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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 |
 Brigadier General Frank L. Gailer *Signature Value : £25 | General Gailer was born in Bakersfield, Calif., in 1923. Shortly thereafter, his family moved to New York, finally settling in Great Neck, Long Island. He graduated from Staunton Military Academy, Staunton, Va., in 1941, and attended Hofstra College, Hempstead, N.Y., until June 1942. He then entered the aviation cadet program and received pilot training at Parks Air College, Garden City, Kan., and Eagle Pass, Texas, where he earned his pilot wings and commission as second lieutenant. Frank Gailer was posted to England, joining the 357th Fighter Group at Leiston. Flying with the 363rd FS he went into combat in august, and in the next few months destroyed 6 enemy aircraft before being shot down in November 1944. Captured by the Germans, he was interned in Stalug I. After the war, in Vietnam, he commanded the 35th TFW at Phan Rang AB, flying over 500 hours combat on F-100s. In 1969 he returned to England once again, to command the 48th TW, and then as Vice-Commander of Third Air Force, USAF Europe. |
  Captain Jim Brooks *Signature Value : £55 | Jim Brooks joined the 31st Fighter Group in Italy in early 1944, flying the P51 against Me109s, Fw190s, and the Italian Macchi Mc202. He scored his first victory on a mission to Ploesti. Later, leading the 307th Fighter Squadron on a Russian shuttle mission, they engaged a large formation of Ju87 Stukas, shooting down 27 enemy aircraft, Jim Brooks accounting for three of them. He ended his tour with 280 combat hours, and 13 confirmed victories. |
 Colonel Joseph H Joiner *Signature Value : £15 | Completing pilot training in December 1943 he joined the 336th Fighter Squadron, 4th Fighter Group based at Debden flying P-51s. Following the unit's heavy losses he was made a Flight Commander after just 170 hours of combat flying and from May 1944 he completed 84 combat missions over Europe. One of the group's most respected pilots he led his squadron on 20 missions and the entire group on two. On his last mission in February 1945 he downed two Fw190s south of Nuremberg to finish the war with 3.5 aerial victories and 4.5 destroyed on the ground. |
 Lieutenant Colonel Huie Lamb *Signature Value : £30 | Flying P-47s out of Duxford with the 82nd Fighter Squadron, 78th Fighter Group, he shot down an Me262 on 15th October 1944, one of the few P-47 pilots to achieve a jet victory. After converting to P51s he became one of an elite few by shooting down a second jet when he shared in the destruction of an Arado Ar234 blitz-bomber on 19th March 1945. |
 Lieutenant Colonel James E Carl *Signature Value : £10 | After entering the USAAF in December 1941 he completed pilot training and was assigned to the 356th Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group. Based at Boxted he undertook his first combat mission shortly after D-Day in June 1944 and flew P-51s in support of the Allied advance through Normandy. Converting to P-47s in November he flew in Bastogne and the Battle of the Bulge, completing a total of 86 combat missions. |
 Lieutenant Colonel Walter M Drake *Signature Value : £10 | Entering the Air Force in March 1942, he joined the 479th Fighter Group at Wattisham in May 1944 equipped with P-38s. Flying alongside Robin Olds in the 434th Fighter Squadron, his first combat sortie was on 2nd June just in time for the D-Day missions. He later scored an aerial victory over an Me109 and completed a total of 68 combat missions. Converting to P-51s in September he destroyed three aircraft on the ground during the Group's epic raid on the Luftwaffe airfield at Nancy-Essey led by Hub Zemke. |
 Lieutenant Joseph W Cannon *Signature Value : £10 | He enlisted in the USAAF in 1942 and after completing training joined the 363rd Fighter Squadron, 357th Fightr Group based at Leiston, flying P-51s alongside such legendary aces as Bud Anderson and Chuck Yeager. From September 1944 he flew 303 combat hours in 72 missions over Europe in his Mustang Little Joe, twice force-landed in Belgium in October 1944 and damaged two aircraft in the air, including an Me262 jet over Leipzig in March 1945. |
 Major General Wayne C Gatlin *Signature Value : £20 | Wayne Gatlin flew with the 360th Fighter Squadron, 356th Fighter Group based at Martlesham Heath. From September 1944 he undertook 55 combat missions before the end of the war, six in P-47s and the rest in P-51Ds. On 10 April 1945 he destroyed an Me262 jet before immediately damaging another. |
| 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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Brooks, Jim (signed in person)
Brooks, Jim (signed in person)
(companion print)