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Bill Reid VC by Graeme Lothian. (P)
B0256P. Bill Reid VC by Graeme Lothian. Lancaster LM360, piloted by Bill Reid, is raked by fire from stem to stern by a Luftwaffe Fw190 fighter. Bill Reid had already sustained injuries to his head, torso and hands from a previous attack by an Me110, but, with this rest of his crew unscathed from the previous attack, he had not mentioned his injuries. In the attack depicted here, the Fw190 makes a lethal attack on the already damaged bomber, killing one crew member and fatally wounding a second. Despite this, Bill Reid flew on to his target of Dusseldorf - a further 200 miles - successfully dropped his bombs, then turned for home. With the aid of the bomb aimer and flight engineer, the Lancaster made it across the Channel and headed for an airfield, with one leg of the damaged undercarriage failing on landing. Bill Reid was awarded the Victoria Cross for this mission. This original drawing has been personally signed by Bill Reid VC, along with 7 other Lancaster pilots and crew. Signed by Squadron Leader Norman Scrivener DSO DFC (deceased) , Flight Lieutenant Bill Reid VC (deceased), Flight Lieutenant Douglas Newham LVO DFC, Squadron Leader B A Jimmy James MC, Flight Lieutenant John Petrie-Andrews DFC DFM, Air Commodore D M Strong CB, AFC, Air Commodore Wilf Burnett DSO OBE DFC AFC (deceased) and Flt Lt George Harris DFC. Original pencil drawing by Graeme Lothian. Size 23 inches x 16 inches (58cm x 41cm) Entire sheet shown in image.
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| Signatures on this item | | Name | Info | | Air Commodore D M Strong CB, AFC | Undergoing pilot training in 1936 he joined Bomber Squadron in 1937. When war broke out he was flying Whitleys with 166 Sqn then went to 104 Sqn flying Wellingtons. In 1941 whilst returning from a bombing raid over Italy his aircraft was struck by lightning and he pulled out at 200 feet over the North Sea. Unable to continue he was forced to ditch and all the crew survived but were captured and sent to Stalag Luft III. After the war he remained in the RAF and after a distinguished career including Senior ASO, RAF Germany and Officer Commanding RAF Halton he retired in 1966. | 
Air Commodore Wilf Burnett DSO OBE DFC AFC (deceased) | Canadian Wilf Burnett joined the RAF before the war and at the outbreak of hostilities was flying Hampdens. He completed his first tour of 30 operations in September 1940, flying with 49 Sqn at Scampton. His crew had bombed invasion barges in the Channel ports, mined enemy waters, operated against the Ruhr, and taken part in the first raids against Berlin. In July 1941 he was posted to 408 (Goose) Sqn RCAF, at Syerston, where one night in January 1942, returning from Hamburg, their Hampden crashed in extreme weather. Wilf was the sole survivor, and he was hospitalised. Recovering he was accepted to command 138 (Special Duties) Sqn at Tempsford who were engaged in dropping agents and supplies to the Resistance in occupied countries flying Halifaxes, later Stirlings. He died 26th November 2006.
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Wilf Burnett signing the print - A Hard Lesson to Learn - by Adrian Rigby |
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Flight Lieutenant Bill Reid VC (deceased) | Volunteering for RAF aircrew in 1940, Bill Reid learned to fly in California, training on the Stearman, Vultee and Harvard. After gaining his pilots wings back in England he flew Wellingtons before moving on to Lancasters in 1943. On the night of Nov 3rd 1943, his Lancaster suffered two severe attacks from Luftwaffe night fighters, badly wounding Reid, killing his navigator and radio operator, and severely damaging the aircraft. Bill flew on 200 miles to accurately bomb the target and get his aircraft home. For this act of outstanding courage and determination he was awarded the Victoria Cross. Died 28th November 2001. | | Flight Lieutenant Douglas Newham LVO DFC | Douglas Newham was a navigator with 156 and 150 Squadrons before transferring to the Lancasters of 10 Squadron. | 
Flight Lieutenant John Petrie-Andrews DFC DFM | John Petrie-Andrews joined the RAF in 1940. After training as a pilot, in January 1943 he was posted to join 102 (Ceylon) Squadron at Pocklington for his first tour, flying Halifaxes. In February 1943 he transferred to 158 Squadron, still on Halifaxes. John the joined 35 Squadron, one of the original squadrons forming the Pathfinder Force. Here he flew first Halifaxes before converting to Lancasters. John Petrie-Andrews completed a total of 70 operations on heavy bombers, including 60 with the Pathfinders. | | Flt Lt George Harris DFC |
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George Harris signing the print - Distant Dispersal - by Graeme Lothian. |
George Harris signing the print - Lancaster Dawn - by Anthony Saunders. |
| | Squadron Leader B A Jimmy James MC | Joining the RAF in 1939 he was commissioned and posted to 9Sqn flying Wellingtons from Honington in Suffolk. In June 1940 his aircraft was badly hit by flak over Holland while on a bombing raid to Germany and he was forced to bail out. He was captured and taken prisoner but then embarked on what was to become a prolific period of escaping including the Great Escape from Stalag Luft III. He retired from the RAF in 1958 and held a number of posts in the Diplomatic Service. | 
Squadron Leader Norman Scrivener DSO DFC (deceased) | One of the top RAF navigators of the war, Norman Scrivener first flew with the 75 (New Zealand) Sqn before joining Guy Gibson in 106 Sqn. In 1942 he joined 83 Sqn Pathfinder Force as navigator to the Squadron Commander John Searby. Sadly Norman Scrivener died in May 2007. |
| The Aircraft : | | Name | Info | | Lancaster | The Avro Lancaster arose from the avro Manchester and the first prototype Lancaster was a converted Manchester with four engines, The Lancaster was first flown in January 1941, and started operations in march 1942, By March 1945 The Royal Air Force had 56 Squadrons of Lancasters with the first squadron equipped being the no. 44 squadron. During World War two the Avro Lancaster flew 156,000 sorties and dropped 618,378 tonnes of bombs between 1942 and 1945. Lancaster Bomberss took part in the devastating round-the-clock raids on Hamburg during Air Marshall Harris' "Operation Gomorrah" in July 1943. Just 35 Lancasters completed more than 100 successful operations each, and 3,249 were lost in action. The most successful survivor completed 139 operations, and the Lancasetr Bomber was scrapped after the war in 1947. A few Lancasters were converted into Tankers and the two tanker aircraft were joined by another converted Lancaster and were used in the Berlin Airlift, achieving 757 tanker sorties. A famous Lancaster bombing raid was the 1943 mission, codenamed Operation Chastise, to destroy the dams of the Ruhr Valley. The operation was carried out by 617 Squadron in modified Mk IIIs carrying special drum shaped bouncing bombs designed by Barnes Wallis. . Also famous was a series of Lancaster attacks using Tallboy bombs against the German battleship Tirpitz, which first disabled and later sank the ship. The Lancaster bomber was the basis of the new Avro Lincoln bomber, initially known as the Lancaster IV and Lancaster V. (Becoming Lincoln B1 and B2 respectively.) There Lancastrian airline was also base don the Lancaster but was not very successfull. Other developments were the Avro York and the successfull Shackleton which continued in airborne early warning service up to 1992. | | Fw190 | The Focke-Wulf 190 development project began in 1937. Conceived as a hedge against total dependence on the Messerchmitt 109, the 190 was designed by Kurt Tank utilizing a radial engine. This was against generally accepted design criteria in Germany, and many historians believe that the decision to produce a radial engine fighter was largely due to the limited manufacturing capacity for in-line, water-cooled engines which were widely used on all other Luftwaffe aircraft. Despite these concerns, Tanks design was brilliant, and the 190 would become one of the top fighter aircraft of WWII. The first prototype flew in mid-1939. The aircraft had excellent flying characteristics, a wonderful rate of acceleration, and was heavily armed. By late 1940 the new fighter was ordered into production. Nicknamed the butcher bird, by Luftwaffe pilots, early 190s were quite successful in the bomber interceptor role, but at this stage of the war many Allied bombing raids lacked fighter escort. As the war dragged on, Allied bombers were increasingly accompanied by fighters, including the very effective P-51 Mustang. The Allies learned from experience that the 190s performance fell off sharply at altitudes above 20,000 feet. As a result, most Allied bombing missions were shifted to higher altitudes when fighter opposition was likely. Kurt Tank had recognized this shortcoming and began working on a high-altitude version of the 190 utilizing an in-line, water-cooled engine. Utilizing a Jumo 12-cylinder engine rated at 1770-HP, and capable of 2,240-HP for short bursts with its methanol injection system, the 190D, or Long Nose or Dora as it was called, had a top speed of 426-MPH at 22,000 feet. Armament was improved with two fuselage and two wing mounted 20mm cannon. To accommodate the changes in power plants the Dora had a longer, more streamlined fuselage, with 24 inches added to the nose, and an additional 19 inches added aft of the cockpit to compensate for the altered center of gravity. By mid 1944 the Dora began to reach fighter squadrons in quantity. Although the aircraft had all the right attributes to serve admirably in the high altitude interceptor role, it was not generally focused on such missions. Instead many 190Ds were assigned to protect airfields where Me-262 jet fighters were based. This was due to the latter aircrafts extreme vulnerability to Allied attack during takeoff and landing. The 190Ds also played a major role in Operation Bodenplatte, the New Years Day raid in 1945 which destroyed approximately 500 Allied aircraft on the ground. The High Command was impressed with the 190Ds record on this raid, and ordered most future production of the Doras to be equipped as fighter-bombers. In retrospect this was a strategic error, and this capable aircraft was not fully utilized in the role for which it was intended. |
| Artist Details : Graeme Lothian |
Graeme Lothian
Latest info : Greame Lothian over the early part of 2010 will be working on a series of paintings of British Forces in Aghanistan with the release of the first art print of the series scheduled for June 2010.
Graeme Lothian is an artist whose ability has seen him apply his talent to many different subjects - military, aviation, naval and landscape art. Having spent time in the army, taking on adventures such as parachuting, firing bazookas and making an attempt to climb Mount Everest, the discipline he has obtained from his experiences has been key to allowing him to take on his first love - painting - full time. Graeme first took on painting full-time by producing paintings of WW2 aircraft, such as Spitfires and Messerschmitts, but over his career in art, now spanning over two decades, has also produced many military and naval pieces too. More recently, he has undertaken a masive project of painting the River Thames, from its source, through London and beyond, producing over 50 paintings in this series, as well as a book. Graeme Lothian describes himself as a landscape painter. The paintings may have a Tiger, Steam Train, Spitfire or Kentish Oasts in them, but they're still landscapes. Graeme started painting in 1978 in oils, a medium he has stayed with since then. Joining the Parachute Regiment and Airborne Forces at the beginning of the 1980s, a parachuting accident curtailed his career and he returned to his first love - art. In the early 90s he formed a partnership with the late great Air Vice-Marshal Johnnie Johnson CB CBE DSO(two bars) DFC(bar) the top scoring Allied fighter pilot of WWII. Embarking on a career as an aviation artist, travelling all over Britain and Europe obtaining the signatures for his prints. Personally meeting the most famous aviators and top aces of both sides of the last war. Graemes first book An Artist on the Thames came out in 2004. His second, An Artist in London, which has taken 5 years to complete, is due to be published at the beginning of 2010. In between, he printed an Everest painting carrying the signatures of Sir Edmund Hillary and Sir Chris Bonnington. Graeme had solo exhibitions in 1981, 1989 in Sydney, Australia, 2007, 2008. In 2009, Graeme was one of only 56 other artists to exhibit at the internationally acclaimed and prestigious BP Portrait Awards at the National Portrait Gallery, London. In 2010 he is to go to Afghanistan as a war artist, one of only a select few to visit the war zone. He is being hosted by various units in the Helmand Province and Kandahar. Born in Sri Lanka, Graeme has painted all over the world including Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Nepal, India and most recently Oman and Jordan. His originals hang all over the world and to date has had over 80 limited edition art prints published.
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Graeme with German Ace Ernst Wilhelm Reinert and the painting Fighter General |
Graeme sketching in Musa Qala, Helmand Province, Afghanistan, March 2010. |
More about Graeme Lothian
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