It began in pitch darkness. June 6, 1944 was only a few minutes old when the Airborne Pathfinders drifted silently down from the sky above the fields of Normandy. At first their seemed nothing untoward about the drone of aircraft in the night sky. The German garrisons in Northern France were used to the noise of aircraft overhead after dark, but this night seemed particularly busy. Looking skyward a German sentry caught sight of parachutes floating down, clearly visible as the moon fleetingly broke through the clouds. For an instant he thought it was the crew jumping from a damaged bomber, but when he saw the mass of canopies floating earthwards, he knew it was no ordinary event. Within moments of raising the alarm the crackle of automatic gunfire confirmed his worst fears: The Invasion of France had begun. The first assault upon Hitlers Fortress Europe came from the sky. Shortly after midnight waves of aircraft and gliders delivered three Divisions of elite airborne troops into Norm.........
The 357th Fighter Group was thrown into action soon after arriving in England in February 1944. Being the first fighter group equipped with P-51 Mustangs, great things were expected of them, and they did not disappoint; in the final year of the war they achieved a faster rate of victories than any other group in the 8th Air Force, and the record for the highest number of enemy aircraft shot down in a single mission - in excess of 50 - during a great air battle on 14th January 1945.
Item Code : DHM2580
American Eagles by Robert Taylor. - Editions Available
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Eagles Edition: Signed Limited Edition of 450 prints. Full Item Details
Badly marked by Focke-Wulf 190's the B-17 The Peacemaker of the 91st Bomb Group limps towards the sanctuary of the English coast escorted by P-51B Mustangs of the 361st Fighter Group. To keep her flying the crew are jettisoning everything that they can. The Peacemaker made it back to Bassingbourne that day, eight others did not.
Item Code : DHM2056
Bringing the Peacemaker Home by Robert Taylor. - Editions Available
Between 3 and 13 September 1944, the 55th Fighter Group flew eight arduous, highly successful, bomber escort missions to Germany for which the group received a Distinguished Unit Citation. Like those the group had flown before, and would fly again and again until the end of hostilities, each mission took them deep into enemy airspace, involved desperate combat with Luftwaffe fighters, and culminated in rapid descent to low level to strafe enemy airfields on the way home. In that ten day period of intense fighting the 55th covered themselves in glory, destroying large numbers of enemy fighters in the air and on the ground, one of their pilots becoming the top-scoring ground attack pilot of the campaign. Long-range combat missions were typical of the assignments flown by the fighters of the 8th Air Force during that period of the air war. Not content with dog-fighting at altitude, when escort duty was complete, the Eighths aggressive fighter pilots relished the opportunity to hurtle dow.........
With the morning sun glinting on their fuselages, P-51 Mustangs of the 78th Fighter Group cross the Dutch coastline far below, as they head back towards their base at Duxford, England at the end of a long sweep east of the Rhine crossing, Spring 1945. The final months of the war in Europe lie ahead, and for the P-51 pilots victory is within sight. Finally, after years of toil, the sky was theirs.
Item Code : DHM1845
Opening Sky by Robert Taylor. - Editions Available
Flying low over the picturesque village of Thaxted, in the cold winter of 1944-45, the P-51D Mustangs of the 78th Fighter Group return to Duxford after a tiring eight hour escort mission. With dusk approaching, low on fuel, the fighters have about 20 miles to run. Catching the festive mood, the pilots have dropped to tree-top height to take in the spectacular countryside as they scurry back to base and some well-earned celebrations.
Item Code : DHM2164
Return to Duxford by Robert Taylor - Editions Available
With their distinctive red tails, P-51 Mustangs of the 332nd Fighter Group – the famed Tuskegee Airmen, climb to operational height as B17 Fortresses from the 483rd Bomb Group manoeuvre into formation at the start of another long and dangerous mission over Germany, Oct 1944. A welcome sight for the Fortress crews, the renowned all-black Tuskegee pilots were credited for never losing an escorted bomber to enemy aircraft. For the first time ever Robert pays tribute to the Tuskegee Fighter Pilots in this stunning portrait of one of the most famous fighter units of WWII.
Item Code : DHM2596
Fighting Red Tails by Robert Taylor. - Editions Available
Damaged by flak and enemy fighters, and almost out of fuel, after a gruelling eight hour mission the pilot of this B-17 Fortress makes a forced landing in the safety of an English cornfield. A pair of P-51 Mustangs have escorted the damaged aircraft back across the North Sea, and peel off as they see their charge safely back on friendly soil.
Item Code : DHM2159
Out of Fuel and Safely Home by Robert Taylor. - Editions Available
It had taken almost six years of continual air fighting for the Allied forces to attain complete and total air superiority over the Luftwaffe. At the outbreak of World War II the mighty German Air Force had appeared invincible but the ensuing Battle of Britain gave the Luftwaffe its first taste of what was to come. When America joined the war, bringing with her to Europe ne wtypes of fighters and bombers, the writing must have been clearly chalked on the wall of Hitlers bunker. Unleashing the full power of the Eighth Air Force against the Third Reich by day, and with the RAF Bomber Commands constant attacks by night, production in Germanys aircraft and munitions factories became fatally depleted. In the air the Allied fighter pilots were beginning to dominate the skies, and by the spring on 1945, had achieved complete air superiority. It had been a long and bitter struggle, fought with great courage and sacrifice.
Item Code : DHM2267
Air Superiority by Robert Taylor. - Editions Available
Russ Berg flies his 10th Recce Group P51s in low and fast, dodging flak and enemy fighters, to get vital photographs for General Patons advancing forces. A superb study of World War IIs most outstanding tactical fighter in action, in the hands of one of the USAAFs most distinguished and highly decorated pilots.
Item Code : DHM2096
Mustang Recce by Robert Taylor. - Editions Available
Though some 1400 of Germanys remarkable Me262 jet aircraft were built, fewer than 300 ever saw action during its short 10 month combat career, the 550 mph fighter-bomber arriving in service too late to make any impression on the course of the war. Most famous of all Me262 units was Jagdverband 44, commanded by General Adolf Galland. Instructed by Hitler to set up a small defensive fighter unit to make the most of the new Me262, Gallands JV44 attracted other top-scoring pilots, including top aces Macky Steinhoff and Walter Krupinski, and the unit soon became dubbed Gallands Squadron of Experts. Though doing their best to repel daylight attacks on jet production plants in Southern Germany, JV44 were fighting a losing battle. During a raid on 9 April 1945 the unit lost nine aircraft – a pattern that was to continue. Also, American fighter pilots, unable to catch the 262 in the air, found success taking the jets out as they took off or landed, catching them while at their most vulnerabl.........
