|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Robert Taylor Prints  US Air Force  Mitchell |
[UP] - Mustang - Flying Fortress - Tomahawk - Lightning - Liberator - Superfortress - Corsair |
|
|
|
| Text for the above items : |
Doolittle Raiders by Robert Taylor. Doolittle Raiders take their B-25 bombers down to very low level and head for China after delivering their surprise attack on the industrial and military targets in and around Tokyo on April 18, 1942. The sixteen-ship mission, led by volunteer crews, successfully completed one of the most audacious air raids of World War II. |
Doolittle Tokyo Raiders by Robert Taylor. On the morning of April 18th, 1942, just four months following the devastating surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, sixteen Army Air Force B-25 bombers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle engaged in a daring aerial raid to strike back at the enemy's capital of Tokyo. For his role, Doolittle was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. |
Into the Teeth of the Wind by Robert Taylor. Bound for Tokyo, Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle launches his B-25 Mitchell from the heaving deck of the carrier USS Hornet on the morning of 18 April, 1942. Leading a sixteen-bomber force on their long distance one - way mission, the Doolittle Raiders completed the first strike at the heart of Imperial Japan since the infamous attack on Pearl Harbour four months earlier. Together, they completed one of the most audacious air raids in aviation history. |
| Mitchell Pilot and aircrew signature details |
 Lieutenant Colonel Richard E Cole Our estimated value of this signature : £50 | Lieutenant Colonel Richard E Cole Richard E Cole was born in Dayton Ohio on 7th September 1915. Cole graduated from Steele High School, Dayton, Ohio and completed two years college at Ohio University. On 20th November 1940 Richard Cole enlisted with the USAF. Cole completed pilot training and commissioned as Second Lieutenant, July, 1941. Cole was co-pilot of General Jimmy Doolittles B-25 plane #1, their Mitchell attacked the city of Tokyo and they bailed out over China. Cole remained in China-Burma-India flying bombing and transport missions over the Hump untill June 1943, and served again in the China-Burma-India theater from October, 1943 until June, 1944. Relieved from active duty in January, 1947 but returned to active duty in August 1947. Was Operations Advisor to Venezuelan Air Force from 1959 to 1962. Peacetime service in Ohio, North Carolina, and California. Rated as command pilot. Decorations include Distinguished Flying Cross with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, Air Medal with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster, Bronze Star Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, and Chinese Army, Navy, Air Corps Medal, Class A, 1st Grade. |
 Major Thomas C Griffin Our estimated value of this signature : £35 Died : 2013 | Major Thomas C Griffin Thomas C Griffin was Born July 10, 1917, Green Bay, Wisconsin and graduated from university of Alabama with BA in Political Science in 1939. Entered service on July 5, 1939 as Second Lieutenant, Coast Artillery, but requested relief from active duty in 1940 to enlist as a Flying Cadet. Was rated as a navigator and re-commissioned on July 1, 1940. Griffin became the navigator on Doc Watsons plane #9, attacked a factory on Tokyo Bay in Kawasaki. Arrived back in US in June, 1942. Flew combat in North Africa, shot down and captured in July 1943. POW. Major Thomas C Griffin's awards include the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters and the Chinese Army, Navy, Air Corps Medal, Class A, 1st Grade. He died on 26th February 2013. |
Major Nolan A Herndon Our estimated value of this signature : £40 Died : 2007 | Major Nolan A Herndon Navigator and bombardier on B-25 Plane #8. of the Doolittle Raiders who bombed Japan in 1942, The crew landed in Russia and were interned, escaping in 1943 and returned to the United States. Born in Texas, Herndon enlisted on 27th July 1940. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant about a year later. He also graduated from navigator training and completed bombardier training. After his return to the US, Herndon retired from active duty November 4th, 1945. Herndon died at the age of 88 of pneumonia at Edgefield Mercantile Funeral Home, October 8th 2007. |
  Brigadier General Everett W Holstrom Our estimated value of this signature : £55 Died : 2000 | Brigadier General Everett W Holstrom I was Captain and pilot of a B-25 that met stiff resistance from Japanese fighter opposition. Our guns and turrets were inoperative. We flew on and bailed out 40 miles south west of Shinghsi. I landed by parachute in a driving rainstorm about 10.00 p.m. On the third day I was picked up by Chinese guerrillas who escorted me through free China. The rest of my crew were one day behind me! I later spent 20 years in Strategic Air Command, and flew and commanded B-47s, B-52s and the worlds first supersonic bomber - the B-58. - Everett Holstrom died 2nd December 2000. |
 Major General David M Jones Our estimated value of this signature : £35 Died : 2008 | Major General David M Jones David M. Jones was born December 18th, 1913, at Marshfield, Oregon, attended high school in Tucson and graduated from the University of Arizona in 1932. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Cavalry arm of the Arizona Army National Guard and transferred to the Army Air Corps for pilot training which he completed in June 1938. In February 1942, he volunteered as a pilot for the secret project organized by Lt. Col. James H. 'Jimmy' Doolittle which became the attack by 16 Army Air Force bombers launched from the Navy Carrier USS Hornet on April 18, 1942. Jones was Captain and pilot of B-25 plane #5, attacked the waterfront of Tokyo. The bombers attacked Tokyo and four other Japanese cities in retaliation for the infamous surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 by Japanese naval forces. Jones had to bail out over China after the mission. After the raid he flew Martin B-26s in North Africa before being shot down over Bizerte on his fifth mission and taken prisoner. David Jones spent the next one and a half years in a German prison in Stalag Luft III. He was selected as a member of the 'escape committee' by his fellow prisoners to review escape plans and participated in digging one of three tunnels labeled Tom, Dick and Harry. He was liberated in April 1945. In the years following, Jones attended three major Armed Forces schools followed by assignments in research and development. He was director of the B-58 Test Force and at one time had more super-sonic flying time in that aircraft than any other USAF pilot. In 1961, he was named vice commander of the Aeronautical Systems Division at Wright-Patterson AFB and deputy commander for the GAM-87 air launched ballistic missile. After this project was cancelled, he was named deputy chief of staff for systems at the Air Force Systems Command and in 1964 he became deputy associate for Manned Space Flight with NASA. In 1967, he was appointed commander of the Air Force Eastern Test Range at Cape Kennedy, Florida for Manned Space Flight. He retired as a major general on May 31, 1973. Sadly Major General David M. Jones passed away on November 25th, 2008, at his home in Tucson, Arizona |
Lieutenant Colonel Frank A Kappelar Our estimated value of this signature : £40 Died : 2010 | Lieutenant Colonel Frank A Kappelar Frank Albert Kappelar was born in San Francisco in January 1914 and grew up in Alameda. He transferred to the Air Corps as a navigator in 1941. Graduated high school in 1932 and Polytechnic College of Engineering, Oakland, California. Transferring to Aviation Cadet training in December, 1939 and was commissioned a second lieutenant, June, 1941 at McChord Field, Washington with rating as navigator. Later received training as bombardier. Frank Albert Kappelar was navigator on B-25 plane #11 of the Doolittle Raid. Remained in CBI theater until August 1942. Served in European Theater of Operations from November, 1943 until June, 1945. Stateside assignments after the war included bases in Texas, Ohio, California before returning overseas to Japan where he served from May, 1951, until February, 1952. Deputy Commander, Minuteman Site Activation Task Force, Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota. Decorations include Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with 2 Silver Oak Leaf Clusters, Bronze Star Medal, and Chinese Army, Navy, and Air Corps Medal, Class A, 1st Grade. after the war and his service. Kappeler had been retired from the Air Force for a year when they settled in Santa Rosa in 1967. Kappeler purchased the former Mill's real estate office in 1976 and ran it for several years. Sadly Frank Albert Kappelar died on June, 23rd, 2010, in Santa Rosa, California. |
Lieutenant Colonel Harry C McCool Our estimated value of this signature : £45 | Lieutenant Colonel Harry C McCool Navigator in Brick Holstrom's plane #4, meeting stiff resistance from Japanese fighter opposition. Remained in DBI theater until September 1942 then assigned to Europe. |
Lieutenant Colonel Chase J Nielson Our estimated value of this signature : £45 Died : 2007 | Lieutenant Colonel Chase J Nielson Lieutenant Colonel Chase J Nielson was born on January 14, 1917, Hyrum, Utah Graduated from South Cache High School, Hyrum, Utah, 1935. Attended Utah State University from 1935 to 1938; majored in Civil Engineering. Enlisted as Flying Cadet at Fort Douglas, Utah on August 18, 1939. Commissioned and rated navigator, June, 1941. became Navigator on plane #6. Captured by Japanese forces and spent 40 months as a prisoner of war. Lieutenant Colonel Chase J Nielson Was the only Tokyo Raider who returned to testify at Japanese War Crimes Trials. Nielson's decorations include Distinguished Flying Cross, Purple Heart with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster, and Chinese Breast Order of Pao Ting. Lieutenant Colonel Chase J Nielson died March 23, 2007, Brigham City, Utah. |
 Colonel Henry A Potter Our estimated value of this signature : £45 Died : 2002 | Colonel Henry A Potter Navigator on General Doolittle's plane #1, they bombed the industrial area of Tokyo. Lieutenant Potter parachuted to safety in China. When Lieutenant Potter landed in a field, armed Chinese captured him and others from the plane and marched them along a road until a passing schoolteacher was able to speak to them in English. 'We were able to explain to him who we were,' Colonel Potter recalled in 1992. 'He convinced his countrymen we were allies and he took us home and gave us breakfast.' He was transferred back to the US after the raid and later flew a combat tour of North Africa in B-26s. Lieutenant Potter was made a major and retired from the Air Force in 1970 with the rank of colonel. He settled in Austin and raised money for the Confederate Air Force, now the Commemorative Air Force, a nonprofit group that preserves World War II-era combat aircraft. Henry Potter passed away on Memorial Day, May 27th 2002 in Austin, Texas, where he lived. He was 83. |
  Major Howard A Sessler Our estimated value of this signature : £50 Died : 2001 | Major Howard A Sessler As the navigator and bombardier on Don Smiths aircraft we attacked targets in Kobe. When the raid was completed we flew on and eventually ditched our aircraft in the sea off the coast of China. We swam to an island where Chinese guerrillas took us through enemy lines into China. We got to Chungking from where we were sent home through India and across the South Atlantic. I later flew all through Africa after the invasion until the war was over, a total of 103 missions, all in B-25s. Sadly, Howard Sessler passed away in February 2001. |
First Lieutenant Arthur Sherman Our estimated value of this signature : £40 | First Lieutenant Arthur Sherman Arthur Sherman joined up as soon as he could on 10th April 1942, and after training was posted to the 15th Air force in Italy, joining the 779th bomb Squadron, 464th Bomb Group flying B25s. He flew his first combat mission on 2nd May 1944. Transferring to the 483rd Bomb Group he flew B17 Fortresses and was regularly escorted by the 332nd Tuskegee Fighter Group. Among his numerous strategic bombing missions were included the momentous raid to Memingen airfield to destroy the factory where over 600 Me109s were being made every month, together with the new Me262 jet fighter. |
  Captain J Royden Stork Our estimated value of this signature : £55 Died : 2002 | Captain J Royden Stork I was co-pilot on a B-25 detailed to attack the chemical plant at the base of the Heneda River. I was designated photographic officer on the raid and had installed 16mm cameras in each bomb bay. After an attack we flew on to China, and the crew bailed out. I knocked myself out on landing, and after regaining consciousness, rolled up my parachute and waited for sunrise. After walking all day I was befriended by a local magistrate who helped me to get to the preassigned rendezvous point some dree days later. I wound up in the 10th Air Force in India where I flew missions over Japanese occupied territory until Air Force intelligence learned that the Japanese had put a $5,000 reward on all who had participated in the Tokyo raid. - Royden Stork died 2nd May 2002. |
 Staff Sergeant David J Thatcher Our estimated value of this signature : £50 Died : 2016 | Staff Sergeant David J Thatcher Graduated from Steele high School, Dayton, Ohio and completed two years college at Ohio University. Enlisted November 22, 1940. Completed pilot training and commissioned as Second Lieutenant, July, 1941. became Co-pilot of General Jimmy Doolittles B-25 plane #1, attacked the city of Tokyo and bailed out over China. Remained in China flying bombing and transport missions over the Hump. Relieved from active duty in January, 1947 but returned to active duty in August 1947. Between 1959 to 1962 Cole was Operations Advisor to Venezuelan Air Force . Peacetime service in Ohio, North Carolina, and California. Rated as command pilot. Cole's decorations include Distinguished Flying Cross with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, Air Medal with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster, Bronze Star Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, and Chinese Army, Navy, Air Corps Medal, Class A, 1st Grade. He died on 22nd June 2016. |
| Mitchell Squadron details |
|
Contact Details |
|
Sign Up To Our Newsletter!
This website is owned by Cranston Fine Arts. Torwood House, Torwoodhill Road, Rhu, Helensburgh, Scotland, G848LE Contact: Tel: (+44) (0) 1436 820269. Email: cranstonorders -at- outlook.com
|
 |
