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Pack 1251. Two Typhoon Aviation Prints by Stephen Brown and Nicolas Trudgian.
PCK1251. Pack of two Typhoon Aviation prints by Stephen Brown and Nicolas Trudgian. Aviation Print Pack.
Items in this pack : Item #1 - Click to view individual item DHM2717. Typhoon Scramble by Stephen Brown. RAF Hawker Typhoon Mk IBs of 609 Squadron embark on a ground attack mission, head for targets in Northern France. Once initial problems with the tail section were resolved the Typhoon proved to be extremely rugged and reliable and was ideally suited to the ground attack role. Signed by Flight Lieutenant Derek Lovell, F/O Tony (Titch) Hallett DFC, Warrant Officer Douglas Oram and Flying Officer Frank Wheeler DFC (deceased). Signed limited edition of 300 prints. Paper size 28 inches x 20 inches (71cm x 51cm)
Item #2 - Click to view individual item DHM2200. Typhoons Over the Rhine by Nicolas Trudgian. Flying low level at high speed through intense ground fire was all part of the daily task of the pilots of the Typhoon ground attack squadrons. Armed with rockets, 1000lb bombs and four 20mm cannon, this formidable fighter played a leading role in the Allied advance through occupied Europe. Leading up to, and following the Normandy landings through to the end of hostilities, the Typhoon, flown by determined hard hitting pilots, became the scourge of the German Panzer Divisions, and wrought havoc with enemy road and rail communications. Targets along the Rhine, over one of Germanys arteries of supply and communication and last line of defence, were given special attention by the Typhoon squadrons. Barges carrying vital supplies, munition trains on railroads hugging the river bank, and the ever present movement of troops and armour toward the battlefront were constantly attacked from the air. Led by Squadron Leader B. G. Stapme Stapleton, Mk1B Typhoons of 247 Squadron, 2nd Tactical Air Force, based at Eindhoven in Holland, make a low-level attack on enemy river transport on the Rhine in November 1944. Twisting and turning to avoid ground fires as best they can, the Typhoon pilots power their way through the valley with cannons blazing, pressing home their attack by strafing every German military target in their path. The supply cargo aboard the freight train is unlikely to reach its destination today!
Published 1999. Less than 25 copies available of this sold out edition. Sold without companion print Typhoon Country Signed by Air Commodore C D Kit North-Lewis (deceased) and Squadron Leader Basil Stapleton DFC (deceased), in addition to the artist. Signed limited edition of 500 prints. Image size 26 inches x 16 inches (66cm x 41cm)
Website Price: £ 260.00
To purchase these prints individually at their normal retail price would cost £335.00 . By buying them together in this special pack, you save £75
All prices are displayed in British Pounds Sterling
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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 | 
F/O Tony (Titch) Hallett DFC *Signature Value : £35 (matted)
| F/O Tony (Titch) Hallett DFC a member of 198 Rocket Firing Typhoon Squadron operated from bases in Southern England (Manston to Hurn). Operating from Thorney Island on D-Day and then from several landing strips on The Beachhead, France and Belgium between January and November 1944. After Fighter Pilot training in the USA in 1941/42 he returned to the UK for conversion to Hurricanes and was then posted to an Army Co-operation Unit in Northern Ireland where he gained valuable experience flying various types of aircraft, i.e. Defiant, Lysander, Hurricane, Martinet and Twin Engine Oxford. His operational flying from Southern England consisted mainly of attacking the many strongly defended Radar Stations from Ostend to Cherbourg and on two occasions changed from rockets to bombs for attacks on Noball Targets (flying bomb sites). Operations from the landing strips consisted, with close Army Support, taking out Gun Positions, attacking Tanks and destroying anything that moved in enemy territory all against very heavy enemy Flak. He completed in excess of 100 sorties and since 1984 has revisited Normandy on many occasions. He attended the official funerals of two 198 Squadron Pilots whose aircraft wreckage had been discovered as many as 41 and 49 years after the events. | 

Flight Lieutenant Derek Lovell (deceased) *Signature Value : £35 (matted)
| Volunteered for the RAFVR in January 1941. He trained in Canada on Tiger Moths and Oxfords. He received his wings in April 1942 and was posted to Central Flying School. Following graduation, he taught Fleet Air Arm trainees on Harvards. He returned to the UK in March 1943 and flew Masters at AFU and Hurricanes at OTU. He taught Lancaster crews fighter evasion prior to posting to 84 GSU to fly Typhoons. He joined 197 Squadron at Needs Oar Point in the New Forest in June 1944 and was involved in close support operations and tactical dive bombing and low level bombing throughout the Normandy campaign and on through to VE-Day. He completed 135 operations and in August 1945 was posted to an OTU to instruct on Typhoons and Tempest Vs. He was demobbed in June 1946 and flew weekends in the VR on Tiger Moths and later Chipmunks. He was called up on the G Reserve in July 1951 and flew Harvards, Spitfire XXIIs and then Vampire Vs. He stood down in September as the Korea situation eased. He passed away on March 1st, 2019. | 
Flying Officer Frank Wheeler DFC (deceased) *Signature Value : £40 (matted)
| Frank Wheeler joined the RAF in 1941, training in England as a pilot after which he completed a period of instructing. In January 1944 he was posted to join 174 Typhoon Fighter Squadron at Westhampnett, his first operation being as an escort to the Mosquitos taking part in Operation Jericho, the Amiens Jailbreak. He stayed with 174 Squadron for the remainder of the War, serving throughout occupied Europe, and in 1945, at the end of his tour of operations, he was awarded the DFC. We have learned that Frank Wheeler sadly passed away in early 2013. | 
Warrant Officer Douglas Oram *Signature Value : £40 (matted)
| Doug Oram joined the RAF in 1942 and went out to America to train as a pilot. In 1944 he joined 174 Typhoon Fighter Squadron at Westhampnett, and spent a year on operations serving throughout occupied Europe. In 1945 he became a Flying Instructor and left the RAF in 1946. However he rejoined in 1947 and stayed in the service until retirement in 1967. |
| Signatures on item 2 | | *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 | 

Air Commodore Christopher Davis Kit North Lewis DSO DFC (deceased) *Signature Value : £55 (matted)
| After joining the Army in 1939, Kit North Lewis transferred to the RAF in 1940. In Aug 1941, after pilot training, he was posted to 13 Squadron, flying Blenheims, where he took part in the first 1000 bomber raids. After a spell with 26 Squadron, flying P-51 Mustangs, in Feb 1944 he joined 182 Squadron on Typhoons, as a Flight Commander. A few months later he was posted to command 181 Squadron. He led this squadron into France where it became part of 124 Typhoon Wing. In Aug 1944 he was promoted Wing Leader 124 Wing, where he remained until the end of the war. He died on 25th March 2008. 'Unfortunately my active participation in the Falaise operations was limited as I had a mild form of dysentery from 8th to 14th and I was sent home for a weeks recuperation from 16th to 24th August. However, I was very much involved on the 7th in the German attack at Mortain. I was leading 181 Squadron on an armed reconnaissance when Charles Green who was then the Wing Leader of 121 Wing reported large German tank concentrations at Mortain. Although this was inside the bomb line I accepted his verification and I immediately diverted to Mortain. There we found German tanks strung out along the road. We claimed 10 flamers. I followed this up with two more sorties in which we claimed another 7. There was very little flak, the main danger being the number of allied aircraft around the honey pot. During the period 6th to 21st August the Wing lost 9 pilots killed including Group Captain Charles Appleton and 4 taken POW.' | 

Squadron Leader Basil Stapleton DFC (deceased) *Signature Value : £65 (matted)
| Born in South Africa, Basil Gerald Stapleton joined the RAF in Jan 1939, being posted to 603 Sqn flying Spitfires. He first saw action off Scotland, sharing in the destruction of two bombers, before the Squadron was posted south to Hornchurch during the height of the Battle of Britain. By Nov 1940 his tally had risen to 6 and 2 shared victories and 8 probables. In March 1942 he was posted to 257 Sqn as flight commander. In August 1944 he commanded 247 Sqn flying Typhoons, taking part in the Arnhem operations. In December 1944, whilst attacking a train, debris hit his aircraft forcing him to land behind enemy lines where he was taken prisoner of war. Stapme Stapleton had scored 6 victories, plus 2 shared, 5 probable and 2 damaged. Sadly, we have learned that Basil Stapleton passed away on 13th April 2010. |
| Artist Details : Nicolas Trudgian | | Click here for a full list of all artwork by Nicolas Trudgian |
 Nicolas Trudgian
Cranston Fine Arts have now taken over all remaining stocks of Nicolas Trudgian prints from his previous publishers. We have made available a great many prints that had not been seen for many years, and have uncovered some rarities which lay unnoticed during this transition. Having graduated from art college, Nicolas Trudgian spent many years as a professional illustrator before turning to a career in fine art painting. His crisp style of realism, attention to detail, compositional skills and bright use of colours, immediately found favour with collectors and demand for his original work soared on both sides of the Atlantic. Today, more than a decade after becoming a fine art painter, Nicolas Trudgian is firmly established within a tiny, elite group of aviation artists whose works are genuinely collected world-wide. When he paints an aircraft you can be sure he has researched it in every detail and when he puts it over a particular airfield, the chances are he has paid it a recent visit. Even when he paints a sunset over a tropical island, or mist hanging over a valley in China, most probably he has seen it with his own eyes. Nick was born and raised in the seafaring city of Plymouth, the port from which the Pilgrim Fathers set sail in 1620, and where Sir Francis Drake played bowls while awaiting the Spanish Armada. Growing up in a house close to the railway station within a busy military city, the harbour always teeming with naval vessels and the skies above resonating with the sounds of naval aircraft, it was not at all surprising the young Nick became fascinated with trains, boats and aircraft. It was from his father, himself a talented artist, that Nick acquired his love of drawing and surrounded by so much that was inspiring, there was never a shortage of ideas for pictures. His talent began to show at an early age and although he did well enough at school, he always spent a disproportionate amount of time drawing. People talked about him becoming a Naval officer or an architect but in 1975 Nick's mind was made up. When he told his careers teacher he wanted to go to art school the man said, 'Now come on, what do you really want to do? After leaving school Nick began a one-year foundation course at the Plymouth College of Art. Now armed with an impressive portfolio containing paintings of jet aircraft, trains, even wildlife, he was immediately accepted at every college he applied to join. He chose a course at the Falmouth College of Art in Cornwall specialising in technical illustration and paintings of machines and vehicles for industry. It was perfect for Nick, and he was to become one of the star pupils. One of the lecturers commented at the time: Every college needs someone with a talent like Nick to raise the standards sky high; he carried all the other students along with him, and created an effect which will last for years to come. Two weeks after leaving art college Nick blew every penny he had on a trip to South Africa to ride the great steam trains across the desert, sketching them at every opportunity. Returning to England, in best traditions of all young artists, he struggled to make a living. Paintings by an unknown artist didn't fetch much despite the painstaking effort and time Nick put into each work, so when the college he had recently left offered him a job as a lecturer, he jumped at the chance. The money was good and he discovered that he really enjoyed teaching. Throughout the 1970s Nick was much involved with a railway preservation society near Plymouth and it was through the railway society that he had his first pictures reproduced as prints. But Nick felt he needed to advance his career and in summer 1985 Nick moved away from Cornwall to join an energetic new design studio in Wiltshire. Here he painted detailed artwork for many major companies including Rolls Royce, General Motors, Volvo Trucks, Alfa Romeo and, to his delight, the aviation and defence industries. He remembers the job as exciting though stressful, often requiring him to work right through the night to meet a client's deadline. Here he learned to be disciplined and fast. Towards the end of the 1980's Nick had the chance to work for the Military Gallery. This was the break that for years he had been striving towards and with typical enthusiasm, flung himself into his new role. After completing a series of aviation posters, including a gigantic painting to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Royal Air Force, Nick's first aviation scene to be published as a limited edition was launched by the Military Gallery in 1991. Despite the fact he was unknown in the field, it was an immediate success. Over the past decade Nick has earned a special reputation for giving those who love his work much more than just aircraft in his paintings. He goes to enormous lengths with his backgrounds, filling them with interesting and accurate detail, all designed to help give the aircraft in his paintings a tremendous sense of location and purpose. His landscapes are quite breathtaking and his buildings demonstrate an uncanny knowledge of perspective but it is the hardware in his paintings which are most striking. Whether it is an aircraft, tank, petrol bowser, or tractor, Nick brings it to life with all the inordinate skill of a truly accomplished fine art painter. A prodigious researcher, Nick travels extensively in his constant quest for information and fresh ideas. He has visited India, China, South Africa, South America, the Caribbean and travels regularly to the United States and Canada. He likes nothing better than to be out and about with sketchbook at the ready and if there is an old steam train in the vicinity, well that's a bonus!
More about Nicolas Trudgian
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