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Cranston Fine Arts  Postcards  New for 2019 |
New postcards published by Cranston Fine Arts in 2019.
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| Text for the above items : |
The Tenacious Grid Caldwell by Ivan Berryman. (PC) 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. |
Dinah Might by Ivan Berryman. (PC) 6th June, 1944 - D-Day - and Martin B.26 Marauders of the 386th Bomb Group, 553rd Bomb Squadron are among the first aircraft to bomb the beaches in readiness for the Normandy landings on that momentous day. Shown softening up the enemy gun emplacements on a low level run over Utah Beach is 131576 AN-Z, now on display at the Utah Beach Museum. |
Gefreiter Jakob Tischner - Roland D.VIa by Ivan Berryman. (PC) The LFG Roland D.VI did not enjoy the success of its contemporaries, the Fokker D.VII and Pfalz D.XII, but was nonetheless a potent and capable fighter. Its unique Klinkerrumpf fuselage construction made it both lightweight and robust although, despite its qualities, it was not built in large numbers. This particular example, a D.VIa, is shown chasing down a damaged Sopwith Camel whilst being flown by Gefreiter Jakob Tischner of Jasta 35b. Tischner later wrote off this aircraft in a landing accident when he rolled into a parked Pfalz D.III, destroying both machines. |
Leutnant der Reserve Erwin Bohme by Ivan Berryman. (PC) Albatros C.III C.766/16 was among the most distinctively-painted aircraft of World War 1, its fuselage sides decorated with a dragon motif on the starboard side and a stylised crocodile on the other, both apparently chasing a tiny white biplane. This was the aircraft shared by Erwin Bohme and his observer, Leutnant Ladermacher while serving with Jasta 10 on the Eastern Front in August 1916. Bohme was soon chosen to fly with the great Oswald Boelke with Jasta 2, the latter being tragically killed in a collision with Bohme on 28th October during an aerial combat with DH.2s of 24 Sqn. This tragedy haunted Bohme for many months to come, but he went on to score 24 confirmed victories before falling victim to an FK.8 on 29th September 1917. Their Albatros C.III is shown picking off a Russian Nieuport 12, his first kill on 2nd August 1916. |
Anton Hafner by Ivan Berryman. (PC) The top scoring ace of JG.51, Anton Hafner is credited with 204 confirmed victories. A prolific scorer, on 8th August 1944, he shot down no fewer than seven Russian Sturmoviks and, by October of that year, his overall tally had exceeded 200. He died in combat with a Yak 7, his 204th victim, when his aircraft hit a tree. He is shown here in Messerschmitt Bf.109G-6 442013 Black 1. |
Handley Page 0/400s by Ivan Berryman. (PC) For so large a machine, production of the Handley Page 0/400 was considerable with over 400 examples being delivered by the time of the Armistice in 1918. Its first missions were carried out during April of that year, operating both during daylight and by night. Here, three machines are being readied for a sortie. As final checks are completed on the nearest aircraft, some last minute engine maintenance is being carried out on a similar machine in the middle distance. The furthest example is being towed, with its vast wings folded, to the dispersal. |
Tribute to Wing Commander James 'Stocky' Edwards by Ivan Berryman. (PC) Having joined the RAF at the age of 19, James Francis Edwards was to end the war with a total of 20 confirmed kills and another 10 probables and was one of Canada's greatest aces. He is depicted here in his Curtiss P.40, dispatching a Macchi MC.202 whilst defending Boston and Baltimore bombers on their way to attack the airfields of Daba on 19th October 1942. |
Caproni Ca.3 by Ivan Berryman. (PC) The Italian Caproni series of bombers were the first to carry out long range missions during World War 1, frequently making round trips of over 150 miles in freezing conditions to deliver their meagre 1000lb bomb load on Austro-Hungarian targets. Here, a pair of Ca.3s return home, their gunners keeping a watchful eye for enemy fighters. The aerial gunners were particularly exposed to the sub-zero slipstream and often found it almost impossible to operate their guns because they were so cold, the rear gunners position being especially unpleasant due to his proximity to the mid engine and propeller that was just inches from his feet. |
Etrich Taube by Ivan Berryman. (PC) The extraordinary Taube (or Dove) was extensively used by the Germans as a reliable, stable observation and reconnaissance aircraft as late as 1916, despite its archaic appearance. The Taube type first flew in Austria in 1909, the brainchild of Dr Igo Etrich and employed the early method of directional control known as differential wing-warping, instead of possessing ailerons and elevators. This version was powered by a Mercedes 6-cylinder inline engine and is a two-seat variant, much favoured by the Germans. |
Kapitanleutnant Lothar von Arnauld de la Periere, U-35 by Ivan Berryman. (PC) U-35 under the command of Kapitanleutnant Lothar von Arnauld de la Periere, the all time most successful u-boat captain sinking 194 ships, many of which were sunk by the u-boats 88mm deck gun. Kapitanleutnant Lothar von Arnauld de la Periere commanded U-35 from 13th November 1915 to 16th March 1918. His most successful patrols were in April / May 1916, where in a 5 week patrol he sunk 23 ships , and in July / August 1916 where in a 4 week patrol he sunk 54 ships. In total he made 15 patrols. |
Sous-Lieutenant Charles Nungesser by Ivan Berryman. (PC) Surely one of the most irrepressible aces of World War 1, Frenchman Charles Nungessers victory total of 43 confirmed kills and a further 11 probables was achieved despite surviving a number of crashes and accidents from which he always bounced back in defiance of his quite severe injuries. His fame and prowess brought him a personal challenge from his German adversaries to take part in a one-on-one combat. Accepting the challenge, the lone Nungesser encountered not one, but six, enemy aircraft and promptly sent two of them down in flames. In this picture, his Emblems of Mortality personal motif is clearly seen on the side of his Nieuport 23 as he sees off an Albatross toward the end of the war. Nungesser survived the Great War, only to be lost over the Atlantic when attempting a flight to New York in 1927. |
Captain William Billy Bishop by Ivan Berryman. (PC) 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. |
Angels of Malta - Faith, Hope and Charity by Ivan Berryman. (PC) Although key to the allied campaign in the Mediterranean, Malta was virtually undefended against air raids in the early part of the Second World War. Just four Gloster Sea Gladiators, packed in crates, were deposited on the island by HMS Glorious, these aircraft originally intended for operations in Norway. Three of them were hurriedly assembled, the fourth being held in reserve, and were instantly engaged in fierce fighting against Italian raiders. Nicknamed Faith, Hope and Charity, their determined pilots fought for seventeen days without relief, their achievements playing a major part in fooling the Italian intelligence into thinking that this crucial Mediterranean outpost was much more heavily defended than it really was. |
HMS Ark Royal III by Ivan Berryman. (PC) Legendary during her brief wartime career, Ark Royal heralded a new era in aircraft carrier design, possessing tremendous hull rigidity and a formidable array of defensive armament. Apart from her key role in Force H in the Mediterranean and the North Atlantic, Ark Royal also took part in operations off Norway in company with HMS Glorious. It was one of her Blackburn Skuas that claimed the first aerial victory of WWII against a German aircraft on 26th September 1939 and one of her Fairey Swordfish that crippled the mighty Bismarck, leading to the German capital ship's destruction at the hands of the Royal Navy. On 13th November 1941, Ark Royal was torpedoed by U-81 off Gibraltar, her severe list causing flooding to choke her boilers, bringing her to a standstill. Her crew were taken off and the mighty Ark continued to list until she eventually capsized and sank. |
Flight Lieutenant R L G Marix by Ivan Berryman. (PC) On 8th October 1914, war in the air changed forever with what would become the first successful strategic bombing raid on Germany. As bad weather threatened to frustrate their mission, two little Sopwith Tabloids took off in search of the giant Zeppelin sheds at Cologne and Dusseldorf, one piloted by Squadron Commander D A Spenser Grey and the other by Flight Lieutenant Reggie Marix. Grey was beaten by poor visibility and instead chose to bomb the railway station at Cologne whilst Marix located the primary target and bombed it at once from a height of just 600ft. Almost immediately, the mighty LZ.25 that was housed inside began to burn and then blew up spectacularly, the fireball threatening to engulf Marixs Tabloid. Both Marix and Grey were awarded the Distinguished Service Order for their efforts. The age of aerial bombing had arrived. |
AGO C.1 by Ivan Berryman. (PC) At the outbreak of World War 1, AGO Flugzeugwerke GmbH had not endeared itself to the architects of the German war machine due to the flimsiness of some of its designs, coupled with poor workmanship. When the C.1 first appeared in 1915, it attracted little interest and yet went on to prove itself to be a robust and useful aircraft, its pusher design dispensing with the now traditional open framework to support the tail in favour of twin streamlined tailbooms. The observer / gunner in the nose enjoyed an unrivalled field of view, although the engines position immediately behind the pilot was always a concern in the event of a crash. This aircraft, LF181, transferred from the Fliegertrouppe to the navy in 1915 and was based at Nieuwmunster, shown here in an exchange with an FE.2b in the skies over Belgium. |
Prelude to Taranto by Ivan Berryman. (PC) Prior to the British attack on the Italian battle fleet moored in Taranto Harbour in November 1940, the job of obtaining the very latest photo reconnaissance fell to the maverick pilot Adrian 'Warby' Warburton. Flying a requisitioned Martin Maryland, Warburton undertook a series of breathtakingly low level passes across the ships moored in the harbour, cheating a hail of anti aircraft fire and flak to bring home the vital information to Rear Admiral Lumley Lyster, the flag officer aboard HMS Illustrious. Ships shown moored in the Mar Grande here are Vittorio Veneto (nearest) and Littorio with Duilio and Giulio Cesare in the background. |
Oberleutnant Otto Kissenberth by Ivan Berryman. (PC) When pilots took off from the respective airfields in the 1914/18 war, they would rarely know what lay ahead. For Otto Kissenberth, the 12th October 1916 was to be a baptism of fire. Flying Fokker D.II 540/16, he scored his first three victories in quick succession, shooting down two Maurice Farmans and a Breguet V, as shown here. Unusual among fighter pilots of the time for the simple reason that he wore spectacles, Kissenberth went on to score an eventual 20 victories and survived the war, only to be killed whilst mountaineering in 1919. |
HMS Poseidon by Ivan Berryman. (PC) Launched in Barrow in Furness on 22nd August 1929, the Parthian Class submarine HMS Poseidon (P99) was destined to meet a tragic fate on 9th June 1931 when she was inexplicably involved in a collision with a Chinese freighter in the Bohai Sea during exercises in clear visibility. 31 of her crew managed to get into the water before the submarine sank, whilst a further eight escaped from the submerged vessel. Two of these didn't make it to the surface and one died later in hospital, making a tragic total of 21 deaths in this extraordinary tragedy. HMS Poseidon is depicted here in happier times, moving off from her depot ship as the night sky closes in. |
Ambush of the IX Legion by Brian Palmer. (PC) Driven by revenge for the brutal treatment she had suffered at the hands of the Romans, Queen Boadicea led the Iceni and her allies the Trinovantas in open revolt. The IX Legion Hispania was despatched to suppress the insurrection but were ambushed en route. Only the commander Petilius Cerealis, and a handful of cavalry escaped. |
Brothers in Arms by Ivan Berryman. (PC) On the morning of 13th April 1917, five RE8s of 59 Sqn, RFC, took off from their base at La Bellevue on a photographic sortie, A3203 carrying a camera, with the other four flying as escorts. Spads of 19 Sqn and some 52 Sqn Fe.2s were to have joined them as fighter cover, but the rendezvous was never made and the RE8s found themselves alone. For some unknown reason, this flight of aircraft seemed to have drifted some way north of their intended target - and into the clutches of a group of Jasta 11 Albatros scouts, led by none other than Baron Manfred von Richthofen. In a relatively short combat, all five RE8s were shot down by their German opponents, one by the Red Baron himself and two by his brother, Lothar, who claimed his fourth and fifth victims, thus becoming an ace, the others being downed by Festner and Wolff in similar aircraft. For the Red Baron, this was a day of particular significance. Not only had he now scored more victories than his mentor, Oswald Boelcke, by shooting down his 41st victim, he was later to claim a further two victories that same day - his first triple. He is depicted here flying Albatros D.III Nr.2253/17. |
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