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| 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. | |
| Name | Info |
![]() ![]() Brigadier General Robin Olds (deceased) *Signature Value : £60 | After leaving West Point in June 1943, Robin Olds was posted to the 479th Fighter Group in England, joining 434 Squadron. Based at Wattisham in East Anglia, and flying P-38s, he was involved in heavy bomber escort duties and fighter sweeps until the Normandy invasion, soon after which his Squadron converted to P51 Mustangs. by early 1945 Robin Olds was in command of 434 Squadron taking part in the Battle of the Bulge, flying escort missions, and providing air support to the airborne attack across the Rhine. At the end of World War II Robin Olds had 24.5 victories, of which 13 were in the air. Later in Vietnam Robin Olds gained four more victories, flying F4 Phantoms and flew with the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing. Sadly, Robin Olds passed away on 14th June 2007. |
![]() First Lieutenant James E Frolking *Signature Value : £20 | With the 436th Fighter Squadron he flew his first combat mission in a P-38 on D-Day, patrolling the English Channel and on ground attack missions in support of the advancing Allied armies in Normandy. After converting to P-51 Mustangs he primarily flew escort missions to B-24 and B-17 bombers and completed 52 combat missions. On 7th October 1944, on the way back to England from Czechoslovakia, his Mustang was hit by enemy flak, forcing him to bale out over the Dutch coast. He landed uninjured on a sandbar within sight of land. After a night in his tiny and leaking escape-pack dinghy he finally made it to shore and eventually made contact with the Dutch Resistance. For three weeks he was hidden by a Dutch family while German troops searched the area, and successfully managed to avoid capture, returning to spend the rest of the war as an instructor. |
![]() Lieutenant Colonel Walter M Drake *Signature Value : £10 | Entering the Air Force in March 1942, he joined the 479th Fighter Group at Wattisham in May 1944 equipped with P-38s. Flying alongside Robin Olds in the 434th Fighter Squadron, his first combat sortie was on 2nd June just in time for the D-Day missions. He later scored an aerial victory over an Me109 and completed a total of 68 combat missions. Converting to P-51s in September he destroyed three aircraft on the ground during the Group's epic raid on the Luftwaffe airfield at Nancy-Essey led by Hub Zemke. |
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