Rivenhall, Essex Giclée Travel Poster

Original illustration of RAF/USAAF Rivenhall, depicting in the early hours of the morning on 24 March 1945, when Operation Varsity - the largest airborne assault in history - was launched from Rivenhall, alongside a number of other airfields. Aircraft flying from Rivenhall towed a total of sixty gliders over the Rhine and into the heart of Germany. All told, Operation Varsity saw more than a thousand gliders, alongside hundreds of transport aircraft, escorted by more than two thousand fighters. Illustrated here is the Horsa glider and Short Stirling aircraft.

After the war, RAF Rivenhall became home to the Kelvedon Polish Displaced Persons Camp, a home for Polish refugees fleeing Soviet occupation, including many former soldiers and their families. All told, well over 100,000 Polish servicemen settled in the United Kingdom, many of whom were joined by their wives and children, bringing the total to around 250,000 people.

They were followed on the site in the 1950s by Marconi, who used it to test radar products. Today, much of the site has been demolished, with large areas given over to a local quarry - though some buildings, including those depicted here, remain in a very dilapidated state. 

This Essex illustration by artist Rob Wisdom is a high-quality Giclée travel poster on cotton-rich fine art paper. It is also available as a Rivenhall, Essex Art Print.

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