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Cranston Fine Arts Aviation Art and Artists World War Two Veteran Signatures UK and Commonwealth S Statham, Rex

Warrant Officer Rex Statham

Flight Engineer, 158 Squadron.

Warrant Officer Rex Statham - Signed Aviation Art

Day Duties for the Night Workers by Robert Taylor. 3 of 4 editions available. All 4 editions feature up to 54 additional signatures. £70.00 - £295.00

Dawn Breakers by Anthony Saunders. 3 editions. 2 of the 3 editions feature up to 3 additional signatures. £2.00 - £140.00

No.76 Squadron Halifax by Ivan Berryman. 6 editions. 3 of the 6 editions feature up to 12 additional signatures. £2.90 - £400.00

Action This Day by Richard Taylor. 6 of 7 editions available. 5 of 6 editions featuring up to 13 additional signatures are available. £2.00 - £1095.00

Text for the above items :

Day Duties for the Night Workers by Robert Taylor. With its mission completed, the mighty Lancaster slowly rolls to a halt on the lonely dispersal point, the roar of its four pulsating Merlin engines steadily slackens, replaced by an eerie silence, broken only by the snapping cracks of cooling metal. Slowly the seven weary crew tumble out of the fuselage, their faces etched with strain, eyes rimmed red with tiredness. For them it is the final act of another long, arduous and nerve-wracking operation, another eight-hour ordeal to attack industrial targets in the Ruhr. This time they know they've been lucky, they reached the target and returned home safely, despite the deadly flak and prowling Luftwaffe night-fighters. For others, however, the work of war has just begun. As the massive Lancaster looms majestically over them, the ever vigilant ground crew begin the task of preparing their aircraft for the coming night's operation. Checking, repairing and double-checking again, making sure that nothing goes wrong on the next trip, nothing that could endanger the lives of the crew who depend on them. And then there are guns to be re-armed, bombs to be loaded and near-empty fuel tanks refilled. It will be a race against time.

Dawn Breakers by Anthony Saunders. As the first rays of dawn broke over Gold Beach on the morning of 6th June 1944, twenty-three Halifax bombers from No.76 Sqn headed inland over the breaking surf below. Their task was to annihilate the large German coastal gun battery of Mount Fleury that overlooked the beach where elements of the British 50th Division would shortly be landing. As ships of the Royal Navy joined the barrage and with the battery all but silenced, the bombers headed north, back towards England. The painting catches the moment as the Halifaxes, now escorted by American P-51s of the 359th Fighter Group, survey the extraordinary sight unfolding below them. Carried by a vast flotilla of landing craft, the first assault brigades of the 50th Division stream towards the Normandy shore where, despite heavy initial opposition, the British forces soon broke through. The German defenders who had survived the assault on the Mount Fleury battery had been cowed into submission, the survivors quickly over-run and taken prisoner. Their 12mm guns had offered no resistance and remained silent throughout. By midnight the 50th Division had landed over 25,000 men, and linking up with the Canadians on Juno Beach, had secured a deep bridgehead along a six mile front. The Battle for Caen and their long, slow march to Berlin had begun.

No.76 Squadron Halifax by Ivan Berryman. Halifaxes of No.76 Squadron RAF en route to another night bombing raid over Germany. The lead aircraft here has code MP-L. Serial numbers for aircraft were unique, but codes like MP-L were transferred after an aircraft was lost. A total of 10 aircraft carrying the codes MP-L were lost from No.76 Squadron. These aircraft were : L9530 : Shot down 12th-13th August 1941. R9452 : Crashed 12th-13th April 1942. W7660 : Shot down 19th-20th August 1942. W7678 : Lost 3rd-4th March 1943. DK172 : Shot down 23rd-24th May 1943. DK200 : Crashed 11th-12th June 1943. LK922 : Shot down 21st-22nd January 1944. LK789 : Shot down 24th-25th April 1944. MZ622 : Crashed 24th-25th May 1944. LL579 : Crashed 27th February 1945.

Action This Day by Richard Taylor. A cold winters morning, as dawn breaks over RAF Lissett, revealing that last nights biting wind has once again brought a covering of snow to the airfield. But, with conditions forecast to improve, tonights operation to bomb industrial targets in Germany is set to proceed, and ground crew start to prepare Halifax Mk3 LV907 F-Freddy, simply known as Friday 13th, for action. This iconic aircraft flew an impressive total of 128 operational sorties with 158 Squadron between March 1944 and April 1945.