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| Signatures on this item | |
| *The value given for each signature has been calculated by us based on the historical significance and rarity of the signature. Values of many pilot signatures have risen in recent years and will likely continue to rise as they become more and more rare. | |
| Name | Info |
| Flight Lieutenant George Britton *Signature Value : £30 | Joining the RAF in 1941, George trained on Wellington and Stirlings as a Wireless Operator and Air Gunner. Converting to Lancasters he was posted to 90 Squadron for his first operational tour, and then to 186 Squadron, still on Lancasters. George then found himself designated to be an Intelligence Officer at Lossiemouth, interrogating Italian POWs Finally, before leaving the service in 1946, he served in Sunderland flying boats, flying to West Africa, Europe and Scandinavia. |
| Flight Lieutenant John Cox DFC *Signature Value : £15 | Born in 1923, after reaching eighteen, John Cox joined the RAF in March 1942. He soon found himself on the Queen Mary en-route to Canada for pilot training, returning to become operational on Lancasters with 622 Squadron based at Mildenhall, whom he joined in July 1944. His tour of 30 operations included the successful raid on Walcheren Island in Holland, whose objective was to breach the sea wall in order to flood the island, forcing a full scale German retreat. After hostilities he flew for BOAC, followed by 27 years service with BA, becoming senior captain on 747s. |
  Flight Lieutenant Tom Austin DFC AE *Signature Value : £40 | After joining the RAF in 1941 Tom Austin qualified as a pilot on Harvards, then converted into Halifaxes. During the war years other aircraft he flew included Wellingtons, Stirlings and Lancasters. While flying Wellingtons as part of 199 Squadron during a raid over Dortmund, his aircraft was badly damaged but Tom managed to limp home, crash landing at Mildenhall. |
| Warrant Officer Richard Basher Hearne *Signature Value : £20 | 'Basher' Hearne joined the RAF in 1942 and trained as a Flight Engineer. His first operational posting was to 622 Squadron at Mildenhall in Suffolk, equipped with Stirlings, and then, in November 1943, he transferred to 15 Squadron, also flying from the same base. The squadron re-equipped with Lancasters the following month. |
| Wing Commander Mac England DFC *Signature Value : £55 | 'Mac' England joined the RAF in 1938 and after qualifying, posted as a pilot into Lancasters. In 1941 he was transferred from Bomber command to fighter Command-flying Spitfires on coastal sweeps. After a short period of time on Spitfires he was transferred back again to bomber Command, and in 1943 completed 30 Operations on Lancasters. When he retired in 1974 he had flown a total of 36 different aircraft including Hunters and Canberras. |
| 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 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 Lancaster 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.) Their Lancastrian airliner was also based on the Lancaster but was not very successful. Other developments were the Avro York and the successful Shackleton which continued in airborne early warning service up to 1992. |
| Artist Details : Robert Taylor |
| Click here for a full list of all artwork by Robert Taylor |
 Robert Taylor The name Robert Taylor has been synonymous with aviation art over a quarter of a century. His paintings of aircraft, more than those of any other artist, have helped popularise a genre which at the start of this remarkable artist's career had little recognition in the world of fine art. When he burst upon the scene in the mid-1970s his vibrant, expansive approach to the subject was a revelation. His paintings immediately caught the imagination of enthusiasts and collectors alike . He became an instant success. As a boy, Robert seemed always to have a pencil in his hand. Aware of his natural gift from an early age, he never considered a career beyond art, and with unwavering focus, set out to achieve his goal. Leaving school at fifteen, he has never worked outside the world of art. After two years at the Bath School of Art he landed a job as an apprentice picture framer with an art gallery in Bath, the city where Robert has lived and worked all his life. Already competent with water-colours the young apprentice took every opportunity to study the works of other artists and, after trying his hand at oils, quickly determined he could paint to the same standard as much of the art it was his job to frame. Soon the gallery was selling his paintings, and the owner, recognising Roberts talent, promoted him to the busy picture-restoring department. Here, he repaired and restored all manner of paintings and drawings, the expertise he developed becoming the foundation of his career as a professional artist. Picture restoration is an exacting skill, requiring the ability to emulate the techniques of other painters so as to render the damaged area of the work undetectable. After a decade of diligent application, Robert became one of the most capable picture restorers outside London. Today he attributes his versatility to the years he spent painstakingly working on the paintings of others artists. After fifteen years at the gallery, by chance he was introduced to Pat Barnard, whose military publishing business happened also to be located in the city of Bath. When offered the chance to become a full-time painter, Robert leapt at the opportunity. Within a few months of becoming a professional artist, he saw his first works in print. Roberts early career was devoted to maritime paintings, and he achieved early success with his prints of naval subjects, one of his admirers being Lord Louis Mountbatten. He exhibited successfully at the Royal Society of Marine Artists in London and soon his popularity attracted the attention of the media. Following a major feature on his work in a leading national daily newspaper he was invited to appear in a BBC Television programme. This led to a string of commissions for the Fleet Air Arm Museum who, understandably, wanted aircraft in their maritime paintings. It was the start of Roberts career as an aviation artist. Fascinated since childhood by the big, powerful machines that man has invented, switching from one type of hardware to another has never troubled him. Being an artist of the old school, Robert tackled the subject of painting aircraft with the same gusto as with his large, action-packed maritime pictures - big compositions supported by powerful and dramatic skies, painted on large canvases. It was a formula new to the aviation art genre, at the time not used to such sweeping canvases, but one that came naturally to an artist whose approach appeared to have origins in an earlier classical period. Roberts aviation paintings are instantly recognisable. He somehow manages to convey all the technical detail of aviation in a traditional and painterly style, reminiscent of the Old Masters. With uncanny ability, he is able to recreate scenes from the past with a carefully rehearsed realism that few other artists ever manage to achieve. This is partly due to his prodigious research but also his attention to detail: Not for him shiny new factory-fresh aircraft looking like museum specimens. His trade mark, flying machines that are battle-scarred, worse for wear, with dings down the fuselage, chips and dents along the leading edges of wings, oil stains trailing from engine cowlings, paintwork faded with dust and grime; his planes are real! Roberts aviation works have drawn crowds in the international arena since the early 1980s. He has exhibited throughout the US and Canada, Australia, Japan and in Europe. His one-man exhibition at the Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC was hailed as the most popular art exhibition ever held there. His paintings hang in many of the worlds great aviation museums, adorn boardrooms, offices and homes, and his limited edition prints are avidly collected all around the world. A family man with strong Christian values, Robert devotes most of what little spare time he has to his home life. Married to Mary for thirty five years, they have five children, all now grown up. Neither fame nor fortune has turned his head. He is the same easy-going, gentle character he was when setting out on his painting career all those years ago, but now with a confidence that comes with the knowledge that he has mastered his profession. Sadly he passed away in January 2024. More about Robert Taylor |
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This website is owned by Cranston Fine Arts. Torwood House, Torwoodhill Road, Rhu, Helensburgh, Scotland, G848LE Contact: Tel: (+44) (0) 1436 820269. Email: cranstonorders -at- outlook.com |
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Austin, Tom (signed in person)
Austin, Tom (signed in person)
(matted)