P-40
Kittyhawk aviation art prints Royal Australian Air Force
and Royal Air Force P-40 aircraft. P40 Warhawks from the Royal Australian
Air Force and RAF Curtiss Kittyhawks over Malta shown in aviation art prints published
by Cranston Fine Arts the aviation art company.
Duel in the Desert by Nicolas Trudgian.
The P-40, legendary for its service with Chennaults Flying Tigers in China, was one of the RAFs principle fighters in the north African Desert war. A low-level dogfight between P-40 Kittyhawks of 112 Squadron is shown, as they tangle with the Luftwaffe ME109s over Matamata Hills, near the Mareth line on the border between Tunisia and Libya, early March 1943.
Item Code : NT0004
Duel in the Desert by Nicolas Trudgian. - Editions Available
Tribute to Squadron Leader Billy Drake by Ivan Berryman.
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).
Item Code : B0442
Tribute to Squadron Leader Billy Drake by Ivan Berryman. - Editions Available
Robert captures precisely the arid heat, dust and smoke of desert warfare, conveying an air of impending conflict. Neville Duke in his 112 Sqn P40-D Kittyhawk.
Item Code : DHM2626
Desert Sharks by Robert Taylor. - Editions Available
The air war fought in the skies above the inhospitable wastelands of the North African desert were among the most hotly contested of the war. The outcome of the bitter land war raging below largely depended upon who controlled the air space above, and both sides knew it. JG-27, having cut its teeth in the battles of France and Britain, was the first Luftwaffe unit to arrive in North Africa. Commanded by the mercurial Eduard Neumann, its Me109s were superior to the Hurricanes and P-40 Kittyhawks flown by the RAF pilots and, without the restriction of close escort duties dictated on the Western Front, the JG-27 pilots roamed the desert skies, closing in combat with the British fighters at every opportunity. The North African air campaign spawned many fighter aces, including Hans-Joachim Marseille who claimed more than 150 victories in his short career - more than any other Luftwaffe ace flying against RAF pilots. The scale of the desert air war is highlighted by raw statistics: 1400 .........
P-40 Kittyhawks of No.112 Squadron, Medenine, April 1943. Aircraft GA-V (ground, nearest on right) is Kittyhawk Mk.III, FR440, which was later lost when damaged beyond repair after a belly landing.
Item Code : DHM1799
Kittyhawks of No.112 Squadron by Graeme Lothian. - Editions Available
Curtiss Kittyhawk, single engine fighter
with a top speed of 362mph, ceiling of 30,000 feet and a range of 1190
miles with extra fuel tanks but 900 miles under normal operation.
Kitty Hawk armaments was four or six .50in machine guns in the wings and a
bomb load of up to 1,000 lb's
A development of the earlier Tomahawk,
the Kitty Hawk saw service in may air force's around the world, American,
Australian, New Zealand, and the Royal Air Force. which used them in the
Mediterranean, north Africa, and Malta. from January 1942/ apart from the
large numbers used by the Us Air Force, over 3,000 were used by
Commonwealth air force's including the Royal air Force.
Over Grand Harbour by Anthony Saunders P40 Kittyhawk over the Grand Harbour of Malta.
Desert Hawks by Robert Taylor A
flight of Kittyhawks of No. 3 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force on a
strike mission over the North African Desert in January 1942, in the
build-p to the Battle of Alamein. No. 3 Squadron RAAF was the first in the
Desert to achieve 100 confirmed victories, and continuing in combat
throughout the fighting in North Africa, became the Squadron with the
highest number of air victories of the Desert Air Force Squadrons Signatories: Nicky Barr, Bobby
Gibbes, Peter Geoffrey, Alan Rawlinson.
Combat Over New Guinea by Nicholas Trudgian Signed by Dick
Cresswell.
