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Gathering of Eagles by Robert Taylor.
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Gathering of Eagles by Robert Taylor
- The Signatures
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 | General Adolf Galland (deceased)
Adolf Galland fought in the great Battles of Poland, France and Britain, leading the famous JG26 'Abbeville Boys'. He flew in combat against the RAF's best including Douglas Bader, Bob Stanford Tuck and Johnnie Johnson. In 1941, at the age of 29, he was promoted to 'Inspector of the Fighter Arm'. In 1942 Hitler personally selected Galland to organise the fighter escort for the 'Channel Dash'. He became the youngest General in the German High Command but open disagreements with Goering led to his dismissal at the end of 1944. He reverted to combat flying, forming the famous JV44 wing flying the Me262 jet fighter, and was the only General in history to lead a squadron into battle. With 104 victories, all in the West, Adolf Galland received the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. Born 19th March 1912, died 9th February 1996.
Born in 1911, Adolf Galland learned to fly at a state-sponsored flying club in the early 1930's. In 1933 he was selected to go to Italy for secret pilot training. Galland flew for a brief time as a commercial airline pilot prior to joining the clandestine Luftwaffe as a Second Lieutenant. In April of 1935 he was assigned to JG-2, the Richtofen Fighter Wing, and in 1937 he joined the ranks of the Condor Legion flying the He-51 biplane fighter in support of General Franco during the Spanish Civil War. Despite flying 280 missions, Galland attained no aerial victories, a rather inauspicious start for a pilot would go on to attain more than 100 aerial victories - the highest for any pilot who flew on the Western Front. During Germany's invasion of Poland, Galland was assigned to an attack squadron and he flew over fifty ground sorties. He was promoted to Captain for his efforts, but Galland was anxious to return to a fighter squadron, and he got his wish in October of 1939 when he was transferred to JG-27. It was with JG-27 that Galland first learned to fly the Bf-109. In May of 1940 JG-27 flew in support of the invasion of Belgium, and Galland achieved his first combat victory on May 12. Two months later his score had risen to more than a dozen, and at this time he was once again transferred to JG-26 situated on the Channel Coast. Engaging the RAF on a daily basis during the Battle of Britain, Galland's score rose steadily until it exceeded 40 victories by September. After a short leave Galland rejoined JG-26 in Brittany, where the squadron played a defensive role. Following Germany's invasion of Russia in June of 1941, JG-26 became one of only two German fighter squadrons left on the Channel Coast. This resulted in plenty of flying, and by late in 1941 Galland's victory totals had reached 70. Following a near brush with death when the fuel tank of his 109 exploded, Galland was grounded for a time, and sent to Berlin where he was made the General of the Fighter Arm, reporting directly to Goring and Hitler. Galland spent most of the next few years carrying out inspection tours, and was at odds with his superiors about the need for an adequate fighter defense to negate ever-increasing Allied bombing of Germany's cities. He continued to fly combat missions when the opportunity presented itself, despite Goring's orders to the contrary. In January of 1945 almost 300 fighters were lost in an all-out attack on Allied airfields in France, a mission Galland did not support. He was dismissed as General of the Fighter Arm for his insubordination, but reflecting his flying abilities Hitler ordered Galland to organize JV-44, Germany's first jet-equipped fighter squadron. By March of 1945 Galland had recruited 45 of Germany's best surviving fighter pilots, and this new squadron was given the difficult task of trying to counter the daily onslaught of 15th Air Force bombers coming at Germany from the South. Galland's final mission of the War occurred on April 26 when he attained his 102nd and 103rd confirmed aerial victories prior to crash landing his damaged Me262. Several days later the War was over for both Galland and Germany. General Galland died in 1996.
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Adolf Galland signing the print - Eagles Over the Steppes - by Graeme Lothian. |
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Wing Commander Geoffrey Page DSO OBE DFC (deceased)
Whilst as a pilot officer with 56 squadron he took part in the Battles of France and Britain, but on the 12th August 1940 he bailed out of his Hurricane in to the sea. Suffering severe burns he spent the next two years in Hospital undergoing numerous plastic surgery operations. Late 1942 he re-joined operations again as a Flight Lieutenant. July 1943 he won his first DFC and in April 1944 he shot down a Bf110 night fighter. The pilot being the famous Major Hans-Joachim Jabs, who survived. Later promoted Wing Leader of 125 wing, after another DFC he won the DSO at the end of 1944. After the war on a tour of the States met his wife to be, the daughter of a British Hollywood actor. He left the R.A.F. in 1948 joining Vickers Armstrong. He died 3rd August 2000.
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Geoffrey Page signing prints of - Combat Over Normandy - by Graeme Lothian. |
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 | General Gunther Rall
A young pilot with III/JG52 at the outbreak of war. He quickly demonstrated his natural ability and leadership qualities, scoring his first air victory early in the Battle of Britain, and by July 1940 was leading 8/JG52. After transfer to the Eastern Front his air victories mounted at an astonishing rate. A crash hospitalised him but within nine months he was back in the cockpit, and, when commanding III/JG52, gained the Wings 500th victory. Gunther fought throughout the war to become the 3rd highest Ace in history with 275 victories. He was awarded the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords.
Gunther Rall was born on March 10, 1918 in the small Bavarian town of Gaggenau, Baden. Immersing himself in Boy Scout activities during the difficult economic times in Germany following WW 1, Rall finished school in 1936 and joined the German Army. Influenced by a friend, who was a young officer in the Luftwaffe, Rall entered pilot's school in 1938. His initial posting was with JG52. He attained his first aerial victory during the Battle of France in May of 1940. During the Battle of Britain JG52 absorbed many casualties, and Rall was promoted to Squadron Commander at the young age of 22. With his fair-hair and smooth complexion the young officer looked even younger than his years. But behind this pleasant exterior was a fierce competitor with the heart of a tiger. Later, Rall's squadron would support the attack on Crete, followed by deployment to the Southern Sector on the Eastern Front. Rall's victory totals began to mount. Following his 37 th victory, GiInther was himself shot down. He was lucky to survive the crash, but with a badly broken back he would spend most of the next year in various hospitals. In Vienna at the University Hospital he would meet his future wife, Hertha. Miraculously, Rall recovered and returned to the Luftwaffe in August of 1942. By November his score exceeded 100 and he was awarded the Oak Leaves to accompany the Knight's Cross he was awarded only weeks earlier. As the War progressed against Russia, Rall began to encounter ever more experienced Soviet pilots flying better performing aircraft. Despite this fact, and being shot down several more times himself, Rall's victory tally kept rising. By March of 1944 the ace had attained 273 aerial victories. With the War now going badly for Germany, Rall was transferred to the Western Front. He was able to attain only two more victories against the swarms of Allied bombers and fighter escorts which now pounded Germany every day and night. In May of 1944 Rall was shot down by a P-47. Losing his thumb in the battle he remained out of combat until later in 1944. Rall's final assignments included flying 190Ds as Kornmodore of JG300, and flying the Me-262 jet. Rall's 275 aerial victories (attained on less than 700 combat sorties) make him the third highest scoring ace of all time. If not for the down time suffered as a result of his broken back, Rall might have actually equaled or exceeded Erich Hartmann's alltime record of 352 aerial victories. Rall was not much for socializing during the War. He was a fierce competitor with a businessman's attitude about flying. He was an excellent marksman, and possibly the best deflection shot expert of the War. He continued to fly with the Bundeslufwaffe following the War, serving as its Commander-In Chief in 1970-74.
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Gunther Rall signing the print - Eagles Over the Steppes - by Graeme Lothian. |
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 | Colonel Hub Zemke
Best known as leader of the legendary Zemkes Wolfpack, Hub Zemkes famous 56th Fighter Group was the top scoring Fighter Group in the European Theather of operations. Zemke pioneered the use of the P-38 Droop Snoot as a bomb aiming aircraft which led the bomb-loaded P-47s on to the target with great accuracy and success. He later commanded the 479th Fighter Group P-38s. One of the outstanding fighter leaders of the war, Hub Zemkes personal tally 17.5 victories.
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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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 | Group Captain Peter Townsend CVO, DSO, DFC (deceased)
Peter Townsend was one of the most inspirational fighter leaders of the Battle of Britain. In February 1940, flying a Hurricane, he had shot down the first German aircraft to fall on English soil in World War II, and this was the first of a string of successes for the popular commander of 85 Squadron. Shot down twice, wounded, and flying part of the Battle when he couldn't walk, Peter Townsend survived to lead the first night-fighter squadron. He later became Equerry to King George VI, a post he held for 8 years. He died 19th June 1995.
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 | General Walter Krupinski (deceased)
Walter Krupinski first saw combat against the RAF on the Western Front. Transferring to the east, he became a Squadron Commander in the legendary JG52. In 1943 his victories reached 150 but, in March 1944 with 177 victories to his name, he was transferred to Germany to command JG11. Flying high altitude Me109s, he chalked up another 12 victories before being wounded. In September 1944 he was promoted Kommandeur of III./JG26 and led them on Operation Bodenplatte before joining Galland's famous JV44. He completed the war with 197 victories in over 1100 missions. He received the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves. He died in 2000.
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Walter Krupinski signing the print - Eagles Over the Steppes - by Graeme Lothian |
Walter Krupinski signing the print - JV44 Kette of Swallows - by Graeme Lothian |
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Walter Krupinski - Knight's Cross. |
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