Description
First they would appear as small, fast-moving specks on the distant horizon. Jinking over the treetops, they closed on their target at frightening speed. By the time the distinctive shape of the P-38 Lightning became recognizable it was often too late for evasive action and within seconds another strafing mission would add to the devastation, disruption and confusion meted out by the marauding P-38 pilots of the 8th Air Force.
From February through to the early summer of 1944, Allied pilots played havoc with the German forces amassing in preparation for the inevitable invasion. Flying from bases in England every day that weather permitted, they struck at the operational nerve-centers, destroying or seriously damaging over 1500 enemy aircraft, 1000 locomotives, hundreds of vital bridges and critically disrupting the enemy’s communications. There was no let-up.
At the forefront of these daring low-level attacks were P-38 Lightnings. Lockheed’s twin-boomed, twin-engined fighter proved its worth as a long-range fighter escort and quickly became the scourge of the German ground forces in Northern Europe.
It was an especially nerve-wracking form of combat. Highly dangerous yet exhilarating and, unlike escort missions, guaranteed that pilots would use up their ammunition before a hair-raising low-level journey home across the Channel.
In Robert Taylor’s panoramic painting, P-38J Lightnings of the 364th Fighter Group return from a strafing mission over France in the summer of 1944. Making their land-fall at just 100 feet, they skim across an estuary on England’s south coast, near the old village of Bosham.
With his unmistakable skill and vivid imagination Robert cleverly contrasts the exhilaration of the low-level combat flying, with the peaceful atmosphere of a quiet coastal setting, emphasizing that curious blend of war and peace that was the daily lifestyle of the World War II flyer.
This classic aviation painting provides collectors with a wonderful study of a memorable warbird.
THE SIGNATURES
Each copy of Robert Taylor’s new Masterworks Series Two edition Coming In Over the Estuary is individually hand-signed by the artist and countersigned by five distinguished P-38 Aces who flew the P-38 in combat in the European Theater.
Colonel DARREL G. WELCH DFC – 1st FG / 5 victories
Major NEWELL O. ROBERTS DFC – 364th FG / 5 victories
Lieutenant Colonel FRANK D. HURLBUT DFC – 82nd FG / 9 victories
Major JACK M. ILFREY – 1st FG / 7 ½ victories
Major THOMAS E. MALONEY DFC – 1st FG / 8 victories
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