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Front Line Hurricanes by Robert Taylor.
Based at a temporary formed airfield at Lille Marc, Hurricanes of No. 87
Squadron - showing the strains of battle - taxi in from a skirmish during heavy
fighting in the Battle of France, May 1940. |
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Front Line Hurricanes by Robert Taylor.
Based at a temporary formed airfield at Lille Marc, Hurricanes of No. 87 Squadron - showing the strains of battle - taxi in from a skirmish during heavy fighting in the Battle of France, May 1940.
Signed limited edition of 800 prints. Paper size 33 inches x 24 inches (84cm x 61cm). Price £200.00 Signed by Wing Commander Roland Bee Beamont CBE DSO DFC DL (deceased), Air Commodore Peter Brothers CBE, DSO, DFC* (deceased), Group Captain Frank Carey (deceased), Group Captain Dennis David CBE DFC AFC, Squadron Leader John Gibson (deceased) and Squadron Leader Kenneth Lee (deceased).
Limited edition of artist proofs. Paper size 33 inches x 24 inches (84cm x 61cm). Price £325.00 Signed by Wing Commander Roland Bee Beamont CBE DSO DFC DL (deceased), Air Commodore Peter Brothers CBE, DSO, DFC* (deceased), Group Captain Frank Carey (deceased), Group Captain Dennis David CBE DFC AFC, Squadron Leader John Gibson (deceased) and Squadron Leader Kenneth Lee (deceased).
ITEM CODE DHM2149
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Front Line Hurricanes by Robert Taylor
- The Signatures
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Wing Commander Roland Bee Beamont CBE DSO DFC DL (deceased)
One of World War II's great characters, Bee flew Hurricanes with 87 Squadron, later leading a Tempest Wing. He had 8 victories plus a further 32 VIs destroyed. After the war he became a highly respected Chief Test Pilot.
Wing Commander Roland Beamont, one of the RAF's top buzz bomb interceptors, was born in Enfield England on August 10, 1920. Educated at Eastborne College, Beamont accepted a short service commission with the Royal Air Force in 1938. He commenced flying in 1939 at the the No. 13 Reserve Flying School at White Waltham. His initial duty was with the Group Fighter Pool at St. Athan where he learned to fly the Hurricane. Beamont was soon posted with the No. 87 Squadron which was part of the Advanced Air Striking Force in France. Seeing action in both France and Belgium prior to the Allied withdrawl, Beamont rejoined 87 Squadron in England during the Battle of Britain. In the spring of 1941 Beamont was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross after destroying five enemy aircraft. As Commanding Officer of 609 Squadron, Beamont pioneered both day and night ground attack missions utilizing the Typhoon. Beamont was credited with destroying 25 trains in a three month period. He was then made responsible for organizing and commanding the first Tempest Wing at Newchurch. Three days after D-Day Bearnont shot down an Me-109, marking the first aerial combat victory for the Hawker Tempest. In the summer of 1944 Beamont destroyed 32 buzz bombs prior to leading his wing to a Dutch Airfield at Volkel on the Continent. In October of 1944 Beamont was shot down during a ground attack mission over Germany, and he remained a prisoner of war until war's end. Following repatriation Beamont became an experimental test pilot with the Gloster Aircraft Company, which had developed the RAF's first jet aircraft. Turning down a permanent commission with the RAF, Beamont then joined English Electric Company in Wharton as the Chief Test Pilot for the B3/45 (Canberra) jet bomber program. He managed all prototype testing on the Canberra, and in the process set two Atlantic speed records. Later Beamont was involved with the supersonic P1/Lightning program, and became the first British pilot to fly at twice the speed of sound. From 1965 until 1970 he was a founding member of Britain's highly succesful Saudi Arabian export program. For several years prior to his retirement in 1979, Beamont was Director of Operations for British Aerospace and Panavia where he was in charge of flight testing for the Tornado. Since his retirement Beamont has authored nine books, and published numerous magazine articles. He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Scociety and an Honorary Fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots in America. He died 19th November 2001.
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 | Air Commodore Peter Brothers CBE, DSO, DFC* (deceased)
Learnt to fly at the age of 16 and joined the RAF two years later in 1936. He first saw action in 1940 when as a Flight Commander in 32 Squadron, based at Biggin Hill, he flew his Hurricane against the fighters and bombers of the Luftwaffe. He recalls this as an intensely busy period, during which he shot down an Me109 - his first enemy aircraft; by the end of August that same year his tally of enemy aircraft shot down increased to eight. Awarded the DFC, he was transferred to 257 Squadron where he joined Bob-Stanford Tuck as a Flight Commander. Promoted in 1941 to Squadron Leader, Pete Brothers then took command of 457 Squadron RAAF, equipped with Spitfires. A year later when 457 Squadron returned to Australia, Pete took command of 602 Squadron. In the early autumn of 1942 he went on to become Wing Leader of the Tangmere Wing, succeeding his old friend, Douglas Bader. By the end of the war Pete Brothers had amassed 875 operational hours over a 44-month period. He was credited with having personally shot down 16 enemy aircraft and damaged many more. He later went on to command 57 Squadron during the Malaya campaign. Upon return to the UK Pete Brothers joined the V-Force, flying Valiant-4 jet bombers. He retired in 1973. Sadly, Pete Brothers died 18th December 2008.
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Peter Brothers signing the print - Combat Over Normandy - by Graeme Lothian |
Peter Brothers signing the print - Fighting Lady - by Graeme Lothian |
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Group Captain Frank Carey (deceased)
Born 7th May 1912. During World War Two, Frank Carey scored 25 enemy aircraft destroyed, one of the highest Allied fighter pilot totals. He joined the RAF aged just 15, in 1927, joining No.43 Sqn as a pilot in 1935. After the German invasion of France, he was posted to No.3 Hurricane Sqn in Merville, adding to his total. On one occasion, he downed a Do17, but his aircraft was hit and set alight by gunfire from the rear gunner of the Dornier as he was following it down, forcing him to land between the Allied and enemy lines but he managed to get to Britain. During the Battle of Britain, Carey was shot down during an attack on a large formation of German aircraft, spending some time in hospital. In November 1941 he was posted to the far east with No.135 Sqn, and subsequently joined No.73 Sqn OTU in Egypt in November 1944. Frank Carey died 6th December 2004.
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Frank Carey with the original painting - Fighter General - by Graeme Lothian. |
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Group Captain Dennis David CBE DFC AFC
Dennis David served with distinction in both the Battle of France and Battle of Britain. He regards the RAFs success in the former - during which he was credited with 11.5 victories - as crucial to victory in the Battle of Britain. He was a member of 87 Squadron at the outbreak of war and was posted to France in 1939 as part of the Air Component. When the Blitzkrieg began on 10th May 1940, he was a Flying Officer. He destroyed a Do17 and shared a He111 on the first day, and by the time the squadron withdrew to the United Kingdom late in the month he had brought his score to 11.5 and been awarded the DFC and Bar. He continued to fly during the Battle of Britain, destroying a Ju88 and a Bf109 on the 11th August, a Ju87, a Bf110 and another shared on the 15th and a Ju88 and Bf109 on the 25th. He shot down a He111 on 15th September and the following month was posted as a Flight Commander to 213 Squadron. On 19th October he destroyed a Ju88 to bring his score to 20 and in November was posted to 152 Squadron. In 1943, with the rank of Wing Commander, he was posted to the Middle East to command 89 Squadron on Beaufighters. In November he led the Squadron to Ceylon and early the following year was promoted again to Group Captai. He served in Burma until the end of the war, after which he remained in the RAF with the Rank of Wing Commander.
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 | Squadron Leader John Gibson (deceased)
In May 1940 John Gibson joined 501 Squadron. The squadron flew to France and saw action during the German advances. On 27th May Gibson destroyed an He III and shared in the destruction of another before he was himself shot down, crash-landing in a field. The much-depleted Squadrons final base was at St Helier in Jersey on 19 June 1940, from where it covered the evacuation of the British Army from Cherbourg. During the Battle of Britain, Gibson destroyed seven aircraft. In an action on August 15 1940 Gibsons aircraft was set alight by return fire from a Stuka, one of a force attacking Hawkinge airfield. Being then directly over Folkestone, Gibson steered his blazing aircraft away from the town and took it down to 1000 feet before baling out. He was again shot down in flames on the 29th, this time over Dover, and baled out into the sea two miles off the coast. He was picked up by a motor boat. About this time Gibson was awarded the DFC. Later in the war he served in the Pacific and was awarded the DSO. He passed away on the 1st July 2000.
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Squadron Leader Kenneth Lee (deceased)
Battle of Britain pilot who volunteered for the RAF in 1937. Flying Hurricanes during the Battles of France and Britain with No.501 Sqn, he accumulated 7 victories, and was shot down three times, including a forced landin on Crete, after which he was taken prisoner of war to Stalag Luft III. He was awarded the DFC. Kenneth Lee died 15th January 2008.
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