"One of Northern Ireland's last Second World War veterans who helped inspire the George Clooney movie The Monuments Men, has died aged 100. 'Selfless hero' Edward 'Teddy' Dixon was born in New York but his family moved to Belfast when he was a young child. Due to his being born in US, Mr Nixon's name came up in the draft in 1944 and he served as an infantryman in the 42nd Infantry 'Rainbow' Division. Mr Dixon landed in France with his unit in December 1944 before advancing across the continent to Germany in 1945. There, he helped liberate 33,000 people kept in the Dachau Concentration Camp - where more than 188,000 political prisoners, Jews and other groups persecuted by the Nazis were held since it opened in 1933. Mr Dixon also played a role in the recovery of a treasure trove of looted art stored in salt mines during the conflict. The rescuing of the cultural treasures damaged or looted by the Nazis was later brought to life in the 2014 movie The Monuments Men, starring Hollywood heavyweights George Clooney, Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett and Bill Murray. Mr Dixon landed in France with his unit in December 1944 before advancing across the continent to Germany in 1945. As well as helping to liberate the Nazi concentration camp near Munich - which was used as a labor camp and place where medical experiments took place - he also played a role in the recovery of a treasure trove of looted art stored in salt mines during the conflict. Mr Dixon was told that he would be part of a squad of men responsible for guarding German POWs. He later discovered that those prisoners were given the task of salvaging looted Nazi artwork which was hidden 700 feet deep in the bowels of the Kochendorf salt mine in Germany. Four carts filled filled with the precious artefacts were wheeled up through the mine every day during the 14 day missing. The artefacts discovered were invaluable. Just one cache of stolen paintings contained 900 stolen works, among them the precious Stuppach Madonna, a medieval panel painting of the baby Jesus and Mary by German artist Grunewald. All had been stashed by Hitler's troops after their rampage across Europe. Their value was incalculable - one, alone, a self-portrait by Italian artist Raphael, was valued at £60million in 2014. In an interview with the BBC, Mr Dixon said: 'It was fantastic to see all the cases piled up there. 'We had head lamps on us. They were neatly stacked around the walls, heavily encased in wood.' The rescuing of the cultural treasures damaged or looted by the Nazis was brought to life in George Clooney's 2014 film The Monuments Men." www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8972761/US-consulate-leads-tributes-death-100-year-old-Second-World-War-veteran.html
