War Art of World War 2
Spitfire, RAF & Luftwaffe pictures, prints & airplane art gallery

War art of World War 2

This page features a tiny selection of some of the aviation and war art in our gallery. All our art displayed in our gallery is of high resolution, so that you may appreciate in part the quality of artwork displayed on Spitfire.com. To view a thumbnail catalogue for quicker browsing, click through from the individual artists featured on our artists page.

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SPITFIRE COUNTRY
Spitfire Mk1s of 603 Squadron return to Biggin Hill after morning combat during the Battle of Britain, August 1940. An Me 109E shot down the previous day awaits removal as rural life continues amid the beautiful Kent countryside.
Signed by: F/L Ludwik Martel KW** VM, W/C Peter Olver DFC, S/L Basil Stapleton DFC
Size:38'' X 23'
Price: 500 std prints £120 USD 175 25
Artist's proofs £170 USD 250
50 Remarques £265 USD 395
Artist's proofs and remarques carry the additional signature of Sir Archie Winskill KCVO CBE DFC* AE

A NEW LIMITED EDITION DEDICATED TO THE RAF PILOTS WHO FLEW THE GREAT

AERIAL CONTESTS OF THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN – CHURCHILL’S ‘FEW’.

Trevor Lay is a self taught artist who has a remarkable ability to render landscapes in a photographic format. His aeroplanes fly from the canvas in an almost three dimensional fashion. Soft usage of acrylics suit his subtle landscape hues. Note the classic triangle of composition, ''the golden section'' comprising the children, the car and the house. What a contrast between the innocence of the two children and the machine of war with its four Browning .303 machine guns and two Hispano 20mm cannon.
There have been many prints of the Spitfire, but once in a while, a superb image emerges that combines the beauty of aeronautical design and a classic pastoral English landscape. ''Coming Home'' is possibly one of the best!

last few500 Limited Edition prints, size 25'' x 19''. Price £35 last few

Spectacular full size framed (20'' x 30'') reproductions of this image printed on canvas.
The canvas edition is a true rendition of this spectacular image.
The Spitfire really is flying from the canvas!
(the canvas edition is a special ''one-off'' order available to special order only)
£275

SAFELY GATHERED IN
by
Trevor Lay

The two hay wagons and sheaves of corn spread across the field provide a subtle echo of the returning Lancaster’s wingspan and the layering of the lowering cloudbase emphasises the horizontal Lincolnshire landscape. This Lancaster and its two fellow craft behind have returned from a post D-Day daylight raid which in essence was often as dangerous if not more so than night raids, the threat of crack German fighter units always ever present. The corn is being gathered in ahead, hopefully, of the ominous threat of rain. The farmhand on top of the wagon holds aloft the last sheaf to indicate a full load; the afternoon sun catches it, golden and gleaming against the dark mauve of the sky behind. The second wagon will now be brought forward. To the seasoned hands, the work comes first, and the whole family is out to help, but the young boy cannot resist waving to the returning Lancaster. Beyond him, the tower of the local church rises above the distant fields- a symbol of rural stability for centuries. The Royal Air Force is taking the fight to the foe, but the farmer’s fight against time and the weather is just as important, if not more so. The bomber crews need to eat too…..

Signed by: artist only
Size: 24'' x 19''
Price: 250 standard prints £50

250 Bomber Command Association special edition
Price: £95
A donation of £10 per print sold will benefit the Bomber Command Association.

Please remember, Bomber Command lost over 12300 aircraft and 55000 men in WW2. 2002 is the 60th anniversary of Arthur Harris taking over the Command, the Lancaster entering service, (there were over 7000 of them) the first daylight raid using the Lancaster and the 1000 bomber raids.

Signed by:
Flight Lieutenant John Oliver Lancaster D.F.C., 40&12 Sqd. John Lancaster took part in the first 1000 bomber raid on Cologne, and flew 54 missions throughout the war. After the war he became a test pilot with Saunders Roe and flew the SRA 1 jet flying boat. In 1949 he joined Armstrong Whitworth and test flew the AW 52 "flying wing" . On 30th May 1945, he became the first pilot to eject from an aeroplane "in anger" using a Martin Baker ejector seat, as he rapidly departed an AW 52! Retiring from a flying career in 1984 Lancaster had amassed over 13000 hours flying 148 different types over 47 years.

Flight Lieutenant Alan Biffin 57 Sqd. Alan Biffin flew 19 missions, his last saw him crashing into the North Sea having caught a burst of flak returning home over the Dutch coast. he was picked up by an Air Sea rescue launch but had broken both ankles in ditching into the sea.

Squadron Leader Malcolm "Mac" Hamilton D.F.C. 619, 617 Sqd. "Mac" Hamilton joined 617 under the command of Leonard Cheshire, and was given Guy Gibson's old AJ-G aircraft to practice with! Amongst many targets were the Saumur Tunnel, the Dortmund-Ems canal and the Tirpitz.

Wing Commander Ernest Rodley D.F.C.* A.F.C. D.S.O. 97 & 128 Sqd. Ernest Rodley flew Manchesters in late 1941 and attacked the Scharnhorst Prinz Eugen and Gneisenau whilst in Brest harbour. The real baptism of fire took place 17th April 1942 with the infamous and daring low level Augsburg Raid with 44 Sqd from Waddington, he later took part in the famous Peenemunde raid 17th August 1943. In February 1945 he joined 128 Sqd at Wyton and did 7 trips to Berlin in Mosquitoes. In 1946 he joined British South American Airways flying Lancastians across the Atlantic. On 13th April 1950 he was checked out on the Comet jet airliner by John Cunningham and became the world's first jet endorsed Airline Transport Pilot's Licence holder, but only because he raced his colleague to the Air Ministry getting there first as he had a faster car...an Aston Martin! He retired from BOAC in 1968 as a Boeing 707 Captain, joining Olympic Airways 3 days later. He amassed an amazing 28000 flying hours!

Group Captain James "Willie" Tait D.S.O.*** D.F.C.* 10, 35, 78 617 Sqd. "Willie" Tait had a highly distinguished R.A.F. career that began in 1936 until his retirement. He flew Handley Page Heyfords then Whitleys with 10 Squadron. He flew Whitleys to Berlin in 1940. He joined 35 Squadron in February 1942 which was the first Squadron to accept the new Halifax bomber. He took command of 78 Squadron in July 1942. He is best remembered for his exploits with 617 Squadron and the bombing of the Tirpitz which 617 and 9 Squadrons sunk on 12th November 1944. By the end of the war he had flown over 100 sorties.

M.R.A.F. Sir Michael Beetham D.F.C. A.F.C. G.C.B. C.B.E. As a boy Michael Beetham saw the Battle of Britain unfold during his school holidays. This inspired him and he enlisted at 18 in May 1941. His first operational tour was with 50 Squadron during the winter of 1943/44. He joined 57 Squadron just as the war was finishing. Highlights of his post war career included the command of 214 Squadron flying Vickers Valiants, command of R.A.F. Khomaksar, Aden, Commandant of the R.A.F. Staff College, C in C R.A.F. Germany and 2nd T.A.F. culminating in more than 5 years as Chief of the Air Staff.

Flight Lieutenant Tony Iveson D.F.C. Iveson joined 616 Squadron at Kenley on September 2nd 1940 flying Spitfires, joining 92 Squadron a month later. He was commissioned in May 1942 and did his second operational tour with Bomber Command. He joined 617 Squadron in 1944 and amongst other sorties flew three against the Tirpitz including that of 12th November 1944 after which the Tirpitz sank.

Sir Michael Beetham is the President of the Bomber Command Association, and Tony Iveson is Chairman.

Full size replicas of the painting are available as canvas giclée prints measuring 20" x 30" fully framed for £275. A canvas giclée print of this image will sit beneath Lancaster S-Sugar in the Bomber Command Hall, R.A.F. Museum Hendon, London.

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