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Some other related items available from this site. | ||||
  HMS Courageous by Randall Wilson |   Channel Dash Heroes by Philip West. |   The Channel Dash by Ivan Berryman. |   Attack on the Scharnhorst by Ivan Berryman. | |
| 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 |
 Hauptgefreiter Wilhelm Luer *Signature Value : £30 Editions signed : Luer signature edition of 100 prints from the signed limited edition of 1150 prints. Signature Special edition of 10 prints. | Luer, Wilhelm (Hauptgefreiter Wilhelm Luer) Joining the Kriegsmarine in 1939 he served aboard Z26 in the Artic Ocean, Z29 in the North Atlantic and Z32 before joining the crew of U-249 as a Torpedo Observer. Serving from around the North Atlantic to the Bay of Biscay, U-249 was responsible for shooting down a Mosquito in March 1945 before surrendering to British forces on 9th May 1945 after the war had ended. As a PoW he then spent time in three different camps in America. |
  Matrosen Obgefreiter Wilhelm Alsen (deceased) *Signature Value : £40 Editions signed : Signature Special edition of 10 prints. | Alsen, Wilhelm (Matrosen Obgefreiter Wilhelm Alsen (deceased)) Willi Alsen joined the Kriegsmarine on 1 October 1940, his first ship was the cruiser Koln. On 1 March 1941 he was posted to join the battleship Scharnhorst and as a Seaman 1st class he was one of the ship's starboard gunners, serving a 2cm four-barrel anti-aircraft gun. He was also trained as an aircraft recognition specialist. During his service he was awarded the Iron Cross II class. Willi Alsen was the last of the thirty-six men who survived the sinking of the Scharnhorst to be rescued. He served the remainder of the war as a Prisoner of War. Any photos of him signing our prints etc were taken in April 2010 during a signing session when a representative of Cranston Fine Arts went to meet him. Alsen died on 22nd July 2012. |
  Major Erich Rudorffer (deceased) Died : 2016 *Signature Value : £70 Editions signed : Signature Special edition of 10 prints. | Rudorffer, Erich (Major Erich Rudorffer (deceased)) Erich Rudorffer was born on November 1st 1917 in the town of Zwickau in Saxony. Erich Rudorffer joined the Luftwaffes I./JG2 Richthofen in November 1939, and was soon flying combat patrols in January 1940 and was assigned to I/JG 2 Richthofen with the rank of Oberfeldwebel. He took part in the Battle of France, scoring the first of his many victories over a French Hawk 75 on May 14th, 1940. He went on to score eight additional victories during the Battle of France and the Battle of Britain. Rudorffer recalled an incident in August 1940 when he escorted a badly damaged Hurricane across the Channel - ditching in the English Channel was greatly feared by pilots on both sides. As fate often does, Rudorffer found the roles reversed two weeks later, when he was escorted by an RAF fighter after receiving battle damage. By May 1st 1941 Rudorffer had achieved 19 victories, which led to the award of the Knights Cross. In June 1941 Rodorffer became an Adjutant of II./JG2. In 1942 Rudorffer participated in Operation Cerberus (known as the Channel Dash) and flew over the Allied landings at Dieppe. Erich Rudorffer along with JG2 was transferred to North Africa in December 1942. It was in North Africa that Rudorffer showed his propensity for multiple-victory sorties. He shot down eight British aircraft in 32 minutes on February 9th 1943 and seven more in 20 minutes six days later. After scoring a total of 26 victories in Tunisia, Rudorffer returned to France in April 1943 and was posted to command II./JG54 in Russia, after Hauptmann Heinrich Jung, its Kommodore, failed to return from a mission on July 30th 1943. On August 24th 1943 he shot down 5 Russian aircraft on the first mission of the day and followed that up with three more victories on the second mission. He scored seven victories in seven minutes on October 11th but his finest achievement occurred on November 6th when in the course of 17 minutes, he shot down thirteen Russian aircraft. Rudorffer became known to Russian pilots as the fighter of Libau. On October 28th 1944 while about to land, Rudorffer spotted a large formation of Il-2 Sturmoviks. He quickly aborted the landing and moved to engage the Russian aircraft. In under ten minutes, nine of the of the II-2 Sturmoviks were shot down causing the rest to disperse. Rudorffer would later that day go on and shoot down a further two Russian aircraft. These victories took his total to 113 and he was awarded the Oak Leaves on April 11th 1944. Rudorffer would on the 26th January 1945 on his 210th victory receive the addition of the Swords. In February 1945 Rudorffer took command of I./JG7 flying the Me262. He was one of the first jet fighter aces of the war, scoring 12 victories in the Me262. He shot down ten 4-engine bombers during the 'Defense of the Reich missions'. He was the master of multiple scoring - achieving more multiple victories than any other pilot. Erich Rudorffer never took leave, was shot down 16 times having to bail out 9 times, and ended the war with 222 victories from over 1000 missions. He was awarded the Knights Cross, with Oak Leaves and Swords. Erich Rudorffer died on 8th April 2016. |
| Squadrons Related to This Print |
| No.825 Sqn |
| Aircraft Related to This Print |
| Swordfish |
| Ships Related to This Print |
| Gneisenau |
| Scharnhorst |
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This website is owned by Cranston Fine Arts. Torwood House, Torwoodhill Road, Rhu, Helensburgh, Scotland, G848LE Contact: Tel: (+44) (0) 1436 820269. Email: cranstonorders -at- outlook.com |
Signature(s) value alone : £30
Signature(s) value alone : £140