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Cranston Fine Arts  Aviation Art World War One Countries  New Zealand |
[UP] - UK - US - France - Germany - Italy - Russia - Austria-Hungary - Belgium - Canada - Australia - New Zealand |
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Captain Euan Dickson and AGL V Robinson, DH.4 by Ivan Berryman. A veteran of over 150 missions flying the DH.4, Captain Euan Dickson was credited with an impressive 14 victories during his service with both the RNAS and RAF. After the war, Dickson returned to New Zealand where he continued to fly, pioneering mail routes and becoming the first man to fly across Cook Strait in 1920. His 205 Squadron DH.4 is shown here as Observer / Gunner V Robinson rakes an attacking Pfalz D.III on 3rd May, 1918, sending it spiraling to the ground out of control. |
Grid Caldwell by Graeme Lothian. Grid Caldwell, the top New Zealand Ace with 25 victories in his SE5A of 74 Squadron, is shown taking off from his home airfield during the Great War. Keith Logan (Grid Caldwell) was born 16th October 1895. At the outbreak of World War One, Caldwell joined the territorial army. He attempted to enlist with the New Zealand expeditionary force destined for Gallipoli but was refused. In October 1915 he paid the sum of £100 to join the first class of the New Zealand Flying School. In January 1916 Grid Caldwell arrived in England and was commissioned into the Royal Flying Corps in April that year. In July 1916 he was posted to No.8 Squadron, flying BE2Cs and Ds on observation duty. It was on 18th September 1916 his first aerial victory was scored, shooting down a Roland CII. He transferred to 60 Squadron in November and flew Nieuport 17 fighters and was promoted to Captain in February 1917. During this period he scored further victories, shooting down Albatros Scouts, and on 17th September was awarded the Military Cross. In October 1917 he was posted back to England as an instructor. In March 1918, promoted to Major, he was given command of 74 Squadron RAF flying SE5As. The squadron under his command was credited with 140 aircraft destroyed and 85 out of control. This tally was scored in the last eight months of the war with the loss of only 15 pilots killed or taken prisoner. During his wartime flying, he had fought dogfights with German aces Werner Voss and Herman Becker, and he once survived a mid-air collision, bringing his badly damaged aircraft to ground level, jumping out before it crashed. He was credited with 11 aircraft destroyed, 3 shared destroyed or captured and 10 out of control, and 1 further shared out of control. During World War Two he was station commander at Woodbourne and later Wigram and posted to India in 1944. After the war he was made commander of the British Empire. He retired from the RNZAF in 1956, and sadly died of cancer in Auckland on 28th November 1980. |
The Tenacious Grid Caldwell by Ivan Berryman. New Zealand's highest scoring ace, with 25 victories to his credit, proved himself to be an extraordinary and resourceful leader. Whilst on a routine patrol in September 1918, Keith Logan 'Grid' Caldwell's 74 Sqn SE5a was involved in a mid-air collision with another SE5a, the impact breaking one of Caldwell's struts and destroying the aerodynamics of his aircraft, which promptly dropped 1,000 ft and went into a flat spin. Incredibly, Caldwell climbed from the cockpit of his stricken machine and held the broken strut together with his left hand whilst keeping his right hand on the joystick, somehow steering his wayward fighter out of danger and over friendly territory. With no hope of a safe landing, the Kiwi jumped clear of the SE5a just a second or so before it impacted with the ground. Astounded British soldiers in a nearby trench saw Caldwell stand, dust himself off and walk casually toward them. He returned to his unit and continued flying until the end of the war. |
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