Fighter Support by Robert Taylor

For over three months in the long hot summer of 1940, the cream of Goering’s much-vaunted Luftwaffe duelled daily with RAF Fighter Command. Over the skies of southern England, Spitfires and Hurricanes battled with their main adversary – the Messerschmitt Bf109 – the longest-serving, most durable German fighter of the war whose pilots and fighting abilities would earn the lasting respect of Fighter Command.

Often disadvantaged by having to fight at the extremity of the fighter’s limited range – sometimes allowing them no more than 10 minutes of actual combat – the Bf109 pilots fought with an impressive array of battle- hardened tactics honed in Spain, and the battles of Poland and France, and undisputed courage. They were, however, stymied in their actions by Goering, who liked to blame his fighter pilots for his own shortcomings. To their frustration, at the beginning of September he’d ordered the fighters to stick close to the bombers, but in doing so he squandered the Bf109s main assets – speed and manoeuvrability.

Signatures:

Signed on the print by:

Oberstleutnant HUGO DAHMER - Knight’s Cross – 57 victories

Hauptmann WOLF-DIETRICH HUY - Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves – 40 victories

Leutnant HERMANN NEUHOFF - Knight’s Cross – 40 victories

Major ERICH RUDORFFER - Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords – 222 victories

Oberfeldwebel HELLMUT SCHÖNFELDER - Knight’s Cross – 56 victories

Oberleutnant OTTO SCHULTZ - Knight’s Cross – 51 victories

Oberleutnant GÜNTHER SEEGER - Knight’s Cross – 56 victories

Hauptmann BRUNO STOLLE - Knight’s Cross – 29 victories

Each print is then mounted to full conservation standards to include an additional seven original autographs of Luftwaffe veterans who flew in combat during the Battle of Britain:

Major GÜNTHER RALL - Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords – 275 victories

Major HEINZ LANGE - Knight’s Cross – 70 victories

Generalleutnant ADOLF GALLAND - Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds – 104 victories

Generalmajor DIETRICH HRABAK - Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves – 125 victories

Oberst HAJO HERMANN - Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords – 9 victories

Major HANS-EKKEHARD BOB - Knight’s Cross – 60 victories

Oberleutnant HEINRICH SUDEL - Knight’s Cross

The bookplate in the included book Luftwaffe Aces in the Battle of Britain also includes another signature of:

Generalleutnant ADOLF GALLAND - Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds – 104 victories