”
print, before the end came.
Ed was proud to have been on this mission to rescue the Red Devils. In fact,
as Valor Studios traveled with Ed to shows and public events in 2010, he recommended
we commemorate this daring milestone of WWII.
We listened, and artist Gil Cohen drew Ed into the forefront of the scene.
When Ed first saw Pegasus, that big, affable, Midwestern grin spread across
his face. Although he could plainly see his likeness in his figure, he made
us confirm, again and again, that that was him. When he first signed the prints
in August 2010 at an event in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida, he’d pull every
visitor to the hospitality room aside and ask, “Do you think that looks
like me?”
They’d say “Yes it does!” and Ed would nod and smile. He
just loved hearing it.
When Ed was sick, Erica Makos, of Valor Studios, delivered an enlarged version
of “Operation Pegasus” to Ed, so he had something “special”
to hold onto. (Normally, Ed liked holding onto Erica, but that’s another
story!). At the time, we didn’t know how much it meant to him.
When Ed came home from
the hospital soon after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, his son-in-law
Mike Fowler, (who tirelessly cared for Ed), wrote:
Ed got home today. He's doing pretty well and his spirits definitely improved.
The first thing he asked for was to see his print from Valor Studios titled
"Operation Pegasus." I got a picture of him with the print to share
with everyone here (see photo above). We even got a big smile out of him.
He's very relieved to be back in his own home.
Ed is extremely proud of this print because it is the first one that was done
that specifically includes him (he's the soldier on the left holding the rifle)…Ed
has relayed this story to me before and he was always fond of saying "That
mission would have been a lot easier if we didn't have to deal with the language
barrier."
Always positive,
always humorous, steadfast, and in love with life, this is how we will remember
Ed Mauser. “Operation Pegasus” is just a small reminder of a great
man. But, Ed never thought of himself in such a grand way, evident by some
of his last words:
"I was part of a unit made up of the greatest guys in the world - Easy
Company” – Ed Mauser
We recommend the
following story about the life of Ed Mauser, a great American.
Cohen, having studied under renowned illustrator and author, Henry C. Pitz and World War II combat artist, Albert Gold, graduated the Philadelphia Museun School of Art ( now the University of the Arts ) in 1953. Years later, Gil returned there to teach figure drawing, anatomy and illustration from 1966 to 1986, eventually chairing the Continuing Studies Illustration Program.
Prior
to beginning his art career, Gil spent two years in the army. During that
time, he was stationed outside of Frankfurt, West Germany as an artist with
the 513th Military Intelligence Group, US Army Europe, during the height of
the Cold War.
Cohen’s primary career has been that of a freelance illustrator and
painter of historical subjects. Clients during this 50 year plus span of time
have included: The National Park Service, Paramount Pictures, Bantam books,
Harlequin Books, Random House, Holt Rinehart & Winston, Warner-Lambert,
The U.S. Coast Guard, The National Guard Bureau, and Boeing & Sikorsky
Aircraft Companies.
Gil Cohen’s passionate interest in aviation started as a youngster during the Second World War. Gil became quite proficient at identifying the many types of aircraft that flew over the Philadelphia area where he was born and raised. Many years later he was able to blend three of his deep interests ( painting, history and aviation ) and would go on to produce his stunning series of paintings depicting scenes of Eighth Air Force activities during World War II. Gil’s emphasis in this series was not only to depict a specific moment in history, as well as actual aircraft, but most importantly, the human element; i.e., human task at hand, emotions being experienced and energy released.
The original oil paintings of the series based upon the Eighth U.S. Army Air Force during World War II are in private collections around the world. Limited Edition reproductions of this series are marketed worldwide; some of which are sold out and are only available on the secondary market.
A one-man show of Gil Cohen’s Aviation paintings, including the well known Eighth Air Force series, was exhibited at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Heritage Museum in Savannah, Georgia from December, 1988 through May, 1999.
Cohen, Artist Fellow, former Vice-President and former Exhibition Committee Chair of the American Society of Aviation Artists ( ASAA ), is currently filling the Ren Wicks Founder’s Chair of ASAA. Cohen is a four time winner of “The Award of Distinction” of ASAA juried exhibitions as well as the ASAA Service Award in 2007. He is also the recipient of the British Guild of Aviation Artists “Best of Show” by an American artist and the “Best of the Best” award sponsored by Aviation Week & Space Technology Magazine. Cohen has conducted artist’s workshops on the topic, “The Human Figure in Pictorial Composition” for ASAA.
Gil Cohen’s paintings have been exhibited at the New York Society of Illustrators, The National Parks Civil War battlefield sites of Appomattox Court House, Gettysburg, Mannasas, Chickamauga, and Petersburg, The Kosciuszko Museum and The Art Alliance in Philadelphia, The Kennedy Center in Washington,D.C., The Colorado Springs Fine Art Center, The Royal Air Force Museum in London, The U.S. Air Force Museum in Dayton, as well as the Mighty Eighth Air Force Heritage Museum.
For several years Cohen served on the Board of Directors of the New York based Society of Illustrators chairing the Government Services Program which oversaw the Air Force Art Program. In that role he had sent many artists around the world to depict the mission of the U.S. Air Force. His own travels with the Air Force have taken him to such places as war-torn Bosnia, Somalia, Central Asia and Israel. Paintings generated from these trips are donated to the U.S. Air Force Art Program.
In July
2005, a reception of Cohen’s aviation prints was held at the Duxford
Flying Legends Air Show in England. Guests signing Cohen’s prints included
22 WW II veterans of the Royal Air Force. Another Duxford reception was held
the following year featuring RAF Pathfinder veterans and former members of
the famous Eagle Squadron.
and the distinguished veterans who made this print possible.
