A New Limited Edition Print by Robert Taylor

In the spring of 1945 the liberation of Europe was at hand. The Allied armies were closing in the Third Reich; the German army fighting on in a bloody but futile struggle.

In the air, great armadas of American heavy bombers targeted German airfields – especially those used by the new Messerschmitt 262 jet fighters – a plane that could outperform any American fighter and posed a deadly threat to the bombers.

On April 10, 1945, the Eighth Air Force put up a maximum effort mission of over 1,300 bombers. The target: Burg Airfield, near Magdeburg, Germany and other bases used by the deadly ME-262 jet. As the huge bomber stream approached the airfields, almost 50 jets attacked the formation from the rear, out of high cirrus clouds.

Suddenly the air was alive with cannon fire as the Luftwaffe jets screamed in to attack. It was a desperate gamble by the German pilots and several B-17 Flying Fortresses - including two of the 100th Bomb Group - were shot down before the escorting P-51 Mustang fighters could catch the jets. Nonetheless, the great bomber formation remained on course toward the target.

Robert Taylor has created a powerful reconstruction of the dramatic events that day high over Germany. B-17s of the 1st Air Division, stream graceful contrails in the frozen stratosphere as German jets tear through the formation, hotly pursued by the red-tailed P-51s of the escorting 356th Fighter Group. In the foreground, a Mustang flown by Wayne Gatlin, pulls up behind a 262, ready to fire. 20 German fighters would fall to the escorting fighters and B-17s’ gunners in this, one of the last great air battles over Europe. The cost was high – seven B-17s and their crews failed to return.

This rare limited-edition print, personally signed by Gatlin himself and other Allied pilots who engaged German jets and by the elite German pilots who flew them. This unique combination of signatories is nor likely to be repeated and makes this stunning depiction a unique historical document as well as a superb piece of artwork.

The Limited Edition

Every print in has been signed by three, highly-distinguished veterans who belong to that small, talented band of Allied fighter pilots to have scored a victory over a jet.

The Pilots' Edition

This outstanding TWELVE signature edition is issued with the magnificent pencil companion print Black November Day and the main print is additionally signed by a further four pilots who scored victories over German jets: