By the summer of 1944, Giles was pushing for a more active role and, in September, he received the licence of a War Corresponant and pips of an army captain.
He soon discovered, however, that plying his trade on the battlefield was far from straight forward...
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First providing cartoons for Reynold's News, his talents were further employed by the Ministry of Information creating animated shorts and then, from 1943 with the Daily and Sunday Express - an association which would last for over 45 years.
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Giles may have spent the final months of the war in Europe in uniform, but his battledress was a recent addition.
Blind in one eye and deaf in one ear, he had initially been rejected for military service, so he turned to the pen rather than the sword.
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🪖 HARDY - 1st May 1945
One of the foremost cartoonists of the 20th century, Carl Giles' reputation was earned on merit but born in war.
Such was his wartime fame that, #OTD in 1945, he became the star of a series of photographs...
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Image: IWM (B 14887)
Ooh. Suit you, sir!
Captured from the enemy was it, sir?
Lined with fur, is it?
Ooh. Suit you.
#OTD in 1945, Field Marshal Montgomery was photographed inspecting a Canadian infantryman's winter apparel (dialogue may have deviated from that stated).
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For McQueen, such opportunities were denied. Like too many of his generation, his life had been cut short by war.
Unlike his comrades, he was tragically unable to walk away from the landing of that eventful flight of 9th February 1945.
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Mather had a longer road to recovery though, using contacts, he succeeded in extending his army career into the 1960s before entering parliament himself. He was Conservative MP for Esher from 1970 to 1987 and received a knighthood for his services.
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Harden was treated for his wounds and, less than a week later, was photographed by Ted Malindine recounting the story of his miraculous escape.
Later awarded the DSO, he left the army after the war and, between 1948 and 1954 served as MP for Armagh.
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With remarkably little damage, the plane came to rest in a ditch, cutting Harden's head open in the process.
The two officers were able to scramble clear of the wreckage and get a lift back to headquarters.
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Harden wrangled with the stick while the wounded Mather reached up above his head to operate the flap handle.
Gradually, the pair of first time flyers coaxed the Auster downwards over a low wood and into a small field.
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The plane stayed straight and level, but their friend was slumped in the pilot's seat. McQueen had been killed instantly.
Neither Mather nor Harden, who instinctively grabbed the controls, had flown an aircraft before, and the plane was losing height...
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All went to plan until, 1,000 feet above Grave, the plane was attacked a FW 190. Cannon shells ripped through the Auster.
Mather, sat in the back, was wounded in the arm, bottom, leg and kidney. Harden was luckier, but his troubles were far from over.
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Behind the controls was a familiar face - the quiet, but popular Scotsman, Flight Lieutenant Alastair McQueen. A man of "scholarly disposition" the 30 year old University of London graduate had become a great friend of the pair.
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On Friday 9th February, he and fellow Military Cross recipient Captain Carol Mather climbed into a lightweight Auster bound for Nijmegen to survey the progress of the allied advance.
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Harden (seated, second left) was one of a number of liaison officers employed by Field Marshal Montgomery with the brief to get out, gather information and report back to the Tactical Headquarters of 21st Army Group.
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🪖 MALINDINE - 15th February 1945
They say any landing you can walk away from is a good one.
However, AFPU photographer Captain Ted Malindine would have been forgiven for doubting that when he met Major Dick Harden #OTD 80 years ago...
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The war in Europe would drag on into 1945.
Coghlan, Stapleton, Hardy and those in the congregation would, no doubt, experience much in that time, but for the moment, they had time to pause and consider the word becoming flesh.
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Alongside Coghlan was the local priest (pictured) and another #WW1 veteran, Monsignor Joseph Stapleton. Senior Catholic Chaplain to 21st Army Group, he'd earned the OBE for his work in the Middle East.
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The service was led by Monsignor John Coghlan, Principal Roman Catholic Chaplain to the Army. A veteran of #GreatWar, he'd travelled the globe as a padre and added to his #WW1 mention in despatches and Croix de Guerre with a CBE for service with the BEF in 1940.
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🪖 HARDY - 24th December 1944
In 1944, a khaki-clad congregation gathered in the church at Boug Leopold for #MidnightMass.
Standing at the back of the church, AFPU cameraman, Sgt Bert Hardy captured the liturgy unfolding.
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Image: IWM B 12896
Image: IWM B 12895
🪖 LAING - 13th December 1944
The British Army in N W Europe didn't only encounter military traffic. #OTD in 1944, Brighton Bridge on the main road near Eindhoven was blocked by a fallen horse.
It took 20 minutes to clear and held up hundreds of military vehicles.
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Image: IWM B 12802
Image: IWM B 12803
Image: IWM B 12804
Image: IWM B 12805
🪖 STIGGINS - 12th December 1944
The mail always gets through.
Much to the delight of soldiers of the British Liberation Army, #OTD in 1944, 1 Corps Army Post Office was busy processing the Christmas mail.
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So ends an interesting series of images. Contrived and captured by photographer Bert Hardy, an expert at his art, as a reminder of the role of one line of communication in Holland 80 years ago.
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In darkness, our Don R found journey's end - a message delivered and the welcome of a warm billet.
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Back making progress, the DR relied on a mix of local landmarks, the Dutch police and, as darkness fell, his map, to guide the way.
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Neither were on hand to help with another occupational hazard - a flat tyre. Like the rest of the series, the shots are staged, but they give insight nonetheless.
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Further along the road, a soldier of the RASC offered a fire beside which he could warm himself and grab something to eat.
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Relief was on hand, though. Here, a Dutch woman offers our frozen Don R a warming cup of tea.
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There was no engineering solution to the cold, though, and hands clasped round handlebars soon became numb.
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The Royal Engineers took away some of that pain, however, with bridges providing a less soggy passage.
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