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WW1 British Aviation Art Print List
Aviation Art Prints  Countries UK  World War One Print List |
[UP] - Aircraft Index - Squadron Index - World War One Print List |
World war One Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force Fighters and Bombers, These early Bi Plane and tri Planes flown by these young Courageous Pilots are shown in a large number of Signed Limited edition aviation art prints Shown listed here. Most of these are only available direct form our websites. |
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Oberleutnant Lothar Freiherr von Richthofen by Ivan Berryman. On the evening of 7th May 1917, a fierce battle took place involving aircraft of Jasta 11 and 56 Sqn RFC, the former led by the brother of the Red Baron, Lothar von Richthofen. As the sun dipped beneath the heavy clouds, most expected the dogfight to break off in the fading light, but an extraordinary duel between the RFCs Captain Albert Ball and Lothar von Richthofen broke out, the two aircraft flying directly at each other, firing continuously, then turning and repeating the manoeuvre. Lothars all red Albatross was damaged, but landed safely. Albert Balls SE5, however, was seen by observers to fall through the heavy cloudbase inverted, before crashing heavily, fatally wounding Ball. |
Tribute to William F Dickson by Ivan Berryman. 19th July 1918 - the Tondern raid, the first raid in history carried out from an aircraft carrier. Captain Dickson is shown in his Sopwith Camel 2F.1 departing HMS Furious just after 3am, and along with 5 other aircraft would successfully attack the German Zeppelin sheds at Tondern in Denmark. They destroyed two airships in their hangar, and the entire base was subsequently abandoned. 7 aircraft began the raid : one turned back with engine trouble, three landed in Denmark afterwards while another failed to return to the British fleet. Only Dickson and Captain B Smart ditched in the sea near the British ships and were recovered. For this raid, Dickson was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. He later moved to HMS Revenge and HMS Queen Elizabeth then flew on HMS Argus and was a test pilot at the Royal Aircraft Establishment. In World War Two he helped to plan the Allied invasion of occupied Europe. He remained in the RAF post war, retiring in 1959 as Marshal of the Royal Air Force. He died in 1987. |
Captain William Billy Bishop by Ivan Berryman. Undoubtedly one of the truly great Aces of the First World War, William Billy Bishop became celebrated for his technique of actively seeking out the enemy and bringing the fight to him, rather than the more usual practice of patrolling in search of enemy activity. An example of this was his single-handed attack on a German airfield in June 1917 when he destroyed not only a number of aircraft on the ground, but then successfully despatched another seven Albatross scouts that took off to engage him. For this action, he was awarded the Victoria Cross in August 1917 and his final tally when the war ended was 72 confirmed victories. He is depicted here in his Nieuport Scout B1566 in combat with a Pfalz D.III. |
Felixstowe F.3 by Ivan Berryman. By British standards, the colour schemes of many Felixstowe flying boats were unusually garish during the closing months of World War 1, but there was a simple logic to this choice of livery: A downed aircraft would be easily visible in a dark sea and even when in combat with its German counterparts, it could be easily identified, both by friendly aircraft and by ships below. F.3 N4258 sported this red and white chequerboard pattern, whilst others wore stripes or zig-zags, this example being based at Felixstowe Naval Air Station in the late Summer of 1918. |
A Hand of Aces by Ivan Berryman. Sopwith Camels of 45 Sqn, Istrana, are shown on an early patrol on a crisp morning in the Winter of 1917-18. B6238 was an aircraft shared by Lts E McN Hand and H M Moody, whilst B6354 was the mount of Lt J C B Firth. |
Flight Lieutenant Rutland and Assistant Paymaster Trewin Locate the German Fleet at Jutland, 31st May, 1916 by Ivan Berryman. Having spotted smoke on the horizon, Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty ordered that a floatplane be immediately launched from HMS Engadine to investigate. Without delay, Short 184 (serial No 8359) was airborne, but had to maintain a modest altitude due to the low cloud base. Flight Lieutenant Frederick Rutland (who would forevermore be known as Rutland of Jutland) and his observer G.S. Trewin, quickly spotted the German fleet, but found their radio transmissions to be jammed and, upon encountering engine problems, were forced to return to their tender where they were able to file their report. Sadly, an increasing swell made a further flight impossible and their report failed to be relayed to the British Fleet who continued their engagement with the Germans without the benefit of aerial reconnaissance. |
The Sky Warriors by Anthony Saunders. Sopwith Camel with 65 Squadron, on routine patrol, meet head-on with the unmistakable Albatross fighters of the German air force. |
Major John Gilmour by Ivan Berryman. With 39 confirmed victories to his credit, Major John Gilmour is also recognised as the joint highest scoring pilot on the Martinsyde G.100 Elephant, an unusual score given the poor performance of this aircraft in one-on-one combat. He was awarded the DSO, MC and 2 Bars during the course of his flying career and in 1917 was posted to 65 Squadron as Flight Commander flying Sopwith Camels. On 1st July 1918, he downed three Fokker D.VIIs, a Pfalz and an Albatros D.V in the space of just 45 minutes. In 1918 he was promoted to the rank of major and posted to command 28 Squadron in Italy, staying with the trusty Camel, but he did not add further to his score, although his final un-confirmed total may have been as high as 44. He is depicted here claiming his second kill on 24th September 1916 when he destroyed a Fokker E.1 whilst flying Elephant No 7284. |
James McCudden by Ivan Berryman. SE5As of B Flight, 56 Sqn led by James McCudden in the aircraft numbered B519, on patrol over the Western Front in 1917. |
Tribute to Leonard H Rochford by Ivan Berryman. Recording 18 individual victories plus another 11 shared with other pilots, Leonard 'Tich' Rochford scored most of his victories in the Sopwith Camel. However, under the stewardship of the more experienced Raymond Collishaw - who became the second highest scoring Candian Ace of the war - he flew his early missions with No.3 Naval Air Squadron in the Sopwith Pup. He had forced two Albatros down out of control in March and May 1917 before the victory depicted here on 7th July 1917. In Sopwith Pup N6162 he shared in the destruction of an enemy seaplane with 4 other pilots north of Ostend. He is one of the top 30 Commonwealth Aces of the war, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Distinguished Service Cross with Bar. He died in 1986 aged 90. |
William Leefe-Robinson by Ivan Berryman. Lieutenant Leefe-Robinsons BE2C, converted to single-seater night-fighter configuration, destroying the German SL11 over Hertfordshire on the night of 2/3 September, 1916. Robinson attacked the SL11 from below, raking it with incendiary fire, before turning and diving past the airship for another attack. As he did so, the airship exploded into flames and crashed into a field near Cuffley, killing all sixteen crew. For this action, Leefe-Robinson was awarded the VC. |
Fast and Furious by Stan Stokes. Thomas Sopwith was a distinguished British aviator who organized the Sopwith Aviation Company. Sopwith produced an aircraft which won the coveted Schneider Trophy race. With the start of WW I, Sopwith Aviation shifted its focus to military aircraft, and was to become one the major suppliers to both the Royal Air Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service. In October of 1914 two Sopwith Tabloids flew a 200-mile round trip strike against the airship sheds at Dusseldorf and Cologne. The Sopwith Strutter firmly entrenched Sopwith as a producer of quality-built aircraft. The Strutter was a precursor of the Sopwith Pup, which would serve as the Royal Navys first carrier aircraft. The first production Pup was delivered to the Royal Navy in 1916. Most Pups were powered by a 80-HP Le Rhone radial engine, which gave the Pup a top speed of 115-MPH and an endurance of three hours. Many Navy Pups were modified to utilize a tripod mounted Lewis gun which could be fired forward or upwards through a cutout in the upper wing. Sopwith Pups were also utilized on battlecruisers. In fact, a Pup launched from the HMS Yarmouth downed the Zeppelin L.23 in August of 1917. The Royal Navys HMS Furious was the first dedicated aircraft carrier in the world. The Furious was initially laid down as a battlecruiser, but the design was modified during construction to include a flying deck forward of the main bridge. This configuration allowed aircraft to be launched as the Furious steamed into the wind. An attempt at recovery by having aircraft side slip on to the deck proved ineffective with one of the early attempts resulting in the death of the pilot, Squadron Commander E. H. Dunning, who had made the worlds first successful carrier landing on a ship underway only days earllier. The Royal Navy decided to further modify the Furious by adding a second deck aft of the bridge. The fore and aft decks were connected by a narrow ramp on either side of the funnel and bridge, and this permitted aircraft to be to moved between the two decks. Sets of longitudinal wires were set across the aft deck, and were designed to catch the skids of the Sopwith Pups during landings. Recovering aircraft was still tricky, and a rope barrier was erected aft of the mainmast to prevent aircraft which overshot from crashing into the superstructure of the ship. The first carrier-based naval air strike in history was carried out against the Zeppelin hangars at Tondern by the Furious on July 19, 1918. Seven Sopwith Camels, each carrying two 50-pound bombs were utilized for this mission. This important moment in the history of naval aviation is captured magnificently in Stan Stokes highly detailed painting entitled Fast and Furious. |
The Biff Boys by Robert Taylor. On the morning of 30th November 1917, Lieutenant Andrew McKeever, a Canadian serving with 11 Squadron RFC, together with his observer/gunner Lieutenant Leslie Powell, climbed into their Bristol F2b Fighter and took off alone; their task to fly a solo reconnaissance patrol over Cambrai, where the decisive battle involving tanks for the first time in history was raging on the ground below - it was to prove a remarkable day. As they flew over the enemys lines they encountered a pair of German two seater observer aircraft, protected by no fewer than seven enemy Albatross DV scouts. Armed with a forward firing .303 Vickers machine gun and a ring mounted Lewis gun in the back seat, McKeever skilfully manoeuvred his aircraft to engage one of the enemy scouts, and destroyed it. As he turned to get back to the Allied lines, five of the remaining enemy Albatross fighters dived on his tail, but Lt Powell rapidly downed two of them in quick succession with deadly fire from his Lewis gun. Continuing the duel with the remaining Germans, McKeever managed to destroy a further Albatross when suddenly his observers Lewis gun jammed. The pair seemed doomed, however McKeever, showing great courage and initiative, feigned disaster by rolling his aircraft over, plummeting it towards the ground. Fooled by the manoeuvre, the German aircraft climbed away, and McKeever levelled out just twenty feet above the ground and flew back to safety. Remarkably, all of McKeevers thirty one victories were achieved at the controls of the Bristol F2b Fighter, making him the highest scoring ace with 11 Squadron, and of any pilot flying two seater aircraft during the First World War. |
Immelmanns Last Flight by Ivan Berryman. No one will ever know exactly what caused Max Immelmanns demise, but what is known is that his propeller was seen to disintegrate, which caused a series violent oscillations that ripped the Fokker E.III apart, the tail breaking away before the wings folded back, trapping the young German ace in his cockpit. The popular belief is that his interrupter gear malfunctioned, causing him to shoot away part of his own propeller, but British reports attribute Immelmanns loss to the gunnery of Cpl J H Waller from the nose of FE.2b 6346 flown by 2Lt G R McCubbin on Sunday, 18th June 1916. Immelmann was flying the spare E.III 246/16 as his own E.IV had been badly shot up earlier that day. |
Boom Boom Billy by Stan Stokes. William Avery Bishop, the top scoring RFC ace of WW I, was born in Ontario Canada on February 8, 1894. He entered the Royal Military College in 1911 and after War broke out in Europe he was assigned to the 14th Battalion of the Canadian Mounted Rifles. Bishop applied for a transfer to the Royal Flying Corps in 1915. Following a few months of training he was made an observer and was sent to France to fly with No. 21 squadron. He was hospitalized for frostbite and later from injuries sustained in a bad landing. In late 1916 he began pilot training and in March of 1917 Bishop was posted to No. 60 squadron flying Nieuport Scouts. On March 25 he experienced his first air combat, downing an Albatros single-seater. Bishop scored thirteen victories during Bloody April, and another seven-and-a-half in May. He was awarded the DSO at this point. In early June Bishop attacked a German airfield at dawn, and shot down three Albatros aircraft taking off to challenge him. For this fete he received the Victoria Cross. In constant combat during the summer months, Bishops score rose to 45 by mid-August. He was the first to exceed the record of the famous British Ace, Albert Ball. During this period Bishop often flew as many as seven-eight hours each day. He was aggressive in the air and obviously possessed excellent flying instincts and marksmanship skills. Eleven of these 45 victories were achieved in the SE-5 with which No. 60 squadron had been re-equipped. Promoted to Major, Bishop returned to Canada for a recruiting tour. In 1918 he returned to England, first as the Chief Instructor at Aerial Gunnery School, and later as the Commander of No. 85 squadron. Once again Bishop was at his best in the air. Flying SE-5s, Bishop claimed 27 more victories during this final combat tour, including four Pfalz D.IIIs. Bishop received the DFC, and returned to the Air Ministry in England for a short time before returning to Canada in August of 1918. There he played an important role in the formation of the new Canadian Air Force. Bishops official victory total of 72, the highest for any RFC flyer in WW I, approached the official total of von Richtofen who had 80. Some historians have disputed Bishops score, indicating that he received credit for a number of victories when he was flying alone. Following the War, Bishop formed a commercial aviation company with another ace W.G. Barker. He later served with the RCAF during WW II as an Air Marshal responsible for training. Billy Bishop passed away in 1956 at the age of seventy. In Stan Stokes nostalgic painting the top RFC ace is depicted early in his career flying his Nieuport against a German Albatros. |
Albert Ball Portrait by Darren Baker. (P) One of the best known Aces of the first world war. |
Lieutenant Reginald Warneford by Ivan Berryman. Having successfully weaved and dodged the hail of bullets from the defensive guns of the German Zeppelin, Lieutenant Warneford climbed above the giant airship and prepared for a run along the full length of the LZ.37 in the hope that his 20lb bombs would turn it into an inferno and bring it down. Warneford had time to release all six of his bombs, the last of which set off a chain of eruptions that resulted in the Zeppelin breaking its back before plunging to earth in a fireball. So violent was the initial explosion that Warnefords tiny Morane Saulnier Type L was flipped over and thrust 200ft into the air above the disintegrating leviathan. Warneford survived this historic interception, whilst the LZ.37 plunged to the ground near Ghent and was completely destroyed. This was the first time that a Zeppelin had been brought down by an aircraft for which gallant action, Warneford was awarded the Victoria Cross. Special mention should be made of the roundels on the Type L, where the original French examples were not overpainted to British colours on the wings, unlike those on the fuselage sides. |
SE5 Aircraft side view by M A Kinnear. Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5.a D3540. The Artful Dodger was the personal aircraft of Wing Commander G.H. Lewis DFC and the aircraft in which he claimed four of his twelve victories. Aircraft History: The third S.E.5 produced (A4563) became, in effect, the prototype S.E.5a with a 200hp Hispano Suiza power plant and shorter span wings. The S.E.5.a went to No56, No.40 and No.60 squadrons from June 1917, and by the end of the year Nos 24, 41, 68 and 84 squadron had taken them on charge. After troubles with the reduction gear of the Hispano Suiza together with a general shortage of these power plants, the direct drive Wolseley Viper became the standard S.E.5a power unit. The S.E.5.a built a fine reputation for strength, performance and general flying quality, which together with the Sopwith Camel was the main reason for the Allies gaining and maintaining air superiority during 1918. Some aircraft were fitted with four 25lb (11kg) Cooper bombs on under fuselage racks. The S.E.5.a also service in the Middle East and several home defence units in 1918. At the end of World War I over 2,000 S.E.5.a aircraft were in service with the RAF. The type had served with 24 British, 2 US and 1 Australian Squadrons. After its demob 50 of these aircraft were supplied to Australia, 12 to Canada with several more to other countries including South Africa, Poland and the United States of America. 50 came onto the British register and were used for developing the art of sky-writing. The S.E.5.a will always remain one of aviations great warplanes. Wing Commander Gwilym H. Lewis, DFC: Born 5th August, 1897, Gwilym Lewis qualified for his aviators certificate number 2116 on 27th November 1915. He was posted to France with 32 Squadron at he age of eighteen flying the DH2 single seater scout aircraft. Later after a period as an instructor he was posted as a flight commander to 40 squadron flying the famous S.E.5.a. By the end of the First World War, Gwilym Lewis had amassed a personal tally of 12 enemy aircraft destroyed and had been awarded the DFC. After leaving the RAF he went into insurance working for Lloyds Insurance Brokers, Sedgwick, Collins & Company Ltd. Shortly before the outbreak of World War II, he rejoined the RAF and became a member of Winston Churchills Joint Planning Staff in the underground Central War Room. After World War II, he resumed his successful career in insurance and retired in 1974. |
Richthofens Flying Circus by Nicolas Trudgian. Nicolas Trudgians dramatic painting recreates a scene near Cambrai, Northern France on the morning of March 18, 1918. Aware of a build-up of forces for a massive German offensive, many RFC squadrons attacked the German positions at very low altitude. Responding with as many squadrons as they could muster, including Richthofens JG1 wing, there followed one of the largest dog-fights of the entire First World War. Seen in the foreground are a Fokker Triplane and an Albatros, having winged a Sopwith Camel from 54 Squadron, as another Camel, and a Bristol fighter of 11 Squadron RFC turn to engage the German fighters. |
Major Edward Mannock by Ivan Berryman. Despite having sight in just one eye, Major Edward Mick Mannock was to become one of the most decorated and celebrated aces of World War 1, bringing down an official 61 enemy aircraft in just eighteen months before himself being brought down in flames by enemy ground fire. He was reluctant to add shared kills to his tally, so his actual total of victories is recorded at 73. His decorations include the VC, DSO and 2 Bars, MC and Bar and he is depicted here diving on enemy aircraft in SE5a D278 of 74 Sqn in April, 1918. |
Deadly Partnership - Captain W E Staton and Lieutenant John R Gordon, Bristol F.2b by Ivan Berryman. The Bristol F.2b (or Bristol Fighter, as it was more popularly known) first entered service with the RFC in March 1917 and quickly established itself as a useful and reliable fighting machine in the capable hands of the crews who quickly exploited its many attributes. The teamwork between pilot and gunner / observer yielded many success stories, both in the roles of air combat and ground attack. Here, Captain W E Staton has a stab at a Fokker DR.1 during an intense battle in April 1918 in the skies above France, whilst his pilot, Lieutenant John R Gordon keeps their 62 Squadron machine out of harms way. The combination of Gordon and Staton scored a total of 9 confirmed victories, 1 shared destroyed and 5 out of control. |
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