Photographic exhibition by Robin Savage at the Mezzanine Gallery, AirSpace, IWM Duxford
Produced by Airborne Assault – The Museum of the Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces with Helion Books Tuesday 29 April to December 2014
As part of our commemoration of the 70th anniversary of D-Day, we present D-Day -The Last of the Liberators, a collection of photographic portraits featuring some of the last surviving British Normandy veterans.
This poignant photographic exhibition records, in a unique way, the stories of these remarkable individuals and their emotional but dignified return to the locations, in many cases the exact spot, which are tied to their most profound personal memories of the campaign; places where they saw action or were wounded, where they experienced instances of miraculous chance in the field or where they witnessed the loss of friends through the horror of battle.
The 15 photographs in the exhibition are a selection from a new book of the same name. The photographs were taken in Normandy during the 68th and 69th anniversaries of the D-Day Landings by photographer Robin Savage. They are a record of some of the final visits these brave and dignified men and women will make to the places that imprinted themselves indelibly on their lives.
Robin Savage is a London-based professional freelance photographer. He is an actors photographer and has produced portraits of some of the nation’s leading performers in theatre, film and television alongside production photographs for West End and regional theatre companies. His work has been seen in both national newspapers and magazines published throughout the UK.
One of the soldiers featured by Robin’s is William Bray whose photo is on the front cover of the D-Day – The Last of the Liberators publication by Helion Books. It will be available from the IWM Duxford shop and online at iwmshop.org.uk from May 2014.
Also featured in one of the photographs is Vera Hay. Vera trained as a nurse at Hammersmith Hospital and was one month into a four-year contract when war broke out. She endured the horrors of the Blitz whilst training and was in no doubt that she wanted to help fighting troops as soon as she could. On finishing her training in August 1943, she volunteered for the Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service and eventually found herself landing on Gold Beach about a week after D-Day. She was one of the first British nurses to land at Normandy. The 16 kilometre journey from the beach to the Chateau de Beaussy field hospital took about 24 hours to complete, avoiding German resistance en route.
D-Day -The Last of the Liberators is included in general admission to IWM Duxford. Visitors aged 15 and under enjoy free admission to the museum.
D-Day – The Last of the Liberators photographic exhibition is part of IWM Duxford’s programme of activities commemorating the 70th anniversary of the D-Day Landings.
For further information go to iwm.org.uk/d-day
IWM Duxford
IWM Duxford is Britain’s best-preserved Second World War airfield, with a fascinating history that dates back to the First World War. Its story reflects the landmark achievements made in aviation history. IWM Duxford is Europe’s premier aviation museum, where historic buildings intersperse with state-of-the-art exhibition halls, including AirSpace and the American Air Museum. Historic aircraft can regularly be seen taking to the skies from Duxford’s wartime airfield. Through the rich displays of aircraft and the powerful stories of the men and women involved, we tell the story of the impact of aviation on the nature of war, on people’s lives and on the social and economic history of the region. With one of the finest collections of tanks, military vehicles and artillery in the UK, we also show the impact of technological development on war and conflict.