Details
DESERT VICTORY
by Nicolas Trudgian
Overall Print Size: 34" x 23"
Edition Size: 600
Secondary Market
Many of the fighter Aces on both sides fought in the desert and this brought about some of the fiercest aerial dog-fighting of World War II. Below the air-fighting, the relentless ebb and flow of armored warfare roamed across the wastes of the North African desert, and early 1942 saw the beginning of the most crucial part of the Desert Campaign. Under the command of mercurial Field Marshal Rommel, the German armored divisions advanced eastwards from Benghazi towards the Gazala line, forcing the RAF pilots to constantly move from airstrip to airstrip. In the air, German Aces such as Marseille, Homuth, and Neumann clashed daily with the likes of RAF's top Aces Caldwell, Duke, and Drake, as the two sides jousted for aerial supremacy above the raging tank battles being fought across the desert below.
Nicolas Trudgian' s superb “DESERT VICTORY” recreates all the atmosphere of the North African desert war with a stunning portrayal of the Me109s of 3./JG-27. Based at Martuba the wing is depicted being led by Staffelkapitan Gerhard Homuth as they escort Afrikakorps armor heading for the front line at Gazala, Libya, on 21 February, 1942. Flying alongside Homuth, the great Luftwaffe Ace Joachim Marseille scored his 49th and 50th victories on this day, earning his Knight's Cross. Below the speeding Me109s, the crew of an SdKfz 10 light half-track stop to investigate a crashed P-40 Kittyhawk belonging to No 112 Squadron, RAF, brought down during an earlier contest. In the middle distance a Panzer III tank and an SdKfz 8 ton half-track towing an 88mm anti-tank gun, are seen advancing towards the front. The Al Jabal al Akhdar mountain range forms a majestic backdrop to this most impressive aviation print.
Each print in the all editions of this print has a printed Remarque drawing of the highly successful 7.62mm Pak anti-gun, used so successfully by German artillery against Allied tanks, and specifically by Gerhard Halm winning his Knight’s Cross, 29 July, 1942.
In addition to the artist, this print was individually signed in pencil by THREE Knight's Cross winners.
Including TWO top Luftwaffe Aces:
- Oberst EDUARD NEUMAN (leader of JG27 and mentor to Marseilles)
- Generalmajor FRIEDRICH KÖRNER
And Afrikakorps gunner:
Comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.
