HELPING HAND

Description

The scene is a familiar one back in 1944. A damaged B-17 Flying Fortress, down on power and speed, has lost touch with the formation and is alone in a hostile sky – easy prey for the enemy fighter. With crew members injured and unable to bale out, the skipper has elected to stay with his ship in an effort to bring his crew home.

All on board knew the drill: Once hit, damaged, slowed down and unable to maintain their position in the formation they were on their own. Losing height and dropping out of the relative safety of the group they would become a prime target for the marauding high-altitude fighters of the Luftwaffe, and their chances of survival would be slim.

But this day was different. Their luck was in! High above, a P-51 Mustang long-range escort pilot, himself low on both fuel and ammunition and weary from combat with German fighters, has assessed the plight of the B-17 and closed in to “ride shotgun” for the long journey home.

Published in 1989, each print in the edition is individually numbered and hand-signed by the artist, Robert Taylor.

THE MULTI-SIGNED COLLECTOR’S PIECE

This print was kept aside and over a period of many years  at signings and Gallery events, was autographed by the following FORTY highly distinguished USAAF Aircrew:

Major THOMAS GRIFFIN – Navigator / Bombardier on the Doolittle Raid, Crew #9 -Target Tokyo
Lieutenant Colonel DONALD CUMMINGS – 38th Fighter Group Mustang Ace / 6 ½ victories including 2 jets
Captain JOHN MINECH – 647th Squadron, 410th Light Bomb Group / 65 missions, two on D-Day
Senior Master Sergeant VERNON MAIN – 3rd Bomb Group / Flew B25s in the Royce Raid & Pacific
Colonel WALKER ‘BUD’ MAHURIN – 56th Fighter Group (Wolfpack) P-47 Ace/ 24 ¼ victories
Lieutenant Colonel ROBERT A. KARR – 52nd Fighter Group Mustang Ace / 6 victories
General JAMES E. HILL – 365th Fighter Group Thunderbolt Ace/ 6 victories, including one in a F-80
Captain JAMES KUNKLE – 370th Fighter Group P-38 pilot / Flew armed recon over the D-Day beaches & Falaise
Second Lieutenant LOWELL STEWARD – 332nd Fighter Group / Tuskegee Airman
Captain FRED S. LOSCH USMC – VMF-214 “Black Sheep” / Shot down a Zero & damaged another
Colonel ARTHUR “ART” FIEDLER – 325th Fighter Group Mustang Ace / 8 victories
Lieutenant Colonel THOMAS EMRICH USMC – VMF-214 “Black Sheep” / 2 victories
Lieutenant Colonel BOB GOEBEL – 31st Fighter Group Mustang Ace/ 11 victories
Brigadier General CHARLES McGEE – 332nd Fighter Group Tuskegee Pilot / 3 victories, flew more combat missions than any other USAAF pilot in history
Major HARRY JOHNSON USMC – VMF-214 “Black Sheep” / Shot down a Zero
Lieutenant Colonel ERNEST BANKEY – 364th Fighter Group Mustang Ace / 11 ½ victories
Brigadier General BRUCE J. MATHESON USMC – VMF-214 “Black Sheep” / 3 victories
First Lieutenant CLINT WHITE – 31st Fighter Group Mustang pilot / Flew operations in Italy, Germany & Eastern Europe
Colonel JAMES PATTILLO – B- 29 Pilot / 26 combat missions in Burma, China, and Japan
Captain CLAYTON KELLY GROSS – 354th Fighter Group Mustang Ace / 6 victories
Colonel RICHARD “DICK” DENISON – 386th Bomb Group /40 combat missions flying C-47s, A-20s & B26s
Captain JACK “FOX” OLSEN – 475th Fighter Group P-38 pilot / 105 Pacific combat missions
Colonel CLARENCE “BUD” ANDERSON -357th Fighter Group Mustang Ace/ 16 ¼ victories
Lieutenant Colonel CLYDE EAST – 10th Photo Recon Group Mustang Ace / 14 ½ victories
First Lieutenant KEN SHARP – 388th Bomb Group, B-17 pilot
Lieutenant Colonel RICHARD E. COLE – Doolittle Raider / Jimmy Doolittle’s Co-Pilot, Crew #1 – Target Tokyo
Lieutenant Colonel JOHN S. LOISEL – 8th Fighter Group P-39 Ace / 11 victories
Lieutenant Colonel RALPH NUTTER  – 458th Bomb Group B-17 Navigator / Also flew B-29s in the Pacific
Chief Warrant Officer MICHAEL J. NOVOSEL Medal Of Honor – 283rd Medical Detachment / Two tours on Hueys in Vietnam
Brigadier General ROBIN OLDS – 479th Fighter Group P-38 & Mustang Ace / 17 victories (including 4 in Vietnam)
Colonel ROBERT “SHORTY” RANKIN – 56th Fighter Group P-47 Ace / 10 victories
Master Sergeant EDWARD SAYLOR – Doolittle Raider / Flight Engineer /Gunner, Crew #15 – Target Kobe
Major General DONALD STRAIT – 356th Fighter Group, Thunderbolt and Mustang Ace / 13 ½ victories
First Lieutenant RAYMOND “TED” CONLIN DFC – 357th Fighter Group Mustangs  / 71 missions including D-Day & Market Garden
First Lieutenant JOHN SKARA – 357th Fighter Group Mustang pilot / Flew wingman to Bud Anderson
Colonel PERRY J. “PJ” DAHL – 475th Fighter Group P-38 Ace / 9 victories
First Lieutenant CHARLES “NORM” STEVENS – B-17 Bombardier with the 351st Bomb Group
Captain JIM BROOKS – 31st Fighter Group Mustang Ace/ 13 victories
Lieutenant Colonel WILLIAM W FOARD – 357th Fighter Group Mustang pilot / Took part in the unit’s main escort missions
Captain JOSEPH M. FORSTER – 475th Fighter Group P-38 Ace / 9 victories