Paratrooper’s shock at ‘bizarre’ discovery of city plaque abroad

Dundee coat of arms found at Battle of Arnhem commemorations in the Netherlands

Dundee is known as the City of Discovery for its incredible achievements but one travelling Taysider made his own remarkable find when he uncovered a piece of local history on an overseas trip.

Paratrooper Harry Mitchell came across a stall selling an official Dundee coat of arms plaque while attending the recent Battle of Arnhem commemorations in the Netherlands .

He snapped up the shield for the modest sum of €5 from a market area near the drop zone for the Second World War battle on September 21.

As with all coats of arms made in Scotland, it was registered by the Lord Lyon King of Arms, and is marked as such on the rear.

It was made by MW Stephens Heraldic Woodcarver of Blairgowrie and is dated from 1997.

A version of the arms were in use by the royal burgh of Dundee as early as

“

I thought this has to be a joke. I asked the Dutch guy where on earth he’d got it from but he said he didn’t know.

HARRY MITCHELL

1416 with the present incarnation first recorded in 1673.

It was regranted to the city following local government upheavals in the latter part of the 20th Century.

Harry was visiting the Netherlands with fellow members of the Tayside Branch of the Parachute Regimental Association (PRA).

The 59-year-old, who is originally from Kirkton but now lives in Arbroath, was left puzzled after spotting the goodas-new plaque.

He said: “It was the first stall I went to and there it was sitting clearly on the table.

“I thought this has to be a joke. I asked the Dutch guy where on earth he’d got it from but he said he didn’t know.

“Being from the city, I know the coat of arms, of course and recognised it straight away.

“I thought €5 was pretty cheap. I’d probably have paid €50 for it to be honest. Some of the other guys joked that he probably lied and had a box full of them underneath the stall. He didn’t of course. It was totally bizarre.”

Operation Market Garden, the largest airborne assault in history, saw thousands of allied troops parachute, or land by glider, behind enemy lines in September 1944.

The ill-fated mission was designed to carve a route into northern Germany and bring an early end to the war.

Harry Mitchell and the plaque, right, with the stallholder in Arnhem.