Physical Description
Framed watercolor portrait painting on paper of a young man in a United States Army captain’s uniform. His face is relaxed, with brown eyes in an intent gaze. He wears an olive green garrison cap displaying silver captain's bars over his short, dark hair. His body is angled to the left and his shoulders droop under a khaki colored shirt and tie with epaulets displaying silver captain's bars. On his left sleeve is the insignia of the 7th US Army: a blue triangle with a yellow stepped pyramid and red interior triangle. Above the left breast pocket is a row of bar ribbons: yellow with 2 sets of red and blue stripes; red with a blue center stripe; and green with multicolored stripes and a gray center star. The background is muted tan and brown. The portrait has an unfinished appearance. The frame is brown-stained wood with gold trim along the interior edge. The artist's signature and date are in the top left.
Dimensions
overall: Height: 22.125 inches (56.198 cm) | Width: 17.125 inches (43.498 cm)
pictorial area: Height: 18.500 inches (46.99 cm) | Width: 13.500 inches (34.29 cm)
Materials
overall : wood, glass, paper, paint, wire, rubber
Signature
front, above left shoulder, script, black paint : G.W. Byfield / Dachau. Germany / July 1945
Contributor
Artist:
George Byfield
Subject:
William A. Bridgforth
Subject:
George Byfield
Biography
Gyorgy Beifeld (born Gyorgy Beamter, later George Byfield, 1902-1982) was born in Budapest, Hungary, on April 4, 1902 to Wilhelm and Hermine Hacker Beamter. His father was killed in 1917 while serving in the army during World War I. Gyorgy attended university and was trained as a lawyer, but earned his living as a stockbroker in Budapest. He was also an accomplished artist and was fluent in Hungarian, English, French, and German.
On April 1, 1942, Gyorgy was conscripted into the Hungarian Labor Service (Munkaszolgalat) and sent to a camp in Pomac, Hungary. Gyorgy began painting immediately after his induction, creating watercolors of the base camp in Hungary where the company was initially stationed. On April 20, 1942, Gyorgy's company departed by train for the Russian front in Orel. Their duties included building fortifications, transporting ammunition, constructing bridges and roads, laying mines, burying the dead, and carrying away the wounded. During this time, he made a visual record of his experiences, creating over 400 drawings and watercolors. He was wounded on August 28, 1943 at Prilutskiy. At the end of 1943, Gyorgy was sent home to Budapest.
On May 12, 1944, Gyorgy was arrested and held in a camp in Velence near Budapest for six months. He was assigned prisoner number 27990. On December 25, he was deported to Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany and worked as a draughtsman. In January 1945, he was transferred to Offenburg. In April, he was sent on a death march to Dachau concentration camp. The camp was liberated by the United States 7th Army on April 29, 1945.
Gyorgy returned to Budapest then immigrated to Australia in 1948. Following his move to Australia, he changed his name to George Byfield and opened a tobacconist shop with his wife. He later ran a successful interior design studio.
Retired Major William Adams Bridgforth participated in the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp in Germany, on April 29, 1945. At the time, he was a Captain in the United States 7th Army, European Theater, where he served as a supply officer. He was married to Burgess K. Bridgforth and they had three children. Bridgforth, age 81, died in 1997 in Johnson City, Tennessee.
