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| CLICK HERE FOR A FULL LIST OF ALL ANTHONY SAUNDERS PRINTS BY TITLE |
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Corporal Kenneth Lucas
Ken Lucas joined the RAF in June 1940, and trained as ground crew for bomber Command. He was sent first to 49 Squadron at RAF Scampton, before transferring to 617 Squadron upon its formation, Involved in all the major servicing of the aircraft before the raid including fitting the motors that drove the belt that spun the bomb, and attaching the critical lamps to the underside of the aircraft. Sadly, Ken Lucas passed away in January 2011.
| Corporal Kenneth Lucas - Signed Aviation Art Prints, Paintings and Drawings |
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| Text for the above items : |
Breaching the Möhne by Anthony Saunders. The Dambusters - Target X. Twenty minutes had passed and three Lancasters had attacked but there was still no sign of a breach in the Möhne Dam, the first of three primary targets for the newly-formed elite 617 Squadron under the command of Wg Cdr Guy Gibson. Gibson and Flt Lt 'Mick' Martin had made successful attacks but Flt Lt 'Hoppy' Hopgood, whose bomb bounced over the dam wall and exploded on the power station below, had been shot down by deadly flak. Now it was the turn of Sqn Ldr 'Dinghy' Young in Lancaster AJ-A. With Gibson and Martin heroically drawing enemy fire, Young's Upkeep 'bouncing bomb' was spot on target with Gibson later noting it made 'three good bounces' before detonating against the dam wall. It held but Gibson was feeling upbeat, he was sure he'd seen movement in the wall after the explosion and called up David Maltby to begin his attack. He, too, was successful, and just as Flt Lt David Shannon was about to begin his attack the dam disintegrated - the Möhne had finally been breached. 'There was a great breach 100 yards across' Gibson wrote later, 'and the water, looking like stirred porridge in the moonlight, was gushing out and rolling into the Ruhr valley...'. An hour later the Eder dam was also breached, but the operation was a costly, if stirring, success; of the nineteen Lancasters sent out from RAF Scampton, eight would never return; of the 56 aircrew aboard only two survived. To perpetuate the legend of the Dambusters, artist Anthony Saunders has once again created a stunning work depicting the scene at 'Target X' - the codename originally given to the Möhne dam. Always a master of his craft, Anthony portrays 'Dinghy' Young's Lancaster AJ-A as he clears the dam wall moments after releasing his bomb. On his starboard side Guy Gibson, navigation lights ablaze, heroically draws enemy fire whilst below Young, the inferno created by Hopgood's bomb lights up the sky. Printed onto borders that were personally signed over many years, each copy carries the authentic autographs of six highly-regarded veterans who took part in Operation Chastise on the night of 16 / 17 May 1943. Since signing, most have sadly passed away giving even greater meaning to this print release which provides both aviation art and Dambuster enthusiasts a remarkable collector's piece to be cherished. |
Low Pass Over the Möhne Dam by Anthony Saunders. Operation Chastise, the plan to destroy the mighty Ruhr dams, was bold, audacious and dangerous. It was also set to become one of the most legendary combat missions ever undertaken in the history of aviation warfare. In late February 1943 a unique decision was taken by the RAF to form the now legendary 617 Squadron, a highly specialised unit within Bomber Command. Its task was to be the destruction of the huge Möhne, Sorpe and Eder dams, which provided vital services to German industry. Tasked with providing the crews for this new squadron was the young, outstanding, bomber and night-fighter pilot Wing Commander Guy Gibson, already a veteran of 174 bomber operations. On 21st March 1943 the unit was formed at RAF Scampton under his command, and the chosen men had just eight weeks to prepare for the task in hand. |
| Corporal Kenneth Lucas Aircraft details |
 Lancaster Manufacturer : Avro Built : 7377 | Lancaster The Avro Lancaster arose from the avro Manchester and the first prototype Lancaster was a converted Manchester with four engines. The Lancaster was first flown in January 1941, and started operations in March 1942. By March 1945 The Royal Air Force had 56 squadrons of Lancasters with the first squadron equipped being No.44 Squadron. During World War Two the Avro Lancaster flew 156,000 sorties and dropped 618,378 tonnes of bombs between 1942 and 1945. Lancaster Bomberss took part in the devastating round-the-clock raids on Hamburg during Air Marshall Harris' "Operation Gomorrah" in July 1943. Just 35 Lancasters completed more than 100 successful operations each, and 3,249 were lost in action. The most successful survivor completed 139 operations, and the Lancaster was scrapped after the war in 1947. A few Lancasters were converted into tankers and the two tanker aircraft were joined by another converted Lancaster and were used in the Berlin Airlift, achieving 757 tanker sorties. A famous Lancaster bombing raid was the 1943 mission, codenamed Operation Chastise, to destroy the dams of the Ruhr Valley. The operation was carried out by 617 Squadron in modified Mk IIIs carrying special drum shaped bouncing bombs designed by Barnes Wallis. Also famous was a series of Lancaster attacks using Tallboy bombs against the German battleship Tirpitz, which first disabled and later sank the ship. The Lancaster bomber was the basis of the new Avro Lincoln bomber, initially known as the Lancaster IV and Lancaster V. (Becoming Lincoln B1 and B2 respectively.) Their Lancastrian airliner was also based on the Lancaster but was not very successful. Other developments were the Avro York and the successful Shackleton which continued in airborne early warning service up to 1992. |
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