Details
AIR ARMADA (THE HARDEST DAYS)
by Robert Taylor
Overall Print Size: 33" x 25"
Edition Size: 350
This is the first in Robert Taylor's Battle of Britain HARDEST DAYS Trilogy issued to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain, and like the other two prints in the trilogy will focus on these 'hardest days' of the battle to provide a unique snapshot in time. This is the FIVE signature ANNIVERSARY EDITION.
After the fall of France in June 1940, Hitler's domination of Europe was nearly complete. Only one tiny island stood in his way - Britain. Alone, and reeling from the calamity on the beaches of Dunkirk, the Nazi dictator expected Britain to capitulate immediately - he was wrong. The Battle of Britain was about to begin.
In just six weeks Hitler's forces had overrun Western Europe as once-proud armies swiftly fell before the might of the German 'Blitzkrieg'. It was a devastating defeat, and now only Britain stood alone. Few thought she could survive. As Churchill pledged that Britain would never surrender, a German invasion seemed inevitable. But before any invasion could take place the Luftwaffe must neutralize the RAF and win control of the skies over southern England. Awaiting them was a small, but resilient band of young men, the pilots of RAF Fighter Command. First the Germans attacked the coastal convoys, hoping to draw the RAF en-masse into battle. They failed. And then on 12 August, they turned their full attention to the forward fighter bases and radar stations, hoping to obliterate them once and for all. From Norway in the north, through the Low Countries and northern France to Brittany in the west, the Luftwaffe threw every available aircraft into the attack. For the young men of Fighter Command the next seven days of fighting would leave them exhausted and all but spent: They were to be the hardest days of the Battle of Britain, culminating on Sunday 18 August.
Robert Taylor's magnificent masterwork “AIR ARMADA” recreates a moment on that day as Heinz Bar, the Luftwaffe's top-scoring NCO Ace of the Battle of Britain and one of the greatest Aces in history, climbs away from his airfield near Calais with the other pilots of I./JG5I to escort the Do 17s of KG76 for yet another deadly attack on the RAF. Away in the distance, Me110s from EPRG 210 also prepare to join the epic encounters that lie ahead.
In addition to the artist this print is individually signed in pencil by FIVE of the most highly respected Luftwaffe veterans who flew in the Battle of Britain:
- Oberst HAJO HERRMANN
- Major HANS-EKKEHARD BOB
- Major ERICH RUDORFFER
- Generalleutnant GÜNTHER RALL
- Oberleutnant HEINRICH SUDE
Comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.
