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Cranston Fine Arts  Aviation Art and Artists World War Two Squadrons UK and Commonwealth No.41 Sqn to No.76 Sqn  No.76 Sqn |
[UP] - No.41 Sqn - No.43 Sqn - No.44 Sqn - No.46 Sqn - No.49 Sqn - No.50 Sqn - No.54 Sqn - No.56 Sqn - No.57 Sqn - No.59 Sqn - No.61 Sqn - No.64 Sqn - No.65 Sqn - No.66 Sqn - No.68 Sqn - No.71 Sqn - No.73 Sqn - No.74 Sqn - No.75 Sqn RAAF - No.76 Sqn - No.76 Sqn RAAF |
Resolute
| No.76 Sqn Aviation Art Prints, Paintings and Drawings Aviation Prints |
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| Text for the above items : |
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. |
Unseen and Deadly by Ivan Berryman. Having survived the bombing raid on Karlsruhe, it was the cruelest of ironies that Halifax III LK789 (MP-L) of 76 Sqn should fall victim to a lone German fighter that was lurking in the night skies above Norfolk. Witnessed by another Halifax, LK785 (MP-T), the upward firing waist guns of Lt Wolfgang Wenning's Messerschmitt Me410 of II/KG51 found their mark, expertly exploiting the blind spot of the Halifax, sending LK789 down in flames near Welney, killing all but one of her crew. Wenning's victory was to be short lived, however, the German being killed in a mid air collision with an RAF Airspeed Oxford just three days later during another intruder operation over the midlands. |
| No.76 Sqn RAF Aircraft details |
 Anson Manufacturer : Avro Built : 11020 | Anson he Avro Anson originated from the Avro 652 commercial aircraft which first flew on 7th January 1935. It was a twin-engine British-built multi-role aircraft which saw distinctive service with both the Royal Air Force and The Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm as well as The Royal Canadian Air Force during and after the Second World War. The prototype 652A first flew at Woodford on 7th January 1935 and was developed from an initial airliner design and named after Admiral George Anson. The adaptation for a coastal reconnaissance role resulted in the production variant, the Avro 652a, which flew at Woodford on New Years Eve 1935 with the type entering service in March 1936 as the Anson Mk1. Initially it was flown with a 3-man crew but later developments in its reconnaissance role required a 4th crew member. The Anson entered service on 6 March 1936 with 48 Squadron equipped with the Anson. At the start of the Second World War, the RAF had received 824 Ansons and there were 26 RAF squadrons operating the Anson I: 10 with Coastal Command and 16 with Bomber Command. All of the squadrons in Bomber Command in 1939 with Anson Is were operational training squadrons that prepared crews for frontline service. 12 of the squadrons were in No. 6 (Operational Training) Group. Newly formed crews having completed individual flying and technical training were first trained as bomber crews in Ansons and then advanced to the various frontline aircraft types, which were also in the same squadrons with the Ansons. After training in the frontline aircraft type, crews would advance to the frontline bomber squadrons with those aircraft types (Fairey Battle, Bristol Blenheim, Vickers Wellington, Armstrong Whitworth Whitley, and Handley-Page Hampden). At the start of the war, the Lockheed Hudson was beginning to replace the Ansons in Coastal Command with one squadron of Hudsons and one with both Ansons and Hudsons. Limited numbers of Ansons continued to serve in operational roles such as coastal patrols and air/sea rescue. Early in the war, an Anson scored a probable hit on a German U-boat. In June 1940, a flight of three Ansons was attacked by nine Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 109s. Remarkably, before the dogfight ended, without losing any of their own, one of the Ansons destroyed two German aircraft and damaged a third. The aircraft's true role, however, was to train pilots for flying multi-engined bombers such as the Avro Lancaster. The Anson was also used to train the other members of a bomber's aircrew, such as navigators, wireless operators, bomb aimers and air gunners. Postwar, the Anson continued in the training and light transport roles. The last Ansons were withdrawn from RAF service with communications units on 28 June 1968. The Royal Australian Air Force operated 1,028 Ansons, mainly Mk Is, until 1955 |
 BE2C Built : 0 | BE2C The early models of the B.E. 2 had already served in the RFC for two years prior to the outbreak of war, and were among the aircraft that arrived with the British Expeditionary Force in 1914. Like all service aircraft of this period, they had been designed at a time when the qualities required by a warplane were largely a matter for conjecture, in the absence of any actual experience of the use of aircraft in warfare. The type that replaced the B.E.2a and B.E.2b in the reconnaissance squadrons of the RFC in 1915 was the B.E.2c, which had also been designed before the war. The most important difference in the new model was an improvement in stability – a genuinely useful characteristic, especially in aerial photographic work, using the primitive plate cameras of the time, with their relatively long exposures. A suitable engine was not available in sufficient quantities to replace the air-cooled Renault – the RAF 1a being essentially an uprated version of the French engine – When bombs were to be carried or maximum endurance was required the observer had to be left behind, so it was still necessary to have him sit over the centre of gravity, in front of the pilot. In this awkward position his view was poor, and the degree to which he could handle a camera (or, later, a gun) was hampered by the struts and wires supporting the centre section of the top wing. In practice the pilot of a B.E.2c handled the camera, and the observer, when he was armed at all, had a rather poor field of fire to the rear, having, at best, to shoot back over his pilot's head. The vulnerability of the B.E.2c to fighter attack became plain in late 1915, with the advent of the Fokker Eindecker. British ace Albert Ball summed it up as "a bloody awful aeroplane". Unable to cope with such a primitive fighter as the Fokker E.I, it was virtually helpless against the newer German fighters of 1916-17. The aircraft's poor performance against the Fokker, and the failure to improve the aircraft or replace it caused great controversy in England, with Noel Pemberton Billing attacking the B.E.2c and the Royal Aircraft Factory in the House of Commons on 21 March 1916, saying that RFC pilots in France were being "rather murdered than killed" This prompted the setting up of two enquiries; one into the management of the Royal Aircraft Factory, and another into the high command of the Royal Flying Corps, the latter headed by a judge. These reports largely cleared both Factory management and the RFC commanders responsible for ordering the B.E.2, but the supervisor of the Factory, Mervyn O'Gorman, was effectively dismissed by a "sideways promotion", |
 Dakota Manufacturer : Douglas | Dakota DOUGLAS DAKOTA, Transport aircraft with three crew and can carry 28 passengers. speed 230-mph, and a altitude of 23,200 feet. maximum range 2,100 miles. The Douglas Dakota served in all theatres of world war two, The Royal Air Force received its first Douglas Dakota's in April 1941, to 31 squadron which was serving in India. These were DC2, later DC3 and eventually C-47 Dakotas were supplied. The Douglas Dakota was developed from the civil airliner of the 1930's. The Royal Air Force received nearly 2,000 Dakotas, But many more than this served in the US Air Force and other allied countries. The last flight of a Douglas Dakota of the Royal Air Force was in 1970. You can still see Douglas Dakota's in operational and transport use across the world. |
 Halifax Manufacturer : Handley Page Built : 6177 | Halifax Royal Air Force heavy Bomber with a crew of six to eight. Maximum speed of 280mph (with MK.VI top speed of 312mph) service ceiling of 22,800feet maximum range of 3,000 miles. The Halifax carried four .303 browning machine guns in the tail turret, two .303 browning machines in the nose turret in the MK III there were four .303 brownings in the dorsal turret. The Handley Page Halifax, first joined the Royal Air Force in March 1941 with 35 squadron. The Halifax saw service in Europe and the Middle east with a variety of variants for use with Coastal Command, in anti Submarine warfare, special duties, glider-tugs, and troop transportation roles. A total of 6177 Halifax's were built and stayed in service with the Royal Air Force until 1952 |
 Kittyhawk Manufacturer : Curtiss | Kittyhawk Curtiss Kittyhawk, single engine fighter with a top speed of 362mph, ceiling of 30,000 feet and a range of 1190 miles with extra fuel tanks but 900 miles under normal operation. Kitty Hawk armaments was four or six .50in machine guns in the wings and a bomb load of up to 1,000 lb's. A development of the earlier Tomahawk, the Kitty Hawk saw service in may air force's around the world, American, Australian, New Zealand, and the Royal Air Force. which used them in the Mediterranean, north Africa, and Malta. from January 1942/ apart from the large numbers used by the Us Air Force, over 3,000 were used by Commonwealth air force's including the Royal air Force. |
 Wellington Manufacturer : Vickers | Wellington The Vickers Wellington was a Bomber aircraft and also used for maritime reconnaissance. and had a normal crew of six except in the MKV and VI where a crew of three was used. Maximum speed was 235 mph (MK1c) 255 mph (MK III, X) and 299 mph (MK IIII), normal operating range of 1805 miles (except MK III which was 1470miles) The Wellington or Wimpy as it was known, was the major bomber of the Royal Air Force between 1939 and 1943. The Royal Air Force received its first Wellingtons in October 1938 to 99 squadron. and by the outbreak of World war two there were 6 squadrons equipped with the Vickers Wellington. Due to heavy losses on daylight raids, the Wellington became a night bomber and from 1940 was also used as a long range bomber in North Africa. and in 1942 also became a long range bomber for the royal Air Force in India. It was well used by Coastal Command as a U-Boat Hunter. The Wellington remained in service with the Royal Air Force until 1953. Probably due to its versatile use, The aircraft was also used for experimental work including the fitting of a pressure cabin for High altitude tests. The Vickers Wellington could sustain major damage and still fly, probably due to its construction of its geodesic structure and practical application of geodesic lines. Designed by Sir Barnes Wallis |
| No.76 Sqn RAF Pilot and aircrew signature details |
Squadron Leader Peter Booth-Jones DFC Our estimated value of this signature : £25 | Squadron Leader Peter Booth-Jones DFC Joined the RAAF in January 1941. After initial training in Australia, gained his wings and graduated as a Pilot Officer in Canada. Peter was posted to 58 OTU in the UK and converted to Spitfires, then posted to 118 Sqn at Ibsley until March 1942. He then returned to Australia and joined 75 Sqn in Juner 1942. Flying Kittyhawks Peter took part in the Battle of Milne Bay and on 27th August, he and Flt Lt Bruce Watson attacked 3 Val Dive Bombers over the Bay. They were credited with sharing 1 destroyed, 1 probable and 1 damaged. On 27th November he flew S A29-133 on a scramble from Cairns and again on 1st December. He was posted as an instructor to 2 OTU Mildura until September 1944. Sqn Ldr Jones was posted as CO to 76 Sqn based at Noemfoor, then Morotai, Sanga Sanga and Labuan until the end of the war. |
Wing Commander Charles C Jock Calder DSO* DFC Our estimated value of this signature : £55 Died : 1997 | Wing Commander Charles C Jock Calder DSO* DFC Twice mentioned in dispatches. Nos 78, 76, 158 and 617 Squadrons. Born 12th July, 1920. Joined RAF early 1940. Training E.F.T.S. Prestwick, S.F.T.S. Little Rissington, O.C.U. Abbingdon. Joined 78 Whitley Squadron approx May/June 1941. Some three months later posted to 76 Halifax Squadron as deputy Flight Commander. Awarded D.F.C. Nov/Dec 1941 posted as O.C. 76 Squadron Training Flight. Approx June 1942 transferred to Riceal to form Halifax O.C.U. Promoted to Squadron Leader. Approx August 1943 appointed O.C. 158 Squadron, promoted to Wing Commander. March /April screened and posted as C.F.I. Marston Moor O.C.U. Volunteered tojoin 617 Squadron. Application approved approx September 1944. Remained with 617 until screened approx January 1945. Awarded bar to D.S.O. He was Mentioned in Despatches for the first time on 2nd June 1943. He was Mentioned in Despatches for a second time as Acting W/Co on 14th January 1944. On 13th June the London Gazette published the notification that he was to be awarded the DSO for service with 158 Squadron. The citation for this reads.. This officer has completed a second tour of operations and has displayed the highest qualities of skill and gallantry throughout. He has displayed the greatest determination in pressing home his attacks and has achieved much success. On one occasion, in an operation against Frankfurt, two engines became unserviceable. In spite of this, Wing Commander Calder flew the aircraft back to this country after cleverly outmanoeuvring a fighter which had closed in to attack. This officer is an efficient and forceful squadron commander, whose genius for leadership has contributed in good measure to the success of the formation he commands. Having completed his second Tour he was posted to a training instructional role for a while but served with 617 Squadron in the later months of the War. He piloted the aircraft that dropped the first of the 22,000lb Grand Slam bombs - the biggest high-explosive bomb developed by any country during the war - to wreck the Bielefeld railway viaduct in Germany. He was awarded the Bar to the DSO for service with 617 Squadron, Gazetted on 5th June 1945. The citation reads.. Since being awarded the Distinguished Service Order, this officer has completed many sorties. Throughout these operations he has shown the greatest resolution and the successes obtained are a splendid tribute to his great skill and courage. Wing Commander Calder led the squadron on the operation when the first 22,000 Ib. bomb was dropped over Germany. The target was the viaduct at Bielefeld and complete success was achieved. This officer has rendered much loyal and devoted service. He died on 17th May 1997 aged seventy eight years old. |
  Group Captain Leonard Cheshire VC OM DSO** DFC* Our estimated value of this signature : £75 Died : 1992 | Group Captain Leonard Cheshire VC OM DSO** DFC* One of the most courageous and determined bomber leaders of World War II, Leonard Cheshire flew four operational tours, starting in June 1940 with 102 Squadron on Whitley bombers at RAF Driffield. In November 1940, he was awarded the DSO for getting his badly damaged aircraft back to base. He completed his first tour in January 1941, but immediately volunteered for a second tour, this time flying Halifaxes with 35 Squadron. He became Squadron Leader in 1942, and was appointed commanding officer of 76 Squadron later that year. Leonard Cheshire ordered that non-essential weight be removed from the Halifax bombers in a bid to increase speed and altitude, hoping to reduce the high casualty rates for this squadron. Mid-upper and nose turrets were removed, and exhaust covers taken off, successfully reducing the loss rate. In July 1943 he took command of 617 Squadron. During this time he led the squadron personally on every occasion. In September he was awarded the Victoria Cross for four and a half years of sustained bravery during a total of 102 operations, leading his crews with careful planning, brilliant execution and contempt for danger, which gained him a reputation second to none in Bomber Command. Sadly, Leonard Cheshire died of motor neuron disease on 31st July 1992, aged 74. |
Flt Lt Alan Cresswell DFC AFC Our estimated value of this signature : £10 | Flt Lt Alan Cresswell DFC AFC A pilot flying Whitleys for 10 OTU Operational Detachment over the North Atlantic, Alan completed a further 27 Operations flying Halifaxes with 76 Squadron over NW Europe. |
Flying Officer George French Our estimated value of this signature : £10 | Flying Officer George French Bomb Aimer, 76 Squadron. |
Flying Officer Charlie Gallagher DFC Our estimated value of this signature : £10 | Flying Officer Charlie Gallagher DFC Bomb Aimer on 76 Squadron completing 29 Operations through 1944- 45 all with the same pilot, Wally MacFarlane. |
Group Captain Ross H Glassop DFC* MID Our estimated value of this signature : £25 | Group Captain Ross H Glassop DFC* MID Joined the RAAF in March 1941 and trained in Australia. In November 1941, Sgt Glassop joined 22 Sqn and in January 1942 was posted to 24 Sqn based at Rabaul with Wirraways. He was en route to Townsville when 24 Sqn was decimated by the Japanese. Ross was attached to 76 Sqn at Townsville on 24th May and flew his first Kittyhawk that same day. Arriving at Milne Bay on 24th July, he shot down a Zero strafing No.1 strip on 24th August. Glassop participated in many successful strafing ops during the battle and remained with 76 until they withdrew to Australia on 22nd September. In March 1943 he was posted to 2 OTU as an instructor until November 1943. Ross joined 5 Sqn equipped with Boomerangs in June 1944 and in November moved to Bouganville until the end of the war. Flt Lt Ross Glassop was awarded the DFC in February 1945 and a bar and MID whilst serving in Korea flying Mustangs and Meteors with 77 Sqn RAAF. |
Flight Lieutenant James Hampton Our estimated value of this signature : £20 | Flight Lieutenant James Hampton James Hampton enlisted in the RAF in 1945 and trained as a Flight Engineer. He flew Halifaxes operationally with 76 Squadron from RAF Holme-on-Spalding Moor in Yrokshire. He was also the youngest and only survivor of three brothers. After leaving the squadron he flew on flight testing. |
 Sergeant Leopold Heimes Our estimated value of this signature : £50 Died : 2009 | Sergeant Leopold Heimes Already in the Belgian Air Force, he moved to 235 Sqn Coastal Command as an Air Gunner on Blenheims during the Battle of Britain before becoming a pilot, flying Spitfires and Catalinas with 350 Sqn before converting to 76 Sqn on Dakotas in India. Heimes stayed in the RAF until September 1951 having been gazetted as a Master Pilot. Sadly, Leopold Heimes died in 2009. |
Jim Inward DFC Flt. Eng. Our estimated value of this signature : £15 | Jim Inward DFC Flt. Eng. Flight Engineer 35 & 76 Squadrons first tour of 25 operations, and 578 Squadron for a further 22 operations. |
Flight Lieutnenant H A Harry Kerr MID Our estimated value of this signature : £25 | Flight Lieutnenant H A Harry Kerr MID Joined the RAAF in May 1941 and trained in Australia and was at 1 OTU Sale on Wirraways until 13th March 1942. Harry was posted to 76 Sqn Archerfield late that month and flew his first Kittyhawk A29-31 on 24th March at Townsville. Kerr departed Townsville with the newly formed squadron on July 18th, arriving at Milne Bay on 24th July. He flew his first operation on 26th July on an anti submarine patrol and on 11th August engaged his first Zero followed by an engine failure and subsequent dead stick landing on No.1 strip. Kerr participated in many successful strafing ops and Hudson bomber escorts during August and September and remained with 76 until they withdrew to the mainland on 24th September and left the squadron at Strauss in December 1942. Harry was posted to 2 OTU as an instructor from March 1943 until February 1944. He joined 78 Sqn equipped with Kittyhawks on Anzac Day 1944 and operated from Hollandia, then Morotai until January 1945 and finished the war at 2 OTU. |
Flight Lieutenant H W Bert Kirtland DFC* Our estimated value of this signature : £15 | Flight Lieutenant H W Bert Kirtland DFC* Air Gunner, 76 Squadron. |
Flt Lt Wally MacFarlane DFC Our estimated value of this signature : £15 | Flt Lt Wally MacFarlane DFC Pilot with 76 Squadron and completed 31 Operations through 1944-45 and during this time met his wife who was a WAAF Signals Officer in the Squadron. |
Sqn Ldr Reg Manning DFC Our estimated value of this signature : £15 | Sqn Ldr Reg Manning DFC Flight Engineer, 10, 51 and 76 Squadrons. |
Flying Officer Tony Monk Our estimated value of this signature : £10 | Flying Officer Tony Monk Flight Engineer on Halifaxes with 76 Squadron. Shot down on his 24th Operation to Nuremburg 30 -31 March 1944 he spent the next 14 months as a PoW. |
Flight Lieutenant Tom Wingham Our estimated value of this signature : £25 | Flight Lieutenant Tom Wingham With 76 Sqn he was a Bomb Aimer on Halifaxes before his aircraft was shot down on a mission to Dusseldorf on 22nd April 1944. Using several well-organised 'escape lines', which were set up by local civilians throughout parts of Europe to help keep evading aircrew fed and clothed, he eventually made it through to Allied Lines on 13th September 1944. |
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