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 | Chennaults Flying Tigers by Robert Taylor. | £400.00 |  | D-Day The Airborne Assault by Robert Taylor. | £390.00 |  | Victory Flyover by Robert Taylor. | £750.00 |  | Ploesti, The Vital Mission by Robert Taylor. | £390.00 |  | Lightning Strike by Robert Taylor. | £450.00 |  | Zero Encounter by Robert Taylor. | £460.00 |  | Beach Head Strike Force by Robert Taylor. | SOLD OUT / SOLD |  | Rare Pair of D-Day prints by Robert Taylor - Into Battle by Robert Taylor and Crash Landing by Robert Taylor. | £390.00 |  | Return from Schweinfurt by Robert Taylor. | SOLD OUT / SOLD |  | Fortress under Attack by Robert Taylor. | £700.00 |  | Bringing the Peacemaker Home by Robert Taylor. | 2 editions available from £200.00 |  | Mission Beyond Darkness by Robert Taylor | 2 editions available from £200.00 |  | Marauder Mission by Robert Taylor | 3 editions available from £175.00 |  | Thunderbolt Strike by Robert Taylor. | 2 editions available from £165.00 |  | Bogeys Eleven O Clock High by Robert Taylor | 2 editions available from £200.00 |  | Hostile Sky by Robert Taylor | 2 editions available from £225.00 |  | Mustang Recce by Robert Taylor. | £80.00 |  | Coming In Over the Estuary by Robert Taylor. | 3 editions available from £200.00 |  | Doolittle Raiders by Robert Taylor. | 2 editions available from £245.00 |  | Legend of Colin Kelly by Robert Taylor. | 2 editions available from £200.00 |  | Out of Fuel and Safely Home by Robert Taylor. | 2 editions available from £200.00 |  | Return to Duxford by Robert Taylor | 1 editions available from £300.00 |  | Rolling Thunder by Robert Taylor. | 2 editions available from £200.00 |  | Sky Giant by Robert Taylor. | £200.00 |  | Viper Venom by Robert Taylor. | 2 editions available from £200.00 |  | Wide Horizons by Robert Taylor. | 2 editions available from £80.00 |  | Valour in the Pacific by Robert Taylor. | 2 editions available from £200.00 |  | Mustangs on the Prowl by Robert Taylor. | SOLD OUT / SOLD |  | Air Superiority by Robert Taylor. | 3 editions available from £200.00 |  | Attack on the Hiei by Robert Taylor. | 3 editions available from £195.00 |  | Fighting Tigers by Robert Taylor. | £200.00 |  | Skipper Comes Home by Robert Taylor | 2 editions available from £200.00 |  | American Eagles by Robert Taylor. | 2 editions available from £200.00 |  | Savage Skies by Robert Taylor. | 3 editions available from £200.00 |  | Fighting Red Tails by Robert Taylor. | 2 editions available from £200.00 |  | Into the Teeth of the Wind by Robert Taylor. | 4 editions available from £200.00 |  | Schweinfurt - The Second Mission by Robert Taylor. | 4 editions available from £200.00 |  | Rabaul - Fly For Your Life by Robert Taylor. | 3 editions available from £200.00 |  | Hellcat Fury by Robert Taylor. | 4 editions available from £200.00 |  | Thunderheads Over Ridgewell by Robert Taylor. | 3 editions available from £200.00 |  | America Strikes Back by Robert Taylor | 2 editions available from £200.00 |  | Doolittles D-Day, 6th June 1944 by Robert Taylor. | £285.00 |
| Company of Heroes by Robert Taylor
Generals signed limited edition of 400 prints with pencil print of
Bader's Bus Company. Signed by the above and Adolf Galland.
Returning to base following the ordeal of a gruelling daylight raid,
when barrages of flak and the persistent attendance of enemy fighters were
an accepted feature of the mission were, for the weary aircrews, moments
of pure exhilaration. The entire airfield suddenly transformed into
a cacophony of noise and activity as, one after another, the mighty
bombers landed and came to rest. Jeeps scurried about collecting
crews, whisking them away for debriefing and well-earned nourishment while
groundcrews, after their anxious wait, milled around their
charges.
The 34th Bomb Group's Queenie, first home to Mendlesham today, has come
to a standstill, the co-pilot already briefing the crew chief on the state
of the aircraft. Another B-17 taxies while a jeep scurries across
the tarmac to collect the crew of a third aircraft. Other B-17s are
already parked as the last man home makes his final approach, streaming
vapour from a badly overheating engine. It is April 1945. The
fickle English weather greets the returning airmen with a mixture of
brilliant spring sunshine and passing April showers.
America Strikes Back by Robert Taylor Signed by William
Dickman, Tex Hill, Joe Moore, Ken Taylor, James Van
den Hey and Earl Williams. P-40 and Aichi D-3A1 in close combat.
Doolittle Raiders by Robert Taylor Signed by 14 B-25 Mitchell crew members: Richard Cole, Jacob
DeSchazer, Thomas Griffin, Nolan Herndon, Everett Holstrom, David Jones,
Frank Kappelar, James Macia, Harry McCool, Chase Nielson, Henry Potter,
Howard Sessler, Roydon Stork, David Thatcher.
Attack on the Hei by Robert Taylor Signatories: Joe Foss, William Freeman, Boot
Furlow, Roger Haberman. |
| Bringing the Peacemaker Home by Robert Taylor
By 1944 the USAAF were despatching bombers deep
into Germany on a grand scale. In June alone no fewer than 28,800 aircraft
were despatched into hostile air space, the scale of operations such that
enabled hitting a dozen or more different targets on a single day.
Even with the benefit of long-range fighter escort, the bomber
formations had to run the gauntlet of the Luftwaffe's fighter defenses as
they approached and departed the target area. With plenty of practice
during the previous 12 months, the German fighter pilots had developed
highly successful techniques of attack against the American four-engined
bombers, and whenever they engaged in numbers, USAAF losses were heavy -
37 bombers failed to return from raids against synthetic oil plants and
aircraft factories at Leipzig on June 29.
On July 20 it was the turn of the 91st Bomb Group to attack an airfield
near Leipzig, suspected of harboring the new menace - the Luftwaffe's
revolutionary Messerschmitt Me262 jet. As the formation spread out for the
bomb run, the 401st squadron took the low position - the most vulnerable
to fighter attack.
Just as the crew of The Peacemaker steadied the ship to sight the
target, the squadron was set upon by Focke-Wulf 190s. The formation leader
was set on fire wingtip to wingtip, almost colliding with Peacemaker as
the stricken aircraft slid into the void below. At that moment, cannon
shells ripped into Peacemaker as a Fw190 flashed past within 200 feet, its
guns blazing. Hit in the wing and tail, the bucking B-17 began to slip
below the rest of the formation. She was a long way from home.
Robert Taylor's dramatic portrayal of events picks up the story as the
injured bird limps towards the sanctuary of the English coast. That she
has got this far is a miracle, due in no small part to the close
attentions of escorting P-51B Mustangs of the 361st Fighter Group.
To keep her flying, the crew are jettisoning everything that can be
safely bundled out of the aircraft. The front hatch is open and bombardier
Marion Havelaar has reluctantly despatched his 20lb bomb sight to the
ocean below - for him, an act of total sacrilege. The Peacemaker made it
back to Bassingbourne that day; eight others did not. |
| Mission Beyond Darkness by Robert Taylor
After a three day sea search for Admiral
Ozawa's carrier fleet it was 3.30pm on June 20, 1944, when a spotter plane
reported the enemy position to Admiral Mitscher's Task Force 58. Mitscher
knew the risks of despatching a large force on such a long-range mission
so late in the day, but he also knew his task was to get the carriers. By
4.30pm over 200 fighters, dive-bombers, and torpedo strike planes were in
the air and heading for the target.
In the short but intense battle that followed late in that day, the
Japanese carrier Hiyo was sunk, four more Japanese carriers were damaged,
two oilers sunk, the battleship Haruna hit, and some 40 enemy aircraft
reported destroyed. Fierce, and seemingly successful though the encounter
was, for most of the American aircrews the worst part of the mission was
yet to come. As 209 aircraft turned and headed east into the growing dark,
most of the pilots knew they had barely enough fuel to get back on board
their carriers, some 270 miles distant. Many of the aircraft had received
battle damage, and some of the crews were wounded.
It was 8pm and pitch dark as the first of the returning aircraft neared
the carriers. Admiral Mitscher knew that without some form of guidance it
was going to be all but impossible to recover his aircraft and, ignoring
the submarine threat, boldly ordered the fleet to turn on lights. But the
arriving Helldiver and Avenger pilots were all but out of fuel, and in the
confusion of trying to pick out a carrier, find a landing slot, compounded
by a number of deck crashes, some 70 planes went into the water that
night. For Mitscher's aircrews, the long return to TF-58 went into history
as the 'mission beyond darkness'
In recreating the awesome scene, Robert Taylor has painted a
masterpiece of naval aviation warfare in the Pacific. In the foreground
the SB2C Helldiver of Lieutenant Ralph Yaussi, its tanks dry, has ditched
near the carrier USS Lexington. As Yaussi and his gunner James Curry
clamber out of the sinking aircraft, the Fletcher class destroyer USS
Anthony, her 24 inch searchlight ablaze, is moving in to make the pick-up.
The chaos and confusion of that infamous night during the Battle of the
Philippine Sea, springs back to life in this stunning painting. With
prints signed by four aircrew who survived Admiral Mitscher's historic
operation, including Yaussi and Curry, Robert Taylor's Mission Beyond
Darkness will become one of the great collector's prints from the era.
Mustang Recce by Robert Taylor Berg's 10th Recce
Group P-51 Mustang's dodge enemy flak and fighters to get vital photos for
General Patten's forces. Signatories: Russell Berg.
Marauder Mission by Robert Taylor
Tribute to B-26 Marauder and the Ninth Air force. B-26's return from an
attack on enemy positions in Northern France. Features "Yankee
Guerrilla" of the 386th Bomb Group.
Bogeys Eleven O Clock High by Robert Taylor
Commemorates the Yamamoto Mission, April 18, 1943. Lightning's
approaching Bougainville.
Hostile Sky by Robert Taylor
Damaged B24 in danger from Fw190, is rescued by P-38
Lightnings, who
thwart the German attack. Signatories: Alfred
Grislawski, John Lowell, Gunther Schack.
Viper Venom by Robert Taylor |
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Rolling Thunder by Robert Taylor Signatures: Harold
Bingaman, Max Brestel, Jackson Broughton, Leo Thorsness.
The date : March 12, 1967. The target: The large thermal power
plant at Viet Tri, on the Red River, a short distance to the northwest of
Hanoi. Heavily defended by 100 and 85 mm gun positions, missile
sites and the usual barrage of ground fire encountered on any mission
"downtown", the task of the leading flight was to hammer the
guns and clear the way for the closely following strike force to lay their
bombs squarely on the power plant. They would all have to contend
with the ever present likelihood of MiG interception on the way out.
Leading the 355th TFW F-105 Thunderchiefs out of Takhli Royal Thai Air
Base, Colonel Jack Broughton took the familiar route, approaching the
target area flying down Thud Ridge. As the high ground fell away he
pushed his flight of four ships down to the deck and, "going like
hell", Broughton swung the leading Thuds southwest, just enough to
give those on the ground the impression they were headed south of Viet
Tri.
Not quite abreast of the target, Broughton called the 'pop' and as the
Thuds passed vertical they rolled to inverted going over the top,
completing a giant wifferdill, attacking the guns from the opposite
direction. Beneath them the big gun pits were lined up, their
gunners confused by the maneuver, and before they could work out what was
happening the F-105 pilots emptied their loads of CBUs into the middle of
them.
Behind the Thuds came the strike force and, with the air cleared of the
usual flak barrage, unloaded their bombs right into the thermal power
plant. The facility was destroyed in one of the best planned and
executed raids of the war.
Legend of Colin Kelly by Robert Taylor
December 10th 1941, Just three days after the Japanese attack on
Pearl harbor, captain Colin Kelly's 19th BG B-17C is heavily outnumbered
by Zeros as it returns to Clark Field after completing a successful
bombing attack. With his aircraft on fire. Kelly remained at the controls
whilst his crew bailed out. Seconds later the B-17 exploded. Colin Kelly
gave his life and was posthumously awarded the DFC. A legend was born.
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Fighting Tigers by Robert Taylor
A reconstruction of action fought over the Hsiang Chiang river on
August 5, 1944. Following a successful attack on Japanese forces just
north of Changsha, P-40 Warhawks of the 75th and 16th Fighter Squadrons,
23rd FG, are attacked by enemy Nakajima fighters and a massive dogfight
has developed with aircraft wheeling and turning in all directions set against
the landscape of Southern China.
"Greetings you American bandits of the Flying Tigers, and
especially you young American kids of the USAAF who have come to take
their place. The invincible Japanese Air Force will utterly destroy you
on your first day of activation - the fourth of July - your Independence
Day!"
Tokyo Rose was screeching her propoganda over the shortwave radio
out of Shanghai as the 23rd Fighter Group prepared to assume the mantle
of Chennault's American Volunteer Group - the Flying Tigers. Her
rantings served only to fill the new pilots with greater determination,
and to provoke Chennault into immediate action: "We will not wait
until the 4th. We'll hit them on the 3rd!" vowed General Chennault
on hearing the broadcast, and that is precisely what the young American
kids did. Flying their P-40 Warhawks, 29 rookie fighter pilots ripped
into a force of 48 Zeros over Kweilin, chopping down 34 enemy aircraft
without loss on their first day in combat - a full day before the 23rd
FG officially came into being. Tokyo Rose fell silent the following day. |
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