Please note that our logo (below) only appears on the images on our website and is not on the actual art prints.
|
|
Stan Stokes World War One Limitied Edition Aviation Prints plus two FREE Limited Editions.
DPK0836. Stan Stokes World War One Limitied Edition Aviation Prints plus two FREE Limited Editions. Aviation Print Pack.
Items in this pack :
Item #1 - Click to view individual item
STK0023. Showtime at the Circus by Stan Stokes. Born in Prussia to wealthy aristocratic parents, Manfred F. von Richtofen, The Red Baron, was to become the top ace of World War I, with 80 confirmed kills, and probably another 40-50 which took place over enemy lines and could not be confirmed. Richtofen was originally a cavalry officer, but with great persistence he was transferred to the air arm. After a brief period on the eastern front Richtofen was transferred to the western front in August 1915. His first confirmed victory was recorded in September 1916 and by November he recorded eleven kills, including Major L. Hawker, the top British fighter pilot at that point in time. With his keen reflexes and eyesight he quickly ascended, and by June 1917 Richtofen took control of a unit near Coutrai. This unit became known as Richtofens Circus. By July the ringmaster had his fifty-seventh victim. Despite his successes Richtofen shunned publicity and became increasingly withdrawn. Richtofen was wounded in combat and spent three weeks in the hospital recuperating. After his return to duty Manfred became a vocal proponent of the Fokker triplane. The bright red paint scheme utilized on one of Richtofens aircraft is what earned him the nickname, The Red Baron. Richtofens brother, Lothar, was also an ace with forty victories to his credit. By April of 1918, aided by Americas entry into the War, Germany was facing overwhelming numbers of enemy aircraft, and many with performance capabilities the equal to, and in some cases superior to, their own. The Germans mounted a final desperate offensive, and on April 21,1918 The Red Baron finally fell victim to the perils of combat. Although there is considerable controversy over the Red Barons demise, it appears that Richtofen was either killed by Captain Arthur Brown, a Canadian flying with the RAF, or was shot down by Australian machine gunners while evading Captain Brown. Richtofen was provided a full military funeral by the Allies, and on the evening following his funeral a single RAF fighter dropped a small package containing photos of the funeral onto the Circus headquarters. By Wars end the Circus was credited with the destruction of 644 aircraft, but 56 of its airmen had been killed, 32 seriously wounded, and 6 captured. Supplied with signed and numbered certificate of authenticity. Signed limited edition of 4750 prints. Print size 16 inches x 11.5 inches (41cm x 30cm)
Item #2 - Click to view individual item
STK0024. The Brothers Richthofen by Stan Stokes. Arguably the best brother team of two fighter aces was Manfred and Lothar von Richtofen, with 120 WW I aerial victories between them. Manfred, who became known as The Red Baron, was the top ace of WW I and his reputation is still alive and well today thanks to movies and books. The Richtofen family was minor nobility, and Manfred painted the aircraft he flew in the squadron he commanded bright red - hence the name Red Baron. Manfred was born in Poland in 1892, and was sent to military school at age eleven. When WW I commenced Manfred, commissioned as a lieutenant, initially served in the cavalry. He became enthralled with aircraft while watching planes perform aerial reconnaissance missions. In 1915 he attended flying school, and was first assigned as an observer to a bombing squadron. Inspired by the exploits of the famous ace Oswald Boelcke Manfred put in for pilot training. He passed the pilots test on his third try. He was fortunate to fly with Boelcke in Jasta 2, a unit of promising young pilots. In October of 1916 Manfred witnessed the death of Boelcke when the great ace collided in midair with one of his squadron mates. Richtofen carried Boelckes medals at the funeral, a symbolic portending of his future greatness. Richtofen began flying an Albatros D.1 with red stripes and had good success including the downing of Lanoe Hawker the first British ace of the War. By early 1917 Manfred had sixteen victories and was awarded the Blue Max. At the same time he was given command of his own unit, Jasta 11. As an incredible leader Manfred trained his pilots well in both aerial tactics and strategies. He insisted on formation flying principles and his pilots were not permitted to fly recklessly or attack without assistance. They were taught to look for situations of relative advantage whether in terms of altitude, position of the sun, or relative strength. This scientific approach made Jasta 11 one of the most successful units. It became a squadron of aces, including Ernst Udet, Werner Voss and Lothar Richtofen, Manfreds younger brother. JG 1, a group of four Jastas, was organized in June of 1917 with Manfred as its Commander. With all the planes painted bright colors for identification, this unit became known as Richtofens Flying Circus. This crack unit was moved around the front as needed, and it concentrated on intercepting and destroying enemy aircraft. Very little reconnaissance or escort missions were flown. The unit attained between June 1917 and November 1918 an incredible 644 aerial victories compared to the loss of only 52 of its own aircraft. The Fokker Dr. 1 triplane was deployed with JG 1 in 1917. This diminutive aircraft was too slow to be effective with pilots of ordinary skill, but in the hands of the skilled pilots of JG 1 its advantages of climbing rate and maneuverability were put to great use. Manfred attained his last 20 victories in the triplane. Manfred was downed in April of 1918 behind enemy lines. He received a full military funeral by the British. Lothar would attain 40 victories - equaling Boelckes total and making him the 10th highest scoring German ace of the Great War. Lothar downed Albert Ball (the leading British ace at the time with 44 victories) in May of 1917. Supplied with signed and numbered certificate of authenticity. Signed limited edition of 4750 prints. Print size 16 inches x 11.5 inches (41cm x 30cm)
Item #3 - Click to view individual item
STK0016. Magnificent Courage by Stan Stokes. On April 6, 1916 the RFC formed several new squadrons, including the No. 56 Squadron - Scouts. In March of 1917 the unit received the first of its new SE5s. The aircraft was disappointing to the pilots, being slower than expected, and its new Vickers machine gun with interrupter gear was next to useless. Many modifications ensued in the field, and many SE5s were fitted with Lewis guns located atop the upper wing, and in some cases an additional Lewis was installed which could be fired downward through the cockpit. In early April of 1917 No. 56 was ready to see its first combat action, and the unit headed off to France. About nine months earlier the pendulum of air superiority had swung back to the Germans. The Fokker scourge of 1915 had previously been negated by the deployment of DH2 and FE8 aircraft, but the newer German Albatros and Halberstadt fighters had regained the upper hand. The RFC was once again suffering unsustainable casualties. No. 56 Squadron was immediately pressed into service upon its deployment in France, and over the next several months gave a good account of itself. The Squadrons first victory came on April 22, and went to Albert Ball who would become a high scoring ace. On September 23, 1917 many of No. 56 Squadrons pilots would become engaged in what would be considered as one of the epic battles of early aerial warfare. At about 5:00 PM in the evening eleven SE5s took off for a routine patrol. There were heavy clouds at 9,000 feet, effectively limiting the ceiling. Several engagements took place prior to James McCudden noticing a lone SE5 from No. 60 Squadron under attack by a German triplane. Unknown to McCudden was the fact that the triplane was piloted by Werner Voss, a top German ace with 48 confirmed victories. During the next several minutes 7 SE5s focused their efforts on attacking Voss triplane. Voss had several opportunities to make a dash for the German lines, but chose to stay and fight. Demonstrating beautiful flying and determination, Voss held the massed SE5s at bay, and managed to inflict damage on each and every one. With maneuvers made so quickly and so unpredictably, none of the SE5 pilots could keep Voss in their gunsights long enough to fire a meaningful burst. Voss managed to damage two of the SE5s enough that they withdrew from the fight, and a red-nosed German Albatros joined in the fray for a short time. At one point in the battle McCudden indicated that the triplane was in the cone of tracer bullets from at least five machines simultaneously. Voss could out climb and outmaneuver all the RFC craft. Minutes later at about 2,000 feet the SE5 piloted by Arthur Rhys Davids managed to catch the German ace in a straight flat dive, and approached to within feet of the triplanes tail, firing a solid burst before pulling out of his dive. Moments later the triplane hit the ground and disintegrated. Later that evening the pilots of 56 Squadron recounted the epic battle speculating as to who might have been the pilot of the German triplane. The next morning General Trenchard sent an aide to 56 Squdron to elicit details of the battle. In this report James McCudden paid the following tribute to Voss, As long as I live I shall never forget that German pilot who single-handedly fought seven of us for ten minutes, and who put some bullets through all our machines. His flying was wonderful, his courage magnificent, and in my opinion he is the bravest German airman whom it has been my privilege to see fight. Supplied with signed and numbered certificate of authenticity. Signed limited edition of 4750 prints. Print size 16 inches x 11.5 inches (41cm x 30cm)
Item #4 - Click to view individual item
STK0014. The Ringmaster by Stan Stokes. Born in Prussia to wealthy aristocratic parents, Manfred Freherr von Richtofen, The Red Baron, was to become the top ace of World War I, with 80 confirmed kills, and probably another 40-50 which took place over enemy lines and could not be confirmed. Richtofen was originally a cavalry officer, but with great persistence he was transferred to the air arm. After a brief period on the eastern front Richtofen was transferred to the western front in August 1915. His first confirmed victory was recorded in September 1916 and by November he recorded eleven kills, including Major Lance Hawker, the top British fighter pilot. With his keen reflexes and eyesight he quickly ascended, and by June 1917 Richtofen took control of a unit near Coutrai. This unit became known as Richtofens Circus. By July the ringmaster had his fifty-seventh victim. Despite his successes Richtofen shunned publicity and became increasingly withdrawn. Richtofen was wounded in combat and spent three weeks in the hospital recuperating. After his return to duty Manfred became a vocal proponent of the Fokker triplane. The bright red paint scheme utilized on one of Richtofens aircraft is what earned him the nick-name, The Red Baron. Richtofens brother, Lothar, was also an ace with forty victories to his credit. By April of 1918, aided by Americas entry into the War, Germany was facing overwhelming numbers of enemy aircraft, and many with performance capabilities the equal to, and in some cases superior to, their own. The Germans mounted a final desperate offensive, and on April 21,1918 The Red Baron finally fell victim to the perils of combat. Although there is considerable controversy over the Red Barons demise, it appears that Richtofen was either killed by Captain Arthur Brown, a Canadian flying with the RAF, or was shot down by Australian machine gunners while evading Captain Brown. Richtofen was provided a full military funeral by the Allies, and on the evening following his funeral a single RAF fighter dropped a small package containing photos of the funeral onto the Circus headquarters. By Wars end the Circus was credited with the destruction of 644 aircraft, but 56 of its airmen had been killed, 32 seriously wounded, and 6 captured. Richtofen is pictured in July of 1917 tangling with Sopwith Camels in the skies over Belgium. Flying his beloved Fokker triplane, the infamous Red Baron is shown positioning his aircraft for yet another victory. Supplied with signed and numbered certificate of authenticity. Signed limited edition of 4750 prints. Print size 16 inches x 11.5 inches (41cm x 30cm)
Item #5 - Click to view individual item
DHM417. Manfred Von Richthoffen (The Red Baron) by Tim Fisher. The scene depicts an encounter between Manfred Von Richthoffen, leader of the Jasta II squadron and a patrol of Sopwith Camels. This particular battle above France took place only weeks before Richthoffen was killed as can be seen from the Balken Kreuz insignia which replaced the iron cross on German aircraft after a directive dated March 1918. Limited edition of 1000 prints. Image size 12 inches x 8 inches (31cm x 20cm)
Item #6 - Click to view individual item
DHM1191. Alone in a Winter Sky - Fokker Triplane DR1 by David Pentland Rittmeister Karl Bolle Commander Jasta 2 early 1918. Limited edition of 1150 prints. Image size 12 inches x 8 inches (31cm x 20cm)
Website Price: £ 125.00
To purchase these prints individually at their normal retail price would cost £285.00 . By buying them together in this special pack, you save £160
All prices are displayed in British Pounds Sterling
|
