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Cranston Fine Arts Aviation Art World War Two Veteran Signatures UK and Commonwealth M Manning, Len |
Sergeant Len Manning
As a Rear Gunner on Lancasters with 57 Sqn, his aircraft was shot down by a German Night Fighter on only his 3rd Operation on 18th April 1944. Taken in by local French civilians, they kept him in hiding until the Allies advanced through Northern France before he finally got back to Britain on 5th September 1944.
| Sergeant Len Manning - Signed Aviation Art |
| Text for the above items : |
Day Duties for the Night Workers by Robert Taylor. With its mission completed, the mighty Lancaster slowly rolls to a halt on the lonely dispersal point, the roar of its four pulsating Merlin engines steadily slackens, replaced by an eerie silence, broken only by the snapping cracks of cooling metal. Slowly the seven weary crew tumble out of the fuselage, their faces etched with strain, eyes rimmed red with tiredness. For them it is the final act of another long, arduous and nerve-wracking operation, another eight-hour ordeal to attack industrial targets in the Ruhr. This time they know they've been lucky, they reached the target and returned home safely, despite the deadly flak and prowling Luftwaffe night-fighters. For others, however, the work of war has just begun. As the massive Lancaster looms majestically over them, the ever vigilant ground crew begin the task of preparing their aircraft for the coming night's operation. Checking, repairing and double-checking again, making sure that nothing goes wrong on the next trip, nothing that could endanger the lives of the crew who depend on them. And then there are guns to be re-armed, bombs to be loaded and near-empty fuel tanks refilled. It will be a race against time. |
No.76 Squadron Halifax by Ivan Berryman. Halifaxes of No.76 Squadron RAF en route to another night bombing raid over Germany. The lead aircraft here has code MP-L. Serial numbers for aircraft were unique, but codes like MP-L were transferred after an aircraft was lost. A total of 10 aircraft carrying the codes MP-L were lost from No.76 Squadron. These aircraft were : L9530 : Shot down 12th-13th August 1941. R9452 : Crashed 12th-13th April 1942. W7660 : Shot down 19th-20th August 1942. W7678 : Lost 3rd-4th March 1943. DK172 : Shot down 23rd-24th May 1943. DK200 : Crashed 11th-12th June 1943. LK922 : Shot down 21st-22nd January 1944. LK789 : Shot down 24th-25th April 1944. MZ622 : Crashed 24th-25th May 1944. LL579 : Crashed 27th February 1945. |
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