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Cranston Fine Arts Aviation Art and Artists World War Two Veteran Signatures UK and Commonwealth P Pottinger, Ron

Flying Officer Ron Pottinger

Called up in October 1939 he server with the Royal Fusiliers before transferring to the RAF. Joining No.3 Sqn at Manston in 1943 he flew Typhoons on patrols over the near continent, anti-shipping missions and escort duties for Mitchells, Marauders and Bostons, claiming and LeO451 and ditching in the River Blackwater with engine trouble. After re-equipping with Tempests in March 1944, he moved to Volkel in Holland flying in support of the Allied landings on D-Day before operating against the V-1 flying bombs, claiming 4 and 3 shared. On 1st January 1945 he was shot down by flak over Germany spending the remainder of the war in Stalag III-A in with Roland Bee Beamont.

Flying Officer Ron Pottinger - Signed Aviation Art

The Final Show by Robert Taylor. 2 editions. Both editions feature up to 6 additional signatures. £215.00 - £285.00

Text for the above items :

The Final Show by Robert Taylor. In May 1944 Wing Commander Roland 'Bee' Beamont led three squadrons of Hawker Tempests into operations for the first time. Flying from RAF Newchurch in Kent, one of the advanced landing grounds constructed in preparation for the invasion of France, they formed 150 Wing RAF. The far-sighted Beamont had almost single-handedly overseen the transformation of the Hawker Typhoon into the most potent ground attack aircraft of its day before turning his attention to its successor - the Tempest. With thinner wings, greater range, improved ailerons, a redesigned windscreen and all-round 'rear vision' canopy it was a significant improvement on the Typhoon. Through the last year of the war the unwavering pilots who flew these two mighty aircraft became the scourge of the German Army, blasting their way through armoured formations, destroying airfields, shipping, barges, bridges, trains, marshalling yards, rail hubs, anything to support the advancing British and Canadian armies as they battled their way through Belgium and the Netherlands towards the Rhine. And, as an increasingly desperate enemy fought back with V-1 'Doodlebug' flying bombs, the Typhoon and Tempest pilots destroyed those too - 150 Wing alone accounting for 638 V-1s destroyed. As the remnants of Hitler's once-fabled army collapsed under the onslaught, many high-ranking Nazis were faced with a choice - go down fighting or cut and run. Many chose to run, heading north to the Baltic coast with one aim in mind - a last-chance passage to neutral Sweden. The Tempest pilots of 150 Wing were amongst those tasked with stopping their escape. Some of the greatest pilots of the RAF flew this iconic aircraft and this painting depicts the final combat of the war for one such pilot - the legendary fighter Ace Pierre Clostermann. A Flight Commander with 3 Squadron, Clostermann is at the controls of his distinctive Tempest Le Grand Charles during a strafing raid against the heavily defended seaplane base at Grossenbrode, on the coast to the north of Lübeck. Having just destroyed two Dornier Do18 flying boats on the water, he now helps finish off a Bf109 and a Fw190 that have tried to pounce from above.