Description
A TRIBUTE TO THE AMERICAN BOMBER CREWS OF THE US 8th AIR FORCE
“As for the American bomber crews, they were the bravest of the brave, and I know that I am speaking for my own bomber crews when I pay this tribute.”
Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur “Bomber” Harris
The winter of 1944 / 45 wasn’t the coldest ever recorded in England but it came close. The weather was bitter and, in what would turn out to be the last Christmas of the war, temperatures plunged across the country, bringing ice, freezing fog and deep banks of drifting snow.
Airfields across East Anglia stood bleak and frost-bound, runways kept clear of snow when conditions allowed, whilst the heavy bombers of the US Eighth Air Force remained under wraps, engines oiled, warmed and ready for any break in the banks of murky fog that would allow them to fly. And when those breaks came, the bombers were back in action ready to play their part in the final destruction of Hitler’s Third Reich. The end game was rapidly approaching and both sides knew it.
The Eighth Air Force flew its final bomber operations of the war on 25 April 1945, the last of 968 combat missions involving over 523,000 sorties; they had dropped some 700,000 tons of bombs, inflicting destruction on a scale from which the enemy could never recover. Yet the cost of the victory in which they had played such a major part made for sober reading; they had lost some 6,130 bombers and fighters along with some 47,000 casualties, including more than 26,000 dead – half of the entire US Army Air Force losses during the conflict.
THE SIGNATURES
Earning the nickname “The Bloody Hundredth” because of the heavy losses they suffered, the print is personally signed by ten veterans who served with the 100th Bomb Group. By endorsing the edition, their autographs help to create a historically important collector’s piece to be cherished for future generations:
THE LIMITED EDITION
Joining artist Robert Taylor in signing every print are three distinguished aircrew who flew B-17s on operations with the 100th BG from Thorpe Abbotts during WWII:
Captain ROBERT SHOENS
First Lieutenant JOHN CLARK
First Lieutenant JAMES RASMUSSEN
THE COLLECTOR’S EDITION & ARTIST PROOFS
Adding great historical credence, these memorable ten signature editions are additionally signed by a further seven B-17 aircrew who flew with the 100th BG:
Lieutenant Colonel HENRY “HANK” CERVANTES
Major JOHN “LUCKY” LUCKADOO
Staff Sergeant LEWIS PAYNE
Staff Sergeant ALBERT ARREOLA
Staff Sergeant ALBERT FREITAS
Staff Sergeant LEWIS HERRON
Staff Sergeant JOE URICE
This is a historic edition carrying outstanding original autographs.
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