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Cranston Fine Arts  Aviation Art and Artists World War Two Veteran Signatures UK and Commonwealth B  Ball, Freddie |
Flight Lieutenant Freddie Ball MC
Flew P-47 Thunderbolts in Burma.
| Flight Lieutenant Freddie Ball MC - Signed Aviation Art |
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| Text for the above items : |
Thunder in the East by Richard Taylor. In Europe the tide of war was changing. The Allied invasion of Normandy had thrown the Germans back and the push to Berlin had begun, but in the Far East another invasion had taken place - this time by the Japanese. The fighter pilots of the RAF had become masters of the sky over Burma and after weeks of bitter fighting, air superiority was complete. The Japanese invasion had run out of steam and slowly, but inexorably, the Allies drove them back, fighting through the rains and floods in arduous conditions, strafing supply dumps and airfields, and divebombing enemy concentrations in unequalled precision strikes. One such strike was the operation to secure the Japanese-held Mingaladon Aerodrome near Rangoon on 20 October 1944, when a composite air force, made up of P-47 Thunderbolts from 261 and 146 Squadrons, carried out a low level attack on the vital Japanese stronghold. Richard Taylor's fabulous new painting, Thunder in the East, expertly captures all the fury of this bitter engagement. After completing his bombing attack Warrant Officer Thomas 'Lucky' Carter flying his distinctive P-47 'Pistol Packin' Mamma', engages Nakajima Ki-43 Oscars and Ki-44 Tojo's along with other Thunderbolts of the unit. In commemoration of the men who flew and fought in Burma, joining artist Richard Taylor in signing the whole edition are three RAF veterans that fought in the campaign, two that flew Thunderbolts in Burma and one of the vital ground crew that prepared the P-47s for this actual mission. A fitting tribute to all those that fought in the 'Forgotten War'. |
| Flight Lieutenant Freddie Ball MC Aircraft details |
 Thunderbolt Built : 15683 | Thunderbolt Alexander Kartveli was a engineer with Seversky Aircraft who designed the P-35, which first flew in 1937. With Republic Aviation Kartveli supervised the development of the P-43 Lancer. Neither of these aircraft were produced in large numbers, and neither was quite successful. However, the Republic Aviation P-47 Thunderbolt, also nicknamed the Jug, was quite a different story. The Jug was the jewel in Kartvelis design crown, and went on to become one of the most produced fighter aircraft of all time with 15,683 being manufactured. The P-47 was the largest and heaviest single seat fighter of WW II. The P-47 immediately demonstrated its excellent combat qualities, including speed, rate of climb, maneuverability, heavy fire power, and the ability to take a lot of punishment. With a wingspan of more than 40 feet and a weight of 19,400 pounds, this large aircraft was designed around the powerful 2000 HP Pratt and Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial engine. The first P-47 prototype flew in May of 1941, and the primary variant the P-47D went into service in 1943 with units of the U.S. Armys Eighth Air Force. The Jug had a maximum speed in excess of 400 MPH, a service ceiling in excess of 42,000 feet, and was heavily armed with either six or eight heavy caliber machine guns. With its ability to carry up to a 2,500 pound bomb load, the Jug saw lots of use in ground attack roles. Until the introduction of the N model, the P-47 lacked the long range required for fighter escort missions which were most often relegated to P-51 Mustangs or P-38 Lightnings. In his outstanding painting entitled Bridge Busting Jugs, noted aviation artist Stan Stokes depicts Eighth Air Force Jugs in a ground attack mission in the Alps in June of 1944. The top P-47 ace was Francis Gabreski who had flown with the 56th Fighter Group, the first unit to be equipped with the P-47. In August of 1943 Gabreski attained his first aerial combat victory (over an Fw-190) and by years end he had reached ace status with 8 confirmed victories. As Commander of the 61st Squadron, Gabreski continued to chalk up victory after victory, and on seven different occasions he achieved two victories during the same mission. However, in July of 1944 Gabreski damaged the prop on his Jug during a low level attack on an airfield near Coblenz. Forced to make a crash landing, he was captured and remained a prisoner of war until Wars end in 1945. Following the War Gabreski returned to military service with the Air Forces 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing in Korea. Flying the F-86 Sabre Jet, Gabreski attained 6.5 more aerial victories in 1951 and 1952 becoming an ace in two different wars |
| Flight Lieutenant Freddie Ball MC Squadron details |
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