Rivenhall, Essex Giclée Art Print

Original illustration of RAF/USAAF Rivenhall, depicting it as it was on 24 March 1945, when Operation Varsity - the largest airborne operation in history - was launched from RAF Rivenhall, alongside a number of other airfields. In total, aircraft from Rivenhall towed sixty gliders over the Rhine, striking into the heart of Germany. In all, Operation Varsity saw over a thousand gliders, alongside hundreds of transport aircraft, escorted by more than two thousand fighters. Depicted here in the foreground is a Horsa glider, while behind that can be seen a Short Stirling.

After the war, RAF Rivenhall became the Kelvedon Polish Displaced Persons Camp, a home for Polish refugees fleeing the Soviet Union, including many former soldiers and their families. All told, around 120,000 Polish servicemen settled in Britain, many joined by their wives and children, bringing the total to around a quarter of a million people.

They were succeeded on the site in the 1950s by Marconi, who used it for radar testing for many years. Today, much of the site is derelict, with large areas given over to a local quarry - though some buildings, including those depicted here, still stand as ruins.

This Essex illustration by artist Rob Wisdom is a high-quality Giclée art print on cotton-rich fine art paper. It is also available as an RAF Rivenhall, Essex Travel Poster.

12x16" art print shown. Cropping and title position (if applicable) may differ slightly on 'A' size art prints.