CLASH OVER REMAGEN

"CLASH OVER REMAGEN"

BY NICOLAS TRUDGIAN

Autographed by Hauptmann Georg Csurusky, Oberfeldwebel Rony Lauer and Oberfeldwebel Hermann Wieczorek.

L/E of 600. Signed and numbered by the artist.

Size: 34 1/2" x 23 1/2"

Price: $175.00

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General Bradley's 1st American Army reached the Rhine river at Remagen on March 7, 1945. Such was the speed of the advance that they arrived before the retreating German troops had time to blow up the vital Ludendorff Bridge. The 9th Armored Division seized the opportunity, took the bridge intact, and immediately established a bridgehead.

Realizing the importance of the bridge to the advancing American army and the threat it's existence posed, the Luftwaffe was ordered to distroy the bridge at all costs. Desperate efforts were made to distroy and to defend the bridge, and the fighting in the air and on the ground over the course of several days became known as one of the legendary battles of the war.

The American figher groups had no available base within operating range of the bridge and so the RAF was called in. Based to the north in Holland, 274 Squadron's Tempest Vs had the range to cover Remagen and these powerful, low-level ground-attack fighter-bombers were soon taking on the German ME-262 jets in low-level air combat.

Fast as they were, the Tempest did not have the speed of the '262, so they attacked the jets in head-on passes, a favored Luftwaffe tactic used against American bombers. With closing speeds of up to 1,000 MPH, the Tempests had little chance of shooting the '262s down, but the dangerous tactic was successful in breaking up the attack. Every antiaircraft gun on the ground was simultaneously firing, and bombs were exploding around the bridge: the scene was one of total conflagration.

Nicolas Trudgian's new painting brings this fantastic scene to life. Two leading Tempests have flown through the Luftwaffe formation, the aircraft closing faster than the speed of sound and missing each other by feet. The conventration of the attackers is broken momentarily, just enough so that the bombs miss the bridge. In the background, more German aircraft can be seen coming in to attack.

With each prnt in the edition personally signed by the last three surviving Luftwaffe ME-262 pilots who attacked the Bridge at Remagen, "Clash Over Remagen" is surely destined to become one of aviation art's great collector pieces.

THE SIGNATORIES

Hauptmann Georg Csurusky
After completing his pilot training, Georg was posted in January, 1943, to 1.KG51 on the eastern front, flying the JU-88 all-weather medium bomber. In August, 1943, he converted to fly the ME-410 Hornet. In 1944, 1 Gruppe KG51 converted to train on the ME-262 jet fighter-bomber for the Western Front. Georg flew the 262 on the attack on the Ludendorff Bridge. At the war's end he had flown 209 combat missions on both fronts, 68 of which were in the ME-262.

Oberfeldwebel Rony Lauer
Rony Lauer joined the Luftwaffe in 1937 but was still in pilot training at the start of the war. In 1942 he was posted to join KG30, flying the JU-88 on operations over England and later in the Mediteranean theater. In June, 1944, he transferred to 1./KG51 for training on the ME-262 and flew in in combat a few months later. Rony flew one of the lead aircraft in the attack on the Bridge at Remagen, and flew the 262 until the end of the war.

Oberfeldwebel Hermann Wieczorek
Hermann Wieczorek joined the Luftwaffe in 1935 and served as a flight mechanic before training as a pilot. Upon qualifying, he served initially as a flying instructor before joining Oberfehlshaber Sud, under General Kesselring, flying photoreconnaissance missions in the ME-110 and JU-88 over Italy and North Africa. In June, 1944, he was transferred to 1./KG51, flying the ME-262 on the Western Front. Hermann flew the 262 in the action against the Bridge at Remagen and afterword until the end of the war.