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Cranston Fine Arts Aviation Art and Artists Aviation Artists Anthony Saunders

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Salute the Few by Anthony Saunders. (APB) 4 editions. 2 of the 4 editions feature up to 2 additional signatures. £60.00 - £500.00

Dawn Return by Anthony Saunders. (APB) 5 editions. 2 of the 5 editions feature an additional signature. £60.00 - £4000.00

Homeward Bound by Anthony Saunders. 4 editions. All 4 editions feature up to 2 additional signature(s). £80.00 - £300.00

Return From Leipzig by Anthony Saunders. 8 editions. 4 of the 8 editions feature up to 2 additional signatures. £20.00 - £300.00

Strike on Berlin by Anthony Saunders. 5 editions. 4 of the 5 editions feature up to 3 additional signatures. £2.00 - £475.00

En-Route by Anthony Saunders. 2 of 4 editions available. All 4 editions feature up to 2 additional signatures. £120.00 - £130.00

Night Hunters by Anthony Saunders. 5 editions. 4 of the 5 editions feature up to 3 additional signatures. £2.00 - £475.00

High Summer by Anthony Saunders. 4 editions. All 4 editions feature up to 2 additional signature(s). £85.00 - £300.00

Return of the Hunters by Anthony Saunders. 3 editions. 2 of the 3 editions feature up to 3 additional signatures. £2.00 - £140.00

Final Briefing by Anthony Saunders. 4 editions. All 4 editions feature an additional signature. £95.00 - £475.00

Gauntlet by Anthony Saunders. 5 editions. 3 of the 5 editions feature up to 4 additional signatures. £130.00 - £4800.00

The Breach by Anthony Saunders. 4 editions. All 4 editions feature an additional signature. £95.00 - £475.00

Merlin Chorus by Anthony Saunders. 4 editions. All 4 editions feature up to 2 additional signature(s). £85.00 - £300.00

Eismeer Patrol by Anthony Saunders. 4 editions. All 4 editions feature up to 2 additional signature(s). £90.00 - £300.00

Return of the Pathfinders by Anthony Saunders. 2 editions. Both editions feature up to 4 additional signatures. £120.00 - £195.00

Approach to the Möhne Dam by Anthony Saunders. 2 editions. Both editions feature up to 2 additional signatures. £120.00 - £195.00

Thunder in the Ardennes by Anthony Saunders. 3 editions. All 3 editions feature up to 7 additional signature(s). £110.00 - £210.00

Final Roster by Anthony Saunders. 2 editions. Both editions feature up to 2 additional signatures. £110.00 - £145.00

Maltese Falcons by Anthony Saunders. 5 of 6 editions available. All 2 editions featuring an additional signature are available. £65.00 - £400.00

Gathering Storm by Anthony Saunders (GL) 2 editions. £400.00 - £500.00

Juno Beach by Anthony Saunders. 3 of 5 editions available. All 5 editions feature up to 2 additional signatures. £80.00 - £300.00

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Text for the above items :

Salute the Few by Anthony Saunders. (APB) A poignant scene from the Battle of Britain, as a pair of battle weary Hurricanes return from a mission, young children play in the afternoon sun.

Dawn Return by Anthony Saunders. (APB) A Wellington returns low over the calm, dawn water of the North Sea, vainly struggling to maintain both height and speed.

Homeward Bound by Anthony Saunders. Summer 1940: it has been another rough day for the sasoned pilots of JG-26 Schlageter. Once again they have flown out of their base at Abbeville in northern France to escort the massed bombers of the Luftwaffe against the RAFs fighter airfields of southern England, and once again they have been locked in deadly combat with the Spitfires and Hurricanes of RAF Fighter Command. The Battle of Britain is reaching its climax and, for the first time, the Luftwaffe tastes defeat. This painting by Anthony Saunders brings to life a typical cameo from those long and arduous aerial contests, an Me109 from JG-26 has taken a hit during the fighting, the engine is overheating, and beginning to trail smoke. But the Squadron Commander, the legendary Adolf Galland, closes in to escort the stricken fighter back across the Channel. Crossing the iconic white cliffs of Dover, the drama has time to run.

Return From Leipzig by Anthony Saunders. Mosquitos of 105 Squadron, Marham. No. 105 Squadron, stationed at Marham, Norfolk, became the first Royal Air Force unit to become operational flying the Mosquito B. Mk. IV bomber on 11th April 1942. The painting shows 105 Squadron on the raid of 10th April 1945, to the Wahren railway marshalling yards at Leipzig, Germany.

Strike on Berlin by Anthony Saunders. The swaggering figure of the Reichsmarshal swept imperiously into the Air Ministry on Berlin's Wilhemstrasse, his jewel-encrusted baton and extravagant uniform as flamboyant as ever. This was Saturday, 30th January 1943, the tenth Anniversary of the Nazi Party coming to power, and Goering was about to deliver the main speech in tribute to the Party and its leader, the Fuhrer - Adolf Hitler. The Royal Air Force had other plans for the anniversary. In stark defiance of the imagined air security safeguarding Berlin, brave pilots of 105 and 139 Sqn's took to the air in de Havilland Mosquitoes, on course for Germany. Their mission: RAF Bomber Command's first daylight raid on Berlin! The raid was timed to perfection and three Mosquitoes of 105 Sqn raced headlong, low level towards their target - the Haus des Rundfunks, headquarters of the German State broadcasting company. It was an hour before Goering could finally be broadcast. He was boiling with rage and humiliation. A few hours later, adding further insult, Mosquitoes from 139 Sqn swept over the city in a second attack moments before Goebbels addressed a Nazi mass rally in the Sportpalast. Goering's promise that enemy aircraft would never fly over the Reich was broken, the echo of that shame would haunt him for the rest of the war. This dramatic painting pays tribute to this pivotal moment in the war, capturing the Mosquito B.Mk.IVs of 105 Sqn departing the target area, following their successful strike on the Haus des Rundfunk.

En-Route by Anthony Saunders. Flying at altitudes as low as fifty feet, Lancasters of 617 Squadron follow the Dutch canals en-route to Germany - their target, the mighty Dams of the Ruhr - on the night of 16th / 17th May 1943. At such low level the pilots of many of the specially modified Lancasters found their flying skills tested to the extreme as they were forced to take violent evasive actions when they encountered flak, large electricity pylons and tall trees, but several of the gunners in the crews still managed to shoot up and damage a number of trains on the way.

Night Hunters by Anthony Saunders. In a desperate attempt to save what remained of the once-proud, now ruined city of Berlin, the remnants of the Luftwaffe's beleaguered night-fighter units fought boldly till the end. Short on fuel, spares and ammunition, the pilots of NJG11 faced the impossible task of protecting the shattered capital from the far-reaching arm of the RAF Bomber Command. As the climax of the inevitable defeat approaches, Leutnant Jorg Cypionka of 10./NJG11 engages a powerful incoming force of fast, high-flying RAF Mosquitos from 139 (Jamaica) Squadron (PFF) in one of his unit's few remaining ME262A jets. The Mosquito crews, however, know the dangers of these hotly contested skies over Berlin only too well. From the night of 20/21 February the aircraft of 139 Squadron will run the deadly gauntlet of flak and night-fighters on 36 consecutive night attacks on the city.

High Summer by Anthony Saunders. On the 9th September 1940, No.92 Squadron was thrown into the Battle of Britain. They had fought bravely during the evacuation of Dunkirk, and after a spell on convoy patrol, they were thrust into the desperate climax of the greatest air battle in history. Flying Spitfires from Biggin Hill, they immediately went into action attacking massive Luftwaffe bomber formations and their escorting Me109s. Southern England was under severe threat, but the impact of 92 Squadron was immediate. During the next four months, its young pilots brought down no fewer than 127 enemy aircraft. This painting by Anthony Saunders portrays Spitfires from No.92 Sqn as they successfully engage an Me109 over the harvested fields of southern England, in August 1940. The desperate action of aerial combat is beautifully captured in this compelling and accurate reconstruction of a famous fighter squadron at war.

Return of the Hunters by Anthony Saunders. Omaha Beach, June 1944. Throughout the early morning of 6th June 1944, men of the US 29th Infantry Division had fought their way yard by yard across the bloody shingle of Omaha Beach. Thrown off course by worsening weather, they had finally landed near the village of Saint Laurent-sur-Mer, only to run into withering defensive fire - the strong German opposition was unexpected. It was the same on most sectors of 'bloody Omaha' beach that morning. But, showing unparalleled levels of bravery and determination, the US infantrymen finally prevailed and within days the scene on the beach was a hive of activity as 'Mulberry A' - one of two giant artificial harbours that had been towed across the Channel - was erected off this once-deadly beach. The two Mulberries - one American, one British - were a mammoth feat of engineering, each the size of Dover harbour and containing over 334,000 tons of concrete, ballast and steel. And yet they took a mere seven days to assemble. Only one, however, was to survive because, on 19th June, a violent storm swept up the Channel destroying the American Mulberry. The painting shows a pair of RAF Typhoons from No.245 Sqn over the American Mulberry. They race back to their base in Hampshire to refuel and rearm after delivering a blistering rocket attack on German positions behind the ever-widening Normandy beachhead.

Final Briefing by Anthony Saunders. RAF Scampton: 16 May 1943 20.55 hrs. Everyone at Scampton suspected that something big was about to happen. The crews of the recently formed 617 Squadron, hand-picked by their CO Wing Commander Guy Gibson, had been training hard for weeks and the rumour on the grapevine suggested it might be the Tirpitz they were after. But then, late in the afternoon of 16 May 1943 came the call over the station tannoy that they had all been waiting for: 'All crews of 617 Squadron to report to the briefing room - immediately.' The buzz of excited conversation dropped into silence as Gibson addressed them, and the secret was shared: their small force was about to attack the major dams of western Germany. It was what they had been waiting for and they would go that night. Final Briefing is the first in Anthony Saunders' pair of prints to commemorate the 70th Anniversary of the Dambuster Raid and depicts the moment at dispersal as Guy Gibson readies his crew to climb inside their waiting Lancaster - AJ-G 'George'. A red flare will soon curl skywards, burning brightly against the sun's fast-fading rays; it is the signal to start engines and at 21.39 G-George will get airborne, leading the first wave of three aircraft. For the crews of 617 Squadron the weeks of intensive training were now over - Operation Chastise was underway.

Gauntlet by Anthony Saunders. Portsmouth August 26th 1940, the lone spitfire of Squadron Leader Sandy Johnstone breaks the ranks and picks off one of the menacing Heinkels only to encounter an equally determined attack from a BF109. We were brought to readiness in the middle of lunch and scrambled to intercept mixed bag of 100+ Heinkel IIIs and DO 17s approaching Portsmouth from the South. The controller did a first class job and positioned us one thousand feet above the target. with the sun behind us, allowing us to spot the raiders from a long way off. No escorting Messchersmitts were in sight at the time, although a sizable force was to turn up soon after. then something strange happened. I was about to give a ticking off to our chaps for misusing the R/T when I realised I was listening to German voices. It appeared we were both using the same frequency and, although having no knowledge of the language it sounded from the monotonous flow of the conversation that they were unaware of our presence. as soon as we dived towards the leading formation, however we were assailed immediately to loud shouts of Achtung Spitfuern Spitfuern! as our bullets began to take their toll. In spite of having taken jerry by surprise our bag was only six, with others claimed as damaged, before the remainder dived for cloud cover and turned for home. In the meantime the escorting fighters were amongst us when two of our fellows were badly shot up. Hector Maclean stopped a cannon shell on his cockpit, blowing his foot off above the ankle although, in spite of his grave injuries, he managed to fly his spitfire back to Tangmere to land with wheels retracted. Cyril Babbages aircraft was also badly damaged in the action. forcing him to abandon it and take to his parachute. He was ultimately picked up by a rescue launch and put ashore at Bognor, having suffered only minor injuries. I personally accounted for one Heinkel III in the action (Sandy Johnson) . No. 602 City of Glasgow auxiliary squadron was a household name long before WWII began. It had been the first auxiliary squadron to get into the air in 1925, two of its members, Lord Clydeside and David McIntyre were the first to fly over Mount Everest in 1933: the squadron sweeped the board in gunnery and bombing in 1935, beating the regular squadrons at their own game. It was the first auxiliary Squadron to be equipped with Spitfire Fighters as far back as March 1939 and it was the first squadron to shoot down the first enemy aircraft on British soil. The squadron moved south from Drem airfield in East Lothian on August 14th 1940 to relieve the already battered no. 145 squadron at Westhampnett, Tangmeres satelitte station in Sussex. The squadron suffered 5 casualties during the battle. The squadron remained at Westhampnett until December 1940 to be replaced by no. 610 auxiliary airforce squadron. No 602 squadron itself remained active up until 1957 when it was put into mothballs.

The Breach by Anthony Saunders. The Möhne Dam: 17 May 1943, 00.49 hrs. The journey had been eventful, flying low they had crossed the Dutch coast and headed inland, skimming along canals and the countryside at tree-top height and meeting heavy flak at various points along the route. Yet now the first two waves of Lancasters had reached the Möhne Dam and, as the enemy flak opened up, the six aircraft began to circle their target. First Gibson in AJ-G attacked, his bomb exploding successfully, 'Hoppy' Hopgood crashed after being hit by gunfire, and then 'Mick' Martin in Lancaster AJ-P made his bomb run, yet despite being hit twice, the dam still held. Next Gibson called in 'Dinghy' Young in AJ-A, he too scored a direct hit but it seemed the dam was still un-breached. Things were looking bad as David Maltby in AJ-J made his run into the target but the top of the wall was starting to crumble. Young's bouncing bomb had in fact cracked the dense granite wall and Maltby finished the job with a direct hit - the Möhne Dam was doomed. The second in Anthony Saunders' pair of Dambuster 70th Anniversary commemorative paintings, The Breach depicts the scene as Guy Gibson engages enemy flak positions whilst Lancaster AJ-J, with pilot David Maltby at the controls, banks steeply away after delivering the coup-de-grace. A huge explosion and towering pillar of water marks the breach where a vast torrent begins to flood the valley below.

Merlin Chorus by Anthony Saunders. The Battle of Britan - 13th August 1940. Fresh from a successful action over a marauding group of Me110s and Me109s attempting to raid port facilities at Portland during the Battle of Britain, Spitfires of 152 Squadron return to their base at Warmwell to refuel and rearm. As the distinctive sound of their Merlin engines echoes around Lulworth Cove, one of the Spitfires - hit during the engagement - is starting to smoke. Thankfully all will land safely, ready to continue the bitter struggle while Goerings Luftwaffe begin to intensify their attacks as they try to gain air superiority during one of the most decisive battles ever fought.

Eismeer Patrol by Anthony Saunders. On the morning of 11th March 1943, Fw190s from IV./JG5 took off from their base to escort the mighty battleship Tirpitz and a screening fleet of escort destroyers and torpedo boats, at the start of a voyage north to Bogen Bay during Operation Rostock. Designed to escape the increasingly frequent British bombing raids, Tirpitz would leave southern Norway to join an impressive German naval battle fleet gathering near Narvik, one of the largest German naval bases in Norway. Together with the Scharnhorst, the heavy cruiser Lutzow, and the light cruiser Nurnberg, they would pose a grave threat to the Arctic convoys. After repeated attempts to sink her, Tirpitz was eventually destroyed by the RAF at her anchorage in Altenfjord, 12th November 1944.

Return of the Pathfinders by Anthony Saunders. Never had there been an aircraft like the de Havilland Mosquito; constructed almost entirely of wood with two Merlin engines bolted under each wing it could outrun any other piston-engine fighter in the world. Only when the Luftwaffe's Me262 jet came on the scene did the enemy have anything of such speed but, unlike the Me262, the Mosquito - nicknamed the 'Wooden Wonder' - was perhaps the most versatile aircraft of World War II. Allied squadrons operated Mosquitos in a huge number of roles including both day and night-bombers, night-fighter, as a ship-buster with Coastal Command, bomber support, photo-reconnaissance and, thanks to its speed and manoeuvrability as one of the finest intruders of the war. Mosquitos carried out some of the most dangerous and daring low-level pinpoint precision strikes ever seen and, of course, as part of the RAF's elite Pathfinder force. Formed in 1942 and led by the inspirational Don Bennett, perhaps the finest navigator in aviation history who became the youngest Air Vice-Marshal in the RAF, the Pathfinders were Bomber Command's specialist target-marking squadrons who, flying ahead of the main bomber force, located and identified their assigned targets with flares. Return of the Pathfinders depicts the Pathfinder Mosquitos of 139 (Jamaica) Squadron, a unit that had joined Bomber Command's No 8 (Pathfinder) Group in July 1943. Dawn breaks over a crisp, icy landscape in a burst of colour that illuminates the Mosquitos as they follow the course of the River Great Ouse on their return to RAF Upwood after a long overnight trip to Germany in early 1944. During a period that began on the night of 20 / 21st February 1944 this particular squadron undertook a series of 36 consecutive night attacks on Berlin.

Approach to the Möhne Dam by Anthony Saunders. With the threat from Hitler's increasingly belligerent regime growing, minds within Britain's Air Ministry had already identified potential targets should the unthinkable happen and war with Germany become a reality. The list included the great dams of western Germany, some of the largest in the world. On 9 September 1939 Hitler's armies invaded Poland and, as Britain once again found herself at war with Germany, plans to attack the dams became a reality. Three were chosen as primary targets; the Möhne, Eder and Sorpe dams which between them controlled the vast supplies of water to the factories and manufacturing industries of the Ruhr. If these dams could be destroyed, the beating heart of industrial Germany would be dealt a heavy blow. But there were problems; the range and dam defences were too great for a low-level attack by existing aircraft and commando raids were thought suicidal, with little chance of success. Barnes Wallis, however, had an idea - a cylindrical 'bouncing bomb' codenamed Upkeep - a mine designed to skip across the surface of the water clearing the torpedo nets, and explode against a dam wall at a depth that would cause maximum destruction. To deliver his weapon, however, would require men of extraordinary flying skills, and an aircraft big enough for the job. By March 1943 all the criteria had been met; Upkeep was ready and tested, a new special squadron numbered 617 had been formed under Wing Commander Guy Gibson, and Avro's mighty Lancaster bomber was up to the task. On the evening of 16 May 1943, after weeks of intensive training, Gibson led the first wave of bombers away from RAF Scampton and set course for the Möhne dam. The Dambuster raid had begun. Following three attempts and the tragic loss of one aircraft the dam still held; it is now the turn of Flight Lieutenant David Maltby at the controls of Lancaster AJ-J to press home his attack. With Mick Martin drawing the enemy's fire to port and Guy Gibson to starboard, Maltby holds his aircraft steady and true as bomb aimer John Fort releases their Upkeep mine. The time was 00.49hrs on the morning of 17 May 1943 and the mine bounced to perfection, hit the target, sank, and detonated against the already damaged stone wall. Immeasurable pressure forced water through the groaning, already cracking blocks of granite until the dam could stand no more. The wall shuddered and then surrendered. 'There was a breach 100yds across,' Gibson wrote later, 'and the water, looking like stirred porridge in the moonlight, was gushing out and rolling into the Ruhr valley....'

Thunder in the Ardennes by Anthony Saunders. P-47 Thunderbolts of the 509th Fighter Squadron, 405th Fighter Group, pass low over paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division advancing through heavy snow during the Battle of the Bulge, January 1945. Major Robert 'Blackie' Blackburn, in his distinctive aircraft Chow Hound, leads his unit as they head out on a morning low-level bombing mission. In the early hours of 16th December 1944, out of nowhere, hundreds of panzers and thousands of troops poured forward as Hitler launched the last great German offensive of the war and, for once, the Allies had been wrong-footed. The thinly-held Ardennes was the last place they had been expecting a counter-attack, but now three German armies were heading west across an 80-mile front. Caught off guard the Americans rushed in reinforcements, including the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions encamped near Reims, over a hundred miles away. Exhausted by the fighting in Holland during Operation Market Garden, they had been sent to Reims to recuperate. They never got the chance. Thrown into the thick of the action the 82nd helped to blunt the Germans' advance to the north, whilst at Bastogne, a pivotal town further south, the 101st, surrounded, out-numbered and besieged, refused to surrender. The line held and three days before Christmas the panzers ground to a halt, stalled by lack of fuel. As the weather improved the Allies could now bring their airpower into play. Hitler's last gamble had failed.

Final Roster by Anthony Saunders. On the evening of 5th June 1944, at a dozen airfields across southern England, more than 13,000 American paratroopers prepared themselves for a mission that would change the course of history. The next morning these brave young men found themselves at the forefront of the bitter fighting to secure the right flank of the Normandy beach-head. The odds against them were huge and, if they failed, the American amphibious landings on Utah and Omaha beaches would face disaster - the destiny of the US First Army rested squarely on the shoulders of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions.

Maltese Falcons by Anthony Saunders. Depicting Spitfires of No.229 squadron as they pass over Malta in 1942, a tribute to the young pilots, regarded as the saviour of an Island.

Gathering Storm by Anthony Saunders (GL) Mustangs of 434th Fighter Squadron head across the Channel. On 25th May 1944, pilots of the 434 Fighter Squadron flew their first combat mission. In the early hours of 6 thJune, D-Day, included in the 12,000 aircraft which flew cover, interdiction or other support missions were 434th pilots, some who flew three missions, returning to base long enough to refuel and rearm. Not until 29th July 1944 did the 434 Fighter Squadron down its first aircraft , when 1 Lt Arthur F. Jeffrey, one of the original six pilots assigned to the squadron, bagged an Me-163 Komet, a rocket-propelled interceptor. Over the next nine months squadron members flew bomber escort missions, attacked air fields and flew other missions as required, including support of beleaguered ground forces around Bastogne, Belgium, better known as the Battle of the Bulge. On 25th April 1945, pilots flew their last combat mission and 1 Lt Hilton O. Thomas shot down the last aircraft credited to an Eighth Air Force pilot - an Arado 234 Blitz, a jet-powered bomber. Of the four aces the from the 434th Fighter Squadron, three top aces evolved - Arthur F. Jeffery, Robin Olds and George W. Gleason.

Juno Beach by Anthony Saunders. As shells from the naval bombardment whistle overhead, and ground-fire crackles around them, a pair of Mk IXb Spitfires from 412 Canadian Squadron make a fast run over Juno Beach, in support of the Third Canadian Division storming ashore. By the end of the day more than 21,000 men had landed on Juno, the second most heavily defended of all the D-Day beaches, with the Canadians advancing further inland than any other Allied troops.