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Cranston Fine Arts Aviation Art and Artists World War Two Veteran Signatures UK and Commonwealth T Taylor, Jimmy

Flt/Lt Jimmy Taylor

Flt/Lt Jimmy Taylor joined the RAF in 1941, received his pilot training in the USA under the Arnold Scheme and instructed American cadets on the Vultee BT-13a from 1942 to 43. He took the PRU OTU course at Dyce and joined 16 Squadron, part of 34 PR Wing in 2nd Tactical Air Force, at Northolt in August 1944, flying blue Spitfire XIs and pink Spitfire IXs. He moved with the Squadron to A12 airstrip in Normandy, then to the airfield at Amiens - Glisy and at the end of September, to Melsbroek airfield outside Brussels. On 19th November, he suffered engine failure over Germany , baled out and landed in a field in Holland. after evading capture for five days he reached the Rhine, but was spotted by an alert German officer and spent the rest of the war in Stalag Luft I on the Baltic. He returned to instructing, on Harvards, until he was demobilized in 1946. Thereafter, he followed a career in education. In 1989, he took up gliding and found it more challenging than flying with an engine. In 1990, he learned from a Dutch archivist that four Dutchmen had been executed as a result of his landing in their village. This was a great shock and he returns each year to lay a wreath on their memorial. He died on 27th January 2017.

Flt/Lt Jimmy Taylor - Signed Aviation Art

Mission Accomplished by Philip West. 2 editions. Both editions feature up to 13 additional signatures. £180.00 - £220.00

Midwinter Dawn by Robert Taylor. One of 6 editions available. All 6 editions feature up to 15 additional signatures. £295.00

Text for the above items :

Mission Accomplished by Philip West. 17th May 1943, Sqn Ldr Frank (Jerry) Fray in his Spitfire PRX1 of 542 Squadron operating out of RAF Benson, Oxfordshire, returned alone and unarmed to gather photographic evidence from 30,000 feet of the Möhne dam having been breached earlier the same day by 617 Squadron Lancaster bombers.

Midwinter Dawn by Robert Taylor. The engineers at Rolls-Royce had worked their magic. They had somehow managed to squeeze every available ounce of power out of the current Merlin engine and by D-Day on 6 June 1944 the sleek Mk.IX Spitfires of Fighter Command reigned supreme in the skies over Normandy. The magnificent Mk.IXs were, by far, the most numerous variant of Spitfires that fought from D-Day to the threshold of the Reich. In the great drive from Normandy across northern France, Belgium and into Holland the Spitfire pilots of Fighter Command threw down the gauntlet to any Luftwaffe pilots brave enough, or foolhardy enough, to tangle with them. Perhaps the greatest pilot to ever fly the Spitfire was the RAF&39;s top fighter Ace Johnnie Johnson. His resolute determination and steadfast leadership came into its own during D-Day and the subsequent advance through Normandy, and he would finish the war as the highest scoring Allied Ace in Europe. The scene captures the moment when, as Wing Leader of 127 Canadian Wing, Johnnie is seen leading Mk.IX Spitfires from 421 Red Indian Squadron RCAF out on patrol from their airfield at Evere near Brussels on a cold December morning in 1944. It is close to the fighting and the German front line so, as the Canadians climb steadily out over the snow clad landscape in the golden light of dawn, they are already alert and on the lookout for the first signs of trouble.

Spitfire Manufacturer : Supermarine Built : 20351

Spitfire Royal Air Force fighter aircraft, maximum speed for mark I Supermarine Spitfire, 362mph up to The Seafire 47 with a top speed of 452mph. maximum ceiling for Mk I 34,000feet up to 44,500 for the mark XIV. Maximum range for MK I 575 miles . up to 1475 miles for the Seafire 47. Armament for the various Marks of Spitfire. for MK I, and II . eight fixed .303 browning Machine guns, for MKs V-IX and XVI two 20mm Hispano cannons and four .303 browning machine guns. and on later Marks, six to eight Rockets under the wings or a maximum bomb load of 1,000 lbs. Designed by R J Mitchell, The proto type Spitfire first flew on the 5th March 1936. and entered service with the Royal Air Force in August 1938, with 19 squadron based and RAF Duxford. by the outbreak of World war two, there were twelve squadrons with a total of 187 spitfires, with another 83 in store. Between 1939 and 1945, a large variety of modifications and developments produced a variety of MK,s from I to XVI. The mark II came into service in late 1940, and in March 1941, the Mk,V came into service. To counter the Improvements in fighters of the Luftwaffe especially the FW190, the MK,XII was introduced with its Griffin engine. The Fleet Air Arm used the Mk,I and II and were named Seafires. By the end of production in 1948 a total of 20,351 spitfires had been made and 2408 Seafires. The most produced variant was the Spitfire Mark V, with a total of 6479 spitfires produced. The Royal Air Force kept Spitfires in front line use until April 1954.

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Flt/Lt Jimmy Taylor Squadron details

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