The Last Drop: 75th Anniversary of Operation Varsity

[Panzercommander HOH]

THE LAST DROP: 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF OPERATION VARSITY


Commemorating the 75th Anniversary of Operation Varsity - the largest single-day and last major airborne operation of the Second World War.

I've been hard at work the past few weeks on this Operation Varsity photoshoot. Running late per usual, I finished set up and photography by dark on the 24th. Editing and organizing the photos took longer than expected - but here they are...


Special Thanks To:


Dick (HammerSix) - for letting me borrow some of his FLAK crates and magazine boxes made by Dennis (The Toy Surgeon) and for letting me use his Bobby Dalto telephone pole.

Jaime ( montañes68 ) - for encouragement, enthusiasm, and support in this endeavor

Josh (JOSH51st) - for historical and technical support, as well as encouragement and enthusiasm. The medic figure definitely wouldn't have happened without him.

Zack (panzerzacker) - for encouragement, enthusiasm, and support in this endeavor as well as our shared interest in the operation.





2ND BATTALION
507TH PARACHUTE INFANTRY REGIMENT
17TH AIRBORNE DIVISION


DROP ZONE W


DIERSFORDT, GERMANY


24 MARCH 1945



HAVING JUST LANDED, PART OF A RIFLE SQUAD OCCUPIES A FLAKVIERLING PIT QUICKLY VACATED BY ITS FORMER LUFTWAFFE OCCUPANTS. THEIR NEXT MOVE IS TO CLEAR THE DIERSFORDTERWALD.


















































































































































































































The Medic:

[SteveKrieg]

Grand stuff Fred, very impressive storytelling supported most ably by a cast of finely-equipped paras (and well honed detailing with the position itself. Funnily enough, for my 101st efforts last year, I was looking at having a Vierling taken out by paras as one of the vignettes covering the pre-dawn jump but opted out of the idea because I had used a Vierling the year prior for the 'Achtung Jabo' scene...glad you were able to bring to life the idea. Out of interest, where did you find the 2cm ammo container that opens?. Cheers for sharing, Steve

[jbcat]

Some superb pics

[Hammer's Africaners]

That's some fantastic work!
Fantastic set up, figures and equipment. Pictures also.

[Hammer Six]

Outstanding job Fred. Love the flak pit and all the eye candy that is in almost every scene.

[Kev Longino]

Excellent work and a very cool tribute

[JOSH51st]

Fantastic work Fred. I know you put a ton of time into this dio and it shows. The second pic looks like it was taken straight from a history book. The Flak pit is great, love the cut log walls and all the German items strewn throughout the scene. Great job on the medic too, great separate scene within the bigger scene. Fantastic and congrats.

-JOSH

[montañes]

Thank you Fred for sharing, the effort and time you put in this project well worth the final result. Congratulations again for such a superb scene.

Jaime.

[Squidley]

Oh wow! What a great photo shoot!

Thanks so much for getting out there and doing something like this.

[Market Garden]

Simply an incredibly awesome effort!!

[Ostfront43]

So awesome of a display. So many details to take in. As always Fred, I totally enjoy your photo re-creations of history! And the write up of the events depicted in the photos. Thank you and those who assisted and helped you bring the results we enjoy here!!

[Panzercommander HOH]

I must have done something really right to receive 10 replies to my photoshoot on SAG these days!

THANK YOU!

It really means a lot to me that you took the time to say something. The compliments are fantastic and greatly appreciated!

I'm glad everyone thoroughly enjoyed the photoshoot!

Thank you again for the kind words!

Fred

P.S. Steve - the working 2 cm FLAK magazine containers were made by Dennis (thetoysurgeon here on SAG). If you need more info on them, try searching the board by his username. The four I used in my photoshoot were borrowed from my friend and fellow club member Dick (Hammer Six).

[kelly]

fantastic pictures and set up. its visible that you put a lot of work, money and love in this setup. all the small details like the metal end caps on all the straps, corecting the length of them, the helmet straps with the loops, Lift a dot on all canteens, cartrige belts....., buckles on the suspenders, making the helmet fit tight. and the use of alle the nice gears from SS , DID, DML, BGT and newline

work on us figures can be a pain in the ... and to find the stuff you need, is it also.

[SteveKrieg]

Cheers Fred,

I was thinking of scratch-building a couple that but is worth keeping in-mind. Once again, great effort. Steve

[Panzercommander HOH]

Originally Posted by kelly

fantastic pictures and set up. its visible that you put a lot of work, money and love in this setup. all the small details like the metal end caps on all the straps, corecting the length of them, the helmet straps with the loops, Lift a dot on all canteens, cartrige belts....., buckles on the suspenders, making the helmet fit tight. and the use of alle the nice gears from SS , DID, DML, BGT and newline

work on us figures can be a pain in the ... and to find the stuff you need, is it also.

Exactly, kelly!

Thank you! You get it!

I really appreciate the kind words and recognizing the work that went into this photoshoot.

Glad you enjoyed the photos and as always, it would be great to see more of your US projects!

Thanks again!

Fred

P.S. You're welcome, Steve. Glad the information on the FLAK magazine boxes was helpful!

[Pangaea95]

Awesome shoot!!! Love all the lil details

[Panzercommander HOH]

Thank you, Randy!

Very much appreciated!

Fred

[thunderclap]

Very nice touch with the black and white pics!! Another outstanding display!!

[niall68]

Fabulous!

Loved your photo story of 'Ron Vostald US paras in operation Varsity!

[tankfan0720]

Nice attention to detail. Love the Mauser with bolt back and helmet on the ground -someone left in a hurry! The black and white photos are great and have a vintage feel. Excellent details - looks like a nice field to set up in. Thanks for keeping this forum alive!
Bob

[Panzercommander HOH]

niall68, tankfan0720, and thunderclap: THANK YOU!

The Ron Volstad artwork for the 1:35th scale Operation Varsity paratroopers ( http://www.dragon-models.com/d-m-item.asp?pid=DRA6148 ) (and thus Garrett White's box art) definitely piqued my interest in Varsity and led to what we see here in this thread.

Glad you guys bumped this thread and thank you very much for the kind words!

Much appreciated!

- Fred