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Vital Force by Richard Taylor. (B) - Aviation Art Prints

Vital Force by Richard Taylor. (B)


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Vital Force by Richard Taylor. (B)

For perhaps the sixth time today, profoundly outnumbered, the RAFs young fighter pilots will intercept yet another Luftwaffe force as the evil raiders invade their beloved airspace. It is August 1940, and the Battle of Britain is raging towards its ferocious climax over southern England. The sturdy Hawker Hurricane MkIs, bearing the brunt of all the combat flying during the Battle, will account for no fewer than four fifths of the air victories achieved by RAF fighter pilots. The simplicity of its construction enabled the Hurricane to survive heavy punishment in combat, at the same time providing its pilots with a reliable and stable gun platform. Beautiful, distinctive, tough and aggressive, this remarkable fighter, together with its courageous young pilots, earned the undying gratitude of a nation on the verge of defeat and ultimately, an unrivalled position in the annals of air warfare.


VIEW ALL RICHARD TAYLOR AVIATION ART

VIEW ALL HURRICANE AIRCRAFT ART

Item Code : DHM2712BVital Force by Richard Taylor. (B) - This Edition
TYPEEDITION DETAILSSIZESIGNATURESOFFERSYOUR PRICEPURCHASING
PRINT Limited edition of 25 remarques.

Paper size 34.5 inches x 23 inches (88cm x 58cm) Image size 28 inches x 15.5 inches (71cm x 40cm) Doe, Bob
Pickering, Tony
Elkington, John
Hairs, Peter
Green, Bill
Duckenfield, Byron
+ Artist : Richard Taylor


Signature(s) value alone : £240
£395.00

Quantity:
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Hurricane Patrol by Graeme Lothian (GS)
for £570 -
Save £325
All prices on our website are displayed in British Pounds Sterling



Other editions of this item : Vital Force by Richard Taylor.DHM2712
TYPEEDITION DETAILSSIZESIGNATURESOFFERSYOUR PRICEPURCHASING
PRINT Signed limited edition of 400 prints. Paper size 34.5 inches x 23 inches (88cm x 58cm) Image size 28 inches x 15.5 inches (71cm x 40cm) Hairs, Peter
Green, Bill
Duckenfield, Byron
+ Artist : Richard Taylor


Signature(s) value alone : £95
£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 : £95.00VIEW EDITION...
ARTIST
PROOF
Limited edition of 25 artist proofs.

SOLD OUT (March 2010)
Paper size 34.5 inches x 23 inches (88cm x 58cm) Image size 28 inches x 15.5 inches (71cm x 40cm) Doe, Bob
Pickering, Tony
Elkington, John
Hairs, Peter
Green, Bill
Duckenfield, Byron
+ Artist : Richard Taylor


Signature(s) value alone : £240
SOLD
OUT
VIEW EDITION...
PRINT Limited edition of 10 double remarques. Paper size 34.5 inches x 23 inches (88cm x 58cm) Image size 28 inches x 15.5 inches (71cm x 40cm) Doe, Bob
Pickering, Tony
Elkington, John
Hairs, Peter
Green, Bill
Duckenfield, Byron
+ Artist : Richard Taylor


Signature(s) value alone : £240
£625.00VIEW EDITION...
General descriptions of types of editions :


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


Flight Lieutenant Bill Green (deceased)
*Signature Value : £30

In December 1936, Bill Green joined the Auxiliary Air Force as an aero engine fitter with 501 Squadron at Filton, near Bristol. Shortly before the start of the Second World War, he was given a rare chance for an engine fitter. In 1938 he joined a scheme to recruit NCO pilots, qualifying as a Flight Sergeant and re-joined 501 at Bristol in July 1940. Sgt Bill Green had completed just 10 hours of dual flying - with an instructor. In October, he was sent for further flying instruction and on October 30th he had his first solo flight in a Magister aircraft. After more training - and getting married on June 3rd - he flew a Hurricane for the first time on August 8th 1940, when the Battle of Britain had been raging for a month. He flew from Kenley throughout the Battle of Britain until November, surviving being shot down twice, before being posted to 504 Squadron. After a spell instructing on Spitfires and Tomahawks, he converted to Typhoons, and from November 1944 served with 56 Squadron on Tempests. He flew more than 50 missions in Tempest fighter aircraft with 56 Squadron. He was shot down over Germany on February 22nd 1945 and spent the last three months of the war as a prisoner of war. After the war, Green enjoyed a hugely successful business career, ending up as the managing director and chairman of Crown Paints, before retiring on his 60th birthday. Flight Lieutenant Bill Green, who has died aged 97, was twice shot down flying a Hurricane during the Battle of Britain; five years later he was taken prisoner after again being shot down, this time over Germany. Green had less than 200 hours' flying time, and just seven hours in the Hurricane, when he joined No 501 Squadron and was pitched into the fighting at the height of the Battle of Britain in August 1940. On August 24, flying from Hawkinge in Kent, his squadron was scrambled to intercept a raid against the nearby airfield at Manston. Green closed in to attack an enemy dive-bomber when his aircraft was hit by the airfield's anti-aircraft fire. His Hurricane was badly damaged and the engine stopped - but he managed to glide to Hawkinge, where he discovered half the undercarriage had been shot away. He crash-landed and scrambled from the wrecked aircraft. Five days later his squadron was orbiting over Deal at 20,000ft when a large force of Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters attacked the formation. The windscreen of Green's aircraft was shattered and the engine damaged. With no control, he was forced to bail out. His parachute failed to stream correctly and the main canopy became entangled around his legs. He fought to release it and fell thousands of feet before it finally opened fully. Within seconds he hit the ground. He had been wounded in the leg and his days in the Battle were over. The son of a regular soldier, William James Green was born in Bristol on April 23 1917 and attended St Gabriel School. He left at 14 to work in a cardboard box factory specialising in packages for shoes and small goods, there he met the girl who would become his wife. Green was an enterprising boy and he designed a new, larger box. Receiving no encouragement from his manager, he took it to Mardon, Son & Hall, where he was offered a job. The company encouraged workmen to join auxiliary military units, and Green joined No 501 Squadron of the Auxiliary Air Force, stationed at nearby Filton. He trained as an aero-engine fitter and two years later volunteered to be a pilot. He was mobilised at the beginning of the war and completed his training before returning to No 501. After recovering from his wounds, he was posted to No 504 Squadron, based at Filton. One night he was cycling home when German bombers attacked Bristol in force and the city suffered heavy damage. Over the next few days Green flew standing patrols over the city and on a number of occasions chased enemy bombers away. He spent three years as a flying instructor before, in late 1944, joining No 56 Squadron, flying the RAF's most powerful piston-engine fighter, the Tempest. The squadron was based at Volkel in the Netherlands and he flew low-level strafing attacks against trains, motor transport and supply columns. On February 22 1945 he came under fire from two friendly fighters but evaded them, only to be shot down near Osnabruck by intense anti-aircraft fire.
I should have zigged when I zagged he said later. Green bailed out and was captured. His prison camp near Nuremberg was soon evacuated and the PoWs marched south to Stalag 7A, a large camp at Moosburg near Munich. On April 29 the US Seventh Army liberated that camp, and within two weeks Green was back in England. He was released from the RAF in December and received the Air Efficiency Award. Green returned to the cardboard box industry, then, in 1960, joined Reed International, rising to be chairman. Green admired the work of the Salvation Army and achieved great contentment in religious activities. In June 2012, aged 95, he flew in a two-seat Spitfire from Goodwood airfield. Bill Green married, in 1940, Bertha Biggs; she died in 2008, and he is survived by their son and daughter. Flight Lieutenant Bill Green, born April 23 1917, died on November 7 2014.


Flight Lieutenant Peter Hairs MBE (deceased)
*Signature Value : £15

Peter Hairs joined the RAFVR in 1937, and was called up at the outbreak of war in September 1939 to complete his training. After being commissioned he converted to Hurricanes, joining 501 Squadron at Tangmere in January 1940. He went to France with the squadron in May, claiming a share in a Dornier Do17 a few days after arriving. 501 covered the evacuation of the BEF from Cherbourg before re-assembling in England. On the 3 June he was shot down, but fortunately not seriously hurt and two days later he rejoined the squadron at Le Mans. On the 5th of September he downed an Me109, Peter Hairs was posted to 15 FTS, Kidlington on October 13 1940 as an instructor. He went to 2 CFS, Cranwell for an instructors course on February 23 1941. after which he taught at 11 FTS, Shawbury and 10 EFTS, Weston-Super-Mare before being posted to Canada in June as a EFTS flying instructor and then assistant CFI (EFTS). In December 1943 he was posted to join 276 Squadron to 19 OTU. He finished the was in India, receiving a mention in dispatches. He died in 2014.


The signature of Group Captain Byron Duckenfield AFC (deceased)

Group Captain Byron Duckenfield AFC (deceased)
*Signature Value : £50

Byron Duckenfield started at Flying Training School on 25th November 1935 in a Blackburn B2 at Brough. As a Sergeant, he joined No.32 Sqn at Biggin Hill on 8th August 1936 and flew Gauntlets and Hurricanes. He joined 74 Squadron at Hornchurch on 11th April 1940, flying Spitfires, and on 5th May was posted to 501 Squadron flying Hurricanes at Tangmere. On the 11th of May at Betheniville, he survived a crash in a passenger transport Bombay aircraft in an aircraft in which he was a passenger, While comin ginto land the aircraft at 200 feet the aircraft stalled and the aircrfat fell backwards just levelly out as it histhe ground. 5 of th epassengers were killed when the centre section collapsed and crushed them. Duckenfield was fortunate as he had moved position during the flight. as the two passengers sitting each side of where he was sitting had died in the crash. (it was found later that the Bombay had beeb loaded with to much weight in the aft sectiion. ) recovering in hospital in Roehampton. On 23rd July 1940, he rejoined No.501 Sqn at Middle Wallop, then moved to to Gravesend two days later, scoring his first victory, a Ju87, on the 29th of July 1940. During August and September he scored three more victories. After a spell as a test pilot from 14th September 1940, he was posted to command 66 Squadron on 20th December 1941, flying Spitfires. On 26th February 1942 he took command of 615 Squadron flying Hurricanes from Fairwood Common, taking the squadron to the Far East. In late December 1942 he was shot down in Burma and captured by the Japanese. He remained a POW until release in May 1945. After a refresher course at the Flying Training School in November 1949, he took command of No.19 Squadron flying Hornets and Meteors from Chruch Fenton. After a series of staff positions, he retired from the RAF as a Group Captain on 28th May 1969. Duckenfield would write later his details :

Burma

At first light, 12 Hurricanes IIC aircraft of 615 Squadron, myself in the lead, took off from Chittagong for central Burma to attack the Japanese air base at Magwe, 300 miles away on the banks of the River Irrawaddy. Arriving at Yenangyaung, we turned downstream at minimum height for Magwe, 30 miles to the South and jettisoned drop tanks. Just before sighting the enemy base, the squadron climbed to 1200 feet and positioned to attack from up sun. On the ramp at the base, in front of the hangers, were 10 or 12 Nakajima KI - 43 Oscars in a rough line up (not dispersed) perhaps readying for take. These aircraft and the hangars behind them were attacked in a single pass, before withdrawing westward at low level and maximum speed. A few minutes later perhaps 20 miles away form Magwe, I was following the line of a cheung (small creek), height about 250 feet, speed aboput 280 mph, when the aircraft gave a violent shudder, accompanied by a very lound, unusual noise. The cause was instantly apparent: the airscrew has disappeared completely, leaving only the spinning hub. My immediate reaction was to throttle back fully and switch off to stop the violently overspeeding engine. Further action was obvious: I was committed to staying with the aircraft because, with a high initial speed, not enough height to eject could be gained without the help of an airscrew. So I jettisoned the canopy and acknowledged gratefully the fact that I was following a creek; the banks of either side were hillocky ground, hostile to a forced landing aircraft. Flying the course of the creek, I soon found the aircraft to be near the stall (luckily, a lower than normal figure without an airscrew) extended the flaps and touched down wheels-up with minimum impact ( I have done worse landings on a smooth runway!) My luck was holding, if one can talk of luck in such a situation. December is the height of the dry season in that area and the creek had little water, it was shallow and narrow at the point where I came down: shallow enough to support the fusalage and narrow enough to support wing tips. So I released the harness, pushed the IFF Destruct switch, climed out and walked the wing ashore, dryshod. The question may occur -Why did not others in the squadron see their leader go down? - the answer is simple, the usual tatctic of withdrawal from an enemy target was to fly single at high speed and low level on parallel courses until a safe distance from target was attained. Then, the formation would climb to re-assemble. Having left the aircraft, I now faced a formidable escape problem? I was 300 miles from friendly territory: my desired route would be westward but 80% of that 300 miles was covered by steep north-south ridges impenetrably clothed in virgin jungle; these were natural impediments, there was also the enemy to consider. Having thought over my predicament, I decided the best I could do - having heard reports of mean herted plainspeope - was to get as far into the hills as possible and then find a (hopefully sympathetic) village. I suppose I may have covered about 15 miles by nightfall when I came upon this small hill village and walked into the village square. Nobody seemed surprised to see me (I suspect I had been followed for some time) I wa given a quiet welcome, seated at a table in the open and given food. Then exhaustion took over, I fell asleep in the chair and woke later to find myself tied up in it. Next day I was handed over to a Japanese sergeant and escort who took me back to Magwe and, soon after that, 2.5 years captivity in Rangoon jail.

Sadly we have learned that Byron Duckenfield passed away on 19th November 2010.


The signature of Tony Pickering AFC (deceased)

Tony Pickering AFC (deceased)
*Signature Value : £45

With the RAFVR just before the war commenced, Tony Pickering joined 32 Squadron at Biggin Hill in July 1940, flying Hurricanes, and in August 1940 to 501 Squadron at Gravesend. In September he was shot down in Hurricane P5200, but unhurt in a duel with an Me109, destroying another 109 a few weeks later. In December he joined 601 Squadron at Northolt. After a spell instructing, he joined 131 as a Flight Commander in February 1943, and later served as a Squadron Commander in the Middle East. Tony Pickering died on 24th March 2016.


The signature of Wing Commander Bob Doe, DSO, DFC* (deceased)

Wing Commander Bob Doe, DSO, DFC* (deceased)
*Signature Value : £60

In 1939 he joined the R.A.F. and upon completion of his training was posted to 234 squadron. During the Battle of Britain he achieved great success. He was one of the very few pilots to successfully fly both Hurricanes and Spitfires and was one of the top scorers of the Battle with 14 and two shared victories. He was awarded the DFC in October and a BAR in November. He joined 66 squadron as a Flight Commander then moving to 130 squadron in August 1943 saw him in 613 squadron flying Mustangs. October 1943 he was posted out to the Far-East, forming 10 squadron, Indian Air Force, which he led on the Burma front. Awarded the DSO in 1945. He stayed on in the R.A.F. after the war, retirement in 1966 was followed by opening a Garage business which proved successful. Sadly, we have learned of the passing of Bob Doe on 21st February 2010.


The signature of Wing Commander John Elkington (deceased)

Wing Commander John Elkington (deceased)
*Signature Value : £40

John (Tim) Elkington was born in 1920 and joined the RAF in September 1939. Commissioned as a Pilot Officer in July 1940 he was immediately posted to join 1 Squadron flying Hurricanes atTangmere. On 15 August he shot down an Me109 over the Channel, but the following day he was himself shot down over Thorney Island. He baled out injured and was admitted to hospital, his Hurricane crashing at Chidham. He died on 1st February 2019.
The Aircraft :
NameInfo
HurricaneRoyal Air Force Fighter, the Hawker Hurricane had a top speed of 320mph, at 18,200 feet and 340mph at 17,500, ceiling of 34,200 and a range of 935 miles. The Hurricane was armed with eight fixed wing mounted .303 browning machine guns in the Mark I and twelve .303 browning's in the MKIIB in the Hurricane MKIIC it had four 20mm cannon. All time classic fighter the Hurricane was designed in 1933-1934, the first prototype flew in June 1936 and a contract for 600 for the Royal Air Force was placed. The first production model flew ion the 12th October 1937 and 111 squadron of the Royal Air Force received the first Hurricanes in January 1938. By the outbreak of World war two the Royal Air Force had 18 operational squadrons of Hurricanes. During the Battle of Britain a total of 1715 Hurricanes took part, (which was more than the rest of the aircraft of the Royal air force put together) and almost 75% of the Victories during the Battle of Britain went to hurricane pilots. The Hawker Hurricane was used in all theatres during World war two, and in many roles. in total 14,533 Hurricanes were built.

ARTIST

Richard Taylor



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