| Mk
IX Spitfires of 126 Squadron, led by Wing Commander Pete Brothers,
race back to RAF Culmhead after a low-level attack on enemy
transport in Normandy, June 1944. Like
the Messerschmitt 109, its great adversary throughout almost
six years of aerial combat, the Spitfire was a fighter par
excellence. Good as many other types may have been, these
two aircraft became symbols of the two opposing air forces
they represented. Their confrontation, which began in 1940
during the Battle of Britain, continued without interruption
until the last days of World War Two.
From an air force teetering on extinction
in the dark days of 1940, by the summer of 1944 the pilots
of RAF Fighter Command had fought their way back to become
top dogs. And when the invasion of northern France came, they
swept over the beaches in force, cutting deep into enemy occupied
territory, hammering the enemy in the air and on the ground.
Key to this air superiority was the supreme performance of
the Spitfire, its ability to out-fly the Luftwaffe's best,
and the leadership of the pilots who had survived the early
air battles of the war.
Among the best was 26 year old Pete Brothers,
by 1944 a highly successful and experienced fighter pilot
commanding his own Wing. Having fought through the battles
of France and Britain, now with a clutch of air victories
to his credit, in 1944 he took command of first the Exeter
Wing, and then the Culmhead Wing, ideally placed to support
the coming invasion of Normandy.
Nick Trudgian's striking painting recreates
a typical scene as Mk IX Spitfires of 126 Squadron, led by
Wing Commander Pete Brothers flying his Mk VII Spitfire wearing
high altitude paint scheme, race back to RAF Culmhead after
a low-level attack on enemy transport in Normandy. The Culmhead
Spitfire Wing flew constant armed "Rhubarb" attacks
in support of the invasion from D-Day - June 6 1944 - till
the first improvised strips were established in France a few
weeks following the invasion.
This beautiful aviation print, contrasting
the frenetic pace of war with a restful English coastal landscape,
evokes the memory of a legendary fighter aircraft that, flown
by gallant pilots, helped change the course of history. Prints
are signed by Pete Brothers and two other pilots who flew
Spitfires in combat during World War II.
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Overall print
size: 30 1/2" wide x 23 1/2" high.
Image size: 24" wide x 16" high.
| Back
From Normandy by Nicolas
Trudgian |
| 500 s/n prints w/THREE
signatures. |
US $175 |
|
Each print of BACK FROM NORMANDY
is hand signed by THREE highly distinguished pilots who flew
Spitfires during the summer of 1944.
 Air
Commodore Peter Brothers CBE
DSO DFC*
Pete Brothers joined the RAF in 1936,
and flew as a flight commander in the great air battles over
France and Dunkirk. During the Battle of Britain he flew with
Bob Stanford Tuck at 257 Squadron. In mid-1941 he was promoted
and took command of 457 Squadron (RAAF) in the Kenley Wing
on Spitfires. When 457 Squadron returned to Australia he took
command of 602 Squadron, which he led over Dieppe. In October
1942 Peter was appointed Spitfire Wing Leader of the Culmhead
Spitfire Wing, which he led during D-Day, and the Normandy
invasion. One of the RAFs leading Aces, he finished the war
with 16 victories.
 Lieutenant
General Baron Mike Donnet
CVO DFC
After escaping from Belgium in a
biplane and joining the RAF, Mike Donnet was posted to 64
Squadron, flying Spitfires, eventually becoming Squadron Commander.
He took part in the operations against the Scharnhorst and
Gneisenau during the Channel Dash, and in the air battles
over Dieppe. In March 1944 he took command of 350 (Belgian)
Squadron flying Spitfire MK Vs, leading the squadron at D-Day,
and later at Arnhem. Appointed Wing Leader at Hawkinge, and
later Wing Leader at Bentwaters flying Mustangs, where he
led the escort to the Mosquito attack on the Gestapo Headquarters
in Copenhagen. Mike Donnet had 3 air victories, 2 probables
and 6 damaged.
 Squadron
Leader Arthur 'Joe' Leigh
DFC DFM
Joining the RAFVR in April 1939,
Joe was called up at the outbreak of war, flying Spitfires
in the Battle of Britain, first with 64 Squadron at Biggin
Hill, moving to 611 Squadron in November 1940. By September
1941, Leigh had destroyed two Me109s, and probably destroyed
another four. Commissioned in October 1941, he was posted
to Gibraltar in April 1943 to fly Hurricanes to Cairo. In
July he returned to the UK, joining 56 Squadron on Typhoons
at Manston, but was shot down by flak near Calais. He baled
out and was rescued by an ASR launch. In September 1943 he
was posted to 129 Squadron at Hornchurch, first on Spitfires
IXs, and converting to Mustangs shortly before D-Day. 'Joe'
Leigh had 4 victories, 5 probables (all Me109s), and 4 damaged.
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