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Cranston Fine Arts  Aviation Art and Artists World War Two Veteran Signatures UK and Commonwealth C  Crane, Roy |
Flight Lieutenant Roy Crane
Joining the RAF Volunteer Reserve in 1940, Roy Crane was the deferred for nine months before call-up and flying training in the UK and Canada, receiving his Wings and Commission in December 1942. After operational training on Hurricanes, he joined 182 Typhoon Squadron in August 1943. Sorties included dive bombing and fighter escort duties. Transferred to 181 Squadron in April 1944 where worties with cannon and rockets included V1 and V2 sites as well as gun positions, petrol dumps, trains and marshalling yards, etc, in preparation for the invasion. In May this intensified with attacks on heavily defended radar sites along the French coast and shipping strikes. With the invasion a success, 181 Squadron was in the forefront of the Typhoons squadrons attacks on the German ground forces in Normandy, operating from forward airfields in France. On 2nd August 1944 his aircraft was hit by flak at low level and he became a POW. He had completed 71 operational sorties -- Whilst attacking tanks and motorised transport with rockets and cannon in the area of Falaise on 2nd August 1944, my aircraft was twice hit by 40mm flak at low level. I baled out and landed in a very hostile Waffen SS camp, lucky to be quickly rescued by two of the nearby German Air Force gun crew that had shot me down. Later that evening I was taken in an open German staff car by the Oberfeldwebel from the gun crew, a driver and an armed motorcycle escort in the direction of Falaise. We had only travelled a short distance, when about to pass a column of German tanks, they were attacked by six Typhoons firing rockets and cannon. They came round again and again, leaving terrible carnage. This was an ordeal that has to be experienced to be truly appreciated. They finally got me out of the Falaise pocket to Alencon, after which I was eventually taken after intensive interrogation at Oberursal, to Stalag Luft III at Sagan.
| Flight Lieutenant Roy Crane - Signed Aviation Art |
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| Text for the above items : |
Airborne in JB1 by Ivan Berryman. Squadron Leader J R Baldwin gets airborne from a makeshift airfield in northern France flying one of his personalised Hawker Typhoons, JB-1. |
Clipped Signature - Pip Phillips. Pip Phillips was a Typhoon pilot of No.182 Squadron. Clipped alongside the signature of Roy Crane as shown - Roy Crane trained on Hurricanes before joining No.182 then No.181 Sqn flying the Typhoon on ground attack missions. After more than 70 sorties, his aircraft was shot down and he was captured in August 1944, remaining captive until the end of the war. |
Typhoons at Falaise by Nicolas Trudgian. It is August 1944, barely two months since the Allies landed their first troops on the beaches of Normandy. Already the German Panzer Divisions are in full retreat, and it is critical to halt them before they can regroup. Caught in the Gap at Falaise, the battle was to be decisive. Flying throughout a continuous onslaught, rocket-firing Typhoons kept up their attacks on the trapped armoured divisions from dawn to dusk. The effect was devastating: at the end of the ten day battle the 100,000 strong German force was decimated. Typhoons of 198 Squadron RAF, deliver their deadly rocket and cannon fire, a tank column has been brought to a standstill, their reign of terror now almost at its end. |
Clipped Signature - Roy Crane. Roy Crane trained on Hurricanes before joining No.182 then No.181 Sqn flying the Typhoon on ground attack missions. After more than 70 sorties, his aircraft was shot down and he was captured in August 1944, remaining captive until the end of the war. Clipped alongside the signature of Pip Phillips as shown - Pip Phillips was a Typhoon pilot of No.182 Squadron. |
JBII - Hawker Typhoon of Wing Commander J R Baldwin by Ivan Berryman. Squadron Leader J R Baldwin passes above a section of Mulberry Harbour near Arromanches, late in June 1944, his personalised Hawker Typhoon bearing the codes JBII. |
F/Lt J R Baldwin by Ivan Berryman. F/Lt (later Wing Commander) Baldwin was to become the highest-scoring Typhoon pilot of all with 15 confirmed victories, one shared, one probable and four damaged. He is depicted here downing a Bf.109 in Typhoon 1B, DN360 (PR-A) of 609 Sqn over Beachy Head. |
Typhoon Country by Nicolas Trudgian. A Typhoon of 181 Squadron flown by Flt Lt Roy Crane is shown attacking a German armoured column in th Falaise Gap in August 1944. Typhoons played a major role in destroying a large number of German armour and disrupting German movements during the battle of Falaise Gap. |
Winter Warriors by Ivan Berryman. The Winter of 1943-44 saw Hawker Typhoons operating from Tangmere, equipped with 500lb or 1000lb bombs against radar installations and V1 sites in northern France. Wing Commander J R Baldwin is depicted getting airborne with others of his squadron for just such a mission early in 1944, before the squadron moved to Needs Oar Point in readiness for the D-Day landings. |
Normandy Sunrise by Gerald Coulson. Here, in the brightening morning sky, Typhoons are prepared for the first sortie of the day. One has already fired up its big, powerful engine, blowing up whirlwinds of Normandy dust, ground crew hover, ready to remove chocks prior to taxi and take-off. A second is readied, while the remainder of the squadron, widely dispersed around the temporary field, are about to set about their deadly missions of the day. |
Rocket Firing Typhoons at the Falaise Gap - Normandy 1944 by Frank Wootton. Perhaps the most historically significant painting by Frank Wootton, painted onthe site of the battle just a few days after it took place. |
Sledgehammer by Ivan Berryman. Regarded by some in the Air Ministry as a failed fighter, the mighty Hawker Typhoon was unrivalled as a ground attack aircraft, especially in the crucial months immediately prior to - and after - D-Day when squadrons of Typhoons operated in 'cab ranks' to smash the German infrastructure and smooth the passage of the invading allied force. This aircraft is Mk.1B (MN570) of Wing Commander R E P Brooker of 123 Wing based at Thorney Island. |
Typhoon Scramble by Stephen Brown. RAF Hawker Typhoon Mk IBs of 609 Squadron embark on a ground attack mission, head for targets in Northern France. Once initial problems with the tail section were resolved the Typhoon proved to be extremely rugged and reliable and was ideally suited to the ground attack role. |
| Flight Lieutenant Roy Crane Aircraft details |
 Hurricane Manufacturer : Hawker Built : 14533 | Hurricane Royal Air Force Fighter, the Hawker Hurricane had a top speed of 320mph, at 18,200 feet and 340mph at 17,500, ceiling of 34,200 and a range of 935 miles. The Hurricane was armed with eight fixed wing mounted .303 browning machine guns in the Mark I and twelve .303 browning's in the MKIIB in the Hurricane MKIIC it had four 20mm cannon. All time classic fighter the Hurricane was designed in 1933-1934, the first prototype flew in June 1936 and a contract for 600 for the Royal Air Force was placed. The first production model flew ion the 12th October 1937 and 111 squadron of the Royal Air Force received the first Hurricanes in January 1938. By the outbreak of World war two the Royal Air Force had 18 operational squadrons of Hurricanes. During the Battle of Britain a total of 1715 Hurricanes took part, (which was more than the rest of the aircraft of the Royal air force put together) and almost 75% of the Victories during the Battle of Britain went to hurricane pilots. The Hawker Hurricane was used in all theatres during World war two, and in many roles. in total 14,533 Hurricanes were built. |
 Typhoon Manufacturer : Hawker Built : 3330 | Typhoon Single engine fighter with a maximum speed of 412 mph at 19,000 feet and a ceiling of 35,200 feet. range 510 miles. The Typhoon was armed with twelve browning .303inch machine guns in the wings (MK1A) Four 20mm Hispano cannon in wings (MK!B) Two 1000ilb bombs or eight 3-inch rockets under wings. The first proto type flew in February 1940, but due to production problems the first production model flew in May 1941. with The Royal Air Force receiving their first aircraft in September 1941. Due to accidents due to engine problems (Sabre engine) The Hawker Typhoon started front line service in December 1941.The Hawker Typhoon started life in the role of interceptor around the cost of England but soon found its real role as a ground attack aircraft. especially with its 20mm cannon and rockets. This role was proved during the Normandy landings and the period after. The total number of Hawker typhoons built was 3,330. |
| Flight Lieutenant Roy Crane Squadron details |
No.181 Sqn RAF Country : UK Disbanded 30th September 1945 Known Codes : , EL, | No.181 Sqn RAF Irruimus vastatum - We rush in and destroy |
No.182 Sqn RAF Country : UK Disbanded 30th September 1945 Known Codes : , XM, | No.182 Sqn RAF Fearless I direct my flight |
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