Description

Gordon Giltrap

Gordon Giltrap is highly regarded as one of the worlds greatest guitar players. He has been at the forefront of acoustic guitar playing since the late 1960 s and has released more than thirty albums in his four decades in the music business. Over that time he has worked or collaborated with so many great names including Sir Cliff Richard, Brian May, Midge Ure, and Martin Taylor.

Based on a 1944 D-Day Mandolin

Based on a 1940’s mandolin originally owned by a US Serviceman who fought at and survived the Omaha beach landings The Gordon Giltrap Vintage ‘D-Day Mandolin’  has been faithfully reproduced by Vintage as a poignant reminder of the sacrifices made over 70 years ago by those servicemen and women, and the importance of musical instruments in raising morale during wartime conflict.

During landings at Omaha beach on June 6, 1944, one of the servicemen carried with him a 1940 Regal mandolin, typical of the budget war issue instruments that were popular at that time. A message scratched onto the upper side reads: “God helped us. USS LCT 639 hit Omaha beach off France on June 6 1944.” This original mandolin is possibly one of the most important and historic musical instruments of the Second World War. Not only did its owner survive the D-Day exercises, it also went to Omaha beach and returned. With the detective work of Hilary Giltrap (the wife of Gordon) the famous mandolin has been brought it into the spotlight.

Features

• Includes zero-gravity case for transportation
• Based on a 1944 D-Day Mandolin that was taken to war
• White Ash Body with Nyatoh Neck
• Aged Hardware to replicate the original
• Tonally responsive and very easy to play