Naval History by Country :
|
VIEW ALL OF OUR CURRENT ART SPECIAL OFFERS ON ONE PAGE HERE | |||
NAVAL ART | AVIATION ART | MILITARY ART | SPORT ART |
|
THIS ITEM IS INCLUDED IN OUR BUY ONE GET ONE HALF PRICE OFFER ! Choose any two prints in this special offer and the lower priced item is half price. (Any free bonus prints already supplied with an item are separate and will also be included !) Hundreds of items across our websites are included in this offer! |
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 |
Flight Lieutenant Fred Watts DFC (deceased) *Signature Value : £40 | Fred Watts joined the RAF in 1940, and qualifying as a pilot was posted to 630 Squadron in 1943 flying 15 operations on Lancasters out of East Kirby. He joined 617 Squadron in April 1944 and took part in many of the precision operations that the Squadron was renowned for, including raids on V1 sites, V2 rocket bases, and all three attacks on the Tirpitz. He left 617 Squadron in March 1945 to join 83 Pathfinder Squadron for Far East deployment with Tiger Force but VJ-day brought disbandment of the Force before it could be despatched. He stayed on in the RAF after the end of the war, retiring in 1964. He died 6th August 2007. |
Flight Lieutenant J Castagnola DSO DFC (deceased) *Signature Value : £50 | Joining the RAF in 1941 he graduated as a pilot after completing his training in America. Returning to England he joined 51 Squadron in early 1943 flying from RAF Snaith. Born in 1922 in Islington, Cass as he was known to all, enlisted in 1941 and trained in North America. Returning to England he crewed up at OTU and after completing their HCU course the crew, captained by a newly commissioned Cass, joined 57 Squadron in December 1943 for their first tour of operations. They were to be blooded with a series of attacks against Berlin, completing three operations against this target in four nights during January 1944. In all Cass was to visit the Big City eight times during his tour. During the Nuremberg operation of 30/31 March 1944 his Lancaster's rear turret guns froze up but a burst from the mid-upper caused an approaching Me 210 to break away. On return his gunners also claimed one Ju 88 destroyed and another damaged. On 5 April 1944 the crew were one of six attached along with their aircraft to the Squadron at Woodhall Spa, to provide an H2S capability. After an initial trip as passenger with Fg Off Fearn for the attack against the Luftwaffe Depot at St Cyr on 10 April to observe the Squadron's methods, Cass found himself non-operational for a month as the Squadron trained intensively for Operation Taxable. Teamed up with Nick Knilans he completed the D-Day deception operation and three nights later he was operating against the Saumur railway tunnel. Unable to carry Tallboy, his H2S equipped aircraft was loaded with thousand pounders to be aimed at the adjacent railway bridge across the Loire. His next three trips were as an additional member of Knilans'crew. By July Cass had been posted back to 57 Sqn at East Kirkby and would complete his first tour with them.He was not away from Woodhall for long, arriving back on the Squadron on 15 August to start his second tour. This was to be much more satisfying. With his trademark 'operationally battered' cap, Cass and his crew soon proved themselves a popular and valuable asset to the Squadron. Starting with a trip to Brest on 27 August and now carrying Tallboy they were part of the high level force for the attack on the Kembs Dam, and took part in all three operations against Tirpitz, claiming a direct hit in the middle of the superstructure during the final attack. During the attack on Bergen on 12 January 1945 his aircraft came under fighter attack and Cass dived to within the range of the flak batteries; the fighter deigned to follow. Heading out to sea he spotted Ian Ross' aircraft at low level, on fire and under fighter attack. With his bomb aimer manning the front turret and without thinking of his own safety Cass dived to offer whatever assistance he could. He was successful in driving the fighter away, but Ross was forced to ditch, while Cass circled overhead dropping an emergency radio wrapped in Mae Wests when it was seen that Ross' dinghy had not deployed. Climbing to 500 feet they signalled the ditched Lancaster's position and remained in the area, seeking cloud cover when a German fighter came too close. With fuel running low he was eventually forced to leave the stricken crew to their fate. The remaining months saw a new routine develop, railway viaducts replacing U-boat pens as targets during February and March, before returning to April's target list, along with other naval targets during the last month of hostilities. After a total of 62 operations Cass' war came to an end on 19 April 1945 with an attack on the island fortress of Heligoland. The latter part of 1945 saw him as the Squadron's Inspector Pilot as they worked up for 'Tiger Force' – the RAF's projected contribution to the Pacific War but, with the squadron prepared to go overseas to India, in January 1946 he was posted to RAF Snaith, to conduct aircrew training. Having been awarded the DFC for his time on 57 Sqn, Cass was to receive a bar in March 1945 for his service with 617 and a further award of the DSO in October 1945.Awarded a permanent commission in 1947, he was posted to the Central Flying Establishment, RAF West Raynham, flying Mosquitos, Vampires and Meteors, before transferring to the Empire Test Pilots School, RAE Farnborough, in March 1950. After qualifying as a test pilot his experience was put to good use for four years at the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment, Boscombe Down. Cass transferred to fighters in April 1954 and served in the Middle East and Germany before becoming Officer Commanding No. 41 Sqn, Biggin Hill, flying the Hunter F 5. In keeping with a number of pilots following their fighter tour, at the beginning of 1958 he was sent on a radar control course prior to being posted to Neatishead radar station, Norfolk, as Control Executive. After a final tour as a Staff Officer with HQ No. 13 Group, at Ouston, he left the RAF in November 1961 as a Squadron Leader, joining British Airways as a captain on Comets and Tridents until his retirement in 1980. We have learned that James Castagnola has died, but have no information as to when. |
Flt Lieutenant Bob Knights DSO, DFC (deceased) *Signature Value : £45 | A member of the elite 617 Dambusters squadron, Bob Knights had a key role on the night before D-Day. With the rest of the squadron he flew on Operation Taxable which simulated the approach of the invasion across the Pas de Calais by dropping metal strips of window to a very precise pattern. The enemy was completely deceived and kept most of their best troops on the wrong side of the Seine. Bob Knights had already flown a full operational tour with 619 Squadron Lancasters, including eight trips to Berlin, before volunteering for 617 Squadron. Under Cheshire he flew on some of the squadrons most challenging precision operations and later under Willie Tait took part in the attack that finally destroyed the Tirpitz. Seconded to BOAC in December 1944 he stayed with the airline after the war for a 30 year long career. He died 4th December 2004. |
Squadron Leader Malcolm Mac Hamilton DFC* (deceased) *Signature Value : £50 | After joining Coastal Command in 1943, Mac converted to Lancasters, and was posted to Bomber Command, joining 619 Squadron at Woodall Spa for his first tour. Here he flew sorties mainly to Berlin andthe Ruhr. For his second tour he joined Cheshires 617 Squadron, again at Woodall Spa, where he flew precision operations, including the raids on the Saumur rail tunnel, the U-boat pens, V1 sites and V2 rocket bases, and the raids against the German battleship Tirpitz. He died in April 2008. |
Squadron Leader Tony Iveson DFC (deceased) *Signature Value : £45 | Tony Iveson fought in the Battle of Britain with RAF Fighter Command, as a Sergeant pilot, joining 616 Squadron at Kenley flying Spitfires on 2 September 1940. On the 16th of September, he was forced to ditch into the sea after running out of fuel following a pursuit of a Ju88 bomber. His Spitfire L1036 ditched 20 miles off Cromer in Norfolk, and he was picked up by an MTB. He joined No.92 Sqn the following month. Commissioned in 1942, Tony undertook his second tour transferring to RAF Bomber Command, where he was selected to join the famous 617 Squadron, flying Lancasters. He took part in most of 617 Squadrons high precision operations, including all three sorties against the German battleship Tirpitz, and went on to become one of the most respected pilots in the squadron. He died on 5th November 2013. |
The Aircraft : | |
Name | Info |
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. |
Everything we obtain for this site is shown on the site, we do not have any more photos, crew lists or further information on any of the ships. COPYRIGHT NOTICE. ALL IMAGES DISPLAYED ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT LAW, AND ARE OWNED BY CRANSTON FINE ARTS OR THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. NO REPRODUCTION OR COPYING ALLOWED ON OTHER WEBSITES, BOOKS OR ARTICLES WITHOUT PRIOR AGREEMENT. |
Contact Details |
Sign Up To Our Newsletter!
This website is owned by Cranston Fine Arts. Torwood House, Torwoodhill Road, Rhu, Helensburgh, Scotland, G848LE Contact: Tel: (+44) (0) 1436 820269. Email: |