Details
RETURN TO RATTLESDEN
by Nicolas Trudgian
Overall Print Size: 36¾" x 23½"
Edition Size: 500
Secondary Market
In late 1943 the crews and B-17 Flying Fortresses of the 447th Bomb Group arrived at Rattlesden, the East Anglian base from which the group flew all its missions until the end of the war. Entering combat on December 24, the 447th targeted submarine pens, naval installations, ports and missile sites, airfields, and marshalling yards in France, Belgium, and Germany in preparation for the Normandy invasion. In the thick of the bomber offensive, the 447th took part in the Big-Week raids, supported the D-Day landings, aided the breakthrough at St. Lo, pounded enemy positions during the airborne invasion of Holland, and dropped supplies to the Free French forces fighting behind enemy lines. During the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944 - January 1945, the group attacked marshalling yards, railroad bridges, and communications centers in the combat zone, later resuming their offensive against targets deep inside Germany. When the war ended the 447th had flown over 257 individual missions, with one of their aircrew, Robert Femoyer, being awarded the Medal of Honor. Theirs was typical of the action packed campaigns flown by the American Eighth Air Force bomb groups in Europe during WWII.
Nicolas Trudgian's "RETURN TO RATTLESDEN" shows a battle damaged B-17G of the 447th on final approach to Rattlesden, returning from a strike against road and rail communications in northern Germany in February, 1945. A P-51 pilot from the 359th Fighter Group, having escorted the injured bomber all the way home, sees his charge safely back to base. In traditional Trudgian style, the print is full of carefully researched and authentically dated interest bringing a wonderful feel of credibility and reality to the picture. The beautifully painted Suffolk winter landscape, lightly dusted with snow, provides a fascinating contrast to awesome warbirds as they thunder homeward from battle, and with prints signed by aircrews at the 447th's reunion at Rattlesden in 2001, Nick's limited edition will undoubtedly be considered a highly desirable collector print.
In addition to the artist, this print was individually signed in pencil by EIGHT combat crew veterans who flew B-17 Flying Fortresses for the 447th Bomb Group out of Rattlesden, England, during World War II:
- Tech Sergeant JOHN C. BITZER
- Tech Sergeant NORMAN BUSSEL
- Colonel EDWARD A. DINGIVAN
- First Lieutenant FRANK FRISION
- Staff Sergeant JOHN H. OSBAH
- Staff Sergeant ORLANDO PETE PETRILLO
- Sergeant BYRON SCHLAG
- Staff Sergeant DON SHERMAN
Comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.
