Returning from Schweinfurt by Robert Taylor

A strictly limited piece by Robert Taylor, with unique Legacy Remarque by Richard Taylor

On 14 October 1943 the weary, battered and bruised survivors of the 92nd Bomb Group return to Podington following the Eighth Air Force raid on Schweinfurt. The date forever etched in history as 'Black Thursday'

Shown as the endpapers in Robert Taylor's Air Combat Paintings Volume VI, published in 2009, the Limited Edition print of Returning From Schweinfurt was printed that very same year and has since been personally autographed by some of the ever-diminishing band of American bomber crew veterans who flew those frightful combat missions.

The prints, however, remained un-signed by artist Robert Taylor at the time of his passing in 2024. Instead, the Military Gallery based in Great Britain, Robert's exclusive worldwide publisher, has officially embossed every copy with the logo of the Robert Taylor Trust, a body established to preserve his legacy and safeguard the future copyright in years to come.

Signatures:

Collector's Edition:

First Lieutenant LEONARD L. SPIVEY (signed print)

Lieutenant Colonel EDWARD W. TYRE (signed print)

Lieutenant Colonel ROBERT GOSSMAN (signed print)

First Lieutenant CHARLES 'NORM' STEVENS (signed print)

Staff Sergeant PAUL CONSTANTINE ABRAHAMSON (signed print)

Staff Sergeant RAY L. MOORE (signed print)

Brigadier General J. KEMP MCLAUGHLIN (matted)

Lieutenant Colonel ROBERT 'BOB' KLEYLA (matted)

Lieutenant Colonel RALPH NUTTER (matted)

Captain ROBERT SHOENS (matted)

Schweinfurt Edition: Same as Collector's with the addition of:

Captain ALVIN BROWN (matted)

Lieutenant General ROBERT BURNS (matted)

Colonel WILLIAM LAWLEY MoH (matted)

Colonel BOB MORGAN (matted)

General CURTIS LeMAY (matted)

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During the three bitter and often bloody years that followed their arrival in England, the heroism displayed by the bomber crews of the American Eighth Air Force would become etched into the history of the free world, and their purpose was simple - to assist in the destruction of Nazi Germany.

By the time of final victory in 1945, the Eighth's bombers had flown some 968 missions, involving 523,000 sorties to destinations whose names will be forever linked to the heroism and dedication displayed by the airmen who fought in those great aerial battles to liberate Europe from Hitler's tyrannical grip. One of those destinations was Schweinfurt.

14 October 1943: scarcely two months since the Eighth had first struck the ball-bearing plants at Schweinfurt in a raid in which the American bombers had suffered badly, the survivors were being asked to return. Although serious damage had been inflicted and the nearby Messerschmitt factory in Regensburg destroyed, the Schweinfurt ball-bearing plants were active again, promoting an increase in Luftwaffe fighter production. Schweinfurt must be attacked again.

As their fighter escort reached the limit of their range and turned for home the Luftwaffe pounced and once again B-17s began to fall to the relentless assault. The scale of loss was horrendous; by the time the first wave of Fortresses reached Schweinfurt less than half remained airborne but, undeterred by the mayhem around them, the survivors bombed successfully and all the targets were hit. Now all they had to do was fight their way back.

The second wave, following a slightly more southerly route, had fared better on the outward journey but, having bombed, they would now take a heavy pummelling as the lumbering bombers headed home. A quarter of the force that had set out for Schweinfurt that morning failed to return.

The raid, however, typified the determined resilience of the young American airmen who neither wavered nor flinched, vindicating the Eighth's campaign of continuous high altitude precision daylight bombing against the Nazi war machine. It is fitting, therefore, that in his beautifully crafted drawing 'Returning From Schweinfurt', Robert Taylor has chosen a scene from the conclusion of this mission to commemorate all those who served with the Eighth's Bomb Groups during World War Two.