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The Wolfpack by Robert Taylor. - Military Art

The Wolfpack by Robert Taylor.


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The Wolfpack by Robert Taylor.

The 56th Fighter Group was led by some of Americas greatest fighter leaders of World War II and was home to many of its leading fighter Aces. Under successive commanders Hub Zemke, Robert Landry and David Schilling, the 56th destroyed more enemy aircraft in combat than any other fighter group in the Eighth Air Force. Arriving in England in January 1943 under the command of Colonel Hub Zemke, a master tactician and fearless leader, the 56th quickly emerged as an outstanding fighting unit. The only Eighth Air Force Group to fly P-47 Thunderbolts throughout the war, the 56th spawned more fighter Aces than any other USAAF group - legends such as Gabby Gabreski, Robert Johnson and the colourful Ace Walker Bud Mahurin. Under Hub Zemkes mercurial leadership they became known and feared as Zemkes Wolfpack. On 26 November, 1943, the P-47s of the 56th Fighter Group were tasked to escort B-24 Liberators of the 392nd Bomb Group on a dangerous mission to attack the heavily defended industrial and dockyard facilities in the German port of Bremen. Zemke knew the Luftwaffe would be waiting for them as they approached the target, and they were - in force! It was to become a day of high drama. With the Luftwaffe throwing all the fighters they could muster at the American heavy bombers, a massive aerial battle ensued. In the running dogfights high over Bremen, the Wolfpack claimed their most successful action of the war with 23 confirmed kills, 3 probables, and 9 damaged, creating an all-time record in the European Theatre. The 392nds B-24 Liberators could not have been in safer hands on that eventful day.
Item Code : DHM1726The Wolfpack by Robert Taylor. - This Edition
TYPEEDITION DETAILSSIZESIGNATURESOFFERSYOUR PRICEPURCHASING
PRINT Signed limited edition of 400 prints.

Paper size 35 inches x 26.5 inches (88cm x 66cm) - Image size 24.5 inches x 22 inches (62cm x 56cm) Mahurin, Walker Bud (signed in person)
Smith, Leslie C (signed in person)
Adrianse, Lyle (signed in person)
+ Artist : Robert Taylor


Signature(s) value alone : £115
£45 Off!Now : £210.00

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P-47 Thunderbolt Aviation Print 4-Pack.

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3 other prints in this pack :
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Pack price : £430 - Save £310

Titles in this pack :
Bridge Busters by Anthony Saunders.  (View This Item)
Return From Bremen by Simon Smith.  (View This Item)
The Wolfpack by Robert Taylor.  (View This Item)
Zemke's First Fan by David Pentland.  (View This Item)

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Other editions of this item : The Wolfpack by Robert Taylor. DHM1726
TYPEEDITION DETAILSSIZESIGNATURESOFFERSYOUR PRICEPURCHASING
ARTIST
PROOF
Limited edition of 25 artist proofs.

SOLD OUT.
Paper size 35 inches x 26.5 inches (88cm x 66cm) - Image size 24.5 inches x 22 inches (62cm x 56cm) Rankin, Robert J (companion print)
Groce, Walter (signed in person)
Bradshaw, John (companion print)
Whitley, Edgar (signed in person)
Edens, Billy Gene (companion print)
Kyler, Russell (companion print)
Comstock, Harold Bunny (signed in person)
Gladych, Michael B (signed in person)
Ulch, Shirley (signed in person)
Mahurin, Walker Bud (signed in person)
Smith, Leslie C (signed in person)
Adrianse, Lyle (signed in person)
+ Artist : Robert Taylor


Signature(s) value alone : £370
SOLD
OUT
VIEW EDITION...
PRINT Collectors edition of 350 prints.
Great value : Value of signatures exceeds price of item!
Paper size 35 inches x 26.5 inches (88cm x 66cm) - Image size 24.5 inches x 22 inches (62cm x 56cm) Rankin, Robert J (companion print)
Groce, Walter (signed in person)
Bradshaw, John (companion print)
Whitley, Edgar (signed in person)
Edens, Billy Gene (companion print)
Kyler, Russell (companion print)
Mahurin, Walker Bud (signed in person)
Smith, Leslie C (signed in person)
Adrianse, Lyle (signed in person)
+ Artist : Robert Taylor


Signature(s) value alone : £280
£45 Off!Now : £275.00VIEW EDITION...
PRESENTATION Wolfpack Tribute Proof edition of 50 prints.

SOLD OUT.
Paper size 35 inches x 26.5 inches (88cm x 66cm) - Image size 24.5 inches x 22 inches (62cm x 56cm) Rankin, Robert J (companion print)
Gabreski, Gabby (matted on companion print)
Johnson, Robert S (matted on companion print)
Zemke, Hub (matted on companion print)
Groce, Walter (signed in person)
Bradshaw, John (companion print)
Whitley, Edgar (signed in person)
Edens, Billy Gene (companion print)
Kyler, Russell (companion print)
Comstock, Harold Bunny (signed in person)
Gladych, Michael B (signed in person)
Ulch, Shirley (signed in person)
Batdorf, Gordon (companion print)
Winters, Robert (companion print)
Mahurin, Walker Bud (signed in person)
Smith, Leslie C (signed in person)
Adrianse, Lyle (signed in person)
+ Artist : Robert Taylor


Signature(s) value alone : £735
SOLD
OUT
VIEW EDITION...
General descriptions of types of editions :



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.
NameInfo


Brigadier General Leslie C Smith (deceased)
*Signature Value : £30

Les Smith was born on October 31, 1918, in Mitchell, South Dakota. He graduated from Fresno State College in May 1940, and entered the Aviation Cadet Program of the U.S. Army Air Forces on November 7, 1941. Smith was commissioned a 2d Lt and awarded his pilot wings at Kelly Field, Texas, on July 3, 1942, and then joined the 61st Fighter Squadron of the 56th Fighter Group, deploying with the group to England in January 1943. Arriving in England in February 1943, Les Smith flew two tours with the 56th Fighter Group, first as flight leader of the 61st Fighter Squadron, then as Commanding Officer of the 62nd Fighter Squadron. During that time he notched up 7 aerial victories,plus 4.5 on the ground while strafing enemy airfields. Les Smith became commander of the 62nd Fighter Squadron of the 56th Fighter Group in September 1944, and destroyed 1 more enemy aircraft in the air before becoming Deputy Commander of the 56th Fighter Group in January 1945 ending the war as Deputy Group Commanding Officer. He transferred to the 65th Fighter Wing in England and served as Air Inspector from April to June 1945. Col Les Smith left active duty and on the 10th of January 1946 joined the Air Force Reserve, serving until May 18, 1948, after which he joined the California Air National Guard. Col Les Smith served as Commander of the 144th Fighter Group from May to July 1948, and Commander of the 194th Fighter Squadron from July 1948 to April 1952, and Commander of the 144th Fighter Group from May 1952 to September 1955. Col Smith then served on the staff of the 144th Fighter Interceptor Wing from September 1955 to September 1957, followed by service as Deputy Commander of the 144th Air Defense Wing from September 1957 to January 1959. Gen Smiths final assignment was as Commander of the 144th Air Defense Wing from January 1959 and finally on 1st july 1963 he retired from the California Air National Guard. He was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2015. He died on 2nd September 2016.


Brigadier General Lyle Adrianse
*Signature Value : £15

Joining the service in 1941, Lyle Adrianse was one of the early members of the 56th Fighter Group, arriving in England with them in early 1943 and flying P47s with the 63rd Fighter Squadron. He completed a total of 101 combat missions with the Group, and remained in Europe until the end of the war.


The signature of Colonel Walker Bud Mahurin (deceased)

Colonel Walker Bud Mahurin (deceased)
*Signature Value : £70

Walker Melville 'Bud' Mahurin was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan on 5th December 1918. He joined the Army reserves on 29th September 1941 and entered flight training, being commissioned as a pilot on the 29th of April 1942 at Ellington Field Texas. 'Bud' Mahurin gained a reputation as one of the USAAF's most colourful fighter Aces. Arriving in the European theatre, flying with the 56th Fighter Group at Boxted, England, on the 17th of August the 56th Fighter group flew escort for the Eighth Air Force Bombers whose mission was to bomb Schweinfurt and Regensburg. They encountered a large force of German fighters and Bud Mahurin shot down two Fw190s. He went on to become an Ace on the 4th of October, and by the end of November he had achieved 10 kills. Bud Mahurin was promoted to Major on the 21st of March 1944. On the 27th of March he shared a victory of a Do217 but was hit by the bomber and was forced to bail out of his Thunderbolt, when his aircraft was set ablaze by the gunfire. Mahurin evaded the Germans with help of the French resistance and returned to Britian. He had by this time shot down 20 German aircraft. He then transferred to the south west Pacific Commanding the 3rd Air Commando Squadron where he added a Japanese aircraft to his score, shooting down a KI-46 Dinah, making hinm one of very few American pilots to shoot down German and Japanese aircraft. Mahurin saw combat from New Guinea to Okinawa. After this tour he returned to the US and was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel. After the war he spent two tours at the Pentagon and went on to obtain an aeronautical engineering degree. During the Korean War 'Bud' Mahurin commanded the 4th Fighter Interceptor Group in Korea where he added 3.5 MiG-15s to his tally before being shot down in his Sabre. He was shot down by ground fire on the 13th of May 1952, and bailed out for the last time, to spend a gruelling sixteen months as a POW in North Korea undergoing extensive torture. Mahurin returned to the US and stayed in the USAF until 1956 when he worked for the aerospace industry. Sadly, Bud Mahurin passed away on 11th May 2010.
The Aircraft :
NameInfo
ThunderboltAlexander Kartveli was a engineer with Seversky Aircraft who designed the P-35, which first flew in 1937. With Republic Aviation Kartveli supervised the development of the P-43 Lancer. Neither of these aircraft were produced in large numbers, and neither was quite successful. However, the Republic Aviation P-47 Thunderbolt, also nicknamed the Jug, was quite a different story. The Jug was the jewel in Kartvelis design crown, and went on to become one of the most produced fighter aircraft of all time with 15,683 being manufactured. The P-47 was the largest and heaviest single seat fighter of WW II. The P-47 immediately demonstrated its excellent combat qualities, including speed, rate of climb, maneuverability, heavy fire power, and the ability to take a lot of punishment. With a wingspan of more than 40 feet and a weight of 19,400 pounds, this large aircraft was designed around the powerful 2000 HP Pratt and Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial engine. The first P-47 prototype flew in May of 1941, and the primary variant the P-47D went into service in 1943 with units of the U.S. Armys Eighth Air Force. The Jug had a maximum speed in excess of 400 MPH, a service ceiling in excess of 42,000 feet, and was heavily armed with either six or eight heavy caliber machine guns. With its ability to carry up to a 2,500 pound bomb load, the Jug saw lots of use in ground attack roles. Until the introduction of the N model, the P-47 lacked the long range required for fighter escort missions which were most often relegated to P-51 Mustangs or P-38 Lightnings. In his outstanding painting entitled Bridge Busting Jugs, noted aviation artist Stan Stokes depicts Eighth Air Force Jugs in a ground attack mission in the Alps in June of 1944. The top P-47 ace was Francis Gabreski who had flown with the 56th Fighter Group, the first unit to be equipped with the P-47. In August of 1943 Gabreski attained his first aerial combat victory (over an Fw-190) and by years end he had reached ace status with 8 confirmed victories. As Commander of the 61st Squadron, Gabreski continued to chalk up victory after victory, and on seven different occasions he achieved two victories during the same mission. However, in July of 1944 Gabreski damaged the prop on his Jug during a low level attack on an airfield near Coblenz. Forced to make a crash landing, he was captured and remained a prisoner of war until Wars end in 1945. Following the War Gabreski returned to military service with the Air Forces 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing in Korea. Flying the F-86 Sabre Jet, Gabreski attained 6.5 more aerial victories in 1951 and 1952 becoming an ace in two different wars
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.

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