Clearing Skies, Robert Taylor Artist Proof signed Ten 100th Bomb Group veterans

  

A STUNNING TRIBUTE TO THE BRAVE AIRCREWS WHO FLEW WITH THE 100th BOMB GROUP. CLEARING SKIES by Robert Taylor. The winter of 1944 / 45 wasn't the coldest ever recorded in England but it came close. The weather was bitter and, in what would turn out to be the last Christmas of the war, temperatures plunged across the country, bringing ice, freezing fog and deep banks of drifting snow.

Airfields across East Anglia stood bleak and frost-bound, runways kept clear of snow when conditions allowed, whilst the heavy bombers of the US Eighth Air Force remained under wraps, engines oiled, warmed and ready for any break in the banks of murky fog that would allow them to fly. And when those breaks came, the bombers were back in action ready to play their part in the final destruction of Hitler's Third Reich.

The end game was rapidly approaching and both sides knew it. The Eighth Air Force flew its final bomber operations of the war on 25 April 1945, the last of 968 combat missions involving over 523,000 sorties; they had dropped some 700,000 tons of bombs, inflicting destruction on a scale from which the enemy could never recover. Yet the cost of the victory in which they had played such a major part made for sober reading; they had lost some 6,130 bombers and fighters along with some 47,000 casualties, including more than 26,000 dead - half of the entire US Army Air Force losses during the conflict.

Earning the nickname "The Bloody Hundredth" because of the heavy losses they suffered, the print is personally signed by three veterans who served with the 100th Bomb Group. By endorsing the edition, their autographs help to create a historically important collector's piece to be cherished for future generations.

Joining artist Robert Taylor in signing every print are Ten distinguished aircrew who flew B-17s on operations with the 100th Bomb Group from Thorpe Abbotts during WWII. This stunning Artist Proof copy is personally signed by iconic 100th Bomb Group Aircrew featured in the mini series "Masters of the Air" and is the perfect centerpiece for any aviation art collection.

Matted & framed pieces are packed in our custom made boxes. YOUR PIECE OF MIND: As a reputable company, if any issues do arise we don't expect our customers to deal with it. Please note: The signatures on our pieces are not reproductions; they are original autographs, hand-signed by the veterans involved.