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Cranston Fine Arts Aviation Art and Artists World War Two Veteran Signatures United States C Curtis, Bob

Lt Col Bob Curtis

Bob Curtis arrived in North Africa in 1943, moving to Sicily soon after, flying Spitfires with the 52nd Fighter Group. He scored his first air victory over an Me109 flying his Spitfire, and later survived a bail out when his fighter was badly damaged after a building he strafed exploded beneath him. Moving across to the 15th Air Force, the 52nd Fighter Group re-equipped with the P-51 and Bob Curtis became a Squadron Commander. He added 13 more to his score flying the P-51, ending his war with 14 victories. He died on 31st March 2021.

Lt Col Bob Curtis - Signed Aviation Art

Sitting Duck by David Pentland. 4 editions. 2 of the 4 editions feature up to 5 additional signatures. £50.00 - £480.00

Dogfight over Asch, Belgium, 09.20 a.m., New Years Day, 1st January 1945 by David Pentland. 8 editions. 3 of the 8 editions feature up to 5 additional signatures. £2.90 - £2000.00

Clipped Signature - Bob Curtis. One edition. £45.00

Last One Home by Ivan Berryman. 14 editions. 7 of the 14 editions feature up to 4 additional signatures. £2.90 - £500.00

Mustangs Over the Mediterranean by Nicolas Trudgian. 5 of 6 editions available. 4 of 5 editions featuring up to 4 additional signatures are available. £2.00 - £200.00

Wounded Warrior by Richard Taylor. 5 editions. 4 of the 5 editions feature up to 12 additional signatures. £2.00 - £1065.00

Text for the above items :

Sitting Duck by David Pentland. Lake Schaal, Northern Germany, 18th September 1944. Squadron Leader Urban Drew of 375th Fighter Squadron leading a flight of 3 P-51 Mustangs caught and destroyed the giant BV 238 Flying boat prototype undergoing flight trials on Lake Schaal.

Dogfight over Asch, Belgium, 09.20 a.m., New Years Day, 1st January 1945 by David Pentland. As the four P51D Mustangs of Major William T Haltons Yellow Flight, 487th Fighter Squadron took off from Asch, they found themselves in the middle of a massive German attack. That New Years Day the Luftwaffe had launched hundreds of aircraft in low level raids against the allied airfields across Northern France and Belgium. The unexpected take-off by the 487th however, ended Jagdgeswader 11s chances of success, with Yellow Flight alone claiming 9 enemy aircraft destroyed.

Clipped Signature - Bob Curtis. Flew Spitfires with the 52nd Fighter Group based in Sicily, claiming an Me109. He went on to score more victories flying P-51 Mustangs, ending the war with a total of 14. He died in 2021.

Last One Home by Ivan Berryman. A pair of P51D Mustangs of the 361st Fighter Group, 8th Air Force, escort a damaged B17G Flying Fortress of the 381st Bomb Group back to its home base of Ridgewell, England, during the Autumn of 1944.

Mustangs Over the Mediterranean by Nicolas Trudgian. Mustangs of the 31st Fighter Group pass low over an Italian fishing village, heading out on another combat patrol.

Wounded Warrior by Richard Taylor. Like many other missions they had undertaken in the summer of 1944, this one had been particularly cold, tough and dangerous for pilot Harry Seip and the crew of B17G Silver Meteor. The First Lieutenant and his men had set out on that morning, 11th July 1944, from a peaceful Framlingham, on another arduous mission to Munich. With their bomb load dropped the crew headed for home, but the battle-scarred Fortress had been hit more than once, leaving the inner port engine shot out and Silver Meteor had steadily dropped behind the fast-disappearing bomber stream. Things were not looking good for Harry and his crew as the Luftwaffe fighters circled like sharks, closing in for an easy kill. Luckily the enemy pilots were not the only ones that had spotted the ailing Fortress. The P-51s of two of the best Aces in the Eighth Air Force - Bud Anderson and Kit Carson - had also seen the danger and came tearing out of the blue sky into the action. Within minutes the German pilots had fled and the crew of Silver Meteor could breathe a sigh of relief. With these two legendary Aces guiding them home, Harry and his men would survive to fight another day. Harry Seip is now the last surviving member of the crew of Silver Meteor. This remarkable event has lived vividly in his memory since the war and he has always been thankful to Bud Anderson for saving his life and those of his men. Unfortunately, these two outstanding heroes have never been able to meet, but thanks to this new edition both can finally come together to add authenticity to this remarkable story by personally signing this poignant edition.

Mustang Manufacturer : North American

Mustang The ubiquitous North American P-51 Mustang, which many consider to be the best all-around fighter of WW II, owes its origins to the British Air Ministry. Following Britains entry into WW II in 1939, the RAF was interested in purchasing additional fighter aircraft from American sources, particularly the Curtiss P-40. Curtiss, which was busy, was unable to guarantee timely delivery so the British approached North American Aviation as a possible second source for the P-40. North American chose to propose its own fighter design which would use the same Allison engine as the P-40. Utilizing new laminar flow wings, the North American fighter was expected to have performance better than the P-40. Developed in record time the new aircraft was designated as a Mustang I by the Brits, whereas the USAAF ordered two for evaluation which were designated XP-51 Apaches. Intrigued with the possibility of using this aircraft also as a dive bomber, North American proposed this to the USAAF which decided to order 500 of the P-51 aircraft to be modified for dive bombing use. Designated as the A-36 Invader, this version of the Mustang utilized dive flaps, and bomb racks under each wing. Some reinforcing of the structural members was also required because of the G-forces to be encountered in dive bombing. A-36s entered combat service with the USAAF prior to any P-51s. In early 1943 the 86th and 27th Fighter Bomber Groups of the 12th Air Force began flying A-36s out of Northern Africa. Despite some early problems with instability caused by the dive flaps, the A-36 was effective in light bombing and strafing roles. It was not, however, capable of dog fighting with German fighters, especially at higher altitudes. Despite these drawbacks one USAAF pilot, Captain Michael T. Russo, who served with the 16th Bomb Squadron of the 27th Fighter Bomber Group, was credited with five confirmed aerial victories in the A-36, thereby becoming the first mustang ace.

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Spitfire Manufacturer : Supermarine Built : 20351

Spitfire Royal Air Force fighter aircraft, maximum speed for mark I Supermarine Spitfire, 362mph up to The Seafire 47 with a top speed of 452mph. maximum ceiling for Mk I 34,000feet up to 44,500 for the mark XIV. Maximum range for MK I 575 miles . up to 1475 miles for the Seafire 47. Armament for the various Marks of Spitfire. for MK I, and II . eight fixed .303 browning Machine guns, for MKs V-IX and XVI two 20mm Hispano cannons and four .303 browning machine guns. and on later Marks, six to eight Rockets under the wings or a maximum bomb load of 1,000 lbs. Designed by R J Mitchell, The proto type Spitfire first flew on the 5th March 1936. and entered service with the Royal Air Force in August 1938, with 19 squadron based and RAF Duxford. by the outbreak of World war two, there were twelve squadrons with a total of 187 spitfires, with another 83 in store. Between 1939 and 1945, a large variety of modifications and developments produced a variety of MK,s from I to XVI. The mark II came into service in late 1940, and in March 1941, the Mk,V came into service. To counter the Improvements in fighters of the Luftwaffe especially the FW190, the MK,XII was introduced with its Griffin engine. The Fleet Air Arm used the Mk,I and II and were named Seafires. By the end of production in 1948 a total of 20,351 spitfires had been made and 2408 Seafires. The most produced variant was the Spitfire Mark V, with a total of 6479 spitfires produced. The Royal Air Force kept Spitfires in front line use until April 1954.

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Lt Col Bob Curtis Squadron details

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