Description

A limited edition paying tribute to one of the Luftwaffe's great Aces - Helmut Wick CRACK ACE by Robert Taylor Top Luftwaffe Ace Helmut Wick, describes the outcome of a recent dogfight with a Spitfire to his fellow officers, during the Battle of Britain Ace : a fighter pilot who has shot down five or more enemy aircraft in combat. The Luftwaffe had so many Aces that the number runs into the thousands. The list includes many whose impressive tallies will never be surpassed, names that are recorded for posterity: men such as top- scorer Erich Hartmann with 352 victories, Gerhard Barkhorn who also surpassed the 300 victory mark and Günther Rall, who surely would have done so but for injury. Along with others such as Erich Rudorffer who flew over 1,000 combat missions and was shot down sixteen times whilst achieving his tally of 222 victories; he somehow managed to survive but many didn’t. Unlike their RAF and US counterparts, the highly-skilled and battle-honed Luftwaffe ‘experten’ were not rested from combat to recuperate and hand their knowledge on to a new generation, before returning to the fray. They fought until the end; there was no respite unless you were wounded, shot down and taken prisoner – or killed in action; which many were. Men such as Major Helmut Wick who, had he lived, might have surpassed them all. A successful veteran of the Battle of France, he fought with distinction in the Battle of Britain and was only the fourth recipient of the Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves. On 28 November 1940 his luck ran out when, with 56 victories to his credit - at the time, the top-scoring Luftwaffe pilot ever - he was shot down and killed by the RAF Ace John Dundas, during an engagement over the English Channel. Using a striking graphite and paint combination, artist Robert Taylor portrays the top Ace shortly after his appointment as Geschwaderkommodore of JG2 ‘Richthofen’, describing the outcome of a recent duel with a Spitfire to his fellow officers. THE SIGNATURE The print is individually numbered and personally hand signed by Robert Taylor along with a highly-respected WWII Luftwaffe Fighter pilot: Lieutnant HORST JAEKEL He flew Bf109s with 3./JG4 based at Frankfurt and saw combat during the Defense of the Reich, intercepting Allied bombers heading for Germany. At the end of 1944 while engaging USAAF P-47s near Rastatt in Germany he fell victim to the famous US Ace Robert D. Johnston of the 50th Fighter Group. With his aircraft on fire, he bailed out wounded and spent the remainder of the war in hospital. Print size: 18 ¼” wide x 18” high Please note: When originally released in 2018 the print was accompanied by a book for a limited period. The book is no longer available so this listing is for the print only. Please note: The prints in my store are hand-signed by the veterans involved in the painting so the signatures are original autographs and not reproductions. The certificate of authenticity is included. CONDITION: My items are guaranteed to be in perfect condition, any issues are clearly detailed in the description. SHIPPING: Our prints are rolled in acid free tissue and shipped in heavy duty tubes, and the shipping is insured and guaranteed. If you are interested in more than one item I will always combine the shipping to save costs – please just ask.