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No Turning Back by Robert Taylor (B) - Robert Taylor Prints

No Turning Back by Robert Taylor (B)


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No Turning Back by Robert Taylor (B)

A Lancaster of No. 61 Squadron, RAF, piloted by Flt. Lt. Bill Reid, under attack from a German Fw190 en route to Dusseldorf on the night of November 3rd, 1943. Already injured in a previous attack, Bill Reid was again wounded but pressed on for another 50 minutes to bomb the target, then fly his badly damaged aircraft on the long journey home. The courage and devotion to duty that earned Bill Reid the Victoria Cross, was a hallmark of RAF bomber crews throughout their long six year campaign.
AMAZING VALUE! - The value of the signatures on this item is in excess of the price of the print itself!
Item Code : RT0304BNo Turning Back by Robert Taylor (B) - This Edition
TYPEEDITION DETAILSSIZESIGNATURESOFFERSYOUR PRICEPURCHASING
PRINT Bomber Command Edition. Signed limited edition of 200 prints.


Great value : Value of signatures exceeds price of item!
Paper size 32 inches x 24 inches (81cm x 61cm) Bradford, Stan
Knights, Bob
Woolley, Dennis
Curtis, Lawrence
Newham, Douglas
Farquharson, William
Burnside, Dudley
Wolstenholme, Kenneth
Reid, Bill
Broom, Ivor
Burnett, Wilf
Iveson, Tony
+ Artist : Robert Taylor


Signature(s) value alone : £515
£100 Off!Now : £295.00

Quantity:
All prices on our website are displayed in British Pounds Sterling



Other editions of this item : No Turning Back by Robert Taylor.RT0304
TYPEEDITION DETAILSSIZESIGNATURESOFFERSYOUR PRICEPURCHASING
PRINT Aircrew edition. Signed limited edition of 600 prints.
Great value : Value of signatures exceeds price of item!
Paper size 32 inches x 24 inches (81cm x 61cm) Reid, Bill
Broom, Ivor
Burnett, Wilf
Iveson, Tony
+ Artist : Robert Taylor


Signature(s) value alone : £220
£60 Off!Now : £210.00VIEW EDITION...
ARTIST
PROOF
Aircrew edition artist proofs. Limited edition of 25 artist proofs. Paper size 32 inches x 24 inches (81cm x 61cm) Reid, Bill
Burnett, Wilf
Broom, Ivor
Iveson, Tony
+ Artist : Robert Taylor


Signature(s) value alone : £220
£90 Off!Now : £325.00VIEW EDITION...
General descriptions of types of editions :


Extra Details : No Turning Back by Robert Taylor (B)
About all editions :

A photograph of the print :

Signatures on this item
*The value given for each signature has been calculated by us based on the historical significance and rarity of the signature. Values of many pilot signatures have risen in recent years and will likely continue to rise as they become more and more rare.
NameInfo
The signature of Air Commodore Wilf Burnett DSO OBE DFC AFC (deceased)

Air Commodore Wilf Burnett DSO OBE DFC AFC (deceased)
*Signature Value : £45

Canadian Wilf Burnett joined the RAF before the war and at the outbreak of hostilities was flying Hampdens. He completed his first tour of 30 operations in September 1940, flying with 49 Sqn at Scampton. His crew had bombed invasion barges in the Channel ports, mined enemy waters, operated against the Ruhr, and taken part in the first raids against Berlin. In July 1941 he was posted to 408 (Goose) Sqn RCAF, at Syerston, where one night in January 1942, returning from Hamburg, their Hampden crashed in extreme weather. Wilf was the sole survivor, and he was hospitalised. Recovering he was accepted to command 138 (Special Duties) Sqn at Tempsford who were engaged in dropping agents and supplies to the Resistance in occupied countries flying Halifaxes, later Stirlings. He died 26th November 2006.


The signature of Air Marshal Sir Ivor Broom KCB CBE DSO DFC AFC (deceased)

Air Marshal Sir Ivor Broom KCB CBE DSO DFC AFC (deceased)
*Signature Value : £50

Entering the RAF in 1940 he joined No 114 Squadron as a sergeant pilot flying Blenheims. After 12 operations he and his crew were allocated to No 105 Squadron and then No 107 Squadron, the last remaining Blenheim Squadron in Malta. The Squadron remained there without relief for five months carrying out low level attacks on the shipping. Very few of the original crews survived the detachment, in fact he was commissioned during this period, when 107 Squadron had lost all their officers and for a short time was the only officer, other than the CO, in the Squadron. At the end of this tour he was awarded the DFC. In early 1943 he became one of the first Mosquito instructors in the Pathfinder Force and later moved to No 571 Squadron with the Light Night Strike Force. He then formed No 163 Squadron as acting Wing Commander. He was awarded a bar to his DFC for a low level moonlight mining attack on the Dormund - Ems Canal from 50ft and then a second bar for getting a 4000lb bomb into the mouth of a railway tunnel during the final German Ardennes offensive. During his time on Mosquitoes his navigator was Tommy Broom, together they formed an inseparable combination. Remaining with the RAF after WWII and in accordance with peacetime rules for a much smaller Air Force he was reduced in rank first to Squadron Leader and then to Flight Lieutenant in 1948. Promoted to Air Marshal in 1974 he became the Head of the UK National Air Traffic Services and was the first serving officer to be appointed to the Board of the Civil Aviation Authority. Retiring from the RAF in 1979 he has been actively engaged in civil aviation since then. He died 24th January 2003.


The signature of Flight Lieutenant Bill Reid VC (deceased)

Flight Lieutenant Bill Reid VC (deceased)
*Signature Value : £80

Volunteering for RAF aircrew in 1940, Bill Reid learned to fly in California, training on the Stearman, Vultee and Harvard. After gaining his pilots wings back in England he flew Wellingtons before moving on to Lancasters in 1943. On the night of Nov 3rd 1943, his Lancaster suffered two severe attacks from Luftwaffe night fighters, badly wounding Reid, killing his navigator and radio operator, and severely damaging the aircraft. Bill flew on 200 miles to accurately bomb the target and get his aircraft home. For this act of outstanding courage and determination he was awarded the Victoria Cross. Died 28th November 2001.
The signature of Flight Lieutenant Dennis Woolley DFC DFM (deceased)

Flight Lieutenant Dennis Woolley DFC DFM (deceased)
*Signature Value : £40

Flight Lieutenant Dennis William, Woolley. DFC, DFM. 106 (5 Group) and 83 (S-PFF- Group) Squadrons. 1940 - Volunteered for air crew service. 1941 - Trained as an Air Observer in Manitoba. 1942 - Did 1st tour, on Manchesters (6 trips) and on Lancasters (27 trips). Awarded DFM. 1942 - 3 - Instructor at Winthorpe, Notts. 1943 - Engaged in special operations relating to the advancement of the Italian campaign. Based latterly in Sicily. 1944 - Did 2nd tour in Bomber Command in 83 (PFF) Squadron. 25 trips in Lancasters. Awarded DFC and Pathfinder Badge. 1944 - 5 - Joined Transport Command, Transatlantic Ferry Unit based at Darval, Montreal. 1945 - 6 - Seconded to what is now known as British Airways. Based at Poole, navigating Sunderland flying boats to and from Singapore. 1946 - Demobilised. A long time resident of Chipstead, Denis Woolley, died on 28th of December 2009, at the age of 89. The following Obituary was prepared by Rupert Courtenay-Evans: Denis Woolley was born in London and as a boy lived in Kew. He was educated at Latimer Upper School, which he enjoyed. When he left school he briefly went to work at the Gas, Light and Coke Company; however when war was declared he joined the RAFVR as a navigator on the grounds of not liking the sound of the sea or army and his love of maths at school! His initial operational training of navigation, bombing and gunnery was mainly in Canada, because of the practical difficulties of flying in Britain at the time. Navigation at night in those pre-radar days involved astral navigation which depended on seeing the stars as well being able to fly straight and level for 15 minutes, often not very safe or practical on night raids over enemy occupied Europe as Denis would jokingly say. He went on to become an expert in all forms of more sophisticated electronic navigational equipment including G, Oboe and H2S which were radar systems. On return to England in 1942, he joined an operational bomber squadron at Coningsby in Lincolnshire as a sergeant navigator. Initially he was in the poorly performing Manchester bombers, but after six trips the squadron was converted to its successor, the Lancaster bomber and all his subsequent 27 trips with this unit were in these aircraft . Most of these trips were with Guy Gibson as squadron commander, with whom he seemed to get on very well. With the exception of two, all trips were at night, which of course relied very heavily on navigational skills. Of the two day trips one was to Le Cressau, which involved flying at 250 feet to avoid the enemy flack and the other was over the Alps to bomb Milan, which turned out to be very poorly defended by recruits firing rifles, and all the aircraft got back safely! After a brief tour to Sicily as an instructor to help set up a bomber base from which to attack Italy more easily in support of the advancing ground forces, which, in Denis's words, was abortive as the Italians surrendered immediately! He returned to operational flying in England and was considered good enough to be commissioned and to join the newly formed Pathfinder Force under the brilliant Australian airman Don Bennett. Pathfinder Force or Group 8 was set up against the wishes of Bomber Harris, the chief of Bomber Command, but with the agreement of Churchill. Its purpose was to reduce casualties, and to improve the accuracy of identifying targets at night, by marking not only the appropriate route to the target, but also the target itself by a force of selected crews specialised in these skills. Harris was against it as he felt it would create jealousy and have an adverse on effect on morale. The Pathfinder planes, which roughly were in a ratio of 1 to 15 of the main force, which could be 800 or more strong, would lead the raid to the target along the pre-arranged route often with diversionary tactics, then drop their marker bombs and leave. Denis modestly used to say that the German gunners let Pathfinders through safely and then concentrated their fire on the following main force. Denis was not only selected to join Group 8 but went on to be a Master Bomber whose role had been extended to be a sort of Master of Ceremonies, whose plane circulated the target correcting aiming points and co-ordinating the raid by radio. Denis did his final 6 trips in this position, thus completing 58 bombing raids without being shot down, such was his luck as he would say, but others would put it down to his skill and calmness under stress. Denis always said that every bomber crew set off on a raid convinced that they would not be shot down on that trip. At this stage the RAF decided to take him off further combat flights, enough was enough. He completed his service with Transport Command and was demobbed in 1946. He ended his RAF career as a Flight Lt. with the DFC, the DFM and the cherished Pathfinders Badge. After the war he had hoped to continue his flying career with BOAC, the fore-runner of BA, but they unexpectedly decided to charge him a £500 training fee, which he did not have, and probably thought was unnecessary. Instead he joined the Bank of England. Dennis Woolley died 28th December 2009.
The signature of Flight Lieutenant Douglas Newham LVO DFC

Flight Lieutenant Douglas Newham LVO DFC
*Signature Value : £30

Douglas Newham was a navigator with 156 and 150 Squadrons before transferring to the Lancasters of 10 Squadron.
The signature of Flight Lieutenant Kenneth Wolstenholme DFC* (deceased)

Flight Lieutenant Kenneth Wolstenholme DFC* (deceased)
*Signature Value : £35

Ken Wolstenholme was a pilot first with 107 Sqn flying Blenheims before joining 8 Group Pathfinders flying Mosquitos. He completed 100 ops. After the war he became a famous sports broadcaster with the BBC. He died 26th March 2002.


The signature of Flt Lieutenant Bob Knights DSO, DFC (deceased)

Flt Lieutenant Bob Knights DSO, DFC (deceased)
*Signature Value : £45

A member of the elite 617 Dambusters squadron, Bob Knights had a key role on the night before D-Day. With the rest of the squadron he flew on Operation Taxable which simulated the approach of the invasion across the Pas de Calais by dropping metal strips of window to a very precise pattern. The enemy was completely deceived and kept most of their best troops on the wrong side of the Seine. Bob Knights had already flown a full operational tour with 619 Squadron Lancasters, including eight trips to Berlin, before volunteering for 617 Squadron. Under Cheshire he flew on some of the squadrons most challenging precision operations and later under Willie Tait took part in the attack that finally destroyed the Tirpitz. Seconded to BOAC in December 1944 he stayed with the airline after the war for a 30 year long career. He died 4th December 2004.


The signature of Flt Sergeant Stan Bradford DFM (deceased)

Flt Sergeant Stan Bradford DFM (deceased)
*Signature Value : £45

A mid-upper gunner on Lancaster ED308 D-Donald of 57 squadron RAF Bomber Command, then based at Scampton. By the end of his tour in March 1944 Stan had become an air Ace, credited by 5 Group with the shooting down of 6 enemy fighters, including a Bf109 over France on his very first operation on the night of August 27th 1943. He died on 22nd June 2017.
The signature of Group Captain Dudley Burnside DSO OBE DFC* (deceased)

Group Captain Dudley Burnside DSO OBE DFC* (deceased)
*Signature Value : £25

Dudley joined the RAF in 1935 and in 1937 went to India flying on the North West Frontier, and Iraq. At the outbreak of war he went to Burma and in 1942 was fortunate to escape when his airfield was overrun by the Japanese. Escaping back to England he took command of 195 Squadron RCAF flying Wellingtons. In 1943 he became CO of 427 Squadron on Halifaxs, later converting to Lancasters. In the Korean War he commanded a Flying Boat Wing operating Sunderlands. He retired from the RAF in 1962. He died 20th September 2005.


The signature of Group Captain William Farquharson DFC (deceased)

Group Captain William Farquharson DFC (deceased)
*Signature Value : £35

William Farquharson was a pilot with 115 Squadron and flew Lancasters with 195 Squadron. William Farqharson was born om September 28th 1919 in Malacca, Malaya. His father was a police officer in the Colonial Service. His early schooling was in Malaya and Australia, and he completed his education at Harris Academy, Dundee, and later went to the Birmingham Central Technical College. In January 1941 William Farqharson enlisted in the Royal Air Force to become a pilot. William Farqharson joined No 115 Squadron in July 1942 and flew his first bombing operations in the Wellington before the squadron converted to the four-engine Stirling. Farqharsons first sorties were to drop mines in the Kattegat, the Baltic and off the French Biscay coast. Farquharson also bombed targets in Germany and in northern Italy, the latter involving very long flights over the Alps. On April 20 1943 he and his crew attacked Stettin at low level in full moonlight. Dissatisfied with the first attempt, he made a second bombing run despite heavy opposition. His Stirling was badly damaged, but he then made a third run to photograph the results of his attack before turning for the long flight home. He was awarded his first DFC. After a period training bomber crews, Farquharson returned to operational flying in October 1944 when he joined No 195 Squadron. Bomber Command was concentrating on attacks against the German oil industry and he bombed many targets in the Ruhr. Farquharson and his crews also wre involved in Operation Manna these humanitarian operations which saw them dropping food to the starving population in the Netherlands and also took his Lancaster to Belgium and France for Operation Exodus to pick up prisoners of war recently released form German PoW camps. In total William Farqharson completed 63 operations as a pilot in Bomber Command. He recalled on one occasion the engine of his Wellington caught fire and he ordered his crew to bail out. As the last man left, he realised that the aircraft would be too low for him to survive a jump and he was forced to crash land into the tops of some trees before hitting a farm in the Cotswolds. The wings sheared off and he ended up, badly concussed, in the fuselage section. The farmer's son rushed into the house shouting, there's an aeroplane in the greenhouse. On another occasion his bomber was damaged by anti-aircraft fire. On landing he discovered a large piece of shrapnel embedded in the parachute he had been sitting on. Farquharson remained in the RAF and much of his early service was involved in training pilots. After attending the Central Flying School he commanded flying training squadrons and in 1953 led a large formation of aircraft in the Coronation Flypast. Later he was the chief instructor at an advanced flying school equipped with the Meteor jet fighter. After appointments in the Far East and as station commander at RAF Episkopi in Cyprus, Farquharson was appointed air attaché in Warsaw at the height of the Cold War. There all his activities were closely monitored by the secret police. Having shown no previous interest, he suddenly became an expert in birdwatching when he 'discovered' that the most interesting sites were close to military airfields. After retiring from the RAF in 1976, Farquharson worked in the sales division of a company manufacturing flight simulators and was for a period of time chairman of the Bomber Command Association. He was later made an honorary vice-president and worked hard seeking recognition for his fellow veterans. With his wife, a former WAAF operations officer on his bomber station, he was able to attend the unveiling of the Bomber Command Memorial by the Queen in July 2012. Sadly Group Captain Bill Farquharson, died on September 20th 2012.
The signature of Squadron Leader Lawrence Curtis DFC* (deceased)

Squadron Leader Lawrence Curtis DFC* (deceased)
*Signature Value : £40

Joining the RAF in 1939, he was posted as a wireless operator firstly to 149 Squadron and then 99 Squadron on Wellingtons. He then joined OTU on Whitleys before moving firstly to 158 Squadron, and then 617 Squadron on Lancasters, where he was Unit Signals Leader for 18 months. After bomber operations he joined Transport Command in 1944. He died on 21st June 2008.


The signature of Squadron Leader Tony Iveson DFC (deceased)

Squadron Leader Tony Iveson DFC (deceased)
*Signature Value : £45

Tony Iveson fought in the Battle of Britain with RAF Fighter Command, as a Sergeant pilot, joining 616 Squadron at Kenley flying Spitfires on 2 September 1940. On the 16th of September, he was forced to ditch into the sea after running out of fuel following a pursuit of a Ju88 bomber. His Spitfire L1036 ditched 20 miles off Cromer in Norfolk, and he was picked up by an MTB. He joined No.92 Sqn the following month. Commissioned in 1942, Tony undertook his second tour transferring to RAF Bomber Command, where he was selected to join the famous 617 Squadron, flying Lancasters. He took part in most of 617 Squadrons high precision operations, including all three sorties against the German battleship Tirpitz, and went on to become one of the most respected pilots in the squadron. He died on 5th November 2013.
The Aircraft :
NameInfo
LancasterThe Avro Lancaster arose from the avro Manchester and the first prototype Lancaster was a converted Manchester with four engines. The Lancaster was first flown in January 1941, and started operations in March 1942. By March 1945 The Royal Air Force had 56 squadrons of Lancasters with the first squadron equipped being No.44 Squadron. During World War Two the Avro Lancaster flew 156,000 sorties and dropped 618,378 tonnes of bombs between 1942 and 1945. Lancaster Bomberss took part in the devastating round-the-clock raids on Hamburg during Air Marshall Harris' "Operation Gomorrah" in July 1943. Just 35 Lancasters completed more than 100 successful operations each, and 3,249 were lost in action. The most successful survivor completed 139 operations, and the Lancaster was scrapped after the war in 1947. A few Lancasters were converted into tankers and the two tanker aircraft were joined by another converted Lancaster and were used in the Berlin Airlift, achieving 757 tanker sorties. A famous Lancaster bombing raid was the 1943 mission, codenamed Operation Chastise, to destroy the dams of the Ruhr Valley. The operation was carried out by 617 Squadron in modified Mk IIIs carrying special drum shaped bouncing bombs designed by Barnes Wallis. Also famous was a series of Lancaster attacks using Tallboy bombs against the German battleship Tirpitz, which first disabled and later sank the ship. The Lancaster bomber was the basis of the new Avro Lincoln bomber, initially known as the Lancaster IV and Lancaster V. (Becoming Lincoln B1 and B2 respectively.) Their Lancastrian airliner was also based on the Lancaster but was not very successful. Other developments were the Avro York and the successful Shackleton which continued in airborne early warning service up to 1992.
Fw190The Focke-Wulf 190 development project began in 1937. Conceived as a hedge against total dependence on the Messerchmitt 109, the 190 was designed by Kurt Tank utilizing a radial engine. This was against generally accepted design criteria in Germany, and many historians believe that the decision to produce a radial engine fighter was largely due to the limited manufacturing capacity for in-line, water-cooled engines which were widely used on all other Luftwaffe aircraft. Despite these concerns, Tanks design was brilliant, and the 190 would become one of the top fighter aircraft of WWII. The first prototype flew in mid-1939. The aircraft had excellent flying characteristics, a wonderful rate of acceleration, and was heavily armed. By late 1940 the new fighter was ordered into production. Nicknamed the butcher bird, by Luftwaffe pilots, early 190s were quite successful in the bomber interceptor role, but at this stage of the war many Allied bombing raids lacked fighter escort. As the war dragged on, Allied bombers were increasingly accompanied by fighters, including the very effective P-51 Mustang. The Allies learned from experience that the 190s performance fell off sharply at altitudes above 20,000 feet. As a result, most Allied bombing missions were shifted to higher altitudes when fighter opposition was likely. Kurt Tank had recognized this shortcoming and began working on a high-altitude version of the 190 utilizing an in-line, water-cooled engine. Utilizing a Jumo 12-cylinder engine rated at 1770-HP, and capable of 2,240-HP for short bursts with its methanol injection system, the 190D, or Long Nose or Dora as it was called, had a top speed of 426-MPH at 22,000 feet. Armament was improved with two fuselage and two wing mounted 20mm cannon. To accommodate the changes in power plants the Dora had a longer, more streamlined fuselage, with 24 inches added to the nose, and an additional 19 inches added aft of the cockpit to compensate for the altered center of gravity. By mid 1944 the Dora began to reach fighter squadrons in quantity. Although the aircraft had all the right attributes to serve admirably in the high altitude interceptor role, it was not generally focused on such missions. Instead many 190Ds were assigned to protect airfields where Me-262 jet fighters were based. This was due to the latter aircrafts extreme vulnerability to Allied attack during takeoff and landing. The 190Ds also played a major role in Operation Bodenplatte, the New Years Day raid in 1945 which destroyed approximately 500 Allied aircraft on the ground. The High Command was impressed with the 190Ds record on this raid, and ordered most future production of the Doras to be equipped as fighter-bombers. In retrospect this was a strategic error, and this capable aircraft was not fully utilized in the role for which it was intended.

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