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Larry Lewis DFC by Graeme Lothian. (D) - Aviation Art Prints
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Larry Lewis DFC by Graeme Lothian. (D)


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Larry Lewis DFC by Graeme Lothian. (D)

At 3.30am on the 23rd June 1945, a Dakota of 357 (special duties) Squadron took off from Mingaladon airfield nr. Rangoon , to travel the 600 miles, 300 of them behind enemy lines, to rescue a downed American Liberator crew deep in the jungles of Siam. The Dakota was flown by pilot Fl Lt. Larry Lewis, who already held the DFM awarded to him for 33 ops as a rear gunner on Wellingtons in 1941. Two crews had already failed when Lewis was asked to attempt this hazardous mission. Flying between 5,000 - 6,000ft he flew over The Hump, a ridge of mountains running down the spine of Burma . Local villagers had cleared a rough airstrip 800yds long with Lewis finding it by the time dawn broke. With monsoon clouds gathering, the Liberator crew aboard and the Dakota sinking in the wet ground, he managed, just, to get airborne. Flying at zero feet and looking out for Japanese Zero fighters Lewis took a different course back. Although being fired on from the ground they managed to make it all the way to the airfield at Dum Dum nr. Calcutta , India . Lewis was awarded an immediate DFC. By the end of the war he had completed 63 ops, held the rank of Squadron Leader with his service from 1938-1945, and was awarded the Air Efficiency Medal.


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Item Code : DHM1793DLarry Lewis DFC by Graeme Lothian. (D) - This EditionAdd any two items on this offer to your basket, and the lower priced item will be half price in the checkout! Buy 1 Get 1 Half Price!
TYPEEDITION DETAILSSIZESIGNATURESOFFERSYOUR PRICEPURCHASING
PRINTLeckie / Lewis Signature edition of 50 prints (No.s 1 - 50) from the signed limited edition of 1150 prints.

Image size 19 inches x 12 inches (48cm x 31cm) Lewis, Larry
Leckie, Bill
+ Artist : Graeme Lothian


Signature(s) value alone : £95
£30 Off!Now : £110.00

Quantity:
All prices on our website are displayed in British Pounds Sterling



Other editions of this item : Larry Lewis DFC by Graeme Lothian.DHM1793
TYPEEDITION DETAILSSIZESIGNATURESOFFERSYOUR PRICEPURCHASING
PRINTLarry Lewis signature edition of 450 prints (numbered 51 to 500 of 1150) Image size 19 inches x 12 inches (48cm x 31cm) Lewis, Larry
+ Artist : Graeme Lothian


Signature(s) value alone : £45
£15 Off!Add any two items on this offer to your basket, and the lower priced item will be half price in the checkout!Now : £110.00VIEW EDITION...
ARTIST
PROOF
Limited edition of 50 artist proofs. Image size 19 inches x 12 inches (48cm x 31cm) Lewis, Larry
Leckie, Bill
+ Artist : Graeme Lothian


Signature(s) value alone : £95
£40 Off!Add any two items on this offer to your basket, and the lower priced item will be half price in the checkout!Now : £120.00VIEW EDITION...
PRINTSigned limited edition of 650 prints (numbered 501 to 1150 of 1150) Image size 19 inches x 12 inches (48cm x 31cm)Artist : Graeme LothianHalf
Price!
Add any two items on this offer to your basket, and the lower priced item will be half price in the checkout!
Now : £40.00VIEW EDITION...
PRINT Limited edition of 50 publishers proofs. Image size 19 inches x 12 inches (48cm x 31cm)Artist : Graeme LothianAdd any two items on this offer to your basket, and the lower priced item will be half price in the checkout!£90.00VIEW EDITION...
GICLEE
CANVAS
Limited edition of up to 50 giclee canvas prints. Size 36 inches x 20 inches (91cm x 51cm)Artist : Graeme Lothian
on separate certificate
£100 Off!Add any two items on this offer to your basket, and the lower priced item will be half price in the checkout!Now : £500.00VIEW EDITION...
GICLEE
CANVAS
Limited edition of up to 50 giclee canvas prints. Size 30 inches x 14 inches (76cm x 36cm)Artist : Graeme Lothian
on separate certificate
£100 Off!Add any two items on this offer to your basket, and the lower priced item will be half price in the checkout!Now : £400.00VIEW EDITION...
ORIGINAL
PAINTING
Original painting, oil on canvas by Graeme Lothian. Size 36 inches x 24 inches (91cm x 61cm)Artist : Graeme Lothian£1000 Off!Now : £2800.00VIEW EDITION...
POSTCARDCollector's Postcard - Restricted Initial Print Run of 40 cards.Postcard size 6 inches x 4 inches (15cm x 10cm)none£2.70VIEW EDITION...
SLIGHT
BORDER
DAMAGE
Larry Lewis signature edition of 450 prints (numbered 51 to 500 of 1150)

The print has slight damage to the border area, mostly on a corner. Not noticeable once framed.
Image size 19 inches x 12 inches (48cm x 31cm) Lewis, Larry
+ Artist : Graeme Lothian


Signature(s) value alone : £45
£65 Off!Now : £60.00
Better Than
Half Price!
VIEW EDITION...
EX-DISPLAY
PRINT
**Larry Lewis signature edition of 450 prints (numbered 51 to 500 of 1150) (One print reduced to clear)

Ex display prints with light damage on border.
Image size 19 inches x 12 inches (48cm x 31cm) Lewis, Larry
+ Artist : Graeme Lothian


Signature(s) value alone : £45
£60 Off!Now : £70.00VIEW EDITION...
General descriptions of types of editions :






Extra Details :
About this edition :

Bill Leckie signing this edition of the print :

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


The signature of Pilot Officer Bill Leckie, AEM, KW (deceased)

Pilot Officer Bill Leckie, AEM, KW (deceased)
*Signature Value : £50

Bill Leckie was born in Glasgow, Scotland on 23rd June 1921, joined the Royal Air Force in June 1941 and went to St Johns Wood on the 15th of September 1941. Bill Leckie started his flying training on the 4th of April 1942 at Stoke Orchard near Cheltenham in Tiger Moths. He went to Canada on the 26th of May 1942 at Monkton for further training until June before going on to Detroit and on to Pensacola, Florida on the 1st October 1942, flying Stearman and Catalina Flying boats until 31st March 1943 when Bill went to Prince Edward Island for further training. Back in the UK, Bill was expecting to join a Coastal Command squadron flying Catalinas but was transferred to Bomber Command and a conversion course on to Whitleys at Kinloss Scotland on the 22nd of February 1944, and joined 77 Squadron at Full Sutton on the 19th July 1944 on Halifaxes, flying 6 bombing missions, one being the bombing of the Flying Bomb Factory at Russesheim, before transferring to 148 Special Duties squadron on the 19th of August 1944 and going to Brindisi. Pilot Officer Bill Leckie was involved in the dropping of supplies (guns, ammunition and food) to the Polish during the Warsaw uprising. This was a costly mission and many aircraft were lost. (Bill was flying Halifax JD319 (FS - G). For his efforts in air-dropping supplies during this period, Bill Leckie was awarded the Polish Cross of Valour (KW). Pilot Officer Bill Leckie was also the Pilot for Operation Ebensburg on Sunday 8th April 1945. Halifax B.II Series 1 (Special) JP254 of 148 Special Duties Squadron carried out the misison to drop four SOE agents and their equipment near Alt Aussee salt mine in the Austrian Alps. Thier mission was to secure and protect 6,755 items of the worlds greatest works of art that had been looted and stored by the Germans as they swept across Europe. With the allied forces closing in, the Germans had planned to blow up the entire store to prevent the artworks from falling into the hands of the liberators. Once on the ground, the four agents linked up with local resistance fighters and the mine and its valuable contents were eventually secured, the explosives made safe and the entire cache taken into the safe keeping of the 80th US Infantry Division as the German occupation of Europe crumbled. Bill Leckie stayed with 148 Squadron until 18th May 1945 when he was posted to Cairo with 216 Squadron (Dakotas) of Transport Command and on 1st January 1946 to 78 Squadron flying Dakotas again until 1st June 1946 , finally leaving the RAF on the 18th September 1946. He died in October 2021.


The signature of Sqd Ldr Larry Lewis DFC DFM (deceased)

Sqd Ldr Larry Lewis DFC DFM (deceased)
*Signature Value : £45

Squadron Leader Larry Lewis (born October 25th 1918 in Bristol, died May 12th 2014) earned the DFM as an air gunner before training as a pilot. After picking up air crash survivors from behind Japanese-held lines in Siam, he was awarded the DFC. On May 29th 1945 Japanese fighters shot down a Liberator bomber of 358 Squadron over Siam (Thailand) during a flight to drop supplies and US Special Forces to the 'Seri Thai' (Free Thailand) Resistance movement. Some of the crew and passengers survived the crash landing and were sheltered by natives and police. Once SOE in India had been alerted to the plight of the survivors, a rescue mission was mounted. On June 14th Lewis took off in his Dakota and flew at very low level to a remote airstrip at Pukio in Siam. He found the short runway adequate but the aircraft became bogged down at the end of the landing run. Within an hour, however, it had been recovered with the aid of Siamese workers and Lewis took off with seven passengers, including some of the crew of the crashed Liberator. The citation to his DFC concluded, he successfully completed a mission well into enemy territory, in daylight. The results obtained are an excellent tribute to his outstanding ability. One of seven children, Laurence 'Larry' Godfrey Lewis was born in Bristol on October 25 1918 and educated at Bristol Grammar School. He won a Pelaquin Scholarship but had to leave school at 15 to help support his family. He joined the Auxiliary Air Force as a metal rigger in May 1939 and served with No 501 (County of Gloucester) Squadron. Equipped with Hurricane fighters, and based in the south of England, the squadron was heavily involved during the Battle of Britain. Lewis volunteered for pilot training but was selected to be an air gunner, commencing his training in late 1940. At the end of the year he was posted to No.12 Squadron equipped with the Wellington bomber. During a daylight attack on Brest, his aircraft was attacked by a German fighter, which he engaged and probably shot down. He completed 33 operations over enemy territory as a rear gunner including the three 'Thousand Bomber Raids' in the spring of 1942. He was awarded the DFM for his outstanding keenness, reliability and devotion to duty. Lewis was finally selected for pilot training, which he completed in Canada where he converted to the Dakota. He arrived in the Far East in January 1945 and joined No 357 (Special Duties) Squadron at Jessore near Calcutta. Over the next six months he completed 42 operations dropping supplies and agents over Burma and Siam. Some of these long-range missions involved flying over enemy territory for many hours and in extreme weather conditions to find small clearings marked by flares and cloth panels. Some areas were so small that as many as eight or nine runs were necessary before all the loads could be dropped, sometimes from heights of 100 feet. After the capture of Rangoon, flights were mounted from advanced airfields when sorties could be mounted deep into Siam, Indo-China and Malaya in support of clandestine forces. Lewis flew his final sortie on August 3rd 1945 when he made eleven runs to drop his 'packages' over a clearing in southern Burma. After serving at Air HQ Burma in a plans appointment, Lewis was released form the RAF in March 1946. He received the Air Efficiency Award.
The Aircraft :
NameInfo
DakotaDOUGLAS DAKOTA, Transport aircraft with three crew and can carry 28 passengers. speed 230-mph, and a altitude of 23,200 feet. maximum range 2,100 miles. The Douglas Dakota served in all theatres of world war two, The Royal Air Force received its first Douglas Dakota's in April 1941, to 31 squadron which was serving in India. These were DC2, later DC3 and eventually C-47 Dakotas were supplied. The Douglas Dakota was developed from the civil airliner of the 1930's. The Royal Air Force received nearly 2,000 Dakotas, But many more than this served in the US Air Force and other allied countries. The last flight of a Douglas Dakota of the Royal Air Force was in 1970. You can still see Douglas Dakota's in operational and transport use across the world.

ARTIST

Graeme Lothian



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