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A tribute to one of the most historic combat missions during the Normandy Invasion
VITAL ASSAULT
by Simon Smith
The Collectors Edition
Under determined enemy fire early on the morning of 6 June 1944, the men of Dog Company, US 2nd Ranger Battalion, scale the sheer ninety-foot cliffs of the Pointe du Hoc in one of the most dramatic and courageous assaults of World War II. Their mission – the audacious frontal attack on a battery of heavy German guns which threatened the imminent landing on Omaha Beach.
The Allies believed Pointe du Hoc to be the most dangerous battery on the Normandy coast. If the D-Day landings were to succeed, the guns that threatened the American beaches had to be destroyed.
Sited on a high rocky headland jutting out into the sea four miles to the west of Omaha beach, Pointe du Hoc would be a tough nut to crack, protected to seaward by near-vertical cliffs and, on the land side, by a web of intricate defenses. To take it would need a crack unit and the task was given to three companies of the US 2nd Ranger Battalion and, on the morning of 6 June 1944, the Rangers would need to call on all of their elite training.
Scaling the 90-foot cliffs under relentless enemy fire, the first Rangers hit the top intent on destroying the guns – guns that had remained ominously silent. The French Resistance had been right; the guns had been moved. The Americans quickly sent out patrols in search of their quarry and soon found the guns, hidden in an orchard and trained directly on Utah beach, ready to fire. They were swiftly destroyed with grenades but the men now had to hold their ground enduring ferocious fighting for almost two days before reinforcements could get through.
Simon’s piece Vital Assault, one of the most dramatic depictions of the assault on Pointe du Hoc, portrays the men of Dog Company as they unleash a withering volley of return fire, forcing the Germans to retreat. With the prints personally signed by veterans that fought with the US 2nd Ranger Battalion, this dramatic edition is an authentic account of this most historic and famous battle.
THE COLLECTORS EDITION SIGNATURES
Joining artist Simon Smith in individually signing the print are two distinguished veterans who took part in the assault of Pointe du Hoc with the US 2nd Ranger Battalion:
CaptainGEORGE KLEIN
Private 1st ClassVINCE HAGG
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Please note: The signatures on our pieces are not reproductions; they are original autographs, hand-signed by the veterans involved.
