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Thunderheads
Over Ridgewell
Robert Taylor
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In
the early days of the USAAF daylight bombing campaign, before
the arrival of long-range fighter escorts, rarely was a mission
flown without Luftwaffe interception and the ever-present
barrage of anti-aircraft fire. The Eighth Air Force crews
literally fought their way through swarms of enemy fighters
and thick flak to hit their targets, then fought their way
home again. Seldom a formation returned without losses and
casualties, but inexorably the American bomb groups struck
deeper and deeper into enemy territory.
Bomber crews lucky enough to survive
a complete tour were few and far between. They knew this when
they arrived in England at the start of their tour, and the
awesome task they faced banded the flyers together like brothers.
They flew and fought for each other, their country and liberty
with determination and a camaraderie that only those who went
through the experience could fully appreciate. In his tribute
to the USAAF bomber crews, Robert Taylor has selected the
381st Bomb Group to represent, and pay tribute to all those
who flew the perilous daylight raids out of bases in England
into the heavily defended skies above enemy occupied Europe.
Robert's emotive painting shows 381st
Bomb Group B-17 Fortresses returning to Ridgewell on a summer
afternoon in 1944 during a period when the Group reached the
peak of it effectiveness- for several months it was the top
ranked outfit in the Eighth. Between June 1943 and the end
of hostilities the 381st completed 297 combat missions, hit
almost every important target in German hands and was credited
with the destruction of 223 enemy aircraft.
One aircraft, more than any other, came
to symbolise the great bombing campaign of the USAAF in Europe
during World War Two, and in his spectacular new painting
Robert Taylor captures the magnificence of Boeing's legendary
B-17 Flying Fortress. In his inimitable style the artist brings
to life an exact wartime scene, a battle-damaged aircraft
making apparent the fearsome task tackled daily by those who
flew the hazardous missions to occupied Europe during the
greatest air war ever fought. |
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Overall print
size: 32" wide x 24" high approx.
Image size: 25 1/8" wide x 16"
high.
Band of Brothers Part II: Bomb Groups
of the U.S. Eighth Air Force 1942-45 "We Few, We Happy
Few, We Band of Brothers"
The second in a new collector Portfolio
of Limited Editions by Robert Taylor commemorating the great
Air Commands of the Second World War- published in part to
support the American Air Museum, Duxford, England.
| Thunderheads
Over Ridgewell
by Robert Taylor |
| The Aircrew
Edition (Individually numbered
1 - 400) |
| 400 s/n prints.
(individually numbered 1- 400) |
US $295 |
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| The Mighty
Eighth Edition (Individually
numbered 1 -250) Issued
w/matching numbered pencil drawing 'Another Mission Completed' |
| 25 Artist Proofs. |
US $575 |
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Joining artist Robert Taylor, each print
is individually hand signed by THREE highly respected pilots
and crew who flew B17 Flying Fortresses with the 381st Bomb
Group at Ridgewell during World War II. |
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 Colonel
Turner G. Brashear
Joining up on 1 June 1943, Turner
Brashear arrived at Ridgewell in time to fly his first combat
mission on 24 November 1944, with the 535th Bomb Squadron,
381st Bomb Group. He flew as aircraft commander on 27 missions
right up to VE-Day. On 11 April 1945 returning from a mission
to Munich, his B17 suffered a mid-air collision over the Rhine,
as another aircraft descended into his, shearing off the right
horizontal stabilizer. The bomber spun downwards for 8000ft
before Turner managed to control his aircraft home with great
skill.
 First
Lieutenant Vincent J. Peters
Vincent Peters flew his first combat
mission in October 1944 flying B17s
with the 535th Bomb Squadron, 381st Bomb Group out of Ridgewell.
He flew missions to attack the Nazi capital Berlin, to Cologne
and Dresden, as well as targets in the Ruhr Valley. On 1 January
1945, during a mission supporting the Battle of the Bulge,
his aircraft was hit and he and his crew were force to bail
out.
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 Major
Edward A. Klein
Edward Klein joined the USAAF on
21 September, 1941. As a Bombardier he was posted to England,
and became part of the 381st Bomb Group, based at Ridgewell,
flying B17s with the 534th Bomb Squadron. Ed Klein went on
his first combat mission, to Germany. on 8 October, 1943,
and the following day was under constant fighter attack for
four and a half hours. On 31 October he went to Schweinfurt.
On 6 March 1944 he flew on the first bombing of Berlin by
American bombers. Finishing his 25-mission tour in March 1944
he had been Squadron leader, and Group Leader. Ed Klein retired
from the service in 1963.
Published in part to raise
funds for The American Air Museum in Britain, Duxford, England.
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Another
Mission Completed
by Robert Taylor
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Weary crews clamber out of their
B-17 Fortresses at the end of another gruelling raid
deep into the hostile skies over German occupied Europe.
As ground personnel survey their aircraft for damage
- and few will have returned without some - pilots,
navigators, bombardiers, and gunners head for de-briefing,
some refreshment, and a well earned rest. They will
check to get news of aircraft and friends who have
not returned, ponder over their own experiences during
the past hours in combat, and steel themselves for
the next mission. And so it will go until they end
their tour, or fall in the line of duty. Either way
they will not flinch.
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Robert
Taylor's sensitive pencil drawing, so life-like it could
have been made on the spot as the B-17 crews walk towards
him, provides an appropriate adjunct to Thunderheads
over Ridgewell - the artist's outstanding rendition
showing the Mighty Eighth in their element. A fitting
tribute to a legendary Band of Brothers. |
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