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Evening Reflection by Richard Taylor.
DHM1915. Evening Reflection by Richard Taylor. With soft evening sunlight radiant behind them, Hauptmann Wolfgang Ewald, Gruppenkommandeur of 1./JG52, leads a schwarm of Bf109s back to their base near Calais after another hectic encounter with pilots of RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain, September 1940. This evocative new painting pays a fitting tribute to the Luftwaffe pilots that fought during this crucial period in history. Signed by Major Hans-Ekkehard Bob
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Major Erich Rudorffer. Signed limited edition of 325 prints . Paper size 25.5 inches x 22 inches (65cm x 56cm)
Website Price: £ 75.00
All prices are displayed in British Pounds Sterling
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| Signatures on this item | | Name | Info | 
Major Erich Rudorffer | Erich Rudorffer was born on November 1st 1917 in the town of Zwickau in Saxony. Erich Rudorffer joined the Luftwaffes I./JG2 Richthofen in November 1939, and was soon flying combat patrols in January 1940 and was assigned to I/JG 2 'Richthofen' with the rank of Oberfeldwebel. He took part in the Battle of France, scoring the first of his many victories over a French Hawk 75 on May 14th, 1940. He went on to score eight additional victories during the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain. Rudorffer recalled an incident in August 1940 when he escorted a badly damaged Hurricane across the Channel - ditching in the English Channel was greatly feared by pilots on both sides. As fate often does, Rudorffer found the roles reversed two weeks later, when he was escorted by an RAF fighter after receiving battle damage. By May 1st 1941 Rudorffer had achieved 19 victories, which led to the award of the Knights Cross. In June 1941 Rodorffer became an Adjutant of II./JG2. In 1942 Rudorffer participated in Operation Cerberus (known as the Channel Dash) and flew over the Allied landings at Dieppe. Erich Rudorffer along with JG2 was transferred to North Africa in December 1942. It was in North Africa that Rudorffer showed his propensity for multiple-victory sorties. He shot down eight British aircraft in 32 minutes on February 9th 1943 and seven more in 20 minutes six days later. After scoring a total of 26 victories in Tunisia, Rudorffer returned to France in April 1943 and was posted to command II./JG54 in Russia, after Hauptmann Heinrich Jung, its Kommodore, failed to return from a mission on July 30th 1943. On August 24th 1943 he shot down 5 Russian aircraft on the first mission of the day and followed that up with three more victories on the second mission. He scored seven victories in seven minutes on October 11th but his finest achievement occurred on November 6th when in the course of 17 minutes, he shot down thirteen Russian aircraft. Rudorffer became known to Russian pilots as the fighter of Libau. On October 28th 1944 while about to land, Rudorffer spotted a large formation of Il-2 Sturmoviks. He quickly aborted the landing and moved to engage the Russian aircraft. In under ten minutes, nine of the of the II-2 Sturmoviks were shot down causing the rest to disperse. Rudorffer would later that day go on and shoot down a further two Russian aircraft. These victories took his total to 113 and he was awarded the Oak Leaves on April 11th 1944. Rudorffer would on the 26th January 1945 on his 210th victory receive the addition of the Swords. In February 1945 Rudorffer took command of I./JG7 flying the Me262. He was one of the first jet fighter aces of the war, scoring 12 victories in the Me262. He shot down ten 4-engine bombers during the Defense of the Reich missions. He was the master of multiple scoring - achieving more multiple victories than any other pilot. Erich Rudorffer never took leave, was shot down 16 times having to bail out 9 times, and ended the war with 222 victories from over 1000 missions. He was awarded the Knight's Cross, with Oak Leaves and Swords.
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Erich Rudorffer signing the print - Fighter General - by Graeme Lothian |
Erich Rudorffer with artist Graeme Lothian and the original painting of Fighter General. |
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Major Hans-Ekkehard Bob | After success in the Battle of Britain, Hans-Ekkehard Bob took over leadership of 9./JG54 in 1940. The following year he was awarded the Knight's Cross. Transferring to the Eastern Front his victories rose steadily to 50 by September 1942. His Group later transferred back to the West for a short period, where in April 1943, he rammed a B-17 Fortress. Returning to the Eastern Front as Kommander of IV./JG3, he ended the war as Adjutant of Galland's JV44 in the West. In his 700 missions he scored 60 victories.
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Hans-Ekkehard Bob signing the print - JV44 Kette of Swallows - by Graeme Lothian. |
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| Battle of Britain | |
| Battle of Britain After winning the Battle of France, the Luftwaffe sought to gain air superiority in the skies over Britain during the summer of 1940. The ensuing defence by the RAF against the onslaught of the Luftwaffe became known as the Battle of Britain. It was the first major campaign fought entirely by means of aerial combat. Initially, the Luftwaffe attacked shipping in the English Channel, and shipping ports such as Portsmouth and Plymouth. By August, they were concentrating their attacks on RAF airfields and ground installations. However, in a move that probably invited defeat for Germany in the battle, the Luftwaffe switched from bombing RAF targets to bombing major cities. This move allowed the airfields the time to recover and regroup, making the defence capabilities of Britain stronger. By the summer of 1940, the RAF had approximately 9,000 pilots and 5,000 aircraft, most of which were bombers. By the 1st of July, the Commander of Fighter Command, Marshal Hugh Dowding could provide just 1103 fighter pilots - which came from the regular RAF squadrons, the Auxiliary Air Force squadrons and the Volunteer Reserve. Replacement pilots with little flight training and often no gunnery training suffered high casualty rates. Meanwhile, the Luftwaffe comprised 1450 fighter pilots, many with experience from the Spanish Civil Wars just a few years earlier. During the Battle of Britain, the Luftwaffe used four primary bombers. These were the Heinkel He111, Dornier Do17 and Junkers Ju88 for level bombing, and the Junkers Ju87 Stuka dive bomber. These were escorted by Messerschmitt Me109 and Me110 fighters. Defending Britain against the Luftwaffe were the Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire squadrons of the RAF. While Britain successfully defended the air during the battle and repelled any invasion attempt by denying the Luftwaffe air superiority, losses were high on both sides of the battle. Between the official dates of the battle - 10th July to 31st October 1940 - 2936 fighter pilots took part n the battle on the British side, including 595 non-British pilots. These included 145 pilots from Poland, 127 from New Zealand, 112 from Canada, 88 from Czechoslovakia, 28 from Belgium, 32 from Australia, 25 from South Africa, 13 from France, 10 from Ireland, 7 from America, and 1 from each of Jamaica, Palestine and Rhodesia. The Allied losses were 544 aircrew killed, 422 wounded and 1547 aircraft destroyed, while the Luftwaffe lost 2698 aircrew killed, and lost 1887 aircraft. This key battle was considered the first crucial defeat for Germany. Had the Luftwaffe been successful in its aims, Germany could have invaded Britain, and had the invasion been successful, the outcome of the war could have been very different, with nowhere for the American Air Force to launch attacks on Germany from.
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