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They Landed by Moonlight by Robert Taylor (AP) - Aviation Art Prints

They Landed by Moonlight by Robert Taylor (AP)


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They Landed by Moonlight by Robert Taylor (AP)

To fly a small aircraft at the dead of night, without radio communication or navigational assistance, deep into enemy-occupied territory, was an extremely perilous task. To then land on an unlit remote field, deliver secret agents, collect Resistance leaders, or downed airmen and fly them home without attracting the attentions of enemy night fighters, was appallingly risky work. Yet throughout World War II the prime function of the pilots of the RAFs Special Duties Squadrons was to fly time and again into occupied France, in utmost secrecy, under the cover of darkness. It was acutely dangerous work requiring inordinate flying and navigational skills, and supreme courage. Most suited to these clandestine operations was the rugged Westland Lysander, operations being conducted, weather permitting, during the moons fullest phase. Guided only by torch light, the pilot made a hazardous night landing into an isolated field at a pre-arranged time, trusting that agents on the ground had checked the field for cart tracks and loitering Gestapo. Every mission required ice cool bravery and nerves of steel.


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VIEW ALL LYSANDER AIRCRAFT ART

Item Code : RT0310APThey Landed by Moonlight by Robert Taylor (AP) - This Edition
TYPEEDITION DETAILSSIZESIGNATURESOFFERSYOUR PRICEPURCHASING
ARTIST
PROOF
Limited edition of artist proofs.

Supplied with companion print Special Duties.
Paper size 31 inches x 24 inches (79cm x 61cm) Anderson, Murray
Cammaerts, Francis
Hodges, Lewis
Ratcliff, Len
Verity, Hugh
+ Artist : Robert Taylor


Signature(s) value alone : £150
£325.00

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



Other editions of this item : They Landed by Moonlight by Robert Taylor.RT0310
TYPEEDITION DETAILSSIZESIGNATURESOFFERSYOUR PRICEPURCHASING
PRINT Signed limited edition of 750 prints. Paper size 31 inches x 24 inches (79cm x 61cm) Anderson, Murray
Cammaerts, Francis
Hodges, Lewis
Ratcliff, Len
Verity, Hugh
+ Artist : Robert Taylor


Signature(s) value alone : £150
£50 Off!Now : £210.00VIEW EDITION...
PRINTLimited edition of 25 remarques.

Supplied with companion print Special Duties.
Paper size 31 inches x 24 inches (79cm x 61cm) Anderson, Murray
Cammaerts, Francis
Hodges, Lewis
Ratcliff, Len
Verity, Hugh
+ Artist : Robert Taylor


Signature(s) value alone : £150
SOLD
OUT
VIEW EDITION...
General descriptions of types of editions :


Extra Details :
About this edition :

Supplied with companion print Special Duties :

.

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 Air Chief Marshal Sir Lewis Hodges KCB CBE DSO DFC* (deceased)

Air Chief Marshal Sir Lewis Hodges KCB CBE DSO DFC* (deceased)
*Signature Value : £45

Lewis Hodges flew with 49 Sqn from June 1940 until he was shot down over occupied France in Sept 1940 and taken prisoner by the Vichy French. He managed to escape and made his way back to England, rejoining 49 Sqn. He took part in the attacks against the German Channel dash operation in Feb 1942. In Nov of that year he joined 161 (Special Duties) Sqn, flying Halifaxes, Lysanders and Hudsons landing and parachuting agents into German occupied territory. Among the people he brought out of France were two future Presidents - Vincent Auriol and Francois Mitterand. He died 4th January 2007.
The signature of Captain Murray Anderson DFC* (deceased)

Captain Murray Anderson DFC* (deceased)
*Signature Value : £20

Commissioned in the Royal Tank Regiment from RMA Woolwich in 1939, Murray Anderson was seconded to the Royal Air Force in 1940. He flew Spitfires with No.1 Photo Reconnaissance Unit at RAF Benson until 1943. He then joined 161 (Special Duties) Squadron flying Lysanders, and was the most successful pick up pilot for the whole of that year even though in May 1944 he was posted to 65 Squadron 2nd Tactical Air Force, flying Mustangs. After a rest period he was posted to 52 Sqn at Dum Dum in May 1945. Murray Anderson died in April 2016.


The signature of Group Captain Hugh Verity DSO* DFC (deceased)

Group Captain Hugh Verity DSO* DFC (deceased)
*Signature Value : £35

Learning to fly in the Oxford University Air Squadron in 1938, Hugh Verity flew Beaufighters in Coastal Command and night fighter squadrons before volunteering to join 161 (Special Duties) Sqn. In 1943 he commanded this squadrons Lysander flight and became the Squadron Commander. On his 29 successful pick ups, of which 24 were in Lysanders, he brought back to England a total of 93 people from the meadows of occupied France, lit only by pocket torches. He died in 2001.
The signature of Lieutenant Colonel Francis Cammaerts DSO (deceased)

Lieutenant Colonel Francis Cammaerts DSO (deceased)
*Signature Value : £25

Born in 1916 the son of a Belgian poet Emile Cammaerts, he was a pacifist at the beginning of the war but his views changed when his brother was killed in the RAF, and in 1942 joined the Special Operations Executive (SEO). Flown to France (by Hugh Verity), he was to join a circuit which he soon found to be insecure. Over 15 months in the field he hardly ever stayed in the same house for more than a night or two. By 1944 he was the inspired leader of thousands of well trained and armed resistance fighters in the South of France. His sabotage teams excelled at cutting railway lines when the time was required after D-Day. Before the Allied landings in the South of France in August 1944, he was given command of all Allied missions in SE France. His guerilla army held open the Route Napoleon from Cannes to Grenoble to allow the Allied army to by-pass the strong enemy forces near the lower Rhone. He died 3rd July 2006.
The signature of Wing Commander Len Ratcliff DSO DFC (deceased)

Wing Commander Len Ratcliff DSO DFC (deceased)
*Signature Value : £25

Len Ratcliff joined the RAFVR in early 1939 to train as a pilot. In 1941 he completed a full tour of 30 operations in Bomber Command with 49 Squadron. After a rest period he was posted to 161 (Special Duties ) Sqn as Flight Commander flying agents and supplies in and out of France, Belgium, Holland, Norway and Denmark. He then spent a period in charge of A.I.2.C at the very centre of clandestine activities in the whole of occupied Europe. He returned to 161 Squadron in 1943 as Flight Commander and later Squadron commander. Len Ratcliff died on 1st April 2016.
The Aircraft :
NameInfo
LysanderThe first Lysanders entered service in June 1938, equipping squadrons for army co-operation and were initially used for message-dropping and artillery spotting. When war broke out in Europe, the earlier Mk Is had been largely replaced by Mk IIs, the older machines heading for the Middle East. Some of these aircraft, now designated type L.1, operated with the Chindits of the British Indian Army in the Burma Campaign of the Second World War. Four regular squadrons equipped with Lysanders accompanied the British Expeditionary Force to France in October 1939, and were joined by a further squadron early in 1940. Following the German invasion of France and the low countries on 10 May 1940, the Lysanders were put into action as spotters and light bombers. In spite of occasional victories against German aircraft, they made very easy targets for the Luftwaffe even when escorted by Hurricanes. Withdrawn from France during the Dunkirk evacuation, they continued to fly supply-dropping missions to Allied forces from bases in England; on one mission to drop supplies to troops trapped at Calais, 14 of 16 Lysanders and Hawker Hectors that set out were lost. 118 Lysanders were lost in or over France and Belgium in May and June 1940, of a total of 175 deployed. With the fall of France, it was clear that the type was unsuitable for the coastal patrol and army co-operation role, being described by Air Marshal Arthur Barratt, commander-in-chief of the British Air Forces in France as "quite unsuited to the task; a faster, less vulnerable aircraft was required." Nevertheless, throughout the remainder of 1940, Lysanders flew dawn and dusk patrols off the coast and in the event of an invasion of Britain, they were tasked with attacking the landing beaches with light bombs and machine guns.[9] They were replaced in the home-based army co-operation role from 1941 by camera-equipped fighters such as the Curtiss Tomahawk and North American Mustang carrying out reconnaissance operations, while light aircraft such as the Taylorcraft Auster were used to direct artillery. Some UK-based Lysanders went to work operating air-sea rescue, dropping dinghies to downed RAF aircrew in the English Channel. Fourteen squadrons and flights were formed for this role in 1940 and 1941. In August 1941 a new squadron, No. 138 (Special Duties), was formed to undertake missions for the Special Operations Executive to maintain clandestine contact with the French Resistance. Among its aircraft were Lysander Mk IIIs, which flew over and landed in occupied France. While general supply drops could be left to the rest of No. 138's aircraft, the Lysander could insert and remove agents from the continent or retrieve Allied aircrew who had been shot down over occupied territory and had evaded capture. For this role the Mk IIIs were fitted with a fixed ladder over the port side to hasten access to the rear cockpit and a large drop tank under the belly. In order to slip in unobtrusively the Lysanders were painted matte black; operations almost always took place within a week of a full moon, as moonlight was essential for navigation. The aircraft undertook such duties until the liberation of France in 1944. The Lysanders flew from secret airfields at Newmarket and later Tempsford, but used regular RAF stations to fuel-up for the actual crossing, particularly RAF Tangmere. Flying without any navigation equipment other than a map and compass, Lysanders would land on short strips of land, such as fields, marked out by four or five torches. They were originally designed to carry one passenger in the rear cockpit, but for SOE use the rear cockpit was modified to carry two passengers in extreme discomfort in case of urgent necessity. The pilots of No. 138 and from early 1942, No. 161 Squadron transported 101 agents to and recovered 128 agents from Nazi-occupied Europe. The Germans knew little about the British aircraft and wished to study one. Soldiers captured an intact Lysander in March 1942 when its pilot was unable to destroy it after a crash, but a train hit the truck carrying the Lysander, destroying the cargo

ARTIST

Robert Taylor



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