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Cranston Fine Arts Aviation Art and Artists World War Two Veteran Signatures UK and Commonwealth M Morewood, Roger

Wing Commander Roger Morewood

An uncle suggested to Roger Morewood that he should join the RAF so Roger did at the age of 17. Roger said : I was going be a pilot, that was the only reason to join. Roger trained to fly in a Tiger Moth biplane before joining 56 Squadron - regarded within the RAF as an elite unit - flying open cockpit Gauntlet fighters. The squadron were then re-equipped with Gloster Gladiators - the last RAF biplane - then the Hawker Hurricanes that would join Spitfires in fighting off Hitlers Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain. While serving with 56 Squadron Roger Morewood was assigned the dangerous role of long-range fighter sweeps over the coast of occupied France and Holland but left to help form 248 Sqn at Hendon with whom he served throughout the Battle of Britain flying Blenheims. Roger said: We had a few panic station alerts when we were scrambled. We wouldd be leaping into our aircraft with flying suits over our pyjamas as we tried to get into the air in a minute and a half. In July 1942 Morewood went to 9 OTU and later HQ Transport Command. After a long post-war career in the RAF he retired in 1957. Roger Morewood once said of his squadron: It was damned dodgy. We had a high loss rate on operations. And on one sortie - then aged 21 - he nearly met his maker : I flew across to Den Helder (Northern Holland) in a long-nosed Blenheim to look after this battleship at the entrance to the Zuiderzee. We flew round this thing and sure enough I saw some aircraft coming up. They were twin-engine bombers naturally - Messerschmitt 110s. That was a bit hairy. My two blokes (other pilots) shoved off in a hurry into a cloud, and there was me popping away until I ran out of ammunition. There was just me left. I realised there was no point chasing - I was not going to knock his wings off. So I started flying home. After making hardly any noise all flight the chap (navigator) in the back said you haveve got somebody on your tail now - you had better move swiftly. So I moved to left and right. We got a pretty hefty clobbering. His turret disappeared at the back. My poor navigator wore a tin hat and I dont blame him. He got a bullet half way through his armour. He was alright. I had a dreadful wound. If I shook my hand really hard I could get blood out of one finger. I was hit all over the place. We took dozens of bullets. The aircraft was ruined. That is all there was to it. We were still going home - even with the North Sea to go across. So I trundled off back and ditched the damn thing. Thank God it didnt blow up. We literally got away with it. It was the hairiest trip I ever did. On another occasion, Roger intercepted a German weather forecasting flying boat called Weary Willy : I was in a Beaufighter at this time. I flew upwind and had a shot at him downwind. Then all the guns jammed. So I pulled alongside him - not too close - and waved him good luck lad. Anyway he sank when he got back to Norway. That was that one finished. Flying from Shetland, his squadron attacked German shipping off Norway. Roger was rested and spent two years training new Beaufighter pilots but still managed to go on some operations, mainly attacking convoys off the coast of Holland. Roger Morewood said: job was to attack the flak ships, floating anti-aircraft batteries, so other Beaufighters could attack the cargo ships. It could be pretty hairy as 12 Beaufighters lined up to have a crack at the target. You wouldd see tracer shells from your mates plane whizzing over your head or underneath you. They were a bigger danger than the Germans Wing Commander Roger Morwood was posted to the Mediterranean where he contracted TB. He recalled: "In hospital, they treated you with whisky in milk and a pint of Guinness for breakfast, very primitive stuff." When the war ended and the RAF were scaled down, Roger continued to serve in various postings around the UK until 1947. after leaving the RAF Roger was recalled again as an instructor at the Central Flying School, but with the rank of flight lieutenant. He was posted to Edinburgh and then Glasgow University squadrons. finnaly leaving service in 1957. Wing Commander Roger Morewood notched up more than 5000 flying hours in 32 different types of aircraft. Roger Morewood died in early December 2014.

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Wing Commander Roger Morewood - Signed Aviation Art

Straggler's End by Ivan Berryman. 5 editions. All 5 editions feature up to 8 additional signature(s). £60.00 - £730.00

3 Squadron Hurricanes by Ivan Berryman. 7 editions. 5 of the 7 editions feature up to 4 additional signatures. £2.90 - £400.00

African Expedition by David Pentland. 4 editions. All 4 editions feature up to 4 additional signature(s). £75.00 - £480.00

Blenheim Mk.IVF of No.68 Sqn by Ivan Berryman. 5 editions. 2 of the 5 editions feature an additional signature. £2.90 - £700.00

Lucky 13 by David Pentland. 4 editions. All 4 editions feature up to 4 additional signature(s). £80.00 - £480.00

Tip of the Spear by David Pentland. 4 editions. 2 of the 4 editions feature up to 5 additional signatures. £56.00 - £460.00

Unhappy New Year by David Pentland. 4 editions. All 4 editions feature up to 6 additional signature(s). £56.00 - £460.00

Scramble by David Pentland. 4 editions. All 4 editions feature up to 2 additional signature(s). £60.00 - £440.00

Beurling's Day by Ivan Berryman. 3 of 4 editions available. All 4 editions feature up to 4 additional signatures. £60.00 - £280.00

Lost Over Dunkirk by Ivan Berryman. 3 of 4 editions available. All 4 editions feature up to 5 additional signatures. £85.00 - £430.00

41 Sqn Scramble by Ivan Berryman. 3 of 4 editions available. All 4 editions feature up to 4 additional signatures. £60.00 - £300.00

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Text for the above items :

Straggler's End by Ivan Berryman. Byron Duckenfield is recorded as having shot down a Stuka near Dover, but the exact circumstances are not clear. 501 Sqn did encounter Stukas in this area on a number of occasions - depicted here is a 501 Sqn Hurricane on the tail of a Ju.87.

3 Squadron Hurricanes by Ivan Berryman. Hurricanes of No.3 Squadron on patrol. MkIIc variants, characterised by the four Hispano or Oerlikon cannon housed in the wings. No 3 Sqn were engaged in night fighter activities during the Spring of 1941.

African Expedition by David Pentland. Tunisia, North Africa, 4th January 1943. At 1600 hours, eight Fw190s from JG2 were scrambled from Kairouan airfield to intercept enemy aircraft flying recon over the Sbeitla and Fondouk areas. The Allied formation came from Thelepte airfield and consisted of 6 Spitfires from the US 4th Fighter Squadron, 52 Fighter Group, and 6 Spitfires from the US 5th Fighter Squadron, 52nd Fighter Group, escorting 5 P-39s. The Fw190s were south of Ousseltia when air combat with the escorting Spitfires began. It was during this engagement that Staffelkapitan Oberleutnant Rudorffer Yellow 1 of 6/JG2 claimed 2 of the American Spitfires.

Blenheim Mk.IVF of No.68 Sqn by Ivan Berryman. Bristol Blenheim Mk.IVF of No.68 Squadron. The night-fighter squadron flew Blenheims from mid1941 to early 1942 before converting to Beaufighters. Aircraft WM-Z is shown in combat with a marauding Dornier Do17.

Lucky 13 by David Pentland. St Nazaire, France, 3rd January 1943. The Fw190A4 of Georg-Peter Schorsch Eder, 7/JG2, streaks past Meat Hound, a B17F of th 423rd Bomb Squadron, 306th Bomb Group en route to attack the U-boat pens at St Nazaire. Along with his Gruppenkommandeur Egon Mayer, it was Eder who pioneered the head on pass tactic against the Flying Fortresses. On this day he to achieve his thirteenth victory, and second B17. By the end of the war he had accounted for some 36 heavy bombers.

Tip of the Spear by David Pentland. Isle of Wight, England, 28th November 1940. Late in the afternoon, the Me109s of JG2 took off on a Frei Jagd or fighter sweep over southern England. At its head, and leading the Stabschwarm was the Geschwaderkommodore Helmut Wick, along with his wingmen Erich Leie, Rudolf Pflanz, and Erich Rudorffer. When RAF Spitfires were sighted Wick gave the order to engage and the staff flight pulled away to give battle - it was to be his final dogfight. In the ensuing battle, Wick, Pflanz, and Gunther Seeger each claimed a Spitfire, but Wick in turn was lost to the RAF.

Unhappy New Year by David Pentland. B78 Eindhoven, Holland, 1st January 1945. Major Heinz Bar, Kommodore of Jagdgeswader 3, bounces a flight of 438 Squadron RCAF Typhoons attempting to take off from Eindhoven airfield. His attack was merely the start of a massed attack by the entire JG3, some 60 aircraft, which were only several minutes behind him. Despite losing some 15 pilots killed or captured, the attack destroyed 44 aircraft on the ground, and 9 in the air, including 2 Typhoons by Major Bar. An additional 60 were badly damaged.

Scramble by David Pentland. Robrough, Southern England, August 1940. Pilots of 247 Squadron, tasked with defending Plymouth, race to their Gloster Gladiator IIs in response to an intruder alert. Originally stationed in the Shetlands the squadron had been sent south to support the hard pressed units of fighter command during the Battle of Britain.

Beurling's Day by Ivan Berryman. George Beurling's Spitfire Vc shooting down the Macchi 202 of Italian Faliero Gellis over Malta. The crippled aircraft had been hit in the engine and radiator, but he managed to crash-land it and survived as a prisoner of war. This was the same day that Beurling also shot down Italian ace Furio Niclot and a probable Messerschmitt Bf.109.

Lost Over Dunkirk by Ivan Berryman. Spitfire N3289 of F/O John Wilson was shot down over Dunkirk on 29th May 1940 by a Messerschmitt Bf109.

41 Sqn Scramble by Ivan Berryman. The Spitfire (EB-J, X4559) of Maurice Peter Brown takes to the air with his wingman.

Roger Morewood signing the print A Day for Heroes	Roger Morewood signing the print Ground Force

Beaufighter Manufacturer : Bristol Built : 5564

Beaufighter BRISTOL BEAUFIGHTER The Bristol Beaufighter was a Torpedo Bomber and had a crew of two. with a maximum speed of 330mph and a ceiling of 29,000 feet. maximum normal range of 1500 miles but could be extended to 1750 miles. The Bristol Beaufighter carried four 20mm cannon in the belly of the aircraft and upto six .303in browning machine guns in the wings. it could also carry eight 3 -inch rockets, 1605 lb torpedo or a bomb load of 1,000 lb. The Bristol Beaufighter first flew in July 1939 and with some modifications entered service with the Royal Air Force in July 1940. In the winter of 1940 - 1941 the Beaufighter was used as a night fighter. and in March 1941 the aircraft was used at Coastal Command as a long range strike aircraft. and in 1941, the Beaufighter arrived in North Africa and used as a forward ground attack aircraft. The Bristol Beaufighter was used also in India, Burma and Australia. A total of 5,564 Beaufighters were built until production in Britain finished in 1945, but a further 364 were built in Australia for the Australian Air Force

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Blenheim Manufacturer : Bristol Built : 4422

Blenheim The Bristol Blenheim, the most plentiful aircraft in the RAFs inventory when WWII began, was designed by Frank Barnwell, and when first flown in 1936 was unique with its all metal monoplane design incorporating a retractable undercarriage, wing flaps, metal props, and supercharged engines. A typical bomb load for a Blenheim was 1,000 pounds. In the early stages of the war Blenheims were used on many daylight bombing missions. On the day that war was declared on Germany, a Blenheim piloted by Flying Officer Andrew McPherson was the first British aircraft to cross the German coast and the following morning 15 Blenheims from three squadrons set off on one of the first bombing missions The Blenheim units operated throughout the battle, often taking heavy casualties, although they were never accorded the publicity of the fighter squadrons. The Blenheim units raided German occupied airfields throughout July to December 1940, both during daylight hours and at night. Although most of these raids were unproductive, there were some successes; on 1 August five out of 12 Blenheims sent to attack Haamstede and Evere (Brussels) were able to bomb, destroying or heavily damaging three Bf 109s of II./JG 27 and apparently killing a Staffelkapitän identified as Hauptmann Albrecht von Ankum-Frank. Two other 109s were claimed by Blenheim gunners. Another successful raid on Haamstede was made by a single Blenheim on 7 August which destroyed one 109 of 4./JG 54, heavily damaged another and caused lighter damage to four more. There were also some missions which produced an almost 100% casualty rate amongst the Blenheims. One such operation was mounted on 13 August 1940 against a Luftwaffe airfield near Aalborg in north-western Denmark by 12 aircraft of 82 Squadron. One Blenheim returned early (the pilot was later charged and due to appear before a court martial, but was killed on another operation); the other 11, which reached Denmark, were shot down, five by flak and six by Bf 109s. Blenheim-equipped units had been formed to carry out long-range strategic reconnaissance missions over Germany and German-occupied territories, as well as bombing operations. In this role, the Blenheims once again proved to be too slow and vulnerable against Luftwaffe fighters and they took constant casualties While great heroism was displayed by the air crews, tremendous losses were sustained during these missions. The Blenhiem was easy pickings at altitude for German Bf-109 fighters who quickly learned to attack from below. To protect the vulnerable bellies of the Blenheims many missions were shifted to low altitude, but this increased the aircrafts exposure to anti-aircraft fire. In the German night-bombing raid on London on 18 June 1940, Blenheims accounted for five German bombers, thus proving that they were better-suited for night fighting. In July, No. 600 Squadron, by then based at RAF Manston, had some of its Mk IFs equipped with AI Mk III radar. With this radar equipment, a Blenheim from the Fighter Interception Unit (FIU) at RAF Ford achieved the first success on the night of 2–3 July 1940, accounting for a Dornier Do 17 bomber. More successes came, and before long the Blenheim proved itself invaluable as a night fighter. One Blenheim pilot, Squadron Leader Arthur Scarf, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for an attack on Singora, Thailand, on 9 December 1941. Another bomber of No. 60 Squadron RAF was credited with shooting down Lt Col Tateo Katō's Nakajima Ki-43 fighter and badly damaging two others in a single engagement on 22 May 1942, over the Bay of Bengal. Katō's death was a severe blow to the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force.

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Gauntlet Manufacturer : Gloster

Gauntlet No profile available

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Gladiator Manufacturer : Gloster Built : 746

Gladiator GLOSTER GLADIATOR: A continuation form the Gloster Gauntlet aircraft the Gloster Gladiator (SS37) becoming designated the F.7/30 was named Gladiator on the 1st July 1935. The first 70 Gladiators had Under wing machine guns (Vickers or Lewis) before the browning became standard The first aircraft arrived at Tangmere airfield on in February 1937 to no. 72 squadron. at the outbreak of world war two a total of 218 Gladiators had been received by the Royal air force with a total of 76 on active service. They served also in the Middle eats and in 1940 when Italy joined the war was nearly the only front line fighter in the middle east. Between 1939 and 1941. the Gloster Gladiator flew in many war zones. flying in France, Greece, Norway, Crete Egypt Malta and Aden. The Aircraft claimed nearly 250 air victories. It stayed in front line duties until 1942, then becoming fighter trainer, and other sundry roles. It continued in these roles until the end of world war two. The Naval equivalent the Sea Gladiator a short service in the Middle east and European waters. A Total of 746 aircraft were built of these 98 were Sea Gladiators.. Performance. speed: 250mph at 17,500 feet, 257 mph at 14,600 Range 430 miles. Armament: Two fixed .3-03 browning machine guns

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Hurricane Manufacturer : Hawker Built : 14533

Hurricane Royal Air Force Fighter, the Hawker Hurricane had a top speed of 320mph, at 18,200 feet and 340mph at 17,500, ceiling of 34,200 and a range of 935 miles. The Hurricane was armed with eight fixed wing mounted .303 browning machine guns in the Mark I and twelve .303 browning's in the MKIIB in the Hurricane MKIIC it had four 20mm cannon. All time classic fighter the Hurricane was designed in 1933-1934, the first prototype flew in June 1936 and a contract for 600 for the Royal Air Force was placed. The first production model flew ion the 12th October 1937 and 111 squadron of the Royal Air Force received the first Hurricanes in January 1938. By the outbreak of World war two the Royal Air Force had 18 operational squadrons of Hurricanes. During the Battle of Britain a total of 1715 Hurricanes took part, (which was more than the rest of the aircraft of the Royal air force put together) and almost 75% of the Victories during the Battle of Britain went to hurricane pilots. The Hawker Hurricane was used in all theatres during World war two, and in many roles. in total 14,533 Hurricanes were built.

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Tigermoth Built : 8800

Tigermoth The Royal Air Force last bi-plane, which served as a trainer from 1932 to 1947. Its design remained nearly the same throughout its history, and was well constructed and able to do aerobatics. A total of 8800 Tiger Moths were built which included 420 Radio Controlled Pilotless Target aircraft. (The Queen Bee). For the Royal Air Force. It was also used for a short period during the first months of world war two for coastal reconnaissance. Maximum speed 109 mph, Ceiling 14,000 feet, and can remain airborne for three hours.

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Wing Commander Roger Morewood Squadron details

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