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Operation Tidal Wave by Nicolas Trudgian. (B) - Aviation Art Prints
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Operation Tidal Wave by Nicolas Trudgian. (B)


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Operation Tidal Wave by Nicolas Trudgian. (B)

At first light on August 1st, 1943 a force of 178 B-24 Liberator bombers lifted off dusty airstrips in the Libyan desert. They were to fly a 2000 mile round-trip deep into enemy territory, bomb a heavily defended target, and return to their North African base - without fighter escort. So began one of the bloodiest and heroic missions in the annals of aerial warfare. The target - the oil refineries at Ploesti. One third of Germany's petroleum products were supplied from Ploesti, situated deep in Rumania and well beyond the range of Allied bombers based in England. Deprived of this vital supply of fuel, Germany's mighty war machine would grind to a halt. The high command were aware of this and the installations at Ploesti were defended accordingly. To attack such a heavily defended target with the required degree of accuracy it was necessary to bomb from a perilously low level, a task for which the B-24 was notoriously unsuited. The mission called for inspired leadership, cool determination and courage beyond the call of duty - and all of these were given in plenty. As the first wave of bombers roared into the target, some as low as 50 feet, the German defenses opened up with a barrage of fire. Within moments the entire area erupted with exploding bombs, bursting shells, gushing flames and billowing palls of smoke. One by one the gallant crews took their aircraft through the intense wall of Ack-Ack and 88mm ground fire, and into the burning inferno to deliver their deadly cargo. Of the 178 B-24s dispatched, 52 were lost and all but 35 aircraft suffered damage, one limping home after 14 hours and holed in 365 places. Ploesti witnessed countless acts of heroism, for which the crews received more decorations for bravery than any other mission of the war.


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Item Code : DHM2449BOperation Tidal Wave by Nicolas Trudgian. (B) - 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
PRINT Limited edition of 125 publishers proofs.

Paper size 30 inches x 23 inches (76cm x 58cm) Brandon, William H
Butler, J Richard
Cameron, William R
Hughes, Charles E
+ Artist : Nicolas Trudgian


Signature(s) value alone : £170
£180.00

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



Other editions of this item : Operation Tidal Wave by Nicolas Trudgian.DHM2449
TYPEEDITION DETAILSSIZESIGNATURESOFFERSYOUR PRICEPURCHASING
PRINT Signed limited edition of 600 prints.
Great value : Value of signatures exceeds price of item!
Paper size 30 inches x 23 inches (76cm x 58cm) Brandon, William H
Hughes, Charles E
Butler, J Richard
Cameron, William R
+ Artist : Nicolas Trudgian


Signature(s) value alone : £170
£50 Off!Add any two items on this offer to your basket, and the lower priced item will be half price in the checkout!Now : £150.00VIEW EDITION...
ARTIST
PROOF
Limited edition of artist proofs. Paper size 30 inches x 23 inches (76cm x 58cm) Brandon, William H
Hughes, Charles E
Butler, J Richard
Cameron, William R
+ Artist : Nicolas Trudgian


Signature(s) value alone : £170
£60 Off!Now : £220.00VIEW EDITION...
FLYERPromotional Flyer A5 Size Double Sheet 6 inches x 8 inches (15m x 21cm)noneAdd any two items on this offer to your basket, and the lower priced item will be half price in the checkout!£2.00VIEW EDITION...
PRINT
(BORDER
DAMAGE)
Signed limited edition of 600 prints.
Great value : Value of signatures exceeds price of item!
Paper size 30 inches x 23 inches (76cm x 58cm) Brandon, William H
Hughes, Charles E
Butler, J Richard
Cameron, William R
+ Artist : Nicolas Trudgian


Signature(s) value alone : £170
£80 Off!Now : £130.00VIEW EDITION...
General descriptions of types of editions :



Extra Details : Operation Tidal Wave by Nicolas Trudgian. (B)
About all editions :

A photograph of an 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 Captain J Richard Butler

Captain J Richard Butler
*Signature Value : £45

'Dick' Butler joined the service in January 1942 and was posted to the 44th Bomb Group, with whom he flew B-24s throughout the war. His first combat mission was in April 1943 and he saw action in Europe, North Africa and the Mediterranean. On the Ploesti Raid, Dick was co-pilot of 'Earthquake McGoon'. Badly damaged and flying at tree-top height it was only the skill of Dick and pilot Walter Burke that kept 'Earthquake' in the air and brought the crew home.


The signature of Colonel Charles E Hughes (deceased)

Colonel Charles E Hughes (deceased)
*Signature Value : £40

Charles Hughes was born in Asheville, North Carolina on the 8th of April 1921 and grew up in California. Hughes joined the Army Air Corps in 1941 and flew at least 26 combat missions over Europe. Charles Hughes trained on B-17s but transferred to B-24s on arrival in England with the 44th Bomb Group. He first saw combat in May 1943 on a mission to Kiel. A couple of months later he was in North Africa preparing for the Ploesti Raid, and on the mission he flew 'Flossie Flirt'. Badly damaged and low on fuel he headed for neutral Turkey and was interned. He subsequentdy managed to escape in a fishing boat to Cyprus and then back to England. After the war Charles completed his studies at Stanford graduating with a BA and MBA. His service continued in the US Air Force retiring as Commander of the Satellite Test Center, Sunnyvale. Charles Hughes passed away peacefully on Oct.ober 17th, 2010.


The signature of Colonel William R Cameron (deceased)

Colonel William R Cameron (deceased)
*Signature Value : £45

Bill Cameron flew all his 38 combat missions with the 44th Bomb Group. He first saw combat in Nov 1942. He was the only pilot who came over to Europe with 44th BG and returned with them at the end of the war. Described by General Leon Johnson as 'one of the best combat leaders we had', Bill was the pilot of 'Buzzin' Bear' on the Ploesti Raid. Before the mission he asked British anti-aircraft gunners which plane, in a low flying formation, they would fire at. They told him they would shoot the highest: Bill Cameron took 'Buzzin' Bear' through the Ploesti inferno lower than most other pilots and got her home with only minor damage, earning the DSC for his part in the historic raid. William R. Cameron died on his 93rd birthday on June 24th 2013


The signature of Major General William H Brandon (deceased)

Major General William H Brandon (deceased)
*Signature Value : £40

In June 1940, William Brandon jointed the service and was posted to 66th Bomb Squadron of the 44th Bomb Group flying the B-24. He first saw combat in September 1942. He flew 'Suzy Q' on the legendary Ploesti Raid as the 44th lead pilot, with 44th Bomb Group Commander General Leon Johnson as co-pilot. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions. Shorty after Ploesti in November 1943, he was forced to land in Sweden and interned. He died on 24th February 2007.
The Aircraft :
NameInfo
Liberatorhe initial production batch of B-24As was completed in 1941, with many being sold directly to the Royal Air Force. Sent to Britain, where the bomber was dubbed "Liberator," the RAF soon found that they were unsuitable for combat over Europe as they had insufficient defensive armament and lacked self-sealing fuel tanks. Due to the aircraft's heavy payload and long range, the British converted these aircraft for use in maritime patrols. Learning from these issues, Consolidated improved the design and the first major American production model was the B-24C which also included improved Pratt & Whitney engines. In 1940, Consolidated again revised the aircraft and produced the B-24D. The first major variant of the Liberator, the B-24D quickly amassed orders for 2,738 aircraft. Overwhelming Consolidated's production capabilities, the aircraft was also built under license by North American, Douglas, and Ford. The latter built a massive plant at Willow Run, Michigan that, at its peak (August 1944), was producing fourteen aircraft per day. Revised and improved several times throughout World War II, the final variant, the B-24M, ended production on May 31, 1945. he United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) took delivery of its first B-24As in mid-1941. Over the next three years, B-24 squadrons deployed to all theaters of the war: African, European, China-Burma-India, the Anti-submarine Campaign, the Southwest Pacific Theater and the Pacific Theater. In the Pacific, to simplify logistics and to take advantage of its longer range, the B-24 (and its twin, the U.S. Navy PB4Y) was the chosen standard heavy bomber. By mid-1943, the shorter-range B-17 was phased out. The Liberators which had served early in the war in the Pacific continued the efforts from the Philippines, Australia, Espiritu Santo,Guadalcanal, Hawaii, and Midway Island. The Liberator peak overseas deployment was 45.5 bomb groups in June 1944. Additionally, the Liberator equipped a number of independent squadrons in a variety of special combat roles. The cargo versions, C-87 and C-109 tanker, further increased its overseas presence, especially in Asia in support of the XX Bomber Command air offensive against Japan. So vital was the need for long range operations, that at first USAAF used the type as transports. The sole B-24 in Hawaii was destroyed by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. It had been sent to the Central Pacific for a very long range reconnaissance mission that was preempted by the Japanese attack. The first USAAF Liberators to carry out combat missions were 12 repossessed LB-30s deployed to Java with the 11th Bombardment Squadron (7th Bombardment Group) that flew their first combat mission in mid-January. Two were shot up by Japanese fighters, but both managed to land safely. One was written off due to battle damage and the other crash-landed on a beach. US-based B-24s entered combat service in 1942 when on 6 June, four B-24s from Hawaii staging through Midway Island attempted an attack on Wake Island, but were unable to find it. The B-24 came to dominate the heavy bombardment role in the Pacific because compared to the B-17, the B-24 was faster, had longer range, and could carry a ton more bombs. In the European and North Africa Theatres On 12 June 1942, 13 B-24s of the Halverson Project (HALPRO) flying from Egypt attacked the Axis-controlled oil fields and refineries around Ploiești, Romania. Within weeks, the First Provisional Bombardment Group formed from the remnants of the Halverson and China detachments. This unit then was formalized as the 376th Bombardment Group, Heavy and along with the 98th BG formed the nucleus of the IX Bomber Command of the Ninth Air Force, operating from Africa until absorbed into the Twelfth Air Force briefly, and then the Fifteenth Air Force, operating from Italy. The Ninth Air Force moved to England in late 1943. This was a major component of the USSTAF and took a major role in strategic bombing. Fifteen of the 15th AF's 21 bombardment groups flew B-24s 1st August 1943 Operation Tidal Wave: A group of 177 American B-24 Liberator bombers, with 1,726 total crew, departed from Libya to make the first bombing of the oil refineries at Ploieşti, Romania, the major supplier of fuel to Germany. The mission temporarily halted oil production, but 532 airmen and 54 of the planes were lost. After a 40% loss of production, the refineries would be repaired more quickly than projected.[1] Germany's Radio Reconnaissance Service had intercepted and decrypted the Allied messages about the raid and the departure from Libya, and anti-aircraft defenses were in place despite the low-level approach of the bombers.

ARTIST

Nicolas Trudgian



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