Description
Band of Brothers Part IV: Royal Air Force and Royal Navy Fighter Pilots of World War II
Royal Air Force and Royal Navy fighter aircrews flew combat throughout the six long years of World War II. At the outbreak of war in 1939 four RAF Hurricane squadrons and two equipped with Gladiators went immediately to France where in short time New Zealander “Cobber” Kain became the first Allied Ace of the war. In April 1940 Hurricanes and Gladiators saw action in Norway, when Rhodesian Caesar Hull of 263 Squadron became the second air Ace.
By the fall of France the new Spitfire joined in the great air battles over the Channel as British Expeditionary Force evacuated Dunkirk. Bob Stanford-Tuck, Douglas Bader, Peter Townsend, Sailor Malan, and many other great Aces gained their first victories, but with German forces massing on the French coast, the invasion of Britain looked imminent. Only RAF Fighter Command stood in Hitler’s way.
By July, the most famous of all air battles had begun. The next three months, under glorious summer skies, saw the most decisive and continual aerial fighting in history. The British victory in the Battle of Britain was to fundamentally change the course of the war and, ultimately, the course of history.
But there were four and a half more years of air battles still to be fought and won – from the English Channel Front to the North African desert, from the Mediterranean to Far East Asia. It fell to Fleet Air Arm pilots to see the last air fighting for British and Commonwealth pilots, by then equipped with Seafires and American Corsairs and Hellcats, as they took part in the final assaults on the Japanese mainland. As the last embers of hostilities faded into history the centuries old doctrine of maritime supremacy had gone Now the aircraft ruled.
In this masterful painting, Robert Taylor pays tribute to the WWII fighter aircrews of the RAF and Fleet Air Arm. A panoramic scene from the era of the Battle of Britain shows Mk I Spitfires of 234 Squadron, 10 Group’s top scoring squadron, returning to St. Eval after intercepting heavy raids on south coast ports during the heaviest fighting, in September 1940. St. Michael’s Mount, the castle built on the site of a 14th Century monastery to defend Britain’s shores from earlier enemies, provides a symbolic backdrop as once again a band of brothers is called upon to defend their Sceptred Isle.
LIMITED EDITION
Each print has been personally hand signed by the artist and hand numbered. The signed and numbered Limited Edition is also signed by the following Pilots of RAF Fighter Command:
Wing Commander BOB DOE DSO DFC* – Spitfire Ace / 234 Sqn / 14 victories
Group Captain TOM DALTON MORGAN DSO OBE DFC* – Hurricane Ace / 22 & 43 Sqn / 17 victories
Wing Commander GEORGE “GRUMPY” UNWIN DSO DFM* – 19 Sqn / 14 victories
THE FIGHTER PILOTS EDITION
With four additional RAF fighter pilots signing the main print, and two Fleet Air Arm pilots signing the exclusive companion print “PREPARING FOR ACTION,” creating a total NINE signature edition:
Flight Lieutenant JOHN SQUIER – 64, 603 & 141 Sqn / After the war as a test pilot was the first to eject at supersonic speed
Squadron Leader MAHINDER PUJJI – 43, 4, & 6 Sqn / Among the first Indian Sikh pilots to join the RAF in WWII
Wing Commander JOHN FREEBORN – Spitfire Pilot with 74 Sqn / 17 victories
Squadron Leader NEVILLE DUKE DSO OBE DFC ** – 112 & 245 Sqn / 28 victories, top scoring Allied Ace in the Mediterranean
Lieutenant Commander PETER MEADWAY (companion) – Royal Navy / took part in torpedo attacks against the Bismarck
Commander MIKECROSLEY DSC* (companion) – Royal Navy / 5 1/2 victories
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