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  First Flap of the Day by Nicolas Trudgian. |   The Thoroughbred by Ivan Berryman. |   Freedom Fighters by Simon Smith. |   The Jaws of Victory 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 |
  Flight Lieutenant Richard L Jones (deceased) Died : 2012 *Signature Value : £45 Editions signed : Signed limited edition of 100 prints. Limited edition of 60 artist proofs | Jones, Richard L (Flight Lieutenant Richard L Jones (deceased)) Richard Jones was born in 1918 and in July 1940 Richard Jones was posted to 64 Squadron at Kenley, flying Spitfires. He was involved in heavy fighting over the Channel during the Battle of Britain, with the squadron suffering many losses during July and August. Towards the end of the Battle of Britain, in October, he moved to 19 Squadron flying Spitfires from Fowlmere, and was heavily involved in the fighter sweeps taking place at that time. Near the end of the Battle of Britain, Pilot Officer Richard Jones was shot down during a dogfight over Kent with Me 109s. Jones crash landed his Spitfire in a field, colliding with a flock of sheep - he would go on to write in his log book 'Crashed into a load of sheep. What a bloody mess!' After the Battle of Britain, Richard Jones became a test pilot for De Havilland at Witney in Oxfordshire, and test flew thousands of Hawker Hurricanes and other types, including civil types. After the war Richard Jones joined the RAFVR and started a long career in the motor industry. Sadly Richard Jones passed away on 7th March 2012. |
  Group Captain Billy Drake DSO DFC* (deceased) Died : 2011 *Signature Value : £55 Editions signed : Limited edition of 60 artist proofs | Drake, Billy (Group Captain Billy Drake DSO DFC* (deceased)) Joined the R.A.F. in 1936. His first posting was to 1 squadron flying Furies then Hurricanes and first saw action over France in the Spring of 1940 and was awarded his first DFC by the end of the year. As a Squadron Leader he was sent to West Africa to command 128 Squadron. 1942 saw his commanding 112 squadron in North Africa, in July saw an immediate BAR to his DFC and in December an immediate DSO. Posted to Malta as Wing Commander he won a US DFC in 1943. Back in the UK he now was flying Typhoons in the lead up to D-Day. With Pete Brothers he was sent to the States to attend the US Staff School at Fort Leavenworth. After the war he continued in the R.A.F. serving in Japan, Malaya, Singapore, Switzerland and his final posting as Group Captain RAF Chivenor, Devon. Retired in July 1963. Going to Portugal where he ran a Bar and Restaurant and dealing in Real Estate. In his flying career he accounted for more than 24 enemy aircraft. Sadly, Billy Drake passed away on 28th August 2011. |
| Sqn Ldr Douglas Tidy (deceased) Died : 2010 *Signature Value : £20 Editions signed : Limited edition of 60 artist proofs | Tidy, Douglas (Sqn Ldr Douglas Tidy (deceased)) Sqn. Ldr. Douglas Tidy was born in 1923. Claiming to be 18 in early 1940 he joined the RAF. Defective eyesight that was discovered (despite charts learned and magic white powder) ended his career as a tyro pilot and by the summer of 1941 he was in he Operations Room at Portreath in Cornwall, happily still with Spitfires, those of 66 and 130 Squadrons. By 1942 he was in his way to the Middle East, having flown on his first twin-engined aircraft, a Wellington of 38 Squadron, as a Wireless Operator. After an attachment to the Transjordan Frontier Force at Zerka, he joined 74 Squadron which was assisting B24s of the 98th Bomb Group, United States Army Air Corps at Ramat David in Palestine. He served under five Commanding Officers with 74 Squadron, before joining 244 Squadron with Blenheims at Sharjah in the Persian Gulf and later with Wellingtons on Masirah Island. From there he went to Aden and back to the UK with redundant aircrew to Mosquitoes at Haverfordwest. Sadly, we have learned that Douglas Tidy passed away on 14th April 2010. |
  Squadron Leader Geoffrey Wellum DFC (deceased) Died : 2018 *Signature Value : £55 Editions signed : Limited edition of 60 artist proofs | Wellum, Geoffrey (Squadron Leader Geoffrey Wellum DFC (deceased)) Joined the RAF with a Short Service Commission in August 1939. He joined 92 Squadron flying Spitfires in June 1940 at the time of Dunkirk. He flew throughout the Battle of Britain, later completing over 50 fighter sweeps and escorts over northern France and Belgium until August 1941. He then joined 65 Squadron as Flight Commander in March 1942 operating over northern France and flew off aircraft carrier HMS Furious on Operation Pedestal, to Malta. Geoff was a Flight Lieutenant during Operation Pedestal. He returned to the UK as a test pilot for Gloster Aircraft and finished the war as a Pilot Attack Instructor. Geoffrey was credited with three destroyed, four probables and several damaged and was awarded the DFC in July 1941. Geoffrey Wellum died on 18th July 2018. |
 Squadron Leader Percival H. Beake DFC (deceased) Died : 2016 *Signature Value : £50 Editions signed : Limited edition of 60 artist proofs | Beake, Percival H (Squadron Leader Percival H. Beake DFC (deceased)) Joining the RAFVR in April 1939, Percival Beake was mobilised at the outbreak of war. Posted to 64 Squadron on Spitfires in the summer of 1940 at the height of the Battle of Britain, he flew with them until June 1941 when he was posted first to 92 Squadron at Biggin Hill, and then 601 Squadron at Duxford. After a spell instructing he returned for his second tour in December 1942, joining 193 Squadron as a Flight Commander. In May 1944 he took command of 164 Squadron at Thorney Island flying Typhoons, moving to France shortly after the Normandy Invasion. With two victories to his credit he was awarded the DFC in September 1944. Starting with 6th August 1944 my log book records that a successful attack was carried out on an enemy strong point in a quarry and that on the following morning I flew home on a very rare 48 hour leave. For a few days after my return we had only one specific target - an enemy dump which we effectively bombarded with rockets on 11th August - so we were deployed on armed reconnaissances. After landing from one of these on 13th August my Wing Commander, Walter Dring, called me to his caravan and said - Beaky, you have just done your last op. You are not to fly again and that is an order, until returning to the UK. I am arranging for your relief as soon as possible. - I was absolutely stunned and my lasting memory of that period is not of carnage but of acute embarrassment at having been grounded. I just hated sending the squadron up without myself leading and remember making frequent calls to the met office hoping to get forecasts of filthy weather that would make operational flying impossible. In the event, my relief, Squadron Leader Ian Waddy, was shot down by flak within two or three days of taking over command, so maybe Wally Dring had some sort of premonition that prompted my grounding. Percival Beake died on 25th June 2016. |
 Flt Lt Frank Newman *Signature Value : £20 Editions signed : Limited edition of 60 artist proofs | Newman, Frank (Flt Lt Frank Newman) Flight Lieutenant Newman left O.T.U. to join 131 Squadron at Tangmere in time to participate in the closing months of the Battle of Britain. As the enemy activity diminished so the policy of Fighter Command turned to offensive sweeps over western France. By the end of 1942 the A.O.C decided to give the squadrons of 11 Group a rest from their intensive operations, so 131 Squadron was posted to northern Scotland to defend Scapa Flow naval base. This routine series of operations came to an end when Frank was chosen, together with a number of other experienced pilots, to form a fighter wing for the invasion of North Africa. My mid-1943 Rommel and the African Corps had been swept out of Algeria and Tunisia by General Montgomery and the Eighth Army. After a short rest the Desert Air Force was heavily engaged in the invasion of Sicily and Italy. By this time Frank was transferred to join the already famous 92 Squadron where he was pleased to come under the command of such experienced pilots as Group Captain Brian Kingcome and Squadron Leader Neville Duke. For the next few months 92 Squadron was heavily involved in a twice-weekly patrol over the Anzio Bridgehead where they occasionally met small units of the Luftwaffe. It was at this point that the squadron was hoping to score its 300th enemy aircraft destroyed. This happened on the 17th February 1944 and it was time for a squadron celebration! The enemy continued to appear in small numbers and later in the year whilst leading a dusk patrol Frank Newman and his fellow pilots were able to add to this score so that by the end of the campaign the total score reached 317½ definitely destroyed and over 200 probably destroyed. Any further increase in this number of victories was made impossible when the squadron was switched to fighter/bombers in late 1944; for this, tactics were so different. Each Spitfire carried a 500lb bomb and was given a map reference for his target by the army ground force. After the war Fl. Lt. Newman was sent on a training course to be become a Test Pilot. Upon completion of the course he was appointed Test Pilot at the R.A.F.'s biggest maintenance units (132 M.U.) where he enjoyed the privilege of flying thirty-one different types of aircraft. |
| Aircraft Related to This Print |
| Spitfire |
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Signature(s) value alone : £45
Signature(s) value alone : £245