Greatest Ace - Billy Bishop VC by Richard Taylor

Deservedly respected for his skilful technique of incorporating pencil and colorwash highlights, Richard adds to his growing list of highly-collectible masterworks with this superb piece. He is widely regarded as one of the foremost pencil artists in the military and aviation art industry, with his stunning depictions spanning multiple eras of from World War One to more modern conflicts.

It's easy to see why the precise technical quality of Richard's drawings lend themselves to scenes like this full of minute details and completed on antique-buff paper befitting a bygone era.

The original drawing has now been faithfully reproduced as high quality giclée fine art prints on archival paper, each personally signed by the artist and hand numbered. Also included alongside in the matting is a completely separate portrait of Bishop, museum-quality reproduction Victoria Cross and RFC shoulder flash, plus the ORIGINAL autograph of the legendary Ace himself.

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Matted Signature:

Air Marshal WILLIAM AVERY 'BILLY' BISHOP VC CB DSO* MC DFC ED (1894-1956)

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The legendary German flying Ace Ernst Udet once said that Major William 'Billy' Bishop VC was the "greatest English scouting Ace" of the First World War - a well-deserved accolade for the Canadian pilot whose claimed 72 victories made him the highest-scoring Royal Flying Corps Ace. Only the 'Red Baron' Manfred von Richthofen and Frenchman René Fonck surpassed his claims in the pantheon of Great War flying Aces whose names include 'Mick' Mannock VC, James McCudden VC and Albert Ball VC.

In those still chivalrous skies over the Western Front, Billy Bishop duelled with the very best, including Jasta 11 and the 'Red Baron', and by the end of the war he had gained command of 85 Squadron. His daring encounters earned him two DSOs, a DFC, a Military Cross, and the highest award of them all - the Victoria Cross, awarded for the 'most conspicuous bravery, determination and skill' for a solo attack on a German airfield deep behind enemy lines, on 2 June 1917.

As with many legendary Aces, however, Bishop's first patrols contained some hair-raising adventures such as that depicted by artist Richard Taylor in his exciting tribute to Billy Bishop titled 'Greatest Ace'. Richard skilfully transports us to a moment from one of Bishop's early encounters when, moments after scoring his first victory on 25 March 1917, the engine of his Nieuport 17 C.1 suddenly failed, leaving him no option but an emergency landing under fire in the middle of no-man's-land. Luckily for Bishop, he made it to the Allied trenches, an experience he described as 'the most exciting adventure of my life'.