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Clipped Signature - James 'Willie' Tait. - Cranston Military Prints

Clipped Signature - James 'Willie' Tait.


Clipped Signature - James 'Willie' Tait.

Completed more than 100 sorties on bombers flying with No.51, No.35, No.10 and No.78 Sqn before taking command of No.617 Sqn, already famed for the Dambusters raid. He led the squadron on all three attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz, and received a third bar to his Distinguished Service Order - only one other person achieved this. He retired from the RAF in 1966. He died in 2007.
Item Code : CLP0212Clipped Signature - James 'Willie' Tait. - Editions Available
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Clipped Signature.
Great value : Value of signatures exceeds price of item!
Tait, J B Willie

Died : 2007
Group Captain J B Willie Tait DSO*** DFC* ADC (deceased)
One of Bomber Commands most outstanding leaders, James Brian -Willie- Tait was one of only two RAF officers who had the distinction of being awarded three Bars to his DSO, as well as a DFC and Bar. On the night before D-Day Tait was the 5 Group Master Bomber directing from the air the massed attack by Lancasters on the German defences in the Cherbourg peninsula. By then Tait had already flown more than 100 bomber sorties with 51, 35, 10 and 78 Squadrons. A Cranwell-trained regular officer, he wa
Signature Value : £40
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Covered in snow, an Avro Lancaster bomber is parked as a winter's dawn approaches at its squadron's airfield. A fitting tribute to the Avro Lancaster bomber of Bomber Command and all the crews that flew in this stalwart of the Royal Air Force bombing squadrons.

Unexpected Snow by Keith Woodcock.		 Walter Briegleb is shown in his Ju88 G.7 4R+BR as he stalks his prey - on this occasion a Lancaster. Flying below their target, his crew would aim upward firing cannon at the inner wing of the bomber, igniting the fuel tanks. For the bomber crews, they were very much defenceless against this type of attack, and often had no idea of the presence of an enemy aircraft in the dark.

Tribute to Walter Briegleb by Ivan Berryman. 		>During WW II ofjuly 1944, the RAF Bomber Command were planning yet another bombing raid, this time over Stuttgart in Germany. The no.514 Sq., based in Cambridgeshire, England, were one of the Lancaster Bomber Squadrons chosen for the mission. Flight Lieutenant THOMAS HARVELL was a member of the 7 man crew for Lancaster Bomber no.LM206 selected, (the crew being Flt Lt. Robert Jones, Flt Lt Thomas Harvell, Co-pilot, Flt Lt Kenneth Hedley, Loader, Bomb Aimer, Sgt George Robinson, Navigator (survived) Sgt Robert Lane, Air Gunner, Flt Sgt Frank Stanley Johns, Wireless operator, and Sgt Alfred Braine, Air Gunner.) He was flight engineer and co-pilot with II missions already behind him. The RAF carried out nearly all their raids at night. This was the night of July 28/29 1944 and they were on course in the vicinity of Neuf Chateau (S.WNancy) France. Suddenly they were attacked by a prowling Luftwaffe Nightfighter aircraft, which later proved to be a JUNKERS 88 flown by HEINZ ROKKER. The Lancaster shuddered on the first hit but continued flying. THOMAS HARVELL was moving to the back of the aircraft and had dropped window, (strips of foil) to confuse ground radar, when they were hit again. This time they lost an engine after an explosion and LM206 started to plunge earthwards. (The Merlin Engine can been seen today at the French Airforce museum, St.Dizier, Lorraine) FI.Lt. HOMAS HARVELL was literally blown out of the doomed Lancaster, hitting his head and becoming unconcious. As luck was on his side, he regained his senses whilst falling through the air and pulled his chute at the last minute. He landed heavily and injured his leg. The pilot and four other members of the crew perished but navigator George Robinson also managed to use his chute and was captured after landing, by the german occupation forces. George Robinson now lives in South Africa. The other five crew members are all buried at Neuf Chateau and their graves can be seen to this day. THOMAS HARVELL was able to evade capture and was found by a member of the FFI (French Resistance), who hid him in various hideouts. After being treated for his wounds by Dr.CORNU, a prominent surgeon of Neuf Chateau, several attempts were made to smuggle THOMAS HARVELL back to England without much success. It was decided, by the FFI, to make one last attempt and this time THOMAS HARVELL was given a bicycle and new identity papers. He was told to cycle in the direction of the Swiss border west of Besacon and make contact with the Daubs area FFI commander, JEAN LAPPRAND.It was decided it was too dangerous to cross the border at this time and as THOMAS HARVELL had already become a member of the French Resistance, he continued fighting the war side by side with his French Resistance colleagues. It was in this part of France, that he witnessed a trial of a double agent/traitor of the FFI, who was quickly executed by firing squad. At this point in time, OREST BILAK came into the picture. He was born in Ukraine and had joined the Ukranian Army in 1942. He had become a senior NCO officer when his whole battalion were ordered to join forces with a german SS unit. They had much fighting experience and took part in some very bloody battles. Some elements of the Ukranian people had, at first, welcomed the germans but this soon changed and sometime in 1944 many were deserting. This was the case with OREST BILAKs battalion who had just been ordered to march into the mountain stronghold of JEAN LAPPRAND and wipe them out. Instead they had killed their german SS commanders and after talks with JEAN LAPPRAND had fought on with the FFI including THOMAS HARVELL. Together they liberated the region including the town of PIERREFONTAINE, ahead of the advancing allied forces Sept. 1944. It could be said that THOMAS HARVELL was the only British serviceman who fought with the german SS without being called a traitor. Another RAF pilot, Paul Bell a canadian and THOMAS HARVELL were now able to make contact with the 711 US Army. After six weeks, including a ride in the Dakota of General Patch, they finally made it back to England. On his arrival, THOMAS HARVELL became an instructor/advisor until the end of the war. He later made a career in the British Police Force. He regularily travels to France to meet all his wartime colleagues and now lives in Southampton, England. OREST BILAK was demobilised in 1946. Around this time he met his future wife (in France) who was also Ukrainian and had been working during the war in underground factories for the germans. By pure chance they had both attended the same school in Ukrainia. After the war OREST BILAK made a career in the clothing industry They live in retirement at a small mountain village near Lyon, France. They have 10 grandchildren. He has also devoted much of his time and money for a childrens home, in France, for the underprivileged from Ukraine. Out of his battalion of 450 men, of those who survived, 230 stayed with the French Foreign Legion, some emigrated to Canada, USA and Australia. 116 returned to the Ukraine, only to be arrested and sent to a Siberian prison for 10 years and a further 10 years hard labour. OREST BILAK and his wife visited the Ukraine for the first time in 1994 and met some of their old colleagues. JEAN LAPPRAND remains, to this day, secretive about his time in the FFI. Without a doubt he was very lucky to survive the war, considering his responsibility and fame. After the war he had his own carpentry business and lives in retirement with his wife at Pierrefontaine in good health. After much research we were able to trace and find HEINZ ROKKER, the Luftwaffe pilot who shot down Lancaster LM 206. We had a remarkable reunion at Neuf Chateau on September 14th 1999, where Thomas Harvell and Heinz Rokker met for the first time. It was a civic event with official invitation from the town mayor. A visit was made to the cemetery where the five Lancaster crew members are buried and HEINZ ROKKER laid a wreath on behalf of the german Nightfighters Pilots Association. This was followed by a speech at the town hall. A magnificent feast finished the event at the restaurant next to DOMREMY.

Combat Over Domremy by Graeme Lothian. 		Guy Gibson leads the first wave of 617 Squadron's Lancaster bombers towards the German border and on to the Mőhne dam. After crossing the coast a fraction off course, Gibson adjusts his compass heading slightly and, as the unmistakable thunder of 12 cylinder Merlin engines at full throttle shatters the night, follows the course of a large canal where the owner of an ancient windmill, hearing the noise, hurries outside to witness the event. Nobody expected it to be easy. Nothing that the men of the recently formed 617 Squadron had faced before had ever been easy but, as Wing Commander Guy Gibson stood in front of them on the afternoon of 16th May 1943, they soon realised that the mission facing them would be the hardest - and most dangerous - they had ever faced. Their task that night was to destroy the mighty dams of Germany. For weeks they had been honing their skills of low-level flying, but until that final briefing in the operations room, only Gibson and a few top brass knew the objective. Tonight all their training would be put to the test. To evade enemy radar they would have to fly all the way to the Ruhr at tree-top height, and they must do so in complete radio silence. Once at the target they must launch their radical bouncing bombs - designed by Barnes Wallis - from a height of 60ft at exactly 230 mph. But to get there would require exceptional navigational skills and courage of the highest order. The breathtaking skill and courage displayed by the crews of 617 Squadron on the moonlit night of 16th / 17th May 1943 created a legend that remains undiminished.

On Course for the Möhne Dam by Richard Taylor.
Signatures on these products
*The value given for each signature has been calculated by us based on the historical significance and rarity of the signature and is for the unmatted version where available. Values of many pilot signatures have risen in recent years and will likely continue to rise as they become more and more rare.
NameInfo




Group Captain J B Willie Tait DSO*** DFC* ADC (deceased)
Died : 2007
*Signature Value : £40

Editions signed :

Clipped Signature.


Tait, J B Willie
(Group Captain J B Willie Tait DSO*** DFC* ADC (deceased))

One of Bomber Commands most outstanding leaders, James Brian -Willie- Tait was one of only two RAF officers who had the distinction of being awarded three Bars to his DSO, as well as a DFC and Bar. On the night before D-Day Tait was the 5 Group Master Bomber directing from the air the massed attack by Lancasters on the German defences in the Cherbourg peninsula. By then Tait had already flown more than 100 bomber sorties with 51, 35, 10 and 78 Squadrons. A Cranwell-trained regular officer, he was very much in the Cheshire mould: quiet, bordering on the introspective. He was to go on to command the legendary 617 Dambusters Squadron and lead it on one of its most famous raids which finally destroyed the German battleship Tirpitz. In July 1944 when Leonard Cheshire was replaced by Wing Commander J B Willie Tait, 617 Squadron discovered that it had acquired a Commanding Officer very much in the Cheshire mould. Quiet, bordering on introspection, Tait, who was a Cranwell-trained regular officer, had already flown over 100 bombing operations with 51, 35, 10 and 78 Squadrons before joining 617. Tait had also received a DSO and bar and the DFC. He was 26. In the best traditions of 617 Squadron, Tait wasted no time in adapting to the Mustang and Mosquito for low level marking. He appointed two new Flight Commanders including Squadron Leader Tony Iveson DFC. Although involved in many of 617 Squadrons spectacular operations, Taits name is always associated with the destruction of the Tirpitz. An earlier attack on the ship by the squadron on 15th September 1944 had caused severe damage but Tirpitz was still afloat. On 29th October the Squadron was frustrated on the second attack by cloud over the target. The final attack was launched in daylight on 12th November 1944. Leading a mixed force of 617 and 9 Squadron Lancasters, Tait achieved complete surprise and had the satisfaction of seeing the Tirpitz destroyed at last. He had led all three attacks. On 28th December 1944 Tait received a third bar to his DSO, becoming one of only two RAF men to achieve this distinction. It coincided with his leaving 617 Squadron. Tait served in the post-war RAF, retiring as a Group Captain in 1966. He died 31st May 2007.
Squadrons Related to This Print
No.10 Sqn
No.35 Sqn
No.617 Sqn
Aircraft Related to This Print
Lancaster

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