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Cranston Fine Arts  Landscape Art and Artists Countries England Other Places  Beachy Head |
[UP] - Beachy Head - Cautley Spout - Lulworth Cove - Marsden Bay - Robin Hood's Bay - Salisbury Plain - The Needles |
| Beachy Head Landscape Art Prints, Paintings and Drawings |
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| Text for the above items : |
F/Lt J R Baldwin by Ivan Berryman. F/Lt (later Wing Commander) Baldwin was to become the highest-scoring Typhoon pilot of all with 15 confirmed victories, one shared, one probable and four damaged. He is depicted here downing a Bf.109 in Typhoon 1B, DN360 (PR-A) of 609 Sqn over Beachy Head. |
This Sceptred Isle by Robert Taylor. For nearly a thousand years the white cliffs of southern England had taunted many a foreign army. These fortress walls of chalk, however, were defended by the moat-like waters of the Channel, and together they had shielded the British from her enemies. Alongside Drake they had defied the armies of Spain and her great Armada and, in 1805, had halted the march of Napoleon's Grand Armée. No enemy force since that of William the Conqueror in 1066 had successfully managed to cross the Channel in anger but, in May 1940, one of the most powerful armies the world had ever seen arrived at Calais. An invasion by Hitler's all-conquering Wehrmacht was imminent - or so it seemed. To cross the Channel and breach the English defences, the Luftwaffe simply had to gain control of the skies, and with massively superior numbers the outcom seemed inevitable. The fate of Britain lay in the hands of less than 3,000 young airmen from Fighter Command - Churhill's 'Few'. By July the most famous air battle in history was underway and, over the next three months under tranquil summer skies, the 'Few' battled to defend their Scpetred Isle. Impossibly outnumbered and flying daily to the point of exhaustion, by October these courageous young men had snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, emerging defiantly victorious. The threat of invasion might be over but a terrible price had been paid - during that long battle for the survival of Britain 544 had been killed and 422 wounded; and of those who survived a further 814 would be killed before the end of the war. This painting pays tribute to the valiant 'Few', portraying a fleeting moment of calm for the pilots of 74 (Tiger) Squadron during the height of the Battle of Britain. With his commanding officer Sailor Malan (ZP-A) to his right, Acting Flight Lieutenant John Freeborn (ZP-C) takes time to reflect on another day of intense combat while passing over the white cliffs and the familiar lighthouse at Beachy Head, as the squadron cross the English coast to head for home. |
Combat Over Beachy Head by Nicolas Trudgian. Mickey Mount, flying his 602 Squadron MkII Spitfire, successfully attacks a Messerschmitt Me109 low over the cliffs of Beachy Head on the south coast during the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940. Spitfires and Me109s were so evenly matched at this early point in the war that the outcome of such contests were usually decided by the skill of the competing pilots. |
The Guardians by Philip West. Legendary Hurricane pilot Flight Commander Pete Brothers (32 Sqn) and his wingman, having just taken off from Biggin Hill, proceed to gain height over the White Cliffs of Dover in search of the fighters and bombers of the Luftwaffe. By the end of the war Pete Brothers had amassed 875 operational hours over a 44-month period. He was credited with having personally shot down 16 enemy aircraft and damaged many more. |
The Longest July by Ivan Berryman. Posted to 64 Squadron on 1st July 1940, the tragically short relationship of Sub Lt F Dawson Paul with the Spitfire was crammed with victories. He immediately shared a Dornier Do17 off Beachy Head and, just four days later claimed a Messerschmitt Bf.109. Further kills were confirmed over the next two weeks, among them five Bf.110s and another Do.17. His final victory was a Bf.109 on 25th, but on this day he fell to the guns of the German ace Adolf Galland. Dawson Paul was rescued from the English Channel by a German E-boat, but died of his wounds five days later as a prisoner of war. |
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