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Some other related items available from this site. | ||||
  Clipped Signature - Paddy Mahon. |   U-203 Under Cover of Darkness by Anthony Saunders. |   Wings Over Waikiki by Stan Stokes. |   Clipped Signature - John Cruickshank. | |
| 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. | |
| Name | Info |
 Sydney Hillier *Signature Value : £40 Editions signed : Limited edition of 50 artist proofs. Knights Cross Presentation Edition of 5 artist proofs. Signature edition of 250 prints from the signed limited edition of 1150 prints. Presentation edition of 2 prints. | Hillier, Sydney (Sydney Hillier) Sydney Hiller was a member of the crew of Catalina D for Donald of 270 Squadron. The squadron was based for most of the war at Freetown, West Africa. He was a member of the crew when his aircraft launched a surprise attack on u-boat U-515. |
 Alex Morrison *Signature Value : £35 Editions signed : Limited edition of 50 artist proofs. Knights Cross Presentation Edition of 5 artist proofs. Signature edition of 250 prints from the signed limited edition of 1150 prints. Presentation edition of 2 prints. | Morrison, Alex (Alex Morrison) Alex Morrison was a member of the crew of Catalina D for Donald of 270 Squadron. The squadron was based for most of the war at Freetown, West Africa. He was a member of the crew when his aircraft launched a surprise attack on u-boat U-515. |
  Otto Kretschmer (deceased) Died : 1998 *Signature Value : £80 Editions signed : Knights Cross Presentation Edition of 5 artist proofs. Kretschmer, Schulz Presentation Edition of 5 prints from the signed limited edition of 1150 prints. | Kretschmer, Otto (Otto Kretschmer (deceased)) Otto Kretschmer was born in May 1912, joining the navy in 1930, and transferring to u-boats in 1936. He was the Watch Officer aboard U-35 from 3rd November 1936 to 30th July 1937. He briefly took command of U-35 after the death of the Captain, Hermann Michahelles, assuming command until 15th August 1937, after which he was Watch Officer once again until 30th September 1937. During this time, U-35 was involved in the Spanish Civil WarHe was in command of U-23 at the outbreak of war in 1939, and had successful patrols with U-23 which included the sinking of HMS Daring, before taking command of U-99 in April 1940. In March 1941, Kretschmer was captured after scuttling U-99 due to damage suffered from depth charges from British destroyer HMS Walker. After his capture, Kretschmer was imprisoned until December 1947. Despite his capture early in the war, Kretschmers total tonnage sunk of over 273 thousand tons was enough to make him the top scoring u-boat Ace of the war. Kretschmer was awarded the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. Otto Kretschmer died 5th August 1998. |
  Karl-Friedrich Merten (deceased) Died : 1993 *Signature Value : £80 Editions signed : Knights Cross Presentation Edition of 5 artist proofs. | Merten, Karl-Friedrich (Karl-Friedrich Merten (deceased)) Karl-Friedrich Merten was born in 1905, joining the navy in 1928. After a ten year stint on warships and serving on the WW1 battleship Schleswig-Holstein during the attack on the Polish Westerplatte in Septmeber 1939, Merten joined the U-boat arm on 1st May 1940. He operated all over the world, patrolling in the Atlantic, the Caribbean and the Indian Oceans. U-68 was in the U-boat wolfpack Eisbar (Polar Bear) which in the course of a few weeks during September - October 1942 sank more than 100,000 tons of shipping off South Africa. In January 1943 Merten became the commander of the 26th U-boat Flotilla in Pillau. There the new U-boat crews received their final training before going to the front. In March 1943 Merten moved to the 24th U-Boat Flotilla in Memel where he also was the flotilla commander. This was the training flotilla for future Commanders. After Merten gave up command of U-68, the boat had 4 commanders during the next 15 months. On April 10th 1944 U-68 was sunk off Madeira, Portugal by aircraft from the carrier USS Guadalcanal. A lookout survived. The remaining 56 crew members went down with the boat. After the war Merten salvaged sunken ships in the Rhine river along with another famous former U-boat commander, Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock. Later he wroked in the shipbuilding industry. In his time commanding U-68 he sank 27 ships - over 170 thousand tons of shipping, making him the 7th most successful u-boat Ace. He was awarded the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves. Karl-Friedrich Merten died 2nd May 1993. |
 Hans-Gunther Lange (deceased) Died : 2014 *Signature Value : £70 Editions signed : Knights Cross Presentation Edition of 5 artist proofs. | Lange, Hans-Gunther (Hans-Gunther Lange (deceased)) Hans-Gunther Lange was born 28th September 1916. He joined the navy in 1937, gaining experience as an officer aboard the torpedo boat 'Jaguar' before transferring to u-boats in 1941 with U-431. In September1942 he commissioned U-711, commanding a total of eleven patrols, all of which were in Arctic waters, which included an unsuccessful attack on HMS Royal Sovereign - on loan to Russia as Archangelsk. In May 1945, Lange survived the sinking of U-711 spending the next three months in captivity. He had been awarded the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves on 29th April 1945, one month prior to being captured. He had sunk 4 ships with a total tonnage of over 15,000 tons. In October 1957 Lange joined the Bundesmarine. Here he took part in the construction of a new German U-boat weapon. For two years he commanded the 1 Uboatgeschwader and in January 1964 became commander of the entire U-boat force. Later he held several staff positions, ending his second naval career in 1972 as staff officer in the Marinedivision der Nordsee. In a branch of the German navy whose survival rate was calculated in days, Lange survived for over four years. He died on 3rd April 2014. |
  Georg-Wilhlem Schulz (deceased) Died : 1986 *Signature Value : £80 Editions signed : Kretschmer, Schulz Presentation Edition of 5 prints from the signed limited edition of 1150 prints. | Schulz, Georg-Wilhelm (Georg-Wilhlem Schulz (deceased)) Georg-Wilhelm Schulz was born in 1906, and joined the German Navy in 1933, transferring to u-boats in 1935. In January 1939, he took command of U-10, then U-64 in December of the same year, going on the u-boats first patrol in April 1940. Soon into the patrol, the u-boat was attacked and sunk by a Swordfish aircraft from HMS Warspite, with Schulz among the 38 survivors. Some months later he took command of U-124, undertaking several successful patrols before handing over command in September 1941, after which he took on a succession of training and staff positions. He was awarded the Knights Cross in April 1941. Georg-Wilhelm Schulz died 5th July 1986. |
 Air Chief Marshal Sir John Barraclough KCB, CBE, DFC, AFC (deceased) Died : 2008 *Signature Value : £45 Editions signed : Presentation edition of 2 prints. | Barraclough, John (Air Chief Marshal Sir John Barraclough KCB, CBE, DFC, AFC (deceased)) Joined the RAF in 1938 and flew continuously on maritime-air duties before and during the war in Coastal and overseas Commands on flying boats and landplanes with Nos. 209, 240 and 269 squadrons. During the war he operated initially from a Flying Boat depot ship in the Shetlands on reconnaissance over the North Sea and to Norway. He moved later to the West Coast for anti-submarine and onvoy escort duties before going overseas for the Madagascar campaign in the Indian Ocean where his squadron operated from bare island bases to secure the Cape route for our shipping after control of the Mediterranean had been lost. For a while he commanded the captured Italian airfield at Mogadishu before returning to the UK as Chief Instructor at the Flying Boat Operational Training Unit in Northern Ireland. In his career Sir John served in five operational Commands at home and overseas and spent time in Training Command as a wing commander at the world famous Central Flying School. Above squadron level he commanded two jet fighter stations and a maritime patrol group; interspersed with various staff appointments including that of Vice Chief of Defence Staff. Sir John has flown over 70 different aircraft types and in the early fifties made the first single-engined jet flight to South Africa from the UK. He died on 10th May 2008. |
  Flight Lieutenant John Cruickshank VC *Signature Value : £75 Editions signed : Presentation edition of 2 prints. | Cruickshank, John (Flight Lieutenant John Cruickshank VC) Joined the Territorial Army in April 1939 and was mobilized for active service at the outbreak of World War II. He served mostly in south east England. In July 1941 he transferred to the RAF for aircrew duties, undergoing pilot training with the US Navy at Pensacola, Florida and gaining his pilot's wings in June 1942. Following a short period with the RAF Ferry Command in Canada and further operational training in the UK he joined 210 Sqdn based at Pembroke Dock, South Wales and later Poole Bay, Dorset. As captain of a Catalina flying boat, he carried out Anti-U-boat patrols in the Bay of Biscay and the Eastern Atlantic Ocean until December 1943. During this period, he carried out a detachment to Gibraltar for similar duties. In early 1944 elements of his Sqdn were moved to Sullom Voe in the Shetland Islands for Anti U-boat duties and General Maritime Reconnaissance in northern waters. In mid July 1944, while on an Anti U-boat patrol west of the Lofoten Islands, they sighted and attacked a surfaced German U-boat. During the attack, the aircraft received extensive damage from the U-boat's armaments also suffering crew casualties. The aircraft remained airborne and returned to base. For this action three members of the crew were decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Distinguished Flying Medal, and the Victoria Cross. Following this episode, Cruickshank became tour expired and moved to staff duties at Headquarters, Coastal Command, Northwood, near London. He was released from active service in early 1946 and returned to a civilian occupation. |
 Flt. Lt. John Tattersall (deceased) Died : 2006 *Signature Value : £40 Editions signed : Presentation edition of 2 prints. | Tattersall, John (Flt. Lt. John Tattersall (deceased)) Made his first attempt at becoming a pilot by joining the waiting list for Pilots of Manchester Auxiliary Squadron. He joined the RAF as a clerk in 1940 and remustered Aircrew in May 1941 and by June was on his way to the US Naval Air Service Station, Pensacola, Florida as a member of the first group of students under the TOWER scheme. On his first day solo in October 1941 he crashed and woke up in hospital with a headache and scratched eyebrows. Eleven days later he was flying again and finally gained his wings in May 1942 on Catalinas. Returning to the UK he spent some time flying 'Oxfords' before being posted to 131 OTU, Loch erne, N. Ireland. In January 1943 he passed out as an aircraft Commander and joined 210 Sqdn at Pembroke Dock in February. He spent the next ten months (some 700 flying hours) flying over the Bay of Biscay on Anti-Sub operations including Leigh Leight operations, some convoy and naval co-operation. In January 1944, 210 Sqd. disbanded and he returned for a short spell to 131 OTU before being seconded to BOAC in April 1944. With BOAC he flew on the civil version of the Sunderland and 'c' class flying boats thence landplanes - Arginaut, Comet, Britannias (102 and 312) and VC10s retiring in 1973 to a ground job as Flight Crew Executive until May 1976. He died on 10th November 2006. |
 Flt. Lt. Ron Vaughan, DFC *Signature Value : £45 Editions signed : Presentation edition of 2 prints. | Vaughan, Ron (Flt. Lt. Ron Vaughan, DFC) Joined the RAFVR in December 1940 and trained as a pilot-cadet with the US Navy at Pensacola, Florida. After further Coastal Command training in the UK, he joined 10 OTU (detachment) at St Eval, Cornwall. The tour was completed, as a Whitley co-pilot, on U-boat patrols over the Bay of Biscay, between December 1942 and March 1943. After training for command on the Catalina, he joined 210 Sqdn at Sullom Voe, Shetland from June 1943 to October 1944. In October 1943, with all landing areas closed with fog, his Catalina, out of fuel, ditched in the Atlantic, west of the Shetlands. It had remained airborne for 22 hours and then survived, on the water, for a further 18 hours before the crew were rescued. The pigeon which had carried the SOS message to base, later received the 'Dicken Medal' (Animal VC) for flying over 60 miles, in fog, in nine hours! In May 1944, U-boat 394 was attacked in northern waters, without success. On 18th July 1944, U-boat 742 was sunk 180 miles west of the Lofoten Islands, off Norway. The Catalina was badly holed but managed to return to base, 500 miles in six and a quarter hours, on the port engine. F/Lt John Cruickshank had sunk U-361 on the previous day, from the same Arctic U-boat Flotilla. F/Lt Vaughan instructed on Catalinas in Northern Ireland and was then posted to India, yo join Catalina 240 Sqdn in Madras, and then until VJ Day with Liberator Sqdn 357 in Ceylon. He left the RAF in 1946 having flown Halifax 7, at Linton and Cranwell. He joined BOAC and captained many types of aircraft for 29 years before retiring in 1975. |
| Squadrons Related to This Print |
| No.270 Sqn |
| Aircraft Related to This Print |
| Catalina |
| Ships Related to This Print |
| U515 |
|
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Signature(s) value alone : £75
Signature(s) value alone : £305
