Return from the Fray by Richard Taylor

The outcome of the Battle of Britain rested int he hands of fewer than 3,000 young men, most of whom were pilots. They came from every corner of Britain. And mostly they were young. These fresh faced fighter pilots, joined by an ever-growing band of volunteer airmen from the British Commonwealth and those who had managed to escape from the occupied countries of Europe would, over the summer of 1940, not only hold the world’s most powerful air force at bay, they would defeat it.

Richard Taylor’s stunning piece graphically conveys the conflicting realities of those deadly aerial encounters over southern England during 1940. As the sound of Merlin engines briefly interrupts the tranquillity of a sleepy English village, its residents are determined to carry on with everyday life. In the skies overhead the bitter battle will shortly be reaching its crescendo but, for today at least, the fighting is over as Flight Sergeant George ‘Grumpy’ Unwin, one of the Battle of Britain’s top Aces, and the Spitfire pilots of 19 Squadron return from yet another encounter with Goering’s much-vaunted Luftwaffe.

Signatures:

Limited Edition

Flying Officer KEN WILKINSON - Spitfire Pilot with 616 and 19 Sqns

Squadron Leader NIGEL ROSE - Spitfire Pilot with 602 Sqn / 3 victories

Artist's Proofs & Remarque Editions

Flying Officer KEN WILKINSON - Spitfire Pilot with 616 and 19 Sqns

Squadron Leader NIGEL ROSE - Spitfire Pilot with 602 Sqn / 3 victories

Flight Lieutenant BOB HUGHES DFC AE - WOp/AG on Blenheims with 23 Sqn

Leading Aircraftman BILL JONATHAN - Ground Crew with 32 Sqn on Hurricanes