Description
A powerful tribute to “Shorty” Rankin, one of the best-known Aces in Zemke’s wolfpack. John created it while working on his iconic painting “The Warrior and the Wolfpack.”
Robert “Shorty” Rankin joined the Army Reserves as a Private in 1941. He served as an Aviation Cadet, and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant, and rated a pilot in April 1943. Posted to England, in August he joined the 61st Fighter Group, flying P-47Ds and scored his first victory, an Me109 over Paris in early 1944. His tally of victories continued to rise quickly, and on May 12 he achieved Ace status when, during the same combat, he downed a total of five enemy Me109s over Germany in the space of thirty minutes. “Shorty” got the last of his 10 air victories, another Me109, on June 7th.
THE SIGNATURES
This highly detailed drawing has been signed by the artist and framed by our expert team to include the original autographs of celebrated Aces that served with the 56th Fighter Group:
Colonel ROBERT “SHORTY” RANKIN – 10 victories
Lieutenant Colonel ROBERT S. JOHNSON – 27 victories
Brigadier General LES C. SMITH – 7 victories
Colonel HUBERT “HUB” ZEMKE – 17 ¾ victories
Colonel BILLY GENE EDENS – 7 victories
Colonel FRANCIS “GABBY” GABRESKI – 34 ¼ victories
Colonel WALKER “BUD” MAHURIN – 24 ¼ victories
This is a rare opportunity to own original artwork by one of the world’s most collected aviation artists.
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