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Clipped Signature - Geoffrey Womersley. - Cranston Military Prints

Clipped Signature - Geoffrey Womersley.


Clipped Signature - Geoffrey Womersley.

Flew biplanes then Whitley bombers with No.102 Sqn, bailing out while supporting the British Expeditionary Force but getting back to England. After 30 sorties he became an instructor before joining No.156 Pathfinder Sqn flying Wellingtons then Lancasters. Leaving the RAF in 1945 with a DFC and DSO, he became an airline pilot until retirement in 1968. He died in 2010.
Item Code : CLP0987Clipped Signature - Geoffrey Womersley. - Editions Available
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Clipped Signature.
Great value : Value of signatures exceeds price of item!
Womersley, Geoffrey

Died : 2010
Group Captain Geoffrey Womersley DSO DFC (deceased)
Geoffrey Harland Womersley was born on the 19th November 1914 at Bingley, Yorkshire. Geoffrey went to Bradford Grammar School and in 1936 joined the RAF and trained as a pilot at the RAFs flying school in Egypt. Geoffrey Harland Womersley joined No.102 Squadron flying biplane bombers. The squadron was re equipped with the Whitley bomber. Immediately after the outbreak of war he dropped propaganda leaflets over German cities and bombed the German seaplane bases on Heligoland and Sylt. On th
Signature Value : £50
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Some other related items available from this site.

Bill Townsend's Lancaster O for Orange, returns safely on the morning of 17th May 1943 after the success of the daring raids on the dams of the Ruhr Valley.

'O' Safe Home by Ivan Berryman.		 Lancaster V-RA, with its young Canadian crew, flew just a handful of operations. On the night of June 12, 1944, it was set afire by a JU88, forcing the crew to bale out. Seeing the rear gunner trapped Pilot Officer Andrew Mynarski vainly braved the inferno to help, losing his parachute to the flames. He was forced to jump without it. Miraculously the burning Lancaster pancaked, and the rear gunner survived. Andrew Mynarski was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously. Mynarskis Lancaster is depicted setting out on that fateful night. Four of the crew members: Brophy, navigator Robert Bodie, radio operator James Kelly and pilot de Breyne were hidden by the French and, except for Brophy, returned to England shortly after the crash. Vigars and the wounded bomb aimer Friday were captured by the Germans and interned until they could be liberated by American troops. Pat Brophy joined French Resistance fighters and, after waging war on the ground behind enemy lines, made it back to London in September, 1944 where he learned of Mynarskis death. It was not until 1945 when Pat Brophy was reunited with Art de Breyne and the rest of the crew, that the details of his final moments on the aircraft were revealed. He related the story of the valiant efforts made by Mynarski to save him. <br><br><i>This print has some light handling damage to outer edge of border. If we sold framed prints, we would frame these up and sell them as new, the damage is so light. Instead we have reduced the price online to reflect the minor damage. <br><a href=https://www.military-art.com/mall/border-damage.php>Please click here for a list of all our stock in this category.</a></b><br><br>

Mynarskis Lanc by Nicolas Trudgian. 		>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. 		On the evening of 17th August 1943, a total of 596 aircraft of RAF Bomber Command, spearheaded by the Pathfinder Force, set out on what called for, and what became, the most precise bombing raid of the war. Success was vital. The target was a secluded research establishment near the remote Baltic town of Peenemunde. There, a group of top German scientists were developing the V-2 rocket projectile, with which Hitler hoped to devastate London and other major English cities. When Allied Intelligence discovered the plan, the RAF was allotted the task of destroying the installation at Peenemunde, whatever the cost. Brilliantly navigated in darkness right over the target, the masterbombers aircraft, seen in the forefront of this painting, made nine dangerous passes over the target, directing operations. During the next 55 minutes Hitlers secret weapon establishment was almost totally destroyed by the bomber crews that followed his directions. The raid was completed with great gallantry but at heavy cost, and is today remembered as one of the greatest achievements of the RAF. The painting shows Lancasters of No. 83 Squadron Pathfinder Force as they climb out over the east coast of England en-route for Peenemunde on the warm summer evening of 17th August, 1943.

Target Peenemunde by Robert 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 Geoffrey Womersley DSO DFC (deceased)
Died : 2010
*Signature Value : £50

Editions signed :

Clipped Signature.


Womersley, Geoffrey
(Group Captain Geoffrey Womersley DSO DFC (deceased))

Geoffrey Harland Womersley was born on the 19th November 1914 at Bingley, Yorkshire. Geoffrey went to Bradford Grammar School and in 1936 joined the RAF and trained as a pilot at the RAFs flying school in Egypt. Geoffrey Harland Womersley joined No.102 Squadron flying biplane bombers. The squadron was re equipped with the Whitley bomber. Immediately after the outbreak of war he dropped propaganda leaflets over German cities and bombed the German seaplane bases on Heligoland and Sylt. On the night of May 11 1940, however, Womersley flew on the RAFs first raid on a German town, when 37 aircraft bombed road and rail links at Monchengladbach. The squadron supported the British Expeditionary Force and on 22nd May, his aircraft was hit by flak. Womersley and his crew were forced to bail out. On the ground he inadvertently stumbled into a group of German soldiers. Turning round and striding off in the other direction, he eventually came across some British soldiers. From there he managed to get to Paris and on to the last flight to England from Le Bourget airport. Womersley would go on to complete 30 operations, before becoming a bombing instructor. In August 1942 Womersley volunteered for the new Pathfinder squadrons, joining No 156, one of the Forces original four squadrons. In his Wellington he attacked targets in Germany and in Italy, dropping flares to illuminate the targets. In January 1943, whilst still a junior flight lieutenant, he was awarded a DSO. The citation concluded: He has displayed outstanding ability and pressed home his attacks with unusual courage in the face of enemy fighter and anti-aircraft opposition. 156 squadron was re-equipped with the Lancaster and Womersley went on to complete 25 operations during the Battle of the Ruhr. A few months after receiving his DSO he was awarded a DFC. In April 1943 he joined the air staff at Pathfinder headquarters, working directly for its commander, Air Vice-Marshal Donald Bennett. Ten months later he took command of No 139 Squadron. Womersley was promoted group captain to command the Pathfinder airfield at Gransden Lodge near Cambridge, and flew a number of operations with the resident RCAF Lancaster squadron. He left the RAF in November 1945. Donald Bennett in 1946 established British South American Airways, whose civilianised RAF bombers flew routes to the Caribbean and South America. Womersley along with many other Pathfinder Pilots joined the company. British South American Airways went on to use the Avro Tudor, one of which was lost without trace in the Bermuda Triangle. On May 10th 1954, following the British South American Airways merger with BOAC, Geoff Womersley would go onto to fly a Comet into Rome airport, where another crew took over for the flight to London. Disaster struck when soon after take-off the aircraft suffered an explosive decompression and crashed into the sea off Elba - there were no survivors. Geoffrey remained with the airline until 1968, retiring as one of its senior Boeing 707 captains. Geoff Womersley died on October 28th 2010.
Squadrons Related to This Print
No.102 Sqn
No.156 Sqn
Aircraft Related to This Print
Lancaster
Wellington
Whitley

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