We Salute You - Philip West pencil signed by 20 Bomber Command veterans WW2

Description: We Salute You - Philip West pencil signed by 20 Bomber Command veterans WW2 limited edition Artist Proof 12/50 Frame measures 90cm x 68cm and weighs near 3.5kg. Hand-signed in pencil on the print by:George 'Johnny' Johnson - 617 Dambuster AJ-JFrank Tilley - 617 TirpitzJoe Petrie-Andrews - 35 PFFLishman EasbyReg PayneJack LinekerHarry Irons - TirpitzJohn Bell - 617Benny Goodman - 617 TirpitzTom SayerRon ClarkJack BlanchardCharles GallagherWally MacFarlane Hand-signed in pen on the rear:Eric HorshamPeter GouldDerek GurneyTom PayneBob AytonBill Jewers Framed superbly by Aces High but unfortunately the glass was cracked at the bottom as photos. I removed the glass and am selling this framed & superbly mounted to post flat-pack for you to get it glazed at your end. No damage to the print or the mounting board from the cracked glass. 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.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.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. Lishman Y Easby - (Wireless Operator) joined the RAF in 1941 after service in the Home Guard. He was selected for training as a Wireless Operator/Air Gunner but after training as a W/Op he was posted to Coastal Command 159Gp HQ, Liverpool, and served in 1942 as a ground wireless operator. Later in the year he was called for training as a W/op (air) which was followed by an air-gunner course. Following this he was posted to an Operational Training Unit and joined Ron Clark and his crew as a W/op on 4 engined aircraft — the two jobs were separate. The crew were later posted for further training, first on Halifax and then on Lancasters; then posted to 100 Sqn, Waltham, near Grimsby, where they were given a brand new Lancaster which they named the Phantom of the Ruhr. Their Flight Engineer, Harold Bennett DFM painted its name and insignia on the nose of the aircraft. The same name today adorns the Lancaster which flies as part of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. In the Phantom they completed 21 ops to Germany and two to Italy, after which the Phantom was taken in for extensive repairs due to enemy damage. The crew completed a further four ops which then completed their tour. For their 27th op the crew were transferred to 625 Sqn Kelstern (Lincs) which turned out to be their final operation and they were then disbanded. Lishman Easby was then posted to OTU near Shrewsbury to help with the training of new crews. Later he was posted to 298 Sqn Transport Command with another pilot (Ian Forbes) and crew where they received training in towing Horsa Gliders in preparation for an airborne attack on Singapore. However, the war ended suddenly and the Sqn was posted to India and eventually to Burma to take part in Operation Hunger. This entailed dropping sacks of rice on isolated villages thus saving them from famine. This ended his service and he was released from service in 1946. He agreed to his name being held in reserve as a Minute Man until aged 45.Jack Blanchard DFC - Wireless Operator, 514 Sqn. Died 7th January.Charlie Gallagher DFC - Bomb Aimer on 76 Squadron completing 29 Operations through 1944- 45 all with the same pilot, Wally MacFarlane.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.Jack Linaker - after qualifying as a Rear Gunner he was posted to 9 Sqn serving on Lancasters equipped with the 'Tallboy' bomb. He completed a total of 18 Ops and notably to lead the final raid on Hitler’s famous Berchtesgaden.

Price: 75 GBP

Location: Newcastle

End Time: 2024-11-11T18:04:01.000Z

Shipping Cost: 108.04 GBP