"DESERT VICTORY"
BY NICOLAS TRUDGIAN
Autographed by Eduard Neumann, Friedrich Körner and Gerhard Halm.
L/E of 600. Signed and numbered by the artist.
Size: 34 1/2" x 23 1/2"
Price: $175
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Many of the top fighter Aces on both sides fought in the desert and this brought about some of the fiercest aerial dog-fighting of World War II.
Below the air-fighting, the relentless ebb and flow of armored warfare roamed across the wastes of the North African desert, and early 1942 saw the beginning of the most crucial part of the Desert Campaign. Under the command of mercurial Field Marshal Rommel, the German armored divisions advanced eastwards from Benghazi towards the Gazala line, forcing the RAF pilots to constantly move from airstrip to airstrip.
In the air, German Aces such as Marseille, Homuth and Neumann clashed daily with the likes of RAF's top Aces Caldwell, Duke and Drake, as the two sides jousted for aerial supremacy above the raging tank battles being fought across the desert below.
Nicolas Trudgian's superb new painting DESERT VICTORY recreates all the atmosphere of the North African desert war with a stunning portrayal of the Me-lO9s of 3./JG-27. Based at Martuba the wing is depicted being led by Staffelkapitan Gerhard Homuth as they escort Afrikakorps armor heading for the front line at Gazala, Libya, on 21 February, 1942.
Flying alongside Homuth, the great Luftwaffe Ace Joachim Marseille scored his 49th and 50th victories on this day, earning his Knight's Cross. Below the speeding Me-lO9s, the crew of an SdKfz 10 light half-track stop to investigate a crashed P-40 Kittyhawk belonging to No 112 Squadron, RAF, brought down during an earlier contest.
In the middle distance a Panzer III tank and an SdKfz 8 ton half-track towing an 88mm anti-tank gun, are seen advancing towards the front. The Al Jabal al Akhdar mountain range form a majestic backdrop to this most impressive aviation painting.
Prints include a printed remarque drawing of the highly successful 7.62 Russian Pak gun, used so successfully by German artillery against Allied tanks. Gerhard Halm who, together with two top Luflwaffe Aces, has signed each print in Nick's new edition, won two Iron Crosses and a Knight's Cross manning this gun.
With the signatures of three highly decorated veterans of the North African desert campaign, Nicolas Trudgian's stunning new limited edition DESERT VICTORY will be welcomed by World War II aviation art comnoisseurs as a true collectors piece.
THE SIGNATURES
Oberst EDUARD NEUMANN
A veteran of the Spanish Campaign, Eduard Neumamn started the war leading 4./JG-26 in France, later promoted Adjutant of l./JG-27. He took part in the Balkan Campaign before moving m 1941 to North Africa, where l./JG-27 was the only German fighter unit for the first nine months. In 1942 he became Kommodore of JG-27, a position which he held throughout the remainder of the Desert Campaign. He was credited with moulding the careers of many outstanding pilots the best known being the young Hauptrmum Marseille. Following the defeat of Rommel's Afrikakorps a El Alamem, JG-27 covered their retreat back to Tunisia. When his wing led the desert, 'Edu' Neumann was transferred to the Staff of General of the Fighter Arm, where he remained until 1944. Promoted to Oberst in the autumn of that year, he took over as Fighter Commander of Northern Italy. Edu Neumann ended the war as one of the LuSwaffe's most highly respected Commanders.
Generalmajor FRIEDRICH KÖRNER
Friedrich Korner joined 2./lG-27 in North Africa in July 1941, where he quickly learned many of his combat skills from his friend and colleague Han-Joachim Marseille. He soon became a very successful fighter pilot with 36 victories over the desert. On 4 July 1942 outnumbered after a fierce aerial combat with RAF Spitfires near El Alamein, he was shot down and taken prisoner for the rest of the war. A holder of the Knight's Cross, Friedrich Korner flew more than 250 missions over the desert and scored 36 victories.
Leutnant GERHARD HALM
Gerhard Halm joined the German Army in August 1941 and was posted to a special antitank platoon (104 Regt.), m the 21st Panzer Division part of Rommel's famed Afrikakorps. As a Gefreiter gun-layer on the 7.62 Pak gun he saw action at the capture of Tobruk, in Rommel's drive across North Africa towards Egypt, and a the Battle of El Alamem. In one month, July 1942, in heavy anti- _ tank fighting, he was awarded both the Iron Cross Ist and 2nd class imd on 29 July, the Knight's Cross. He was the second youngest soldier to wm the Knight's Cross in World War 11. After illness in Africa, he was posted to the 104 Division. He rejoined the 21st Panzer Division in Normandy and saw extensive action during the DDay landings against the Canadians and the 3rd Division in Caen. On 24 August he was taken prisoner of war by the Americans.