Royal Australian Air Force
and Royal Air Force P-40 aircraft. P40 Warhawks from the Royal Australian
Air Force and RAF Curtiss Kittyhawks over Malta shown in aviation art prints published
by Cranston Fine Arts the aviation art company.
Kittyhawk Pilot. Group Captain Billy Drake DSO
DFC* Joined the R.A.F. in 1936. His first posting was to 1
squadron flying Furies then Hurricanes and first saw action over France in
the Spring of 1940 and was awarded his first DFC by the end of the year.
As a Squadron Leader he was sent to West Africa to command 128 Squadron.
1942 saw his commanding 112 squadron in North Africa, in July saw an
immediate BAR to his DFC and in December an immediate DSO. Posted to Malta
as Wing Commander he won a US DFC in 1943. Back in the UK he now was
flying Typhoons in the lead up to D-Day. With Pete Brothers he was sent to
the States to attend the US Staff School at Fort Leavenworth. After the
war he continued in the R.A.F. serving in Japan, Malaya, Singapore,
Switzerland and his final posting as Group Captain RAF Chivenor, Devon.
Retired in July 1963. Going to Portugal where he ran a Bar and Restaurant
and dealing in Real Estate. In his flying career he accounted for more
than 24 enemy aircraft
Curtiss Kittyhawk, single engine fighter
with a top speed of 362mph, ceiling of 30,000 feet and a range of 1190
miles with extra fuel tanks but 900 miles under normal operation.
Kitty Hawk armaments was four or six .50in machine guns in the wings and a
bomb load of up to 1,000 lb's
A development of the earlier Tomahawk,
the Kitty Hawk saw service in may air force's around the world, American,
Australian, New Zealand, and the Royal Air Force, which used them in the
Mediterranean, north Africa, and Malta from January 1942 apart from the
large numbers used by the US Air Force, over 3,000 were used by
Commonwealth air force's including the Royal air Force.
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| Desert Sharks by Robert Taylor. Robert captures precisely the arid heat, dust and smoke of desert warfare, conveying an air of impending conflict. Neville Duke in his 112 Sqn P40-D Kittyhawk. Signed limited edition of 90 prints. Paper size 21 inches x 15.5 inches (53cm x 40cm). Price £110.00 Signed by Squadron Leader Neville Duke, DSO, OBE, DFC*, AFC, CzMC (deceased) .
ITEM CODE DHM2626. |
| Desert Sharks and Eagles by Nicolas Trudgian. The air war fought in the skies above the inhospitable wastelands of the North African desert were among the most hotly contested of the war. The outcome of the bitter land war raging below largely depended upon who controlled the air space above, and both sides knew it. JG-27, having cut its teeth in the battles of France and Britain, was the first Luftwaffe unit to arrive in North Africa. Commanded by the mercurial Eduard Neumann, its Me109s were superior to the Hurricanes and P-40 Kittyhawks flown by the RAF pilots and, without the restriction of close escort duties dictated on the Western Front, the JG-27 pilots roamed the desert skies, closing in combat with the British fighters at every opportunity. The North African air campaign spawned many fighter aces, including Hans-Joachim Marseille who claimed more than 150 victories in his short career - more than any other Luftwaffe ace flying against RAF pilots. The scale of the desert air war is highlighted by raw statistics: 1400 British aircraft lost; over 1200 Luftwaffe destroyed. A dog-fight between Me109s from JG-27 and P-40 Kittyhawks of the RAFs 12 Squadron, led by Killer Caldwell, and later Billy Drake, 112 Squadron were in constant combat with Edu Neumanns fighters as they jousted for air supremacy above Rommels advancing Afrika Korps tanks. Below them, the desolate beauty of the Libyan desert stretches as far as the eye can see. Signed limited edition of 450 prints. Paper size 36 inches x 24 inches (91cm x 61cm). Price £180.00 Signed by Hauptmann Emil Clade (deceased), Group Captain Billy Drake, Squadron Leader Neville Duke (deceased) and Oberst Eduard Neumann (deceased).  Part of our Buy One, Get One Half Price Offer
Limited edition of 25 artist proofs. Paper size 36 inches x 24 inches (91cm x 61cm). Price £220.00 Signed by Hauptmann Emil Clade (deceased), Group Captain Billy Drake, Squadron Leader Neville Duke (deceased) and Oberst Eduard Neumann. Massive saving on Nicolas Trudgian prints
£50 Off Selected Prints - Was £270
Limited edition of publishers proofs. Paper size 36 inches x 24 inches (91cm x 61cm). Price £190.00 Signed by Hauptmann Emil Clade (deceased), Group Captain Billy Drake, Squadron Leader Neville Duke (deceased) and Oberst Eduard Neumann (deceased). Part of our Buy One, Get One Half Price Offer
Nicolas Trudgian Promotional Flyer. A4 Size Double Sheet 11.5 inches x 8 inches (30m x 21cm) . Price £1.50 Part of our Buy One, Get One Half Price Offer
** (Ex Display) Signed limited edition of 450 prints. (To copies reduced to clear) Paper size 36 inches x 24 inches (91cm x 61cm). Price £120.00 Signed by Hauptmann Emil Clade, Group Captain Billy Drake, Squadron Leader Neville Duke (deceased) and Oberst Eduard Neumann (deceased).
ITEM CODE NT0315 |
| Kittyhawks of No.112 Squadron by Graeme Lothian. P-40 Kittyhawks of No.112 Squadron, Medenine, April 1943. Aircraft GA-V (ground, nearest on right) is Kittyhawk Mk.III, FR440, which was later lost when damaged beyond repair after a belly landing. Signed limited edition of 200 giclee paper prints. Image size 26 inches x 17 inches (66cm x 43cm). Price £130.00 Part of our Buy One, Get One Half Price Offer
Save £5 on selected prints - Was £135
Limited edition of 50 artist proofs. Image size 26 inches x 17 inches (66cm x 43cm). Price £180.00 Part of our Buy One, Get One Half Price Offer
Small limited edition of 20 artist proofs. Image size 12 inches x 8 inches (31cm x 20cm). Price £70.00 Part of our Buy One, Get One Half Price Offer
Save £5 on selected prints - Was £75
Small limited edition of 50 prints. Image size 12 inches x 8 inches (31cm x 20cm). Price £51.00 Save £5 on selected prints - Was £56
Limited edition of up to 50 giclee canvas prints. Size 36 inches x 24 inches (91cm x 61cm). Price £480.00 £110 Off Selected Giclee Canvas Prints - Was £590
Limited edition of up to 50 giclee canvas prints. Size 30 inches x 20 inches (76cm x 51cm). Price £370.00 £90 Off Selected Giclee Canvas Prints - Was £460
Original painting, oil on canvas by Graeme Lothian. Size 28 inches x 18 inches (71cm x 46cm). Price £1500.00
Remarque edition - limited edition of 10 giclee prints featuring an original pencil remarque. Image size 26 inches x 17 inches (66cm x 43cm) plus border with text and remarque drawing.. Price £350.00
ITEM CODE DHM1799 |
| Duel in the Desert by Nicolas Trudgian. The P-40, legendary for its service with Chennaults Flying Tigers in China, was one of the RAFs principle fighters in the north African Desert war. A low-level dogfight between P-40 Kittyhawks of 112 Squadron is shown, as they tangle with the Luftwaffe ME109s over Matamata Hills, near the Mareth line on the border between Tunisia and Libya, early March 1943. Signed limited edition of 400 prints. Paper size 12 inches x 9.5 inches (31cm x 24cm). Price £55.00 Signed by Group Captain Billy Drake DSO DFC* Part of our Buy One, Get One Half Price Offer
ITEM CODE NT0004 |
| Combat Over New Guinea by Nicholas Trudgian
Australian Ace Dick Cresswell tangles with a
Japanese Zero in the humid air of the tropics over New Guinea during an
encounter in 1942. Flying a P-40E Kittyhawk with the insignia of 77
Squadron, RAAF blazoned on his aircraft, Cresswell makes a head-on pass
leaving the enemy aircraft streaming smoke. Immortalised by the Flying
Tigers, the P-40 was a fine combat aircraft that operated in the
Pacific, European and Middle East theatre Signed by Dick
Cresswell.
Desert Hawks by Robert Taylor A
flight of Kittyhawks of No. 3 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force on a
strike mission over the North African Desert in January 1942, in the
build-p to the Battle of Alamein. No. 3 Squadron RAAF was the first in the
Desert to achieve 100 confirmed victories, and continuing in combat
throughout the fighting in North Africa, became the Squadron with the
highest number of air victories of the Desert Air Force Squadrons Signatories: Nicky Barr, Bobby
Gibbes, Peter Geoffrey, Alan Rawlinson. Over Grand Harbour by Anthony Saunders
P40 Kittyhawk over the Grand Harbour of Malta.
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