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Cranston Fine Arts Aviation Art and Artists World War Two Veteran Signatures UK and Commonwealth B Bardgett, William

Flight Lieutenant William Eddie Bardgett

With No.230 Sqn, flew Sunderlands against the Japanese. Volunteering for duty with the RAF, after training in Canada he crewed up at an OTU in Northern Ireland and eventually flew out to India to join 230 Squadron where he was '2nd Dickie' to Graham Stevens as Captain of Sunderland aircraft P for Peter. He was briefly re-assigned to another skipper when his Captain became ill, serving with Flight Lieutenant Alliot as part of a three aircraft detachment based to the island of Labaun which, after the Japanese surrender, was also home to P-51 Mustangs of the RAAF. Upon his former Captain's recovery, he was reunited with him at RAF Seletar in Singapore where they had earlier taken part in many repatriation flights together ferrying recently released POWs and wounded troops back to India for their trip home.

Flight Lieutenant William Eddie Bardgett - Signed Aviation Art

Tropical Duties by Richard Taylor. 4 of 5 editions available. 3 of 4 editions featuring up to 3 additional signatures are available. £2.00 - £395.00

Text for the above items :

Tropical Duties by Richard Taylor. On Wednesday 22nd June 1938 a new sound was heard over the humid streets of Singapore as four Bristol Pegasus radial engines heralded the arrival of the RAF's newest flying-boat. For the men of 230 Squadron gathering on the slipway at Seletar, the approaching aircraft looked formidable and even from a distance, they could spot the powerful array of .303 machine guns it possessed. 230 Squadron had been chosen as one of the first units to be re-equipped with the world's most advanced flying boat - the Short Sunderland. Richard Taylor's painting is a tribute to the outstanding Sunderland and the men who flew it in the Far East. As the sun beats down on tropical island anchorage a Mk III Sunderland from 230 Squadron unloads essential supplies at a forward base on an archipelago deep in the Indian Ocean. A second aircraft, breaking a patrol, prepares to land.

Sunderland Manufacturer : Short Built : 749

Sunderland The Short Sunderland, Patrol and Reconnaissance Flying Boat. normal crew level 10. maximum speed of 210mph for Mark I, 205mph Mark II and Mark III, and 213mph Mark V. ceiling 17,900 feet and range of 2110 miles (mk I) 2880 miles for Mark V. endurance in the air 13.5 hours. The Sunderland carries 1 .303 machine gun in the nose, (mark I) and four .303 browning machine guns in the Tail Turret. Also in the Mark II four Vickers .303 inch machine guns were used in the body positions. and four browning machineguns in the nose flanks in the Mark III. Maximum bomb load of 4960 lbs. Based on the design of the Civil Empire class flying boat. The Short Sunderland entered service with the Royal Air Force in June 1938 with 230 squadron. and by the end of the war, 20 squadrons of the Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force were equipped with Sunderland's. By the end of the production in 1946 a total of 749 were built, The roles the Short Sunderland played, mainly were in Maritime and anti Submarine duties, especially in the battle of the Atlantic, The Sunderland accounted for 58 U-Boats sunk or badly damaged. The Sunderland was also used in other theatres of the war and in the Mediterranean helped in the evacuation of troops from Crete and Greece, as well as helping in the evacuation of troops in Burma. The Short Sunderland remained in service with the Royal Air Force until 1959. used during the Korean War, The Berlin Air Lift, and during Operation Firedog, , The Malayan Emergency.

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Flight Lieutenant William Eddie Bardgett Squadron details

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