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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 |
 Captain Alan Leahy CBE DSC RN (deceased) *Signature Value : £25 | Joined the Royal Navy in 1943 as Naval Airman 2nd Class. he was trained by the US Navy as a fighter pilot flying Corsairs. Later he qualified as an Air Weapons Officer. He has served on the aircraft carriers Implacable, Illustrious, Theseus, Vengeance, Glory, Bulwark, Ark Royal, Victorious and Hermes. He commanded 738 (Seahawks), 803 (Scimitars) 700 Z and 809 (Buccaneers) and has flown 35 different types of aircraft. In 1953 he was awarded the DSC for operations over Korea flying Sea Furies in 801 Squadron from HMS Glory. He was the leader of the all red Royal Navy Seahawk aerobatic team of five aircraft at the 1957 Farnborough Air Show. He was made MBE in 1958. Amongst a variety of appointments he was Director of the Naval Air Warfare Division of the Naval Staff when the Royal Navy got approval for the Sea Harrier. His final appointment was as Commodore Clyde in command of HMS Neptune and the Faslane Submarine Base. He was appointed ADC in 1977 and promoted to CBE in 1978. Unfortunately Alan Leahy passed away on December 26, 2019. |
 Cdr. Lionel G Hooke VRD* RNR *Signature Value : £25 | Joined the Navy at HMS Ganges in August 1940. On completion of the fighter course at Yeovilton he became a fighter pilot in the Eastern Fleet Fighter Pool as well as on the Staff of S.E.A.C. and 26th Indian Division for the capture of Akyab. Post war he served in the Reserve and on disbandment of the Northern Air Division in 1957 he transferred to M.0.D. (Navy) in the logistics department, with the non-substantive rank of Commander, being awarded a Bar to the V.R.D. in 1972. |
 Commander Tommy Handley *Signature Value : £20 | Commander Tommy Handley joined the Royal Navy as a Cadet in 1940. During his first two years he served in many ships varying from destroyer to battleships, mainly on escort and convoy duties in the South Atlantic, but including two Russian convoys. After promotion to Sub Lieutenant he was in Combined Operations in landing craft and served in MV Durban Castle for Operation Torch, landing US Troops in North Africa. He started flying in 1943 and after training in Canada joined 885 Squadron flying Hellcats in the Woolworth carrier HMS Ruler. In early 1945 he was transferred to 1844 Squadron in HMS Indomitable and took part in Operation Iceberg against Japanese offshore islands. After the war he was a flying instructor with the Royal Air Force before becoming an Air Weapons Officer and joining 800 Squadron as senior Pilot, later commanding officer, flying Seafire 47s in HMS Triumph. She was the first British carrier to be involved in the Korean War and Tommy was the last pilot to fly an operational mission in a Seafire/Spitfire. He was therefore the 'Last of the Few'. On promotion to Commander he was appointed to command HMS Bramble on fishery protection duties and employed in and around Norway and Iceland, as well as home water. Then he was off to flying duties again as Commander (Air) of HMS Centaur. Later he was appointed the Commander of the Naval Air Station Hal Far in Malta, before taking up further duties abroad as Naval Attache Istanbul, Naval Attache Tehran and finally Resident Naval Officer in Mombassa and Adviser to the Kenya Navy. He retired from the Navy in 1976. |
  Eric Winkle Brown (deceased) *Signature Value : £45 | Most highly decorated Royal Navy pilot. Holder of the world record for most types of aircraft flown, at 487, and for the largest number of aircraft carrier landings - 2407. Had a 31 -year career in the Royal Navy, and is the Fleet Air Arm's most decorated pilot. After a distinguished operational tour flying from Britain's first escort carrier, he was selected as a test pilot in 1942 and then served at A&AEE Boscombe Down before being appointed as Chief Naval Test Pilot at the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough, where he remained for six years. During that time he commanded the Enemy Aircraft Flight, the High Speed Flight and finally the prestigious Aerodynamics Flight. During the Korean War he served as a test pilot at the US Naval Air Test Center at Patuxent River for two years. While in his appointment as Head of the British Naval Air Mission to Germany from 1957-60 he was seconded to the Focke-Wulf Co. for a spell as their test pilot. In his test-flying career he has flown a world record 487 basic types of aircraft, and made a world record 2,407 aircraft carrier landings in fixed-wing aircraft. He is a past President of the Royal Aeronautical Society, an Honorary Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and a Master Pilot of Russia. In 1995 he was inducted into the US Navy's Carrier Aviation Test Pilot Hall of Honor, the only non-American to have received this accolade. Eric Winkle Brown died on 21st February 2016. |
 Rear Admiral Ray Rawbone CB AFC RN *Signature Value : £20 | Joined the Royal Navy in 1942 under the 'Y' scheme. He was trained by the RAF as a fighter pilot and joined 809 Squadron flying Seafires in 1943. Embarked in HMS Stalker he took part in operations in the Atlantic, the invasion of the South of France, Italy, Greece, Burma, Sumatra and Malaya. He served as Senior Pilot for the last six months of the war and remained with the Squadron until the end of 1945. Later qualified as a Flying Instructor, he was awarded the AFC whilst loaned to the RAF on the Staff of the Central Flying School. He has served in the aircraft carriers Stalker, Bulwark, Eagle and Ark Royal and was a member of the first Naval jet Squadron (800 Attackers). He commanded 736 (Attackers, Seahawks) and 897 (Seahawks) squadrons and the Royal Naval Air Station at Yeovilton. He has flown over 40 different types of aircraft. He was the Captain (Air) on FONACs staff during the re-structioning of the Naval Air Command and his sea appointments included the command of HMS Loch Killisport, HMS Dido and HMS Kent. His final post was as DACOS (ops) in SHAPE. He was appointed ADC in 1973 and CB in 1976. |
| The Aircraft : | |
| Name | Info |
| Seafire | |
| Artist Details : Philip West |
| Click here for a full list of all artwork by Philip West |
 Philip West Philip West is recognised as one of the worlds finest aviation artists. Collectors of his original oil paintings span the globe, many waiting patiently for his next breathtaking canvas to appear. With some one hundred and eight limited editions behind him, a waiting list of commissioned paintings for clients both existing and new, and a head full of ideas for new limited edition prints, life is never dull for this Wiltshire based artist! Self-taught, after years of painting pictures for friends and relatives, Philip took the plunge and became a full-time professional artist. Since then he has developed a very loyal and expanding for both his original paintings and prints. Whilst jets, and Phantoms in particular, light Philips fire, he is also a master painter of piston-engined classics; being renowned for his rendition of Avro Lancasters and Supermarine Spitfires. Philip is also one of the few artists to also enthusiastically paint pictures of Fleet Air Arm aircraft. Philips knowledge of aircraft and the accuracy of his work combine to record a moment in history so perfectly, that both collectors and admirers of his work are able to feel a real sense of the excitement and drama that his work portrays. More about Philip West |
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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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Brown, Eric Winkle 
(signed in person)
