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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 : |
Deadly Partnership - Captain W E Staton and Lieutenant John R Gordon, Bristol F.2b by Ivan Berryman. (PC) The Bristol F.2b (or Bristol Fighter, as it was more popularly known) first entered service with the RFC in March 1917 and quickly established itself as a useful and reliable fighting machine in the capable hands of the crews who quickly exploited its many attributes. The teamwork between pilot and gunner / observer yielded many success stories, both in the roles of air combat and ground attack. Here, Captain W E Staton has a stab at a Fokker DR.1 during an intense battle in April 1918 in the skies above France, whilst his pilot, Lieutenant John R Gordon keeps their 62 Squadron machine out of harms way. The combination of Gordon and Staton scored a total of 9 confirmed victories, 1 shared destroyed and 5 out of control. |
HMS Victory - Home Before the Squall by Ivan Berryman. (PC) Against the darkening skies of an impending storm, HMS Victory is depicted entering Portsmouth Harbour. This iconic ship, launched in Chatham in 1765, is now preserved in Portsmouth's Historic Dockyard on public display and is still a commissioned warship in the Royal Navy. Weighing 2,162 tons, Victory was crewed by 850 men and carried 104 guns on three decks. |
SOE Drop by Ivan Berryman. (PC) Halifax B.II Series 1 (Special) JP254 of 148 Special Duties Squadron, RAF is depicted over the drop zone near to the Alt Aussee salt mine in the Austrian Alps as two of the four SOE agents exit the bomber via the crew access door. Their mission was to secure and protect 6,755 items of the world's greatest works of art that had been looted and stored by the Germans as they swept across Europe. With the allied forces closing in, the Germans had planned to blow up the entire store to prevent the artworks from falling into the hands of the liberators. Once on the ground, the four agents linked up with local resistance fighters and the mine and its valuable contents were eventually secured, the explosives made safe and the entire cache taken into the safe keeping of the 80th US Infantry Division as the German occupation of Europe crumbled. |
Victory over Africa by Ivan Berryman. (PC) The 73 Sqn Hurricane of Sqn Ldr Derek Ward is shown having received fatal strikes from the guns of Bf 109 F-4 flown by the 'Star of Africa' Hauptmann Hans-Joachim Marseilles of 3/JG27 on 17th June 1942. Ward was Marseilles' third victim in this single action when he returned to the combat zone to cover the safe descent by parachute of the German ace's first two victories, both of whom had been shot down within seconds of each other. |
Tribute to Squadron Leader Billy Drake by Ivan Berryman. (PC) Sqn Ldr Billy Drake is shown in Curtiss Kittyhawk Mk1a ET790 claiming a Ju87 Stuka on the 31st of October 1942. Sqn Ldr Drake commanded 112 Squadron flying Kittyhawks at Gambut on 24th May 1942. He claimed a probable Bf109 on 6th June, another probable on 2nd July, destroyed a Bf109 on the 8th, damaged a Ju88 on the ground on the 19th, destroyed a Bf109 on the 24th, two Ju87s on the 1st September and another Bf109 on the 13th. Drake shared a Ju87 and probably destroyed another on 1st October 1942, got a probable Bf109 on the 22nd, destroyed another on the 26th, an Me202 on the 27th, a Ju87 on the 31st, a Bf109 destroyed and another damaged on 5th November, a Bf109 destroyed on the ground on the 11th, an He111 destroyed and a Bf109 damaged on the 15th, a Bf110 destroyed and another damaged on the 19th, an Me202 and a Bf109 destroyed on 11th December and he finally shared a Bf109 on the 13th. Drake was awarded a Bar to the DFC (28.7.42) and the DSO (4.12.42). |
Zeppelin Gunners by Ivan Berryman. (PC) Droning over the coast en route to another night attack on mainland Britain, the Zeppelins top gun platform goes into action as BE.2 fighters wheel around the gas-filled giants, trying desperately to fire their Brock, Pomeroy and Sparklet ammunition into the volatile gasbags that lay beneath the Zeppelins skin. Often freezing cold, always vulnerable, the defensive gunners occupied a tiny, sunken recess on the very top of the airship, shielded from the buffeting winds only by a shallow screen and their thick leather flying suits. Just a handrail and a shallow step lay between them and a vertiginous drop over the rolling sides of their massive craft. Their air-cooled Parabellum MG.14 machine guns did little to repulse their attackers, whilst the great Zeppelins offered themselves as huge, bloated targets for ground artillery as well as the brave pilots of the RFC. |
Royal Scots at Waterloo by Brian Palmer. (PC) Royal Scots 1st of Foot about to form square around their colours during the Battle of Waterloo. |
Leutnant Wolfram von Richthofen by Ivan Berryman. (PC) The aerial battle of 21st April 1918 was notable for involving two young novice pilots, each from opposing sides, and their part in the events that followed was as significant as it was tragic. Both William Wop May and Wolfram Ulf von Richthofen had been instructed to stay out of trouble, to remain on the very outskirts should a battle occur and simply get used to being in the sky with so many other aircraft. Delighted to have been assigned to Jasta 11 under the custodianship of his older, eminent cousin, Manfred, Wolfram was eager to cut his teeth and show that he, too, could get the job done. Both he and May kept a watchful vigil over proceedings from a safe distance as battle was joined between the red-nosed Fokker DR.1s of Jasta 11, the green-tailed Albatrosses of Jasta 5 and the RFC Sopwith Camels of 209 Squadron. Somehow, whether through carelessness or the adrenalin rush of the moment, Wolfram flew his Fokker tantalisingly close to Mays Camel who immediately gave chase, sensing that an easy first kill might just be a possibility. May quickly realised that all was not well, however, finding his guns jammed and unable to fire. He quickly broke off the attack and swooped away, but his actions had caught the attention of Manfred von Richthofen who, although engaged in a battle of his own, had been keeping a watchful eye over his young charge. The red Triplane now latched onto the tail of Mays helpless Camel and a lurid chase began along the Somme River, a chase from which the Red Baron would not return. The young Wolfram went on to become an ace, scoring all of his eight victories in the closing months of the war, was awarded the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd and survived to be a major force in Hitlers Luftwaffe in World War Two. He was eventually taken prisoner and spent his last months in an American PoW camp where he died of a brain tumour in 1945. |
Remember the Alamo by Brian Palmer. (PC) No text for this item |
Leutnant Hans von Keudell by Ivan Berryman. (PC) An early star of Jasta 1, von Keudell is depicted here in his Halberstadt D.III, (instantly identifiable by his initial K on the fuselage side) as he drifts into position to exploit the blindspot of a Vickers Gunbus, late in the day in 1916. Von Keudells closing tally was 11 confirmed victories, but a possible 12. |
HMS Pegasus by Ivan Berryman. (PC) The last seaplane carrier built for the Admiralty, HMS Pegasus was launched in 1917 and benefited from all the lessons learned from her predecessors, possessing a flying-off platform forward, served by twin derricks, and a hangar and cranes aft, capable of carrying up to nine aircraft. She is shown here with one of her Short 184s (N9290) about to take off, whilst a similar aircraft is preparing to be lowered into the water in the background. |
One Way Trip by Ivan Berryman. (PC) Having strung their deadly payload from the bilge keels of another victim, the two man crew of an Italian SLC, or Maiale, prepare to make their getaway in the murky waters of an Allied harbour in the early part of WW2. Having set clamps on the bilge keels, the nose of the manned torpedo was detached and suspended on a steel cable strung between the clamps. A timer was set in motion and, a little over two hours later, the resulting explosion would rip through the ship's hull. Such was the fate of the British battleships HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Valiant as they lay in the harbour at Alexandria on 3rd December 1941. The fate of the frogmen was rarely a good one, most attacks resulting in almost certain capture - and often death - as there was no way back to the 'mother' submarine and they were forced to make their own way to whatever sanctuary they could find, having completed their audacious mission. |
Junkers J.1 by Ivan Berryman. (PC) Designed by Hugo Junkers, the J.1 was the worlds first all-metal aircraft to go into mass production and proved very successful in its intended role as an observation and ground attack aircraft. The sheer strength of its structure and mass of load-bearing struts eliminated the need for bracing wires and the outer portions of the wings were not linked by interplane struts, affording the observer / gunner a clear field. The crew and engine were protected from ground fire with 5mm armour plate, all of which added to the considerable weight of the J.1, which suffered with relatively poor performance as a consequence. It was powered by a 200hp Benz BZ.IV inline engine and well over 200 of this innovative machine were put into service during 1918. |
Sopwith 1 ½ Strutter by Ivan Berryman. (PC) The potential value of aircraft at sea had been proven as early as the Battle of Jutland in 1916 and many experiments were undertaken to provide all significant warships with their own aircraft for spotting and reconnaissance purposes. One solution widely adopted was the fitting of flying-off platforms to the main guns, as demonstrated here, as a Sopwith 1½ strutter is launched from HMS Warspite in 1919. |
Flight Lieutenant Rutland and Assistant Paymaster Trewin Locate the German Fleet at Jutland, 31st May, 1916 by Ivan Berryman. (PC) Having spotted smoke on the horizon, Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty ordered that a floatplane be immediately launched from HMS Engadine to investigate. Without delay, Short 184 (serial No 8359) was airborne, but had to maintain a modest altitude due to the low cloud base. Flight Lieutenant Frederick Rutland (who would forevermore be known as Rutland of Jutland) and his observer G.S. Trewin, quickly spotted the German fleet, but found their radio transmissions to be jammed and, upon encountering engine problems, were forced to return to their tender where they were able to file their report. Sadly, an increasing swell made a further flight impossible and their report failed to be relayed to the British Fleet who continued their engagement with the Germans without the benefit of aerial reconnaissance. |
51st (2nd Yorkshire, West Riding) Light Infantry at Waterloo June 1815. by Brian Palmer. (PC) No text for this item |
Battle of the Ironclads by Ivan Berryman. (PC) At Dawn on 9th March 1862, as the American Civil War raged on, an extraordinary combat took place in Hampton Roads, a naval exchange that was to herald a new age and completely change the concept and design of modern warships. Having already destroyed the two Federal warships Cumberland and Congress the previous day, the Confederate ironclad CSS Virginia readied herself for another day's work, her target this time being the grounded Minnesota. As the Virginia approached her target, she was confronted by the much smaller Union ironclad Monitor which had just arrived after a fraught journey from New York. Thus began an exchange of fire that lasted more than three hours, each ship's shot merely bouncing and deflecting off its opponent without inflicting any serious damage. With her smokestack shot away, the Virginia now concentrated her shot on the Monitor's tiny wheelhouse where a direct hit blinded the Union ship's commander, necessitating a temporary withdrawal. By the time Monitor was ready to re-engage, the Virginia was limping away, the result of this fierce encounter being nothing more than stalemate. Neither ship could claim any form of victory and neither had sustained any meaningful damage. Though clumsy and difficult to handle, the thick iron plating and low profiles of these very different vessels signaled a direction in warship design that lasted until the Second World War, eighty years later. |
Kleiner Freund - Zeppelin Staaken R.VI by Ivan Berryman. (PC) With a wingspan of 42.2 metres, the mighty Zeppelin Staaken series of bombers were truly awesome, living up to their name Riesenflugzeug - Giant Aircraft. Unusually for this period, the crew compartment of the R VI was fully enclosed and the bomb load was carried internally. The four engines were mounted in tandem pairs, two pushing and two pulling, which eliminated the need for complex gearing, and the flight engineers sat in cockpits in the engine nacelles. This example is shown limping home, its rear port engine stopped and smoking, escorted by its Little Friend, an Albatros D.V. The painting shows the Staaken bomber is quite badly shot up. There are bullet holes all over the port wings, tailplane and rudder, as well as the engine trailing smoke from a small oil fire in the nacelle, which the engineer is keeping an eye on. |
Tribute to the Royal Navy Trawler Crews - HMS Arab by Ivan Berryman. (PC) Having departed the Namsen Fjord in Norway, on a course home to England across the North Sea, HMS Arab was intercepted by a Heinkel He.115 and ordered to sail due east or be attacked. His orders ignored, the German pilot began a series of passes over the trawler, raking the small vessel with continuous fire from both of its guns. The gallant crew of the Arab returned fire with all Lewis and Oerlikon guns blazing, the Heinkel being mortally wounded as it made a low pass across the bow of Arab, finally plunging into the sea some two miles astern of the trawler who continued, without further incident, to her destination at Scapa. |
The Cameron Highlanders at Waterloo by Brian Palmer. (PC) No text for this item |
The Iron Brigade During the Battle of Gettysburg, 1863 by Brian Palmer. (PC) The crack Iron Brigade of Brigadier General Wadsworths 1st Division of the army of the Potomac were the first Infantry unit to arrive on the field of Gettysburg in support of Brigadier General Bufords cavalry division who had stumbled upon General Lees advancing Army of North Virginia. The Brigade suffered 1,200 casualties out of 1800 engaged in the battle. |
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