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Cranston Fine Arts  Aviation Art World War Two Veteran Signatures United States W  Williams, Griffith |
[UP] - Wagner, Miles - Walden, Leon - Wallach, John - Walsh, Kenneth - Wanda, Roy - Weaver, Charles - Welch, Darrell - Weller, Robert - Wendorf, Ed - Wethe, J - Wheeler, Dick - Wheeler, William - White, Clint - White Jr, James - Whitley, Edgar - Wiebe, Theodore - Williams, Earl - Williams, Griffith - Willis, William - Wills, Dick - Willsie, Dick - Wilson, Charles - Winchell, Bill |
Major Griffith P Williams
I was co-pilot oil Don Sinths aircraft, our detail being to attack waterfront targets in Kobe. After the attack we crash-landed in the sea off the coast of China, coming ashore with the aid of life vests and a partially deflated life raft, we landed on the small Chinese island of Tantou Shan. We made contact with Chinese fishermen who in turn put us in contact with resistance fighters who guided us out of Japanese held territory. We were eventually picked up by a US army transport plane for return to the US. I was reassigned to a newly formed bomb group for training and subsequently deployed to England and North Africa. I was later shot down and taken prisoner by Germans while operating out of North Africa. Sadly, Major Griffith P Williams passed away in 1998.
| Major Griffith P Williams - Signed Aviation Art |
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| Text for the above items : |
Tokyo Bound by Nicolas Trudgian. On April 18, 1942, under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle, a small force of B-25 Mitchell light bombers set forth on one of the most audacious air raids of World War II. Launching in a rough sea from the heaving deck of the carrier USS Hornet, the crews knew that even if they achieved success, they were not to return. Their mission to bomb Tokyo and other industrial targets some 800 miles distant would leave them barely enough fuel to fly on to crash-land in China. Nine aircraft were attacked by enemy fighters, every one made it to the target, all but one aircraft were lost. But the raid was a triumph. The Japanese High Command were so alarmed by the Americans ability to strike at their homeland they attempted to expand the perimeter of activity in the central and southern Pacific - with disastrous results. Lt. Col. Doolittle was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in recognition of the extraordinary feat he and his gallant crews performed. Miraculously most survived to fly and fight again later in the war, Jimmy Doolittle going on to command the Eighth Air Force in Europe at the time of the Normandy invasion. |
Out of the Dragon's Den by Richard Taylor. It was the morning of Monday, 18 April 1942 and, taking a final look at the carrier rapidly disappearing into the distance, the B25 Mitchells headed west on what each of the five man crews knew was a one-way ride. With luck they might make it to Nationalist China but first they had an important mission to complete - destination Tokyo! Four months earlier the Japanese had launched their blistering unprovoked attack on Pearl Harbor leaving America reeling. As setback followed setback, America needed retribution and the man chosen for the task was Lt Col James Doolittle. Planning one of the most audacious raids ever undertaken, Doolittle and his chosen band of raiders would attempt the impossible - a direct strike at the heart of Imperial Japan. It was what the enemy least expected. Richard Taylor's powerful painting Out of the Dragon's Den depicts the scene immediately after the Raiders had carried out their mission. One of the last B-25 Mitchells, having successfully bombed its target, makes its escape towards mainland China. As the navigator sets the new course, their path takes them close to targets hit by other Raiders, dark columns of smoke rising rapidly from the burning oil and carnage below. Issued with a copy of Richards pencil print, USS Hornet, every one of these historic two print portfolios is personally signed by Doolittle Raiders and a crew member of the USS Hornet during the raid. This could be one of the final opportunities to acquire a limited edition signed by the last surviving veterans of the legendary Doolittle Raiders. |
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