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Arctic Hurricanes by Richard Taylor. From a remote and windswept airfield 15 miles north-west of Murmansk in the freezing Arctic wastelands, a small group of RAF Hurricane pilots held the Luftwaffe at bay. Following his failure to invade Britain, Hitler soon turned his predatory gaze to the east and his long-held desire to invade Russia. Ripping up his non-aggression pact with Stalin, German forces crossed Russian soil on the 22 June 1941- Operation Barbarossa had begun. As the Red Army reeled before the onslaught, Stalin turned to Britain for help and urged Churchill to send him Spitfires. Churchill refused but sent two RAF Hurricane Squadrons instead. It was, however, to be a completely secret operation codenamed Force Benedict; Stalin refused to publicly admit his need for outside help. By early September 1941 No.151 Wing, consisting of 81 and 134 Squadrons, arrived at the remote airfield at Vaenga in the freezing north of Russia. From there they defended against Luftwaffe intruders, flew escort to the Soviet bombers and, importantly, trained the Russians how to fly the Hurricane before handing them over - the first of nearly 3,000 Hurricanes supplied to the Soviets during World War II. In their short, three month spell at Vaenga, the pilots of 151 Wing carried out 365 sorties and scored 14 victories. Richard Taylor's evocative scene remembers the forgotten heroes of Force Benedict. It depicts Hurricane IIbs from 81 Squadron tangling with Luftwaffe Bf109s over snow-clad forests as they escort Russian bombers in October 1941. Signed by the last surviving members of Force Benedict, along with a Luftwaffe Ace that actually duelled them during the operation, this outstanding edition provides a unique slice of aviation history and an undeniably collectible piece. Item Code : DHM6389 Arctic Hurricanes by Richard Taylor. - This Edition TYPE EDITION DETAILS SIZE SIGNATURES OFFERS YOUR PRICE PURCHASING PRINT Signed limited edition of 400 prints. Paper size 37 inches x 33 inches (94cm x 84cm) Image size 25 inches x 16 inches (64cm x 41cm) Elkington, John Carter, Eric Schlossstein, Karl-Fritz + Artist : Richard Taylor Signature(s) value alone : £110 £110.00 All prices on our website are displayed in British Pounds Sterling

Other editions of this item : Arctic Hurricanes by Richard Taylor. DHM6389 TYPE EDITION DETAILS SIZE SIGNATURES OFFERS YOUR PRICE PURCHASING ARTIST PROOF Limited edition of 25 artist proofs. Paper size 37 inches x 33 inches (94cm x 84cm) Image size 25 inches x 16 inches (64cm x 41cm) Elkington, John Carter, Eric Schlossstein, Karl-Fritz + Artist : Richard Taylor Signature(s) value alone : £110 £150.00 VIEW EDITION... FLYER Promotional Flyer A4 Size Double Sheet 11.5 inches x 8 inches (30m x 21cm) none £2.00 VIEW EDITION... REMARQUE Limited edition of 25 remarques. Paper size 37 inches x 33 inches (94cm x 84cm) Image size 25 inches x 16 inches (64cm x 41cm) Elkington, John Carter, Eric Schlossstein, Karl-Fritz + Artist : Richard Taylor Signature(s) value alone : £110 £395.00 VIEW EDITION... REMARQUE Limited edition of 10 double remarques. Paper size 37 inches x 33 inches (94cm x 84cm) Image size 25 inches x 16 inches (64cm x 41cm) Elkington, John Carter, Eric Schlossstein, Karl-Fritz + Artist : Richard Taylor Signature(s) value alone : £110 £625.00 VIEW EDITION... General descriptions of types of editions :

Signatures on this item
*The value given for each signature has been calculated by us based on the historical significance and rarity of the signature. 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
Hauptmann Karl-Fritz Schlossstein (deceased) *Signature Value : £35	Karl-Fritz Schlossstein initially flew Me110 heavy destroyers with JG5, when th Group first arrived in Norway in 1942 to provide air cover for the convoys supplying the rapidly increasing German garrison in that country. He commanded 13(Z)/JG5 from the summer of 1942 to June 1943, and then converted to fly Me109s. Later in Norway he flew the Me410 Hornet with ZG76, but finished the war with JG54 Greenhearts flying Fw190s in the Defence of the Reich. He died on 18th July 2017.
Warrant Officer Eric Carter (deceased) *Signature Value : £35	At the age of 19 Eric joined the RAF in 1939, Initially posted to 615 Squadron in 1940 flying Hurricanes and stationed at Valley in North Wales, with air duties of defending Liverpool and Manchester, and also escorting ships from Liverpool down to South Wales., during the late stages of the Battle of Britain and due to the shortage of Pilots Eric would fly Defiants with 456 Squadron which was a night-fighter squadron so sometimes he would Hurricanes with his squadron during the day and due to Pilot shortages would fly Deviant's at night for 456 sqd night-fighting over the Manchester and Liverpool area. Eric was then posted to 81 Squadron, again on Hurricanes. In the autumn of 1941 he accompanied the squadron on HMS Argus to Russia as part of Force Benedict, a clandestine operation to defend the strategically important Russian port of Murmansk. As well as operational patrols the squadron escorted Russian bomber missions. Eric would on occasions be in combat with Messerschmitt Bf 109s but had no confirmed victories, On his return from Russia Eric continued to fly Hurricanes. Then converting to the Spitfire, when he was then transferred to Burma, where he flew missions escorting transport aircraft delivering supplies to the 14th Army as they advanced towards Rangoon. After the war Eric Carter left the RAF in 1946. In 2013 along with other surviving pilots who flew in Russia, they were presented with the Arctic Start by the Prime minister David Cameron and in 2014 at the Russian Embassy at a ceremony he was presented with the Russian Ushakov Medal . Sadly Eric passed away on 26 July 2021 aged 101.
Wing Commander John Elkington (deceased) *Signature Value : £40	John (Tim) Elkington was born in 1920 and joined the RAF in September 1939. Commissioned as a Pilot Officer in July 1940 he was immediately posted to join 1 Squadron flying Hurricanes atTangmere. On 15 August he shot down an Me109 over the Channel, but the following day he was himself shot down over Thorney Island. He baled out injured and was admitted to hospital, his Hurricane crashing at Chidham. He died on 1st February 2019.

The Aircraft :
Name	Info
Hurricane	Royal Air Force Fighter, the Hawker Hurricane had a top speed of 320mph, at 18,200 feet and 340mph at 17,500, ceiling of 34,200 and a range of 935 miles. The Hurricane was armed with eight fixed wing mounted .303 browning machine guns in the Mark I and twelve .303 browning's in the MKIIB in the Hurricane MKIIC it had four 20mm cannon. All time classic fighter the Hurricane was designed in 1933-1934, the first prototype flew in June 1936 and a contract for 600 for the Royal Air Force was placed. The first production model flew ion the 12th October 1937 and 111 squadron of the Royal Air Force received the first Hurricanes in January 1938. By the outbreak of World war two the Royal Air Force had 18 operational squadrons of Hurricanes. During the Battle of Britain a total of 1715 Hurricanes took part, (which was more than the rest of the aircraft of the Royal air force put together) and almost 75% of the Victories during the Battle of Britain went to hurricane pilots. The Hawker Hurricane was used in all theatres during World war two, and in many roles. in total 14,533 Hurricanes were built.

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