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Hallamshire World War Two Photo Album


RichardB

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£600.

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"Here I offer an original WW2 photo album which belonged to Major Leslie Michael Lonsdale-Cooper 79990 ..Hallamshire battalion , York and Lancaster Regiment . There are approx. 210 original photos ..within the album and loose .. There is also his Hallamshire commendation certification for Conspicuous Gallentry in Normandy and Belgium ( awarded Military Cross ) , a Hallamshire Christmas card 1944 ...and one of his original Secret war time maps with his penned in details of enemy positions , Frontlines etc etc Villers Bocage to lower part of map , key to reverse map scale 1.25.000 dated July 1944...this map alone may well be worth in excess of £100 , but I have chosen to leave in with the album . Album is weighty 1.5 kg and measures approx. 12 inches by 10 inches .. there are some captions within the album and to rear of photos . Major. Lonsdale-Cooper is seen throughout the album ....he is the young man on right hand side in boat deck listing image .

The major was a frontline soldier who experienced combat against some of Germany's toughest soldiers in Normandy , Belgium and Holland ( 2nd battle of Arnham ) . The albums contents cover a few photos taken in Iceland , photos taken in training , photos taken in Europe during the war and at wars end ...Please note British soldiers were not permitted to carry cameras into combat zone , so there are no photos taken of actual combat .

Many of the photos were taken in the German town of Arnsberg at the end of WW2 where the Hallamshire's were based . There is a photo which shows the bombed Rohrenwerk Johannes Surmann munitions factory .

There are several photos which show Hallamshire's posing in front of signs with their Polar bear emblem .a Number of large group photos where individual faces can be clearly seen when zoomed in on . There are photos showing training with mortars , canons , bren guns etc . Photos of bomb damage to buildings , damaged bridges , Italian POWs ( presumably taken prisoner by the Germans ) , plently of uniformed photos , a few photos of planes ..226 squadron bombers and avro anson which were used as his "taxi's" . My favourite photo shows a group of Hallamshires posing on troopship home ..caption on reverse says "Homeward bound Battle scarred veterans" ...real Band of Brother's stuff !

Major Lonsdale-Cooper was awarded the Military cross for conspicous gallantry in Normandy and Belgium during 1944 .

He is mentioned several times in the webpage on "Sheffield at War " an account of the Hallamshire's battles through Europe ..feel free to click on the link if interested in some reading matter

http://www.sfbhistory.org.uk/Pages/SheffieldatWar/Page07/Page07c.html

Some background information .

The Hallamshires first saw action in WW2 as part of the ill fated Norwegian campaign in 1940. The battalion arrived with the 146th Infantry brigade . They were ashore for twelve days seeing limited action and losing their only casualties on the journey home when one of their transports was sunk.

The battalion spent the next two years "defending" Iceland before returning to Scotland for garrison duties and to prepare for the invasion of North West Europe . The Hallamshires landed in France on 9 June 1944 with the 49th Infantry Division and moved into the front line four days later. Twelve days after landing the Hallamshires were involved in the attack on Fontenay-le-Pesnel (Operation Martlet) against the 26th Panzer Grenadier Regiment. The attack was successful but at the expense of 123 members of the battalion killed or wounded.

The battalion was involved in the capture of the docks at Le Havre before the Germans could destroy the vital installations. Here they captured 1,005 prisoners, three Dornier flying boats and a submarine. In September, the Hallamshires crossed the Antwerp-Turnhout canal . During the winter months, the battalion served in the Nijmegen salient and participated in the liberation of Arnhem in April 1945, their final action in World War II. Eleven months had seen the battalion suffer 158 killed and 689 wounded .

This is an extremely rare album ...something for the serious WW2 collector .

I have a copy of Don Scott's excellent book 'Polar bears From Sheffield '. Which I'm happy to part with ( for an additional payment ) ..This is a weighty book which gives a full and detailed account of the Hallamshire Battalion during WW2 , the major is mentioned in many places ..I believe Don interviewed around 40 surviving veterans during it's production ...and I had the pleasure of talking with the last surviving member of the battalion ..Arthur Green."

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