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Eagle Force by Robert Taylor.
In the dark days of 1940 following Dunkirk, a seemingly defenceless Britain
stood starkly alone in Europe, facing the might of an all-conquering Nazi
Germany. Protected only by the narrow waters of the English Channel, it was left
to a tiny band of young RAF fighter pilots to stem the Luftwaffes onslaught as
the country braced itself for invasion. Across the Atlantic, America followed
the savage encounters of the Battle of Britain, knowing that soon it too would
become involved in the war. Unable to wait, a small band of Americans decided
their time had come; some 240 young US pilots, motivated to fight for the cause
of freedom, made their way to England to fly with the RAF, and later the USAAF;
many paid the ultimate price, more than a third never returning home. By
September 1940 these carefree young flyers were united into a re-formed 71
Squadron, the first of three Eagle Squadrons, and the first to go into action,
followed shortly after by 121 and 133 squadrons. Showing the same steely
determination that had carried their British comrades through the Battle of
Britain, they were quickly embraced into the fold of the RAF, their ferocious
reputation in combat endearing them to the British people. The legend of the
American Eagles was born. Robert Taylors tribute to the young American volunteer
pilots who joined the RAF to fight for freedom at the time when Britain stood
alone against the Nazi domination in Europe. Robert Taylors painting features
Spitfire Vbs of 71 Squadron RAF as they return to their base at North Weald,
September 1941, the young American pilots perhaps taking a brief moment to
marvel at the myriad colours of the late evening sun – welcome relief from the
perils of recent air combat with the Luftwaffe high above the English Channel. |
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Eagle Force by Robert Taylor.
In the dark days of 1940 following Dunkirk, a seemingly defenceless Britain stood starkly alone in Europe, facing the might of an all-conquering Nazi Germany. Protected only by the narrow waters of the English Channel, it was left to a tiny band of young RAF fighter pilots to stem the Luftwaffes onslaught as the country braced itself for invasion. Across the Atlantic, America followed the savage encounters of the Battle of Britain, knowing that soon it too would become involved in the war. Unable to wait, a small band of Americans decided their time had come; some 240 young US pilots, motivated to fight for the cause of freedom, made their way to England to fly with the RAF, and later the USAAF; many paid the ultimate price, more than a third never returning home. By September 1940 these carefree young flyers were united into a re-formed 71 Squadron, the first of three Eagle Squadrons, and the first to go into action, followed shortly after by 121 and 133 squadrons. Showing the same steely determination that had carried their British comrades through the Battle of Britain, they were quickly embraced into the fold of the RAF, their ferocious reputation in combat endearing them to the British people. The legend of the American Eagles was born. Robert Taylors tribute to the young American volunteer pilots who joined the RAF to fight for freedom at the time when Britain stood alone against the Nazi domination in Europe. Robert Taylors painting features Spitfire Vbs of 71 Squadron RAF as they return to their base at North Weald, September 1941, the young American pilots perhaps taking a brief moment to marvel at the myriad colours of the late evening sun – welcome relief from the perils of recent air combat with the Luftwaffe high above the English Channel.
Signed limited edition of 400 prints. Paper size 32.5 inches x 23.5 inches (82cm x 60cm). Price £200.00 Signed by Colonel Bill Edwards, Flight Lieutenant James Gray and Colonel Steve Pisanos.
Eagle edition of 25 artist proofs. Paper size 32.5 inches x 23.5 inches (82cm x 60cm). Price £395.00 Signed by Colonel Bill Edwards, Flight Lieutenant James Gray, Colonel Steve Pisanos, Colonel Don Blakeslee, Flight Lieutenant John Cambell*, Colonel Jim Goodson*, Colonel George Maxwell*, Major Michael Miluck, Lieutenant Colonel Don Nee and Lieutenant Colonel Don Ross. (* = signed companion print)
Eagle edition of 350 prints. Paper size 32.5 inches x 23.5 inches (82cm x 60cm). Price £285.00 Signed by Colonel Bill Edwards, Flight Lieutenant James Gray, Colonel Steve Pisanos, Colonel Don Blakeslee, Flight Lieutenant John Cambell*, Colonel Jim Goodson*, Colonel George Maxwell*, Major Michael Miluck, Lieutenant Colonel Don Nee and Lieutenant Colonel Don Ross. (* = signed companion print)
Eagle Tribute edition of 40 prints. Paper size 32.5 inches x 23.5 inches (82cm x 60cm). Price £425.00 Signed by Colonel Bill Edwards, Flight Lieutenant James Gray, Colonel Steve Pisanos, Colonel Don Blakeslee, Flight Lieutenant John Cambell*, Colonel Jim Goodson*, Colonel George Maxwell*, Major Michael Miluck, Lieutenant Colonel Don Nee, Lieutenant Colonel Don Ross, Captain Luke Allen*, Colonel Oscar Coen**, Lieutenant Steve Crowe*, Major General Carroll W McColpin**, First Lieutenant Bill Slade* and Col Reade F Tilley USAF (deceased)**. (* = signed companion print, ** = matted with companion print)
ITEM CODE DHM1639
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Eagle Force by Robert Taylor
- The Signatures
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 | Colonel Bill Edwards
Volunteering for the RAF in 1940, Bill Edwards was to fly 37 combat operations with 133 Squadron, the third Eagle Squadron to be formed, first on Hurricanes and then on Spitfires. Transferring to the 4th Fighter Group in September 1942, he was leading the Group on 13th July 1944 when he was shot down and taken prisoner of war. He remained in German captivity until liberated in June 1945. He retired from the USAF in 1968.
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 | Flight Lieutenant James Gray
James Gray joined the RAF as an American volunteer in September 1941, and was posted to 71 Eagle Squadron flying Spitfire Vbs. Staying in the RAF throughout the war, he flew Spitfires in North Africa and the Mediterranean, first with 93 Squadron, and later 111 Squadron. His luck eventually ran out in Italy when he was shot down early in 1945 whilst serving with 72 Squadron, and taken POW for four months.
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 | Colonel Steve Pisanos
Volunteering for the RAF in 1941, he joined 71 Eagle Squadron RAF, flying Spitfires, transferring into the USAAF 4th Fighter Group in October 1942. On 5th March he got his 10th victory in a P51 on an escort mission over France, but was forced down through engine failure. Evading capture he served behind enemy lines with the French Resistance, the American OSS, and the British SOE. He returned to England in September 1944 following the Allied liberation of Paris.
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 | Colonel Don Blakeslee (deceased)
Joining the RAF in 1940 Don Blakeslee flew Spitfires with 401 Squadron. When the Eagle Squadron were formed he transferred as an experienced flight commander with several victories to his credit. An aggressive and fearless fighter pilot, Blakeslee was promoted to lead 133 Squadron, and was described as the best fighter leader the war produced. Already an Ace, he transferred to the USAAF 4th Fighter Group. By the war end he had over four years of continuous combat flying, and 14.5 air victories to his credit. Colonel Don Blakeslee sadly passed away on 3rd September 2008.
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 | Flight Lieutenant John Cambell
John Cambell flew Spitfires with 234 Squadron, before joining 121 Eagle Squadron. After the transfer of the Eagles to the USAAF, John chose to remain with the RAF and was posted to 258 Squadron for the final defence of Singapore, and then to 605 Squadron defending Java. With four victories in the Far East to his credit, in March 1942 the squadron was over-run by the Japanese, and John became a POW in a harsh prison camp in Java for the next 3 and a half years.
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 | Colonel Jim Goodson
Jim Goodson joined the RAF in 1940. Posted to re-form 133 Eagle Squadron RAF flying Spitfires, he transferred to the USAAF 4th fighter Group in September 1942, commanding 336 Squadron. Flying P47s and then P51s, Jim Goodson flew continuously until he was shot down ten months before the end of the war. He was one of the most highly decorated Aces in the USAAF, with 32 enemy aircraft to his credit.
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 | Colonel George Maxwell
Joining the RAF at the height of the Battle of Britain, George flew combat operations with 71 Squadron, the first Eagle Squadron. In September 1942 the squadron became the 334th Fighter Squadron, 4th Fighter Group, where he notched up a further 86 sorties. Later he served in both Korea and Vietnam.
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 | Major Michael Miluck
American volunteer Michael Miluck arrived in the UK in September 1941, and was posted to join 71 Eagle Squadron. Flying Spitfire Mk Vbs the squadron was engaged in escort and offensive fighter sweeps over the channel and northern France, taking part in the air cover over Dieppe. Later he flew Hurricanes with 250 Squadron.
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 | Lieutenant Colonel Don Nee
Don Nee flew Spitfires with 152 and 64 Squadrons RAF before being unified with other Americans into the first Eagle Squadron, No.71. He transferred to the 4th Fighter Group's 336th Fighter Squadron in September 1942 and flew 119 missions in P-47s and P-51s, becoming a flight commander.
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 | Lieutenant Colonel Don Ross
Don Ross flew Spitfire Vbs with the second American Eagle Squadron, 121 Squadron. By the time the squadron transferred to the 357th Fighter Group in September 1942 he had already completed 72 combat sorties. Shot down in February 1944 he became a POW until May 1945. He flew combat in Korea, and then F-4 Phantoms in Vietnam.
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 | Captain Luke Allen
Volunteering for the RAF just as the Battle of Britain was reaching its climax, Luke joined 71 Eagle Squadron, flying his first combat operation in April 1941 on Hurricanes. Converting to Spitfires the squadron had a busy period of patrols, sweeps and escorts before transferring to the USAAF as the 334th Fighter Squadron. Luke flew over 60 combat missions in Europe.
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 | Colonel Oscar Coen
Enlisting in 1940 into the RCAF, Oscar Coen transferred to the RAF in 1941, joining 71 Squadron RAF. In a daring raid over France he destroyed a complete ammunition train with a pass so low that exploding debris hit his Spitfire. Managing to bail out safely he was smuggled to Spain by the French Resistance, and eventually back to England. With several victories and a DFC to his credit he transferred to the USAAF in 1942 as a Squadron Commander, completing the war as an Ace with 5 victories and flying over 250 combat missions.
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 | Lieutenant Steve Crowe
Steve Crowe flew Hurricanes with 257 Squadron RAF. and undertook his first combat operation in November 1941. Along with other Americans he was then posted to join 133 Eagle Squadron, flying Spitfires, transferring to the USAAF in September 1942 as the 336th Fighter Squadron. He flew over 70 combat missions in both the European and Mediterranean theatres of operations.
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 | Major General Carroll W McColpin
Red McColpin volunteered for the R.A.F in 1940. After serving with No. 607 Squadron he became one of the early Eagle Aces. He is the only pilot to have served on all three Eagle Squadrons, commanding No. 133 Squadron up to the transfer to the Fourth Fighter Group. With the 9th Air Force in 1944 he led the 404th Fighter Group supporting the D-Day invasion and the drive across Europe. In 400 missions he recorded 11.5 victories and collected 29 awards for gallantry.
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 | First Lieutenant Bill Slade
Arriving in England in July 1941, Bill quickly completed his RAF training and joined his fellow compatriots at 133 Eagle Squadron, formed a few months earlier. Flying Spitfires he took part in the air operations attacking the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau during the Channel Dash. Transferring to the 336th Fighter Squadron, USAAF, he completed a total of over 80 combat sorties during the war.
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 | Col Reade F Tilley USAF (deceased)
A native of Clearwater, Florida, Reade Tilley grew up with a love for competition in the fast lane. This made Reade natural for driving race cars and the military equivalent; fighter pilot. After attending the St. Petersburg College in Florida and the University of Texas at Austin, Reade was faced with the difficult choice of deciding whether to continue to pursue his race car driving career or become a fighter pilot. With war raging in Europe, Reade opted for the latter, and joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1940. In 1941 he was assigned to No. 121 Eagle Squadron of the RAF. This was one of the three American-manned squadrons in the RAF. Reading of the horrific air attacks being endured by the people of the besieged Island of Malta, Reade volunteered for a daring mission to launch landbased Spitfires from the USS Wasp to relieve the forces on the island. On the morning of April 20, 1942 forty-seven Spits, including one flown by Tilley, were launched from the Wasp. The arrival of these fighters was very important in saving the strategic island from annihilation by the Nazis. Arriving safely in Malta, Tilley would soon fly in combat, and on his second mission he would down a Bf-109. The Luftwaffe launched an all-out effort to destroy the recently arrived Spitfires, and within a matter of days all of the newly arrived aircraft were either destroyed or damaged. In June Tilley returned to Gibralter and led another flight of Spitfires to Malta, this time from the deck of the HMS Eagle. During his combat tours at Malta, Tilley attained a total of seven confirmed aerial victories, two probables, and five damaged. He was one of the first two American pilots to be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross during the defense of Malta. The citation reads in part: "... on three occasions by making feint attacks after having expended his ammunition he successfully drove off enemy fighters attempting to machine gun our aircraft as they landed ..." Reade was promoted to Flying Officer in August of 1942, and in October he transferred to the USAAC with the rank of Captain. In early 1944 he was promoted to the rank of Major. Tilley remained with the USAF following the War and served initially with the USAFE, the Air Forces in Europe, where he was involved with the Berlin Air Lift. Later Tilley would serve with the Strategic Air Command. Promoted to Colonel in 1955, he served as the Director of Public Information for General Curtis LeMay. During this period Tilley was able to hone his race car driving skills as a member of the SAC Racing Team. Driving an Allard, Tilley competed against some of the top professional drivers of the era in a series of road race competitions at Air Force bases throughout the country. Reade also served as Director of Information for Pacific Air Forces during the Vietnam War. After retiring from the Air Force, he became a consultant. Reade Tilley passed away in 2001.
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