Lancasters at the Ready - Philip West pencil signed 16 Bomber Command veteranWW2

Description: Lancasters at the Ready - Philip West pencil signed 16 Bomber Command veterans of WW2 limited edition 1/100 Frame measures 84 x 64cm and weighs 4kg without packaging. Hand-signed in pencil on the print by:Lawrence 'Benny' Goodman George L. Johnson DFM Frank L Tilley Ron Clark DFCEric Horsham Peter Gould Ld'H Thomas Peter Payne Bob AytonBill Jewers Sydney Grimes Reginald 'Reg' Payne John Bell DFC MBE Russell 'Rusty' Waughman DFC AFCRupert Noye DFC Harry Irons DFC Framed superbly by Aces High with anti-UV glass as photos. II'll pack very carefully to try and avoid any cracks or damage. CoA included. Photos have been not been edited. Multiple purchases will happily be sent in the same tube/flatpack at actual cost to ensure most economical purchase price. The price will rise a bit as the weight goes up too much. i.e. I have a number of prints for sale that should go for relatively high values and that will require packaging and posting by MBE Newcastle to be able to offer insurance cover. If this is the case then the postage cost will likely be over £50, creeping up to £75 for several hundred £ value but as some of these prints are so rare I would imagine you would rather pay to be sure rather than you take the risk of damage of loss in the post. Postage shown for UK. I have added postage to Canada @ £30 so take this as an indication for your country BUT ask for an actual cost before bidding please as the final invoice will be based on the actual cost. Note the above commentary on insurance. I have spent the last 30 years collecting WW2 memorabilia and particularly art prints by Robert Taylor, Nicolas Trudgian and others, with an eye to the print but also the signatures. It has been such a privilege to have travelled the length of the country to meet so many veterans of WW2 who have kindly signed my prints and books and these memories remain but now that I have retired I must make adjustments to my collection and - whilst still seeking out 'missing' signatures - I am gradually selling off parts of my collection. Lawrence 'Benny' Goodman – He completed 30 missions with 617 Squadron – all with William “Jock” Burnett as his flight engineer. Notable raids Benny took part in were on the Tirpitz (29/10/44), dropping the Grand Slam 22,000 bomb on the Arnsberg Viaduct (19/03/45) and the attack on Berchtesgarten ‘Eagles nest’ (25/05/45), died 18th July 2021.George L. Johnson DFM – Dambuster, Joining the RAF in 1940, George Johnson served with 97 Squadron before joining 617 Squadron. Bomb aimer on American Joe McCarthys Lancaster AJ-T, they attacked the Sorpe Dam, for which he was awarded the DFM. Commissioned a few months later, George retired from the RAF in 1962.Frank L Tilley - After training as a Flight Engineer he volunteered for 617 Sqn taking part in all the raids against the Tirpitz, but at the end of 1944 was forced to crash land in East Germany after being badly shot up and injured on a mission.Ron Clark DFC – Ron volunteered for flying duties in 1941 and after interviews completed initial training in Paignton. A flying grading course followed at Kingstown near Carlisle surprisingly near my family, before being sent as “Ambassadors” for Britain across the Atlantic to be trained by the USAAF. After more initial training to learn the American way, not a bad way, we embarked on the flying training and after receiving the silver wings, the next port of call was Bournemouth in a hotel which shortly afterwards was demolished by the Luftwaffe. Several courses preceded our arrival at Landholder heavy conversion unit before joining the “Battle of the Ruhr” with No 100 Squadron based at Waltham near Grimsby. My crew and I were assigned a brand new Lancaster III EE139 which we almost did for on our twenty-fourth trip with her to Manheim, but she went on to complete 120 operations before being unceremoniously scrapped. Little did we think that over 60 years later she would be “recalled to life” by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. After a period of instructing I was then posted to No 7 Sqdn for deployment to the Far East, which was stymied by the dropping of the atomic bomb, I did a lot more instructing before applying for a secondment to BOAC.Eric Horsham - having completed training as a Flight Engineer in 1943 he joined 102 Sqn based at RAF Pocklington. He served on Halifaxes on missions over Normandy in the run up to D-Day and over the Ruhr Valley. 08-01-2017, died 29th September 2020.Peter Gould Ld'H - he served as a Flight Engineer on Lancasters with 61 Sqn on 13 operations before his crew transferred to 97 Sqn Pathfinders based at RAF Coningsby. He went on to complete a full Pathfinder tour of 45 operations. Peter died 20th March, aged 100.Thomas Peter Payne - enlisting in the RAFVR at just 15 in 1941, he flew his first solo flight before 17 and graduated as a Sergeant Pilot in October 1943. He flew both Wellingtons and Lancasters, being posted to 90 Sqn before his entire crew moved to 15 Sqn. Within 7 days he was promoted and he stayed with the squadron until demob in late 1946. Having joined the RAF in 1941 he completed training to become a pilot before joining 90 Sqn which made a significant contribution to the Battle of the Ruhr as well as raids on Hamburg and Peenemunde. Also serving with 15 Sqn he flew both Wellingtons and Lancasters. Died February 2021, aged 95Bob Ayton - flew as a WOp/AG on B-24 Liberators with 354 Sqn in India dropping supplies to guerrillas in the jungle. He later joined 160 Sqn in Ceylon, again on Liberators and after the war he took part in the Berlin airlift on Dakotas.Bill Jewers - he flew as an Observer on Catalinas with 265 Sqn Coastal Command based in Madagascar and flying over the Indian Ocean. He then transferred to 194 Sqn based in Burma carrying supplies on Dakotas and completed a total of 60 missions.Sydney Grimes - A/B joined 617, 29-09-44. Gumbley crew 28-10-44 & 12-11-44, Tirpitz raids. Urfft Dam, others. completed a full tour as a Wireless Operator on Lancasters with 106 Sqn before joining 617 Sqn for a second tour. His ﬁrst mission was attacking the German battleship Tirpitz, before returning a month later on the mission that sank it. He finished the war having completed a total of 60 Ops’. Reginald 'Reg' Payne – having completed his training as a WOP/Air Gunner he joined 50 Sqn on Lancasters in the same crew as Marshal of the RAF Sir Michael Beetham. With this crew he completed over 30 ops including 10 to Berlin, died 9th January 2022.John Bell DFC MBE – After initially training as a Navigator he went on to complete most of his 50 ops in Lancasters as a Bomb Aimer with 617 Sqn, including all the raids against the Tirpitz. completed two tours of operations on Lancasters in Bomber Command with 617 and 619 Squadrons. He did his flying training in South Africa in 1942. This was an Observer course, but on his return to UK he was posted to OTU as a Bomb Aimer, which he didn't mind - more hands-on! John was based at Woodhall Spa and Coningsby on 619 and at Woodhall Spa on 617. As he approached the end of his first tour they decided to stay together as a crew and volunteered to join 617 and returned to Woodhall. “It is difficult to remember details of most of our raids on 619, but two or three have memories for me. Our first operations was the start of the attacks on Hamburg, so that was our initiation. I well remember seeing the city on fire and the enormous amount of flak through which we had to fly. On our second trip to Hamburg we lost the power in one engine and after a quick conference with the crew it was agreed that we should continue with the mission at 10000 feet! I remember thinking that while we were well below the height of the flak bursts we were now at danger from bombs falling on us from the rest of the attacking force. The October 1943 raid on Leipzig was a disaster because of the extremely bad weather and the loss rate was high. We experienced two engines cutting out due to icing and had to jettison the bomb load as we lost height. Fortunately the engines were restarted otherwise we would have joined the other aircraft which were lost. Our pilot, Bob Knights, attributed this to the Packard Merlin engines with which many Lancasters were equipped. These were prone to icing and this no doubt was the cause of so many losses. We were very fortunate that on all our operations we received only a few flak holes in the aircraft and none serious. Our rear gunner kept a sharp lookout for enemy fighters and although we occasionally had one close to us were never attacked.Operations with 617 were quite different as the squadron generally operated on its own, attacking small targets in France. We much preferred this type of operation as we could see what were attacking and observe the results of the bombing. After D-Day the squadron was equipped with the Tallboy with which we attacked submarine pens and V2 rocket installations. . It was an ideal weapon for these targets and, combined with the Stabilised Automatic Bomb Sight which only 617 had, was extremely accurate. I completed my second tour in August 1944 and left the squadron to instruct at OTU. In 1945, together with thousands of now 'out of work' aircrew, I was sent on the Accountant Officers' Course. My first posting was to RAF Tangmere followed by a tour in Berlin during the Airlift. In 1951 I saw an opportunity to escape from secretarial duties and applied for the Photographic Interpretation course. This led to a much more interesting career in intelligence until I retired in 1977.” John died 18th March 2024, aged 100.Russell 'Rusty' Waughman DFC AFC - In November 1943 he was posted to No 101(Special Duties) Squadron at Ludford Magna. Whilst undertaking its highly secretive and dangerous ops. 101 squadron lost more aircraft and crews than any other. He completed a tour of operations, which began during the ‘Battle of Berlin’, where they did several operations. Surviving a mid-air collision, only to write the aircraft off on landing, ‘Rusty’ and his crew on a subsequent flight had a miraculous escape when their aircraft was blown upside down, over the target, at Mailly-le-Camp; they also survived the Nuremberg raid on 30th March 1944, when 97 aircraft were lost – including about one quarter of 101 sqn strength that night. Rupert Noye DFC - 72 ops as Rear Gunner on Wellingtons with 12, 146 & 156 Squadrons then Lancasters of 166 Squadron. Died 7th Jan 202.Harry Irons DFC – 60 operations in the Halifax. Joining the RAF at the age of 16 in 1940 he did 2 full tours as a rear gunner with 9 Squadron and took part in nearly all the famous raids of Bomber Command, including the raids against the Tirpitz. He was the posted to 158 Sqn flying Halifaxes, finishing the war with a total of 75 Ops.

Price: 75 GBP

Location: Newcastle

End Time: 2024-11-11T18:05:01.000Z

Shipping Cost: 108.04 GBP