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Tactical Support by Richard Taylor.
DHM1745. Tactical Support by Richard Taylor. With bright yellow spinners and distinctive twin-booms glinting in the June sunshine, two P-38 Lockheed Lightnings of the USAAFs 79th Fighter Squadron, 20th Fighter Group hurtle low over Pegasus Bridge as they race across the Normandy landscape shortly after the D-Day landings, June 1944. Flying from their base at Kings Cliffe in Cambridgeshire they have today been tasked to support the advancing allied forces; they will strafe and bomb the enemy lines, destroying enemy communications, armour and ground targets, causing as much chaos and disruption as they can. Dangerous work, these low-level missions, but tasks that the tough P-38 pilots relish. A few days before, the bridge below had witnessed a very different scene. The first action on D-Day happened here when, moments after midnight on the night of 5th - 6th June, three gliders swooped silently from the sky to land within yards of their target - this vital road bridge across the Caen canal. Major John Howard and men of the 6th British Airborne Division were to seize and hold this strategic point. After a brief but furious fire-fight the stunned German defenders were overwhelmed and the bridge captured. The Invasion of France had begun, and for the Germans it was the beginning of the end. Hitlers much vaunted armies had begun their slow bitter retreat to the end that was the burning hell of Berlin. When it came to hammering German ground forces in the days after D-Day, Lockheeds outstanding P-38 Lightning gained an awesome reputation. Richard Taylors evocative new painting recreates the scene over Pegasus Bridge shortly after D-Day as a pair of P-38 Lightnings thunder inland in support of the advancing allied armies. Below, signs of the recent action are still plainly visible as trucks and their exhausted drivers hasten back to the beach-head to collect reinforcements. Signed by Captain James Kunkle and Lieutenant Colonel William Willis. Signed limited edition of 350 prints. Paper size 33 inches x 23 inches (84cm x 58cm) - Image size 26 inches x 16 inches (66cm x 41cm)

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| Signatures on this item | | Name | Info | 
Captain James Kunkle | Before he was eighteen and could join up, Kunkle had a job with Lockheed assembling P-38 wing sections, but as soon as he was old enough he enlisted for pilot training. In May 1944 he joined the 401st Fighter Squadron, 370th Fighter Group at Andover, England. His first mission was an armed reconnaissance across the Channel after D-Day. In July the squadron flew to an airfield on Omaha Beach, and flew air-support missions that devastated the German 7th Army at Falaise. He was shot down after a dog-fight with Fw190s and Me109s but managed to bail out over American lines. He later became a test pilot. | 
Lieutenant Colonel William Willis | William Willis joined the service in October 1942. Posted overseas to England, he flew P-38s with the 343rd Fighter Squadron, 55th Fighter Group. Based at Wormingford, the Group was equipped with P-38 Lightnings, which they were flying over Normandy at the time of the D-Day invasion. Shortly after they were converted to P-51s, on which Willis went to Berlin on a strafing mission. |
| The Aircraft : | | Name | Info | | Lightning | Designed by Kelly Johnson the P38 made its maiden flight on the 27th January 1939 and introduced into service in 1941. they cost $134,284 at the time each and a total of 10,037 were built. The Lockheed P-38 was introduced as a inceptor fighter but soon proved a valuable long range bomber escort for the 8thUS Air Force's B-17 and-24 bombers as they bombed targets further into Germany. |
| Artist Details : Richard Taylor |
 Richard Taylor
From an early age, young Richard Taylor had shown an exceptional ability to draw. Not surprising perhaps, having been brought up in a family where fine art drawing, painting, print publishing, gallery receptions and art exhibitions pervaded daily life, but in his case a quite unusual talent was obvious to all who saw his work. A future somewhere in the world of art seemed undoubted, though exactly where didn't become clear to Richard until he completed a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Graphic Design at Bath Spa University College. He excelled during his academic years, producing a remarkable body of creative illustrative work that was clearly leading him towards the world of fine art painting. Under the watchful guidance of his father Robert, Richard's skills were fast maturing to a standard where local galleries started exhibiting his paintings and drawings and he found himself immersed in commissions for friends, and soon, friends of friends, depicting images ranging from automobiles to wildlife. No matter what the subject area, like any determined young artist, Richard took it all in his stride. But deep down, his heart always lay with his passion for aircraft, and things mechanical - as his father says it must be in the genes. Richard Taylor is a young talent not to be ignored. His abounding enthusiasm for painting aircraft, and the distinctive natural flair of this young professional artist is clearly demonstrated in this, his very first aviation painting to be issued as a limited edition.
More about Richard Taylor
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