FOR THE FIRST TIME ON PUBLIC DISPLAY …EXCEPTIONALLY RARE AND ORIGINAL WW2 SAS OFFICERS PEAK CAP , WW2 SAS OFF-WHITE BERET AND OTHERS HERE IN AND AMONGST NOW THE UK’S LARGEST PRIVATELY OWNED SAS COLLECTIONS ON PUBLIC DISPLAY .
ABOVE; AN ORIGINAL AND VERY RARE WW2 SAS OFFICERS PEAK CAP
ORIGINAL RARE SAS PEAK CAP AS WORN AT THE SAS HEADQUARTERS IN HEREFORD . (NOT THE BEST PICTURES AS VERY DIFFICULT TO PHOTOGRAPH TO SHOW THE ACTUAL COLOURS )
INSIDE OF THE ABOVE PICTURED ORIGINAL RARE SAS PEAK CAP AS WORN AT THE SAS HEADQUARTERS IN HEREFORD .
IF IN THE LOCALITY OF THE FOREST OF DEAN , GLOUCESTERSHIRE AND HAVE AN INTEREST IN THE SAS AND UK SPECIAL FORCES …. DO PAY A VISIT
BELOW IS A BRIEF PICTORIAL INSIGHT INTO SOME OF THE VARIOUS LIMITED EDITION COMMEMORATIVE SAS PLATES AND OTHER MEMORABILIA ITEMS HERE ON DISPLAY
SAS “WHO DARES WINS” AND UK SPECIAL FORCES EXHIBITION HERE AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION , LITTLEDEAN JAIL , UK
ABOVE IS A TRIBUTE COLLAGE POSTER RELATING TO THE STORMING OF THE IRANIAN EMBASSY ON THE 5 MAY 1980 SIGNED BY PETE WINNER, NOW AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE BOTH AT PETE WINNER EVENTS AND ALSO AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL .
WINNER EVENTS AND ALSO AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL .
ABOVE IS A GREAT OPERATION NIMROD TRIBUTE VIDEO
BELOW IS A GALLERY OF IMAGES FROM A RECENT MEDIA LAUNCH AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION, LITTLEDEAN JAIL … SAS WHO DARES WINS AND UK SPECIAL FORCES EXHIBITION ….. ALSO BEING IN ADVANCE OF AN EVENING EVENT WITH SAS HERO PETE “SNAPPER” WINNER – SOLDIER i , iAT THE OAKLANDS SPORTS AND SNOOKER CLUB , CINDERFORD , FOREST OF DEAN, GLOUCESTERSHIRE , UK.
BELOW IS A UNIQUE COLLAGE DEPICTING PETE WINNER AND HIS EQUALLY HEROIC COLLEAGUES WHO FOUGHT IN THE SAS OPERATION STORM AT BATTLE MIRBAT 19 JULY 1972. THESE ARE AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE AT PETE “SNAPPER” WINNER EVENTS AND ALSO AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL (PLEASE NOTE …. THIS PARTICULAR POSTER WAS SIGNED TO ADVERTISE AND PROMOTE AN EVENING WITH EVENT BACK IN 2014 , ALL OTHER SIGNED POSTERS WILL NOT HAVE THIS WORDING INCLUDED , AND CAN BE PERSONALLY DEDICATED BY PETE )
BELOW IS A VIDEO INTRODUCTION INTO SOME OF THE HEROIC ANTICS OF SAS TROOPER… PETE WINNER TAKEN FROM HIS WEBSITE , DO VISIT IT DIRECTLY FOR MORE INFORMATION (LINK HERE … http://www.soldierisas.com/ )
ABOVE IS A TRIBUTE COLLAGE POSTER RELATING TO PETE WINNER IN HIS SAS BLACK KIT, SIGNED BY HIMSELF AND NOW AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE BOTH AT PETE WINNER EVENTS AND ALSO AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL .
BELOW IS AN EXTRACT TAKEN FROM PETE WINNER SOLDIER “I” WEBSITE
( http://www.soldierisas.com/ )
I first became aware of the Special Air Service Regiment when I was a young sapper serving with 10 Airfield Construction Squadron Royal Engineers during the emergency in Aden in 1967 – my first operational tour of duty.
The SAS, in 1967, was a secret organization and there were all sorts of rumours flying around about what “The Regiment” was up to. I was intrigued. It seemed far more exciting than repairing bulldozers, getting covered in oil and grease all day long.
Little did I know that in less than five years I would be part of this elite unit and facing hundreds of Communist shock troops at the Battle of Mirbat.
I withdrew from Aden in November 1967 on one of the last flights out before the Communist regime took over. Tactical withdrawal they called it. To me it was abject surrender. I also felt I could no longer continue in the Royal Engineers, my enthusiasm for this kind of soldiering had gone.
I made my mind up there and then that when I got back to the UK I would find out more about the SAS and how I could join.
Back in the UK the regimental chief clerk of 10 Field Sqn. explained to me the procedure for applying for SAS Selection. I immediately lodged my application and within a few months found myself on the Brecon Beacons taking part in a series of gruelling Bergen (backpack) marches over very rough terrain.
Mentally and physically I was well prepared because there was no way I was going back to the bullshit and drill that was the Royal Engineers and after three weeks of exhaustive tests I cracked the greatest physical challenge of my life – the Endurance March – forty-six miles across the Brecons with a fifty-five pound Bergen in twenty hours. To pass this final march guaranteed you a place on Continuation Training. This training included weapons and explosives, first aid, resistance to interrogation training and one month in the Far East on jungle training. All with the pressure of knowing that one mistake and you could still end up back in the Engineers.
SUCCESS! The prize was mine. After six months of intense training I became the proud owner of the famous badge and SAS wings.Out of the original 135 runners who had put themselves forward for Selection only 17 made it to the Colonel’s office for the presentation of the beret and wings.
I was now badged and posted to 8 Troop, Land Rover Troop, “B” Squadron. I was pitched straight into squadron life and briefed on an operation that was going to take place in a few months; to retake Dhofar – a province in southern Oman – from Communist insurgents. My first SAS operation and I was going to get a crack at the regime that humiliated the British Army back in 1967! At the time I was not to know that in less than two years it would all end up with me fighting in the last conclusive battle against Communism that would help to bring down the Berlin Wall seventeen years later.
The Battle of Mirbat, 19th July 1972, was a well planned, determined attack by hundreds of Communist shock troops against nine SAS soldiers – a modern day Rorke’s Drift that became famous in military circles but because it was part of a secret war it was a relatively unknown event in the eyes of the public.
Eight years later I was involved in another spectacular “B” Squadron result when we achieved what many considered the impossible – the rescue of the hostages at the Iranian Embassy Siege in May 1980.
For my part, I felt immense personal satisfaction and pride at being involved in two of the greatest SAS Operations of modern times. Both Operations would live forever in Regimental history.
Both victories had been gained through faultless teamwork, immense physical courage and flexibility in the face of overwhelming odds.
Pete Winner, August 2010
HERE BELOW ARE A FEW IMAGES OF SOME OF THE PERSONALLY CONTRIBUTED EXHIBIT PIECES THAT SPECIFICALLY RELATE TO SAS TROOPER PETE WINNER AKA “SOLDIER “I” … THESE BEING ON DISPLAY AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION, LITTLEDEAN JAIL IN AMONGST OUR EVER EXPANDING SAS WHO DARES WINS & UK SPECIAL FORCES ” EXHIBITION .
PETE WINNER SIGNED POSTER
PETE WINNER SIGNED POSTER
IRANIAN EMBASSY SIEGE FINAL ASSAULT SIGNED ILLUSTRATION
REAR OF IRANIAN EMBASSY AT TIME OF THE FINAL ASSAULT , SIGNED BY PETE WINNER
PETE WINNER SIGNED POSTER
COPY OF ORIGINAL HAND DRAWING RELATING TO SIEGE BY PETE WINNER ALSO SIGNED BY HIM
PETE WINNER SIGNED COLLAGE
S6 GAS RESPIRATOR AND HOLDALL SIGNED BY PETE WINNER
S6 GAS RESPIRATOR SIGNED BY PETE WINNER
PETE WINNER SIGNED POSTER
SAS SIGNED BY VARIOUS TROOPERS, POSTER
FRONT ELEVATION ASSAULT OF IRANIAN EMBASSY
ROOF ACCESS AND INTERNAL ASSAULT OF IRANIAN EMBASSY
ROOF ACCESS AND INTERNAL ASSAULT OF IRANIAN EMBASSY
ROOF ACCESS AND INTERNAL ASSAULT OF IRANIAN EMBASSY
ROOF ACCESS AND INTERNAL ASSAULT OF IRANIAN EMBASSY
ROOF ACCESS AND INTERNAL ASSAULT OF IRANIAN EMBASSY
REAR AND INTERNAL SIDE VIEW OF IRANIAN EMBASSY SIEGE FINAL ASSAULT
REAR ELEVATION ASSAULT OF IRANIAN EMBASSY
ORIGINAL NEWSPAPER FEATURING THE FINAL ASSAULT ON THE IRANIAN EMBASSY SIEGE
COMMEMORATIVE SAS OPERATION NIMROD PLATE AND MUG
COMMEMORATIVE SAS OPERATION NIMROD PLATE AND MUG
Personally signed (and original) signatures on this 9×6 print which depicts the SAS soldier known as Soldier 1 who survived ther Battle of Mirbat , was an Iranian Embassy Siege Assulter and parachuted into the seas off the Falklands during that Conflict with the Argentinians, assulting the Embassy from the back plus also signed by Pete Scholey (author of the Joker and SAS Heroes) who was with the Advance Party and helped install surveillance equipment
At 6 am on 19 July 1972 the PFLOAG attacked the British Army Training Team (BATT) house, which housed the nine SAS soldiers, based just outside the Port of Mirbat. The PFLOAG (locally known as the Adoo) attacked the SAS BATT house knowing that to be able to reach the Port of Mirbat they would first have to defeat the SAS guarding the approach to the town in Jebel Ali, a series of small desert slopes leading to the Port.
The Officer in Command, Captain Mike Kealy observed the waves advancing on the fort, but did not order his men to open fire because he thought it was the “Night Picket” coming back from night shift, which were a loyal group of the Omani Armypositioned on the slopes to warn the BATT house of Adoo troop movements. Realising that the Night Picket must have been killed, due to them not warning the SAS of the assault Mike Kealy ordered his men to open fire. Mike Kealy along with other members of the team took up positions behind the sand-bag parapet on the roof of the BATT house, firing at the Adoo withL1A1 SLRbattle rifles, with one man firing the Browning M2HBheavy machine gun, with a further two men on ground level operating and firing an infantry mortar surrounded by sand-bags. The Adoo were armed with AK-47assault rifles, and were mortar bombing the area around the BATT house. Kealy ordered the signaller to establish communications with SAS Headquarters at Um al Quarif, to request reinforcements.
There were also a small number of Omani Intelligence Service personnel in the BATT House, a small contingent of Pakistani soldiers and a member of British Military Intelligence seconded to the OIS who joined the team on the roof and fired on the Adoo with SLRs and other small arms. Initially some of the Pakistani soldiers were reluctant to join the defence of the fort because their roles with the BATT were largely administrative, but they obeyed orders from Mike Kealy and the British Military Intelligence Corporal
Overflying the BATT House, Mirbat.
Knowing that the SLRs would not be of full use until the Adoo were closer than the weapon’s range of 800 metres, and lacking more heavy firepower, Sergeant Talaiasi Labalaba made a run for the 25 Pounder Artillery Piece which was positioned next to a smaller fort which stationed nine Omani Army Special Forces soldiers, who had not played a part in the battle. The Omani policeman who was guarding the weapon had been seriously wounded. Talaiasi Labalaba managed to operate the weapon, which is a six-man job, himself and fire a round a minute at the approaching Adoo, directing their attention away from the BATT house. Kealy received a radio message from Talaiasi reporting that a bullet had skimmed his face, and was badly injured, and was struggling to operate the gun by himself. At the BATT house Kealy asked for a volunteer to run to Talaiasi’s aid. Trooper Sekonaia Takavesi volunteered to go.
Sekonaia Takavesi ran from the BATT house, with the remaining men providing covering fire, in an attempt to distract the Adoo. Sekonaia ran the 800 metres through heavy gunfire, and reached the gun emplacement. Sekonaia tried to give aid to his injured friend, while firing at the approaching Adoo with his personal weapon. Realising that they needed help, Sekonaia tried to raise the small number of Omani soldiers inside the smaller fort, and Walid Khamis emerged. The only Omani Gendarmerie Officer in the Mirbat Fort was LieutenantHassan Bin Ehsan Bin Naseeb. The remaining Omani soldiers in the fort engaged the enemy with small arms fire from firing positions on the roof and through the windows of the fort As the two men made it back to the emplacement, the Omani soldier fell wounded after being shot in the stomach with a 7.62 mm bullet. Adoo continued to advance upon the BATT house, and artillery emplacement. At one point, the Adoo were so close Sekonaia and Talaiasi fired the weapon at point blank range, aiming down the barrel. Talaiasi crawled across a small space to reach a 60 mm Infantry Mortar, but fell dead after being shot in the neck. Sekonaia, also shot through the shoulder and grazed by a bullet to the back of his head continued to fire at the approaching Adoo with his personal weapon. The squad signaller sent messages through to the main Forward Operating Base, to request air support and medical evacuation for the men in the gun emplacement.
Inside the BATT House at Mirbat
Captain Kealy and Trooper Tobin made a run to the artillery piece. Upon reaching it, they dived in to avoid increasingly intense gunfire from the Adoo. Sekonaia continued to fire on the attackers, propped up against sand bags after being shot through the stomach (the bullet narrowly missing his spine). The Adoo threw several hand grenades, but only one detonated, exploding behind the emplacement with no one injured. During the battle, Trooper Tobin attempted to reach over the body of Talaiasi. In so doing, Tobin was mortally wounded when a bullet struck his face. By this time, BAC Strikemaster light-attack jets of the Sultan of Oman’s Air Force had arrived, and began strafing the Adoo in the Jebel Ali. With a low cloud base making for low altitude attack runs, only machine-guns and light rockets were used.Reinforcements arrived from G Squadron and, defeated, the PFLOAG withdrew at about 12:30. All wounded SAS soldiers were evacuated, and given medical treatment, Trooper Tobin eventually died in hospital not due to the multiple gunshot wounds but to an infection in his lung caused by his splintered tooth which he had aspirated when his bottom jaw was blown off by an AK-47 round.
BELOW IS A TRIBUTE VIDEO PERFORMED BY SWEDISH HEAVY METAL BAND – SABATON FEATURING AN INSIGHT INTO THE BATTLE OF MIRBAT .
TRUE CRIME , MURDERABILIA, MAIMERABILIA, DISMALABILIA, WITCHCRAFT, SATANISM AND THE OCCULT …. IT’S ALL HERE AND MUCH MORE ON DISPLAY AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION , LITTLEDEAN JAIL, FOREST OF DEAN , GLOUCESTERSHIRE , UK .
ABOVE: Original painting by Gloucestershire artist Paul Bridgman of John Wayne Gacy on display at Littledean Jail .
All of Gacy’s known murders were committed inside his Norwood Park, Illinois home. His victims would typically be lured to this address by force or deception, and all but one victim were murdered by either asphyxiation or strangulation with a tourniquet (his first victim was stabbed to death). Gacy buried 26 of his victims in the crawl space of his home. Three further victims were buried elsewhere on his property, while the bodies of his last four known victims were discarded in the Des Plaines River.
Gacy became known as the “Killer Clown” due to his charitable services at fundraising events, parades, and children’s parties where he would dress as “Pogo the Clown”, a character he devised himself.
BELOW : Various exhibit items to include one of Gacy’s “Pogo The Clown ” suits , handwritten and signed correspondence , a hand painting and various other memorabilia, all of which is on display here at The Crime Through Time Collection , Littledean Jail , Forest of Dean , Gloucestershire, UK .
ABOVE AND BELOW : One of John Wayne Gacy’s original worn clown suits. There are two other known Gacy clown suits on display at The National Museum of Crime , Washington DC , USA .
BELOW: picture of 2 other Gacy clown suits, on display at The National Museum of Crime, Washington DC ….. Previously owned ( not sure if he still owns them ) by Jonathan Davis, lead singer of American Heavy Metal Band “Korn .”
ABOVE: John Wayne Gacy pictured in jail, so say, shortly before his execution by lethal injection
BELOW IS AN ICONIC POSTER SIGNED BY JOHN McALEESE AS JOHN MAC PICTURED HERE ON THE FRONT BALCONY AT THE TIME OF THE FINAL ASSAULT ON THE IRANIAN EMBASSY 5 MAY 1980
“WHO DARES WINS” …. WITH OUR ALWAYS HEROIC AND NO HOLDS BARRED SAS (SPECIAL AIR SERVICE) HERE AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION , LITTLEDEAN JAIL., FOREST OF DEAN, GLOUCESTERSHIRE,UK. AND NOT FORGETTING OF COURSE THE SBS (SPECIAL BOAT SERVICE) , UK SPECIAL FORCES , BRITISH POLICE AND OTHER EMERGENCY SERVICES , ETC .IT’S ALL COVERED AND TOUCHED UPON HERE AT THE JAIL.
MORE ITEMS BEING ADDED TO THE COLLECTION ON AN ONGOING BASIS , MAKING THIS A PERMANENT AND UNIQUE ADDITION TO THE DIVERSE COLLECTIONS HERE ON DISPLAY .
BELOW IS THE ORIGINAL METROPOLITAN POLICE FORENSIC EXHIBIT IDENTIFICATION TAG (FORM 420) THAT WAS ATTACHED TO THE WEAPON FIRED BY SAS TROOPER- JOHN McALEESE DURING THE IRANIAN EMBASSY SIEGE ON THE 5TH MAY 1980. PERSONALLY SIGNED BY BOTH HIM AND THE INVESTIGATING OFFICERS WHO WERE HANDED ALL THE USED WEAPONS AFTER THE SUCCESSFUL OPERATION . NOW ON DISPLAY AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL AS PART OF THE “SAS -WHO DARES WINS” EXHIBITION
Original various SAS Counter Revolutionary Warfare(CRW) black-kits and Bravo Two Zero desert warfare kit as on display at Littledean Jail’s …. SAS WHO DARES WINS COUNTER REVOLUTIONARY WARFARE (CRW) EXHIBITION
HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL IN AND AMONGST OUR MANY DIVERSE TRUE CRIME AND OTHER INEXTRICABLY LINKED COLLECTIONS , MEMORABILIA AND EPHEMERA, WE ALSO PROVIDE AN INTRIGUING INSIGHT AND BRIEF EXHIBITION TOUCHING UPON THE HEROICS OF THE BRITISH ARMY’S SAS, INCLUDES THE 1980’S IRANIAN EMBASSY SIEGE, SAS BLACK ASSAULT KITS, WEAPONRY, AUTHENTIC SAS SIGNED ITEMS , COMMEMORATIVE AND PRESENTATION PIECES,SAS ACTION MAN FIGURES ……….. TO NAME BUT A FEW ITEMS HERE ON DISPLAY .
AN EVER GROWING SAS EXHIBITION WELL WORTH A VISIT,.SO IF IN THE AREA PLEASE DO COME AND SEE IT…..
BELOW ARE A FEW IMAGES OF SOME OF THE HEROIC FORMER SAS COMMANDERS, SOLDIERS ETC THAT WE FEATURE HERE ON DISPLAY IN OUR BRIEF SAS EXHIBITION HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL ALONG WITH A PICTORIAL INSIGHT INTO JUST A FEW OF THE EVER INCREASING ARRAY OF SAS MEMORABILIA AND EPHEMERA HERE ON DISPLAY AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL
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Original various SAS Counter Revolutionary Warfare(CRW) black-kits and Bravo Two Zero desert warfare kit as on display at Littledean Jail’s …. SAS WHO DARES WINS COUNTER TERRORISM EXHIBITION
BELOW ARE A FEW MORE IMAGES OF VARIOUS ADDITIONAL SAS COUNTER REVOULTIONARY WARFARE (CRW) – BLACK-KIT ITEMS NOW HERE ON DISPLAY ALONG WITH AN EVER INCREASING ARRAY OF ORIGINAL SAS USED EQUIPMENT AND OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST.
HOPEFULLY OF HISTORICAL REFERENCE PURPOSES TOO FOR VARIOUS FORUMS RELATING TO THE SAS , OPERATION NIMROD – IRANIAN EMBASSY SIEGE (1980)
HERE BELOW IS SOME SCARCE ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY FOOTAGE FROM THE 1980 IRANIAN EMBASSY SIEGE .
WE ARE OBVIOUSLY KEEN TO WORK WITH OR ALONGSIDE ANY RELEVANT SAS RELATED FORUMS AND INVITE ANY CONTACTS FOR FUTURE PRIVATE ACQUISITIONS FOR DISPLAY HERE IN THE FUTURE .
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Original various SAS Counter Revolutionary Warfare(CRW) black-kits and Bravo Two Zero desert warfare kit as on display at Littledean Jail’s …. SAS WHO DARES WINS COUNTER TERRORISM EXHIBITION
Original various SAS Counter Revolutionary Warfare(CRW) black-kits and Bravo Two Zero desert warfare kit as on display at Littledean Jail’s …. SAS WHO DARES WINS COUNTER TERRORISM EXHIBITION
HERE AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL WE FEATURE THE BRITISH SECRET AGENT – VIOLETTE SZABO, ALONG WITH OTHER SOE HERO’S AND HEROINES, SAS (SPECIAL AIR SERVICE) AND OTHER UK SPECIAL FORCES.
NOT FORGETTING OF COURSE OUR WW2 NAZI HOLOCAUST EXHIBITION FOR WHICH WE FEATURE AND INCLUDE MANY OF THE ABOVE WHO HAD BEEN CAPTURED, TORTURED AND SUBSEQUENTLY EXECUTED BY THE NAZI’S DURING THIS HORRIFIC PERIOD.
WE ALSO HAVE A NUMBER OF PERSONALLY SIGNED EXHIBIT ITEMS KINDLY DONATED TO THE MUSEUM AND ON DISPLAY FROM VIOLETTE SZABO’S DAUGHTER – TANIA WHO HAS CARRIED ON THE LEGACY OF HER MOTHER SINCE HER DEATH IN 1945 .
SOE HEROINE VIOLETTE SZABO
VIOLETTE’S DAUGHTER TANIA
ORIGINAL FILM POSTER FROM THE EPIC FILM BASED ON VIOLETTE SZABO
TANIA SZABO PROUDLY SHOWING HER MOTHER’S MEDALS SHE RECEIVED POSTHUMOUSLY TO ANDY JONES OF THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL
BELOW ARE A FEW PICTURES TAKEN AT A RECENT GET-TOGETHER AND CATCH-UP WITH TANIA , DAUGHTER OF WW2 S.O.E. ( SPECIAL OPERATIONS EXECUTIVE ) HEROINE – VIOLETTE SZABO … PARTICULARLY SPECIAL WHEREBY SHE KINDLY BROUGHT ALONG AS A SURPRISE , HER MOTHERS GEORGE MEDAL , CROIX DE GUERRE AND THE MEDAILLE DE LA RESISTANCE FOR WHICH TANIA HAD RECEIVED POSTHUMOUSLY AS A YOUNG CHILD. A GREAT PRIVILEGE TO HAVE SEEN AND HELD SUCH A HISTORICALLY IMPORTANT PIECE OF HISTORY .
ANDY JONES WITH VIRGINIA McKENNA AT A RECENT VIOLETTE SZABO MEMORIAL EVENT AT THE VIOLETTE SZABO MUSEUM , WORMELOW IN 2014
Below is a signed image of Tania Szabo wearing the medals she received posthumously for and behalf of her mother Violette now on display at the Crime Through Time Collection
SOE HEROINE VIOLETTE SZABO
VIOLETTE WITH DAUGHTER TANIA
TANIA SZABO
TANIA SZABO WEARING HER MOTHERS MEDALS
TANIA SZABO WEARING HER MOTHERS MEDALS
TANIA SZABO
ACTRESS VIRGINIA McKENNA WITH TANIA SZABO
SOE HEROINE VIOLETTE SZABO
SOE HEROINE VIOLETTE SZABO
SOE HEROINE VIOLETTE SZABO
SOE HEROINE VIOLETTE SZABO
SOE HEROINE VIOLETTE SZABO
SOE HEROINE VIOLETTE SZABO
SOE HEROINE VIOLETTE SZABO
VIRGINIA McKENNA SIGNED FILM STILL
VIRGINIA McKENNA SIGNED FILM STILLS
VIRGINIA McKENNA SIGNED FILM STILL
VIRGINIA McKENNA SIGNED FILM STILL
TANIA SZABO VISITS LITTLEDEAN JAIL
CARVE HER NAME WITH PRIDE FILM POSTER
CARVE HER NAME WITH PRIDE FILM POSTER
CARVE HER NAME WITH PRIDE FILM POSTER
ANDY JONES WITH TANIA SZABO AT A RECENT VIOLETTE SZABO MEMORIAL EVENT AT THE VIOLETTE SZABO MUSEUM , WORMELOW IN 2014
ANDY JONES WITH VIRGINIA McKENNA AT A RECENT VIOLETTE SZABO MEMORIAL EVENT AT THE VIOLETTE SZABO MUSEUM , WORMELOW IN 2014
TANIA SZABO AT THE UNVEILING OF THE PLAQUE COMMEMORATING HER MOTHER AND OTHER SOE MEMBERS IN 2013
TANIA SZABO’S BOOK ON HER MOTHER
1ST DAY COVER SIGNED BY WW2 SOE HEROINE ODETTE HALLOWES ALONG WITH TANIA SZABO
1ST DAY COVER SIGNED BY WW2 SOE HEROINE NANCY WAKE
HERE AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION , LITTLEDEAN JAIL, FOREST OF DEAN, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, UK ….. WE FEATURE MANY OF THE UK’S SPECIAL FORCES INCLUDING PERSONAL TESTAMENTS TO MANY OF OUR HEROINES INCLUDING SOE VIOLETTE SZABO WHO WAS CAPTURED , TORTURED AND MURDERED BY THE NAZI’S AT RAVENSBRUCK CONCENTRATION CAMP IN 1945 (AGED 23)
Violette Szabo was born Violette Reine Elizabeth Bushell in Paris, on 26 June 1921, the second child of a French mother and an English taxi-driver father, who had met during World War I. The family moved to London, and she attended school in Brixton until the age of 14. At the start of World War II, she was working at the perfume counter of Le Bon Marché, a department store in Brixton.
Violette met Étienne Szabo, a French officer of Hungarian descent, at the Bastille Day parade in London in 1940. They married on 21 August 1940 after a whirlwind 42-day romance. Violette was 19, Étienne was 31. Shortly after the birth of their only child, Tania, Étienne died from chest wounds at the Battle of El Alamein in October 1942. He had never seen his daughter. It was Étienne’s death that made Violette, having already joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service in 1941, decide to offer her services to the British Special Operations Executive (SOE).
Below shows Violette with her husband Etienne
After an assessment for fluency in French and a series of interviews, she was inducted into SOE. She received intensive training in night and daylight navigation; escape and evasion, both Allied and German weapons, unarmed combat, demolitions, explosives, communications and cryptography. In his book “Das Reich” Max Hastings comments that Szabo was adored by the men and women of SOE both for her courage and endless infectious cockney laughter. An ankle injury during parachute training delayed her deployment until 5 April 1944, when she parachuted into German-occupied France, near Cherbourg.
Under the code name “Louise”, which also happened to be her nickname, she and SOE colleague Philippe Liewer reorganised a Resistance network that had been broken up by the Germans. She led the new group in sabotaging road and railway bridges. Her wireless reports to SOE headquarters on the local factories producing war materials for the Germans were important in establishing Allied bombing targets. She returned to England by Lysander on 30 April 1944, landing at RAF Tempsford, after an intense but successful first mission.
Second mission
She flew to the outskirts of Limoges, France on 7 June 1944 (immediately following D-Day) from RAF Tempsford. Immediately on arrival, she coordinated the activities of the local Maquis (led by Jacques Dufour) in sabotaging communication lines during German attempts to stem the Normandy landings.
She was a passenger in a car that raised the suspicions of German troops at an unexpected roadblock that had been set up to find SturmbannführerHelmut Kämpfe of the Das Reich Division, who had been captured by the local resistance.
A brief gun battle ensued. Her Maquis minders escaped unscathed in the confusion. However, Szabo was captured when she ran out of ammunition, around midday on 10 June 1944, near Salon-la-Tour. Her captors were most likely from the 1st Battalion of 3rd SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment Deutschland (Das Reich Division). In R.J. Minney’s biography she is described as putting up fierce resistance with her Sten gun, although German documents of the incident record no German injuries or casualties. A recent biography of Vera Atkins, the intelligence officer for the French section of SOE, notes that that there was a great deal of confusion about what happened to Szabo—the story was revised four times—and states that the Sten gun incident “was probably a fabrication.”
Interrogation, torture and execution
She was transferred to the custody of the Sicherheitsdienst(SD) (SS Security Service) in Limoges, where she was interrogated for four days. From there, she was moved to Fresnes Prison in Paris and brought to Gestapo headquarters at 84 Avenue Foch for interrogation and torture. In August 1944, she was moved to Ravensbrück concentration camp, where over 92,000 women died. Although she endured hard labour and malnutrition, she managed to help save the life of Belgian resistance courier Hortense Clews.
Violette Szabo was executed, aged 23, by SS firing squad on or about 5 February 1945. Her body was cremated in the camp’s crematorium.
Three other women members of the SOE were also executed at Ravensbrück: Denise Bloch, Cecily Lefort, and Lilian Rolfe. Of the SOE’s 55 female agents, thirteen were killed in action or died in Nazi concentration camps
BELOW ARE SOME BRIEF IMAGES OF AN ORIGINAL WW2 “F.A.N.Y” (FIRST AID NURSING YEOMANRY ) – WTS (WOMENS TRANSPORT SERVICES ) UNIFORM COMPLETE WITH ITS ORIGINAL WW2 ISSUE GAS MASK … AS WOULD HAVE ALSO BEEN WORN BY VIOLETTE SZABO DURING HER DUTIES PRIOR TO HAVING BEEN SECONDED TO THE SOE (SPECIAL OPERATIONS EXECUTIVE ) AS A BRITISH SECRET AGENT .
A VERY SCARCE AND HIGHLY SOUGHT AFTER HISTORIC ITEM IN ITS OWN RIGHT DISPLAYED HERE TOO IN AND AMONGST OTHER WW2 F.A.N.Y , ATS, WTS ETC ETC WOMEN IN WARTIME MOVEMENTS
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