Sgt Ray Grayston Dambuster Crew Tribute Collection of Lancaster Aviation Art.
DPK0426. Sgt Ray Grayston Dambuster Crew Tribute Collection of Lancaster Aviation Art. Aviation Print Pack.
Items in this pack : Item #1 - Click to view individual item DHM1460. The Dambusters by Simon Smith. On the night of 16/17th May 1943,under a full moon, 19 specially modified Lancaster bombers from 617 Squadron carried out one of the most daring and effective air raids of the Second World War. Led by wing commander Guy Gibson the 19 aircraft took off and headed for Germany at extreme low level.. Their mission, code named Operation Chastise, was to destroy the Ruhr dams which supplied water and electricity to the industrial heart of Reich. Each aircraft carried the ingenious Upkeep mine, developed by the engineer Barnes Wallis. Shaped like a large oil drum, the bomb was spun prior to release at exactly 60ft above the water and 150 yards from the dam wall. This caused the weapon to bounce across water and on impact would also make it stay close to the wall of the dam as it sank. The bomb, technically a mine, was fitted with a hydrostatic fuse similar to a depth charge causing detonation at the required depth.The correct height above the water was achieved by aligning the beams of two spotlights to meet on the surface of the water. Delivering such a weapon on target at night at such low altitude and under enemy fire was thought by many to be impossible. The nineteen pilots,some as young as eighteen had been hand picked by Gibson only two months before and formed into 617 squadron whose first mission was to remain top secret and unknown to them up until the last moment. The Mohne Dam was attacked first and several attempts were made under heavy fire with one lancaster being shot down as it flew over the target.Guy Gibson then attempted to draw fire away from the attacking aircraft by switching on his navigation lights and flying to one side of Mick Martins aircraft ,the scene depicted in Simon Smiths painting.Just as another aircraft was about to go in,excited shouts came over the intercom - its gone! The main target achieved, Gibson led the remaining aircraft on to the Eder Dam deep amongst the mountains of the Eder valley. Here, although no flak defenses, the terrain made the approach extremely hazardous. Two bombs were released yet still the target remained unbreached leaving only one last aircraft ,that of Les Knights to attack. A steep descent from a thousand feet then a dive over a spit of land left very little time to line up and release the bomb.Worse still there was a huge mountain on the far side of the dam! Added to this Edward Johnson the bomb aimer recalled that the spinning bomb had an alarming gyroscopic effect on the handling of the aircraft,so it was with superb flying and teamwork that their bomb struck and finally destroyed the massive stonework of the Eder Dam. Gibsons leadership and bravery led to the award of the VC and many other decorations were bestowed upon the other crews.The squadron however paid a heavy price with 8 lancasters being lost. Less than 12 copies available of this sold out edition. Signed by five crew, Edward C Johnson - bomb aime (deceased)r, Ray Grayston - Flight Engineer (deceased), Frederick Sutherland - RCAF Rear Gunner, George Chalmers (deceased) and George Johnson Signed limited edition of 500 prints. Image size 25 inches x 17 inches (64cm x 43cm)
Item #2 - Click to view individual item DHM1656. Dambusters by Anthony Saunders. Immediately following their devastating attack on the Mohne Dam, the specially modified Lancasters of 617 Squadron successfully breach the second of Germanys mighty western dams - the Eder, on the night of 16th / 17th May 1943. After hitting the target with pinpoint precision, pilot Les Knight and Flight Engineer Ray Grayston battle with the controls of Lancaster AJ-N in order to clear the high ground beyond the dam as a torrent of water erupts into the valley below them; the wall of the Eder Dam is rent apart and collapses. Signed by Sergeant Raymond E. Grayston (deceased) and Sergeant Frederick E. Sutherland RCAF. Signed limited edition of 400 prints. Paper size 26.5 inches x 19.5 inches (67cm x 50cm)
Item #3 - Click to view individual item DHM1947. The Dambusters by Gerald Coulson. Mick Martin's Lancaster pulls away from the Möhne Dam, his Upkeep bomb exploding behind him sending a huge plume of water into the air. Guy Gibson flies to his right drawing flak from the anti-aircraft guns on the towers. Sold out at the publisher - we have only 8 prints left. Signed by Squadron Leader George L. Johnson DFM, Sergeant Raymond E. Grayston (deceased), Flight Lieutenant Edward Johnson (deceased), and Flight Lieutenant George Chalmers DFC DFM (deceased). Signed limited edition of 400 prints. Paper size 34 inches x 25 inches (86cm x 64cm)
Item #4 - Click to view individual item DHM2263. Homeward Bound by Nicolas Trudgian. No single raid during World War Two has attracted more discussion, analysis, features, books, interviews, or been the subject of more films, documentaries, and TV programmes than the famous attack mounted by the RAFs 617 Squadron upon the mighty hydroelectric dams in Westphalia, on the night of 16/17 May, 1943. Led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson, nineteen specially adapted Lancaster bombers, manned by 133 aircrew, culminated months of secret training when they made one of the most audacious raids of the war. Flying at tree-top height in darkness, and doing their best to avoid electricity pylons and other obstructions, they navigated their way deep into occupied territory. Their targets were the huge Mohne, Sorpe, Ennepe, and Eder Dams that powered Germanys huge industrial factories in the heartland of the Rhur. Each bomber had to avoid enemy flak and fighters en route, locate their target, descend to precisely 60 feet above the water then, in the face of a barrage of anti-aircraft fire, release their single unique 10,000 lb hydrostatic bomb at exactly the right moment. There was no margin for error, and there was no place for faint hearts. Eight of the crews that left RAF Scampton that night were never to return. Of the fifty-six aircrew on board only two survived. Though nearly half the skilled crews that made up 617 squadron were lost, they recorded one of the most successful and daring air raids of the war- a costly endeavour, but one that has become legend in the annals of aerial warfare. Nicolas Trudgians emotive painting Homeward Bound depicts Dave Shannons Lancaster AJ-L, dodging the searchlights low over the Dutch landscape, as he returns from the Eder Dam following the part he and his crew played in the famous raid on that moonlight night in May, 1943.
Published 2000. Last 30 prints available of this sold out edition. Signed by Sgt Ray E Grayston (deceased) and Flt Lt Edward C Johnson, in addition to the artist. Signed limited edition of 300 prints. Image size 20 inches x 12 inches (51cm x 31cm)
Item #5 - Click to view individual item B0314. The One That Broke The Dam by Ivan Berryman. Amid a hail of defensive fire, Flt Lt D J H Maltby holds Lancaster ED906/G AJ-J steady for his bomb aimer John Fort to perfectly choose his moment to release the Upkeep Bomb that would ultimately breach and destroy the Mohne Dam during the famous Dambuster raids on the Ruhr on the night of 16th / 17th May 1943. Signed limited edition of 1150 prints. Image size 12 inches x 9 inches (31cm x 23cm)
Item #6 - Click to view individual item DHM1959. Raining Fire by Ivan Berryman. Flying impossibly low en route to the Sorpe Dam on the night of 16th/17th May 1943 as part of Operation Chastise, Flight Sergeant Ken Brown's Lancaster ED918(G) encountered a number of German trains. On three occasions, AJ-F's nose and tail gunners (Sgt D Allaston, front and F/Sgt G S MacDonald, rear) opened fire, pouring shells and hot tracer rounds into the lumbering locomotive and its rolling stock, wreaking havoc along the way. ED918(G) eventually arrived at the Sorpe Dam at 3.00am where it successfully released its Upkeep bomb, but without breaching the dam. Brown and his crew returned safely, their aircraft riddled with holes, perhaps partially due to their route home taking them over the breached Mohne Dam, where they briefly exchanged gunfire with the German batteries there. Signed limited edition of 1150 prints. Image size 11.5 inches x 8 inches (30cm x 21cm)
Website Price: £ 580.00
To purchase these prints individually at their normal retail price would cost £1015.00 . By buying them together in this special pack, you save £435
All prices are displayed in British Pounds Sterling
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