D Day Armada

To commemorate the 60th Anniversary of D-Day - 6 June 1944 – perhaps the most decisive day in the Military events of World War II , a specially published D-Day Anniversary Edition, signed by no less than EIGHT aviators of the USAAF who flew combat on that historic day.

There was never a greater concentration of air power deployed in an active theater of war as over the English Channel in May and June 1944. As D-Day approached, the USAAF's Ninth Air Force had assembled over 3500 aircraft a day, they were pounding enemy positions all the way from Pas de Calais to the coast of Normandy.

6 June 1944, arguably the most decisive single day in modern military history, saw the sky filled with waves of troop carrying aircraft towing gliders, dropping over 20,000 highly trained men in support of the massed sea-borne landings on the beaches below. Grabbing all the airspace they could find, the combat wings of the Ninth Air Force were creating havoc among the German ground forces as they scrambled to get troops and armor to the battlefront.

Nicolas Trudgian's painting depicts a scene late on D-Day Plus One, as yet another aerial armada heads inland over the heavy fighting on the beaches below. Bearing their high profile invasion stripes, P-51 Mustangs of the 354th Fighter Group are seen escorting B-26 Marauders of the 397th Bomb Group as they cross the battle lines, the Marauders' mission to hit enemy targets ahead of advancing Allied ground forces. Below, endless flotillas of troop ships and landing craft are swarming onto the beaches as the second day of the invasion draws towards its close. A magnificent 60th Anniversary tribute to the men and machines of the Ninth Air Force who contributed so much to the greatest military invasion in history.

THE D-DAY ANNIVERSARY EDITION

In addition to the three Aces who have signed the Aces Edition, each copy of the D-Day Anniversary Edition has been signed by the following FIVE aviators who flew combat missions during the D-Day operations over Normandy.

Colonel Richard ‘Dick’ Denison
Navigator Dick Denison's first combat missions were flown during the D-Day invasion in C-47s towing gliders into the Normandy bridgehead and making casualty evacs. He then transferred to the 552nd Squadron, 386th Bomb Group flying the Martin B-26 Marauder, before converting over to the Douglas A-26 Invader. Dick completed a total of 40 combat missions, all A-26 missions flown as Squadron Navigator.

First Lieutenant Wayne E Downing
A pilot, Wayne Downing flew Douglas A20 Havoc light bombers with the 416th Bomb Group, the first Group to fly the A20 in Europe. On D-Day the 416th BG targeted Argentan, a major German troop crossroads, and later in the day a second mission to hit a major marshalling yard. Moving to France in September 1944, in October he converted over to flying the more advanced A26 Invader. Wayne Downing flew a total of 86 combat missions.

Captain John L Minech
A pilot with the 647th Squadron, 410th Light Bomb Group, John Minech flew the first of his sixty-five combat missions in May 1944, flying the Douglas A20 Havoc. He flew two missions on D-Day itself, the second of which was a low-level attack at 300ft. during the evening. He flew thirty-five missions as Flight Leader, and was Squadron Operations Officer for 5 months. He flew in Europe until the end of the war.

Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Milow
Arthur Milow was Commanding Officer of the 643rd Squadron, 409th Bomb Group, and commanded a total of 66 combat missions flying the Douglas A20 Havoc, and A26 Invader. He flew combat missions during the D-Day operations, and later took part in the Battle of the Bulge.

Lieutenant Colonel William 'Bill’ D Mitchell
Receiving his pilots wings in 1942, Bill Mitchell trained on high altitude P38 Lightnings, to become a photo-reconnaissance pilot. Arriving in England in November 1943, he joined the 30th Photo-Reconnaissance Squadron, of which he was the commander for its missions with the Ninth Air Force. Bill flew a total of eighty-five operational missions, including three on D-Day.