Typical of the aggressive American fighter pilots to fly with the 8th Air Force in WWII was Robin Olds, the son of a First World War pilot. Having completed his training on the P-38, Olds arrived at RAF Wattisham, England in May 1944, assigned to fly the remarkable twin-boomed fighter with the 434th Squadron. It didn't take long for the novice pilot to make his mark.

On August 13 he opened his score by jumping two Fw190s in a ground-level attack. After a brief but hectic fight, he brought both down. A couple of weeks later he bagged three Me109s - his wingman got another two - when attacking a group of some fifty enemy fighters while escorting bombers high over Muritz Zee.

Converting to P-51D Mustangs, Olds completed two combat tours, flying virtually every type of fighter mission. By the end of the war, at 23 years of age with the rank of Major, Robin Olds was in command of 434 Squadron. His final tally was 13 air victories, and he was credited with a further 11.5 enemy aircraft destroyed on the ground.

Simon Atack's powerful painting recreates Robin Olds' last air victory of World War II. Flying Scat VII he is seen bringing down an Me109 G10 high over Germany in the late spring of 1945 while flying escort to B-17 bombers of the 381st Bomb Group. Remarkably, this P-51 survived the war and in 1958 was sold to a private owner for the pricely sum of $1196. In 1992 it was returned to its old wartime configuration.