Commemorating the battle of Bir el Gubi on 19th November 1941, this limited edition print is scanned at high resolution from my original artwork.
The battle was the first action fought by 22nd Armoured Brigade during the North African campaign, on the second day of Operation Crusader. The brigade's three regiments, 2nd Royal Gloucestershire Hussars, 3rd and 4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters) attacked positions held by the Italian Ariete Armoured Division around the well at Bir el Gubi, sixty kilometres south of Tobruk. This was the first time that the Brigade’s Territorial Army troops had seen combat and, somewhat naively, they advanced line-abreast in their A15 Crusader tanks into the Italian fire. They managed to break through into the Italian positions but, without adequate infantry support, were eventually forced to retire. This may have been an inauspicious beginning to their part in the desert war but, even then, was sprinkled with numerous acts of gallantry. Quickly they learnt the ways of fighting in 'the Blue’ to become some of the most experienced armoured units of the ‘Desert Rats’.
The original painting is oil on canvas (760mm x 510mm) and the print is overall A2 (594mm x 420mm - including border, 480mm x 320mm image)
Each reproduction is printed in high definition on 170gsm Silk FSM paper. The run is limited to 500 copies, each numbered and signed.
