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At 8:20am on April 18, 1942, just four
months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, a small
force of B-25 Mitchell bombers under the command of Colonel
Jimmy Doolittle, took off from the heaving deck of the aircraft
carrier Hornet. Unlike any other mission before or since,
the crews departed on their dangerous journey with the full
knowledge that each was on a one-way ticket.
The mission assignment was to make a strike
at the heart of Imperial Japan, panic the high command into
diverting men and machines from offensive to defensive duties,
and to give an America still reeling from Pearl Harbor, a
massive boost in morale. They achieved all of these, and in
so doing effected what became one of the most remarkable air
raids of World War II.
The sixteen-ship mission's orders
were precise: At low-level, fly some 800 miles over water
into hostile territory, without escort fend off attacks from
air and ground fire over the target then, with insufficient
fuel to make the return journey, fly the B-25s on towards
China until the gas ran out. Then bail out, ditch, or crash-land,
avoid capture, and somehow find a way home.
Every man was a volunteer. Each knew
the dangers. Some paid with their lives.
In Robert Taylor's fine painting we look
into the tense faces of the crew of a B-25 as it leaves the
target area, its pilot bringing the ship right down onto the
landscape, next stop China! Smoke plumes high in the air as
following aircraft dodge the flak. Below, peasants and river
folk, oblivious to what is happening, wave to the crews as
the thunder overhead. With possibly the worst to come, the
Doolittle Raiders head out into the unknown.
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Overall Print
size: 33 1/2" wide x 24 1/2" high.
Image size: 27" wide x 16" high.
A specially published limited edition
commemorating one of the most daring operations of World War
II, the historic 'Doolittle' raid on Tokyo, April 18, 1942.
| The
Doolittle Raiders by Robert
Taylor |
| 600 signed and numbered
prints, signed by FOURTEEN Doolittle Raiders aircrew. |
SOLD OUT |
| 60 Artist's Proofs. |
US
$595 |
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Soon, with tanks empty, and in gathering
darkness, eleven crews will bail out, three will ditch in
coastal waters, and two will crash-land. Two crews will be
taken prisoner; seven will never return.
This valuable commemorative edition
is perhaps a last opportunity for aviation art collectors
to acquire prints by Robert Taylor, each individually signed
by so many legendary Doolittle Raiders.
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