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| CLICK HERE FOR A FULL LIST OF ALL NICOLAS TRUDGIAN PRINTS BY TITLE |
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Maj Gen Corran Purdon
He joined the Royal Ulster Rifles in 1939 hut was wounded and captured whilst with the Commando's in St Nazaire in 1942. Purdon, who was awarded the Military Cross for his exploits, was sent, with several other officers, to Spangenberg prisoner of war camp near Kassel in Germany. He and a colleague soon managed to escape and, despite being in uniform, remained at large for nine days, travelling only by night. They were eventually caught at a railway station. After escaping from Spangenherg and on his return to captivity he joined in digging a tunnel for a planned mass escape, but it was discovered by guards. As an unrepentant would-be escaper, he was transferred to Colditz, near Dresden in June 1943, where he was involved in several escape attempts until liberated in 1945. Once liberated from Colditz, he re-joined the Royal Ulster Rifles and was posted to Palestine when the regiment was attached to the 6th Airborne Division for the fraught peacekeeping duties that preceded the contested foundation of the state of Israel in 1948. Later assignments included a course at staff college and an attachment as a major to the staff of Far East land forces in Singapore. He took command of his regiment as a lieutenant colonel in 1964 and as such was involved in the Indonesian–Malaysian confrontation that stemmed from Indonesia's opposition to the creation of Malaysia. Purdon was then detached to Oman for two years to take charge of the sultan's armed forces as a brigadier, a posting that led to him being appointed CBE. He later became general officer commanding the North-West district as a major general. His last army appointment was as general officer commanding the Near East land forces based in Cyprus, retiring in 1976. Maj Gen Corran Purdon died on 27th June 2018 aged 97
| Maj Gen Corran Purdon - Signed Nicolas Trudgian Aviation Art Prints Pilot and Aircrew Signatures |
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| Text for the above items : |
Colditz - Under New Management by Nicolas Trudgian. Colditz - a forbidding medieval castle near Leiptzig, Germany - remains one of the most potent symbols of the Second World War. Reputed to be the Nazis most escape proof prison, this grim castle is the most notorious PoW camp in history with the distinction of being the only German prison that had more guards than prisoners. The castle was specifically used to impound incorrigible, Allied officers who had repeatedly escaped from other camps but putting so many experienced serial escapers in one place proved to be a rather questionable idea. Despite more conventional escape routes gradually being sealed off by the Germans, members of The Colditz Escape Academy continued to jump, tunnel and sneak out of this inescapable prison in surprising numbers. Early in the war Hermann Goering made a public declaration that Colditz was escape proof but he was to be proven wrong time and time again, and over 300 attempts were made during the course of the war, with more than 130 prisoners escaping and 31 successfully reaching home. When captured the result was three weeks in the solitary confinement block, however this didn't stop prisoners inventing even more elaborate means of escaping, even catapulting themselves out of high windows and of course the famous design and building of a sophisticated glider. This new edition, reproduced from a pencil drawing by Nicolas Trudgian, depicts the imposing castle shortly after being liberated by American troops in April 1945. In the foreground below a Sherman Tank of the 9th Armored Division stands on watch, close to the sign that was erected by the US 69th Infantry Division. |
| Maj Gen Corran Purdon Squadron details |
| Maj Gen Corran Purdon Aircraft details |
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