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A POWERFUL TRIBUTE TO THE ESCORT FIGHTER PILOTS OF THE USAAF EIGHTH AIR FORCE
ACE OF DIAMONDS
by Nicolas Trudgian
Don Strait, top scoring Ace of the 356th Fighter Group, flying his P-51D Mustang Jersey Jerk together with his pilots, intercept Luftwaffe Fw190swhile escorting B17 bombers on their way back from Germany in the winter of1944.
Fromthe day they began their aerial campaign against Nazi Germany to the end ofhostilities in 1945, the USAAF bomber crews flew their hazardous missions inbroad daylight. This tactic may have enabled better sighting of targets, andless danger of mid-air collisions, but the grievous penalty of flying daylightmissions over enemy territory was the ever present danger of enemy fighters.
Thoughheavily armed, the heavy bombers of the American Eighth Air Force were no matchagainst the fast, highly maneuverable Luftwaffe Me109s, Fw190s and Me 262 jetfighters, and without fighter escort they were sitting ducks. The 356th FighterGroup earned particular respect, gratitude, and praise from bomber crews forits escort tactics. They stuck rigidly to the principle of tight bomber escortduty and their presence was often being sufficient to deter enemy attack.
NicolasTrudgian’s powerful piece pays tribute to the escort fighter pilots of theUSAAF Eighth Air Force, and in particular to those who flew with the 356th, illustratingthe devastating speed with which these attacks were fought.
THESIGNATURES
Theprint is individually signed in pencil by by the artist and three of the toppilots from the 356th Fighter group, including top-scoring ace Donald Strait:
Lieutenant ColonelCHARLES E. BECK
CaptainCLINTIN DeWITT BURDICK
Major GeneralDONALD J. STRAIT
Published in 2003 this print is now long sold out and a great piece foraviation art collectors and autograph hunters alike.
ALSO AVAILABLE FRAMED & SHIPPED - Pleaseask for details
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Please note: The signatures on our pieces are not reproductions; they are original autographs, hand-signed by the veterans involved at the time of publishing.
