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Major Gerhard Schopfel Signed Naval Art
 | Ace with 45.00 Victories |
Major Gerhard Schopfel
Gerhard Schopfel was Staffelkapitan of 9./JG26 at the outbreak of war, and became Kommandeur of III./JG26 in August 1940. In December 1941 he succeeded Adolf Galland as Kommodore of JG26 until Januray 1943. Later, Kommodore of JG4 and JG6. He flew over 700 combat missions, achieving 40 victories, all in the West. He was awarded the Knight's Cross in 1940. Died 17th May 2003.
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| Knights Cross |
| Major Gerhard Schopfel - Signed Naval Art Naval Crew Signatures |
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Clipped Signature - Gerhard Schopfel. Kommodore of JG26, JG4 and JG6, he scored 40 victories, notably all on the Western Front. Recipient of the Knight's Cross, he died in 2003. |
Looking for Business by Ivan Berryman. A pair of Focke Wulf 190A4s of 9./JG2 Richthofen based at Vannes, France during February 1943. The nearest aircraft is that of Staffelkapitan Siegfried Schnell. The badge on the nose is the rooster emblem of III./JG2 and the decoration on Schnells rudder shows 70 of his eventual total of 93 kills. |
Eagles on the Channel Front by Robert Taylor. An exceptional painting by the worlds foremost aviation artist remembering the most famous of all Luftwaffe Fighter Wings that fought on the Western Front during the early years of World War Two. Prints are signed by Luftwaffe Aces who contested the great air battles with pilots of the RAF on the infamous Channel Front, 1940-1941 Badly mauled during the Battle of Britain, by early 1941 the Luftwaffe fighter wings, strung right across northern France, were back on strength. The front line squadrons were reequipping with the up-rated Me109F and, though suffering initial over-heating problems, the remarkable new Fw190A was making its first appearances. The Luftwaffe pilots were again full of confidence, and having the air endurance advantage of fighting close to their bases, they were competing on equal terms with the Spitfires and Hurricanes of RAF Fighter Command. Having spent the first 18 months of the war fighting a defensive air battle, RAF Fighter Command was raring to go onto the attack. The mix of Rhubarbs - two or three-plane, low-level incursions to attack enemy bases and installations - and large fighter sweeps aimed to entice the Luftwaffe up for a fight, kept the German fighter pilots busy throughout the summer. All through 1941 great air battles raged all along the Channel Front. Robert Taylors comprehensive work Eagles on the Channel Front, the fourth and final print in his widely acclaimed Wings of the Luftwaffe series, recreates a scene in northern France in the late autumn of 1941. Having just returned to their temporary airstrip in the region of St. Omer, Luftwaffe pilots of JG-26 excitedly debrief their recent encounter with Spitfires and Hurricanes, fought high over the Channel coast. The gleaming new Me109Fs are discreetly parked under trees on the edge the airfield, providing some cover from low-level surprise attacks. While ground crews busily prepare the Wings Me109s for another mission, a group of the exciting new Fw190A fighters taxi out. The scenario will continue right into winter. In his inimitable style, and with inordinate skill, Robert Taylor manages to evoke the heady atmosphere of a German front line airfield on the Channel Front in 1941. |
Fw190F Fighters - Winter 1943 by Ivan Berryman. A pair of Fw190F fighters during the winter of 1943. The Fw190F and G had become the Luftwaffes standard fighter-bomber for ground attack. The Fw190F was very effective in this role. Additional armour protection was given to ground-attack variants and the G version also could carry a single 4,000-pound (1,800-kg) bomb or numbers of smaller bombs. The Fw190 was also used as a successful night fighter during the autumn and early winter of 1943-44, using conventional daylight methods to attack RAF bombers after searchlights had illuminated them. |
Day of the Fighters by Nicolas Trudgian. The pilots of I Gruppe JG-1 were up early on August 17, 1943. It5 was high summer, and even as the first streaks of light appeared in the sky to the east, four pilots got airborne out of Deelan, Holland, and headed for the coast. It was the first routine reconnaissance of the morning. By 0730 German listening services were picking up signals indicating large formations of enemy aircraft assembling to the west of Great Yarmouth, South East England. By 0800 it was clear to the German interceptor fighter groups stationed in Holland that this was going to be no ordinary day. Shortly after 0930 the first wave of a force of some 375 B-17s and B-24s, heavily escorted by fighters, started crossing the Dutch coast south of the Scheldt estuary, their destination Schweinfurt and Regensburg. They were shadowed by the German fighters of 1, 2 & 3 Gruppe along their entire route over Europe. When the Allied fighter escort turned back at the limit of their range, the Luftwaffe fighters made their attack. It was the start of a day of incessant aerial combat which raged all the way across Holland, Belgium and Germany, and all the way back to the coast again as the Americans returned to England. It was one of the longest air-to-air battles of the war and became known by the Luftwaffe pilots as the Day of the Fighters. |
Fighter General by Graeme Lothian. Fighter general shows Dolfo Galland leading a schwarm of BF109s out low at tree top height over the Kent countryside after doing battle with spitfires, during the last week of August 1940. This remarkable pilot was awarded the Knights Cross as a Major on the 15th August. His daring and leadership won the hearts of his men and respect from RAF Pilots. The Oak leaves was awarded on the 23rd September 1940 and crossed Swords in June 1941 after 69 victories. At the end of 1941 at age only 29 he was promoted Inspector General of the Fighter Arm. Leaving his post as Kommodore JG26 to Gerhard Schoepfel he was awarded the Diamonds to the Knights Cross in January 1942 at Oberst. As the youngest General in the German High Command he held this post until 1944, after open disagreements with Goring let to his dismissal. Reverting to combat flying he formed, with Steinhoff, the legendary JV-44, flying the ME262 jet fighter. His score by wars end stood at 104 all on the western Front. he was the only General to lead a squadron into battle. |
Most Memorable Day by Robert Taylor. Adolf Galland and his wingman Bruno Hegenauer break through the fighter escort of No. 303 Squadrons Spitfires to attack Blenheim bombers of No. 21 Squadron over northern France, 21 June 1941. In two missions that day Galland claimed two Blenheims and one Spitfire, survived a forced crash-landing, and later a parachute escape from his blazing Me109. That evening he learned he was to become the first recipient of the Knights Cross with oak leaves and swords - Germanys highest award for heroism. |
Winter Wolves by Nicolas Trudgian. On December 16th 1944, Hitler mounted the largest offensive in the west since 1940. It was his last desperate offensive of World War II. With Germanys industrial heartland in ruins, its factories pulverised by Allied air raids, and opposing armies advancing on two fronts, the Third Reich appeared on the verge of collapse. The sudden and fierce reposte caught the Allied forces by surprise, forcibly demonstrating Germanys ability and will to continue the war. It was the Fuhrers last great gamble, and when American and British forces recovered to smash the brutal offensive, Hitler had spent the last energies of his crumbling empire. That final, desperate assault became known as the Battle of the Bulge. At dawn on December 26th, pilots of the 1st and 4h Staffels of 1./Gruppe JG26 took off to provide cover for the forward Panzer divisions, which were coming under attack from P51 ground attack fighters. Although flying brand new Focke-Wulf Fw190Ds, on take off they immediately lost contact with their controllers, forcing the Gruppe to adopt Free Hunt tactics. It made no difference, they quickly found the opposition! This painting captures the Fw190s of JG26 at full tilt, as they power across the spectacular winter landscape in the Ardennes. Flying at tree top height to avoid radar detection, the Luftwaffe pilots hurtle above German tanks and trucks lumbering towards the battlefront. The early morning glow glistens in the crisp morning snow bringing an air of serenity to a poignant and historic scene. |
Valiant Response by Robert Taylor. The Spitfires of 54 Squadron, quickly scrambled from nearby Hornchurch, clash with the Me109s from 1./JG51 over Kent. Below, Me110s from KPRG210 are about to receive unwelcome attention as the rest of the Spitfires hurtle down upon them and in the distance, a group of Hurricanes rip through a dense formation of Do17s from KG76 as they struggle back to France. What clouds there are will be unlikely to give much sanctuary and, for the onlookers on the ground far below, the skies will soon be filled with weaving trails of smoke and debris. For nearly a week the Luftwaffe had thrown everything they had into the attack on southern England in order to annihilate RAF Fighter Command, in preparation for Operation Sealion, the invasion of Britain. And, heavily outnumbered, the young RAF Spitfire and Hurricane pilots of Fighter Command had so far repelled them, at a cost. But on Sunday 18 August 1940, the Germans launched the heaviest formations of aircraft seen in the battle so far. This was to be a grinding day of relentless assaults on the airfields of southern England, the hardest day of the Battle of Britain. |
The Eagles Divide by Robert Taylor. P-51 Mustangs of the 357th Fighter Group clash with Me109s in close combat as they struggle for air superiority over the heart of Germany, during the desperate days of 1945. It had begun - the end game was inexorably in play. The final defeat of Germany and the end of Nazi tyranny was almost within sight but in the skies over Germany the defiant remnants of the Luftwaffe fought on with savage determination. Ever since the long-range American P-51 escort fighters had first appeared, the skies over the Reich had witnessed grim encounters with the Mustangs taking on the Luftwaffe as they tried to stop the heavy bombers of the USAAF reaching their targets. By early 1945 it was a losing battle, but still the Luftwaffe fought on and, in the resulting maelstrom of combat, the Mustang pilots still had their work cut out against these battle hardened, expert pilots. Robert Taylor's superb drawing dramatically reconstructs one such clash in early 1945 as P-51 Mustangs of the 357th Fighter Group have spotted a group of Bf109s heading their way. Without hesitation they dive head-on in an attempt to break-up the enemy formation and for the pilots on both sides the explosive encounter of close combat is suddenly upon them. Limited edition prints of this classic Robert Taylor Master Drawing have been signed over the last few years by some of the most respected USAAF P-51 and distinguished Luftwaffe pilots who duelled in those merciless skies over Europe. Since signing the prints some of these legendary names have very sadly passed away, making it one of the most collectible editions of recent years. |
The Channel Dash by Robert Taylor. Mesherschmitt ME109s of JG 2 fly close escort as the German capital Ships Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen, accompanied by a naval flotilla, round the tip of the Cherbourg Peninsula at dawn, February 12th 1942. |
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