Throughout
four long years of war Allied air and naval forces endeavoured
to sink the German battleship Tirpitz. The mighty warship
was a constant threat to Allied shipping, even while lying
at anchor in her lair among the fjords of Norway. Her very
presence demanded constant attention and hampered all naval
decision making till she was sunk at the end of 1944.
Without so much as weighing anchor,
Tirpitz could disrupt the north Atlantic convoys by tying
up urgently needed escort vessels in readiness in case she
made a run for the open sea. Churchill was exasperated and
called upon RAF Bomber Command to make a decisive bid to
finish her off once and for all.
On November 12, 1944 Lancasters of Number
9 and 617 Squadrons set forth towards the Norwegian fjord
of Tromso where Tirpitz lay at anchor surrounded by a web
of protective submarine nets. Armed with the 12,000lb "Tallboy"
bomb devised by Barnes Wallis, the Lancaster crews arrived
in clear skies overhead the fjord to see the great battleship
sharply contrasted against the still deep waters some 10,000ft
below. As flak from the ship's heavy armament burst all
around them, one by one the 31 Lancasters rolled in for
the attack. In a matter of three minutes the devastating
aerial bombardment was completed, and eleven minutes later,
her port side ripped open, the Tirpitz capsized and sank.
The Coup de Grace was complete.
Nicolas Trudgian's fine recreation on
one of the most famous and successful air attacks of WWII
provides collectors with a valuable print authenticated
by the signatures of Group Captain James Tait, who led the
Tirpitz raid, Squadron Leader Tony Iveson, one of 617 Squadron's
most prominent pilots, and Leutnant Zur See Willi Volsing,
a gunnery officer on the Tirpitz.
Wing Commander Tait with Lancaster crews
who sank the Tirpitz.
|
|
Overall print
size: 27 1/8" wide x 18 3/4" high.
| Sinking
The Tirpitz by Nicolas
Trudgian |
| 550 s/n prints w/THREE
signatures. |
US $150 |
|
Group Captain J.B.
Tait DSO*** DFC* ADC
Commissioned in 1936, "Willie"
Tait led an inspired career in Bomber Command throughout the
war but is best remembered for his attacks on the Tirpitz.
Having already commanded three bomber
squadrons, including 78 Sqn - the sister squadron of 76 Sqn
commanded by Leonard Cheshire, in March 1944 he joined 5 Group
as a master bomber. The evening before D-Day he personally
led a force of over 200 Lancasters eliminating targets on
the Cherbourg peninsular prior to the Normandy landings. In
July he succeeded Cheshire who was now Commanding Officer
at 617 Sqn. Tait then led 617 in the last 3 raids against
the Tirpitz,
including the final raid of 12 November, 1944. It was Tait's
own "Tallboy" bomb that was the first of two to
hit the Tirpitz
itself. By the end of the war he had flown over 100 operational
sorties.
Squadron Leader Tony
Iveson DFC
Tony Iveson's first tour of duty
was in Fighter Command. He flew as a Sergeant pilot with 616
Sqn flying Spitfires out of Kenley during the Battle of Britain
and was shot down in the English Channel. He instructed pilots
in Rhodesia and South Africa. Commissioned in 1942, he did
his second tour with Bomber Command, flying with 617 (Dambuster)
Squadron. Tony Iveson was to become one of 617 Squadron's
most prominent pilots and flew on the squadron's three missions
against the Tirpitz.
The final mission sank the battleship
with a 12,500 lb. 'tallboy' bomb, designed to exceed the speed
of sound at terminal velocity before penetrating the ship's
deck.
Leutnant Zur See Willibald
Völsing
Joining the Kriegsmarine in 1942,
Willi Völsing was Senior Controller in the Gunnery Fire
Control Section on Tirpitz,
one of the most important gunnery positions on the ship, passing
vital information between the ship's guns and the ship's commanders.
After the Tirpitz
capsized, he was one of the few fortunate survivors to be
released from deep inside the ship by rescuers cutting into
the upturned hull. |
