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Cranston Fine Arts  Aviation Art World War One Countries  Canada |
[UP] - UK - US - France - Germany - Italy - Russia - Austria-Hungary - Belgium - Canada - Australia - New Zealand |
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Captain William Billy Bishop by Ivan Berryman. Undoubtedly one of the truly great Aces of the First World War, William Billy Bishop became celebrated for his technique of actively seeking out the enemy and bringing the fight to him, rather than the more usual practice of patrolling in search of enemy activity. An example of this was his single-handed attack on a German airfield in June 1917 when he destroyed not only a number of aircraft on the ground, but then successfully despatched another seven Albatross scouts that took off to engage him. For this action, he was awarded the Victoria Cross in August 1917 and his final tally when the war ended was 72 confirmed victories. He is depicted here in his Nieuport Scout B1566 in combat with a Pfalz D.III. |
Donald MacLaren by Ivan Berryman. The highest scoring Sopwith Camel ace of World War 1, Donald MacLaren was born in Ottawa, Canada, in 1893. Joining the Royal Flying Corps in 1917 as a trainee pilot, it was only the following March that he claimed his first victory, a Hannover C-Type whilst posted to 46 Squadron. His kill rate was quite formidable for, in this the final year of the war, he was to claim no fewer than 54 confirmed victories. Indeed, in the period from 15th September to 2nd October, he claimed eight Fokker D.VIIs - a remarkable feat against Germanys most potent fighter. He is pictured here attacking a D.VII in Camel F2137 U of 46 Sqn. MacLaren survived the war and died in 1989. |
Captain William Avery Bishop by Ivan Berryman. Captain William Avery Bishop - Nieuport 17. |
Lieutenant-Colonel Raymond Collishaw by Ivan Berryman. Raymond Collishaw is shown heading B-Flight of No.10 Naval Squadron in 1917, comprised of five Sopwith Triplanes that became known as the Black Flight - all flown with great success by Canadian pilots. Collishaws aircraft was named Black Maria, Reids was Black Roger and Sharmans was Black Death, while Nash and Alexander flew Black Sheep and Black Prince respectively. Collishaws personal tally at the end of the war was 60 victories. |
Boom Boom Billy by Stan Stokes. William Avery Bishop, the top scoring RFC ace of WW I, was born in Ontario Canada on February 8, 1894. He entered the Royal Military College in 1911 and after War broke out in Europe he was assigned to the 14th Battalion of the Canadian Mounted Rifles. Bishop applied for a transfer to the Royal Flying Corps in 1915. Following a few months of training he was made an observer and was sent to France to fly with No. 21 squadron. He was hospitalized for frostbite and later from injuries sustained in a bad landing. In late 1916 he began pilot training and in March of 1917 Bishop was posted to No. 60 squadron flying Nieuport Scouts. On March 25 he experienced his first air combat, downing an Albatros single-seater. Bishop scored thirteen victories during Bloody April, and another seven-and-a-half in May. He was awarded the DSO at this point. In early June Bishop attacked a German airfield at dawn, and shot down three Albatros aircraft taking off to challenge him. For this fete he received the Victoria Cross. In constant combat during the summer months, Bishops score rose to 45 by mid-August. He was the first to exceed the record of the famous British Ace, Albert Ball. During this period Bishop often flew as many as seven-eight hours each day. He was aggressive in the air and obviously possessed excellent flying instincts and marksmanship skills. Eleven of these 45 victories were achieved in the SE-5 with which No. 60 squadron had been re-equipped. Promoted to Major, Bishop returned to Canada for a recruiting tour. In 1918 he returned to England, first as the Chief Instructor at Aerial Gunnery School, and later as the Commander of No. 85 squadron. Once again Bishop was at his best in the air. Flying SE-5s, Bishop claimed 27 more victories during this final combat tour, including four Pfalz D.IIIs. Bishop received the DFC, and returned to the Air Ministry in England for a short time before returning to Canada in August of 1918. There he played an important role in the formation of the new Canadian Air Force. Bishops official victory total of 72, the highest for any RFC flyer in WW I, approached the official total of von Richtofen who had 80. Some historians have disputed Bishops score, indicating that he received credit for a number of victories when he was flying alone. Following the War, Bishop formed a commercial aviation company with another ace W.G. Barker. He later served with the RCAF during WW II as an Air Marshal responsible for training. Billy Bishop passed away in 1956 at the age of seventy. In Stan Stokes nostalgic painting the top RFC ace is depicted early in his career flying his Nieuport against a German Albatros. |
Major William Barker VC, DSO - Nearly an Ace in a Day by Ivan Berryman. Flying Sopwith Snipe E8102 on 27th October 1918, Major William Barker encountered a flight of fifteen Fokker D.VIIs and decided to take them on single handed. Having downed one enemy aircraft, Barker was wounded in his left thigh and momentarily fainted. Coming to, he found another D.VII ahead of him and immediately resumed the battle. Another bullet now tore into his right leg and another shattered his left elbow. Despite his terrible injuries, Barker shot down three D.VIIs and drove the others off before crash landing his bullet-riddled Snipe in friendly territory. He survived the crash and was awarded the VC for his gallantry on this epic flight. |
Major Albert Carter by Ivan Berryman. The Sopwith Dolphin was a radical departure from previous Sopwith design philosophies, embodying a reverse-stagger on the wings, a water-cooled Hispano-Suiza engine and an unusual, but highly popular positioning of the cockpit which gave the pilot unprecedented views. One exponent of this purposeful looking machine was Canadian Major A D Carter who claimed many of his 31 victories flying the Dolphin. He is shown here sending an Albatross to the ground on 8th May 1918 whilst flying C4017. Carter was himself shot down soon after became a prisoner of war. He was killed in 1919 whilst test flying a Fokker D.VII at Shoreham, Sussex. |
The Biff Boys by Robert Taylor. On the morning of 30th November 1917, Lieutenant Andrew McKeever, a Canadian serving with 11 Squadron RFC, together with his observer/gunner Lieutenant Leslie Powell, climbed into their Bristol F2b Fighter and took off alone; their task to fly a solo reconnaissance patrol over Cambrai, where the decisive battle involving tanks for the first time in history was raging on the ground below - it was to prove a remarkable day. As they flew over the enemys lines they encountered a pair of German two seater observer aircraft, protected by no fewer than seven enemy Albatross DV scouts. Armed with a forward firing .303 Vickers machine gun and a ring mounted Lewis gun in the back seat, McKeever skilfully manoeuvred his aircraft to engage one of the enemy scouts, and destroyed it. As he turned to get back to the Allied lines, five of the remaining enemy Albatross fighters dived on his tail, but Lt Powell rapidly downed two of them in quick succession with deadly fire from his Lewis gun. Continuing the duel with the remaining Germans, McKeever managed to destroy a further Albatross when suddenly his observers Lewis gun jammed. The pair seemed doomed, however McKeever, showing great courage and initiative, feigned disaster by rolling his aircraft over, plummeting it towards the ground. Fooled by the manoeuvre, the German aircraft climbed away, and McKeever levelled out just twenty feet above the ground and flew back to safety. Remarkably, all of McKeevers thirty one victories were achieved at the controls of the Bristol F2b Fighter, making him the highest scoring ace with 11 Squadron, and of any pilot flying two seater aircraft during the First World War. |
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