Order Enquiries (UK) : 01436 820269

You currently have no items in your basket


Buy with confidence and security!
Publishing historical art since 1985

Don't Miss Any Special Deals - Sign Up To Our Newsletter!
Aircraft
Search
Signature
Search
Squadron
Search
Ship
Search
ORIGINAL
PAINTINGS
SEE THIS MONTH'S SPECIAL OFFERS
Product Search         
CLICK HERE FOR A FULL LIST OF ALL IVAN BERRYMAN PRINTS BY TITLE
ALWAYS GREAT OFFERS :
20% FURTHER PRICE REDUCTIONS ON HUNDREDS OF LIMITED EDITION ART PRINTS
BUY ONE GET ONE HALF PRICE ON THOUSANDS OF PAINTINGS AND PRINTS
FOR MORE OFFERS SIGN UP TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER

First World War Aviation Art


Ivan Berryman Art Aviation Art First World War Aviation

[UP] - Royal Air Force - German Air Force - US Air Force - French Aviation - Italian Aviation - Belgian Aviation - Russian Aviation - Austro-Hungarian Aviaton - Japanese Aviation - First World War Aviation - Civilian Aircraft - Aviation Print List - Original Acrylics - Battle of Britain

World War One aviation art prints by aviation artist Ivan Berryman.  Gallery of WW1 aviation art by Ivan Berryman, featuring some of the best known Aces and aircraft of the first world war, including Rickenbacker, Ball, McCudden, Voss and of course the Red Baron.  This gallery includes all WW1 aviation art prints and original paintings by the artist Ivan Berryman.

An introduction to the WW1 Aces series of paintings by Ivan Berryman

It is easy to forget that when the Great War broke out in 1914 the aeroplane was actually only eleven years old and yet, by the time of the 1918 Armistice, it had been developed into a hybrid instrument of war that was capable of bombing, reconnaissance, ground strafing and, of course, one-on-one aerial combat. And by today’s standards – or even those of World War Two – these machines were still extremely primitive and flying them, let alone fighting in them, was fraught with danger.

Fragile in the extreme, their fabric skins were prone to tearing away in the slipstream when damaged and were so very vulnerable to the ravages of a fire that few crews survived an aerial conflagration. These flying machines’ flimsy frames and wings were strengthened and stressed by taut wires that, like the standing rigging of a sailing ship, kept everything in place…until shot through or burned away in combat. Very little protection was afforded the pilots and observers in World War 1 and frequently jamming guns and seizing engines only added to their peril. Spares were hard to come by and makeshift repairs at the front line temporary airfields tested the ingenuity of the mechanics and ground crews whose job it was to keep the aircraft in combat-ready condition. Add to this volatile mixture of potential misadventures the fact that pilot training was minimal and that air fighting was still so new that no hard and fast rules had been established, then the more we might understand the mettle of the young men who first dipped a toe in the waters of the air war.

Leutnant Josef Jacobs

Leutnant Josef Jacobs

Not until the advent of the fixed, forward firing gun did the single seat fighter become the killing machine that we know today. Advances in firing mechanisms that enabled the single or twin machine guns to fire through the spinning propeller revolutionised the fighter or scout aeroplane. Pilots began to score more and more victories, many of them becoming national celebrities in their homelands and gaining notoriety among their enemies. So many of these ‘Aces’ were quiet, unassuming individuals who cared little for the war and even less for shooting down young opponents who were, after all, no different to themselves and yet they would find themselves thrust into the spotlight by their admirers and thus put under even greater pressure to continue raising their tally whilst at the same time leading and teaching others.   Novice pilots were frequently overwhelmed by their first experience of a dogfight where as many as sixty aircraft might be wheeling and diving in the space of just one cubic mile of airspace. Confusion, misidentification and mid air collisions were frequent and inevitable.

Yet, from this melee, some semblance of order did emerge, often the product of great leaders like Oswald Boelke who single-handedly wrote the first book of rules of engagement which, for the first time, gave young pilots a guide to how to fight in the air, how to surprise the enemy and how to avoid being shot down. So precise and so prescient were these rules that they still stand today. Boelke also was partly responsible for the instigation of the Fighting Group, bringing together a force of 37 Jagdstaffeln – or Hunting Squadrons – whose job it was not to venture into enemy territory, but to seek out the intruding observation aircraft and their escorts and shoot them down. This they did with ruthless efficiency, their superior Albatross D.IIIs decimating the aged BE.2Cs and RE.8s of the Royal Flying Corps. Indeed, during April 1917, the RFC alone suffered the loss of 316 pilots and observers to the German Jastas that prowled the skies above the Western Front. In what became known as ‘Bloody April’, the sparse numbers of Bristol F.2Bs, Sopwith Triplanes and Nieuport Scouts had no answer to their superior German counterparts. Not until the arrival of the Sopwith Camel, the SE.5 and Spad S.VII did these adversaries meet on even terms, thus beginning the era of the dogfight and the aspiration to become a top scoring ‘Ace’.

 

Whilst many pilots continued with their lone vigils into 1918, popular opinion supported the German idea of large formations of aircraft piloted by better trained crews with the premise of operating as a single fighting force, rather than as individuals. Leaders such as Edward ‘Mick’ Mannock amply demonstrated the benefits of such formations whilst Commander of 74 Squadron, Mannock himself adding 36 victories to his personal score in the space of just three months.

Lanoe G Hawker

Lanoe G Hawker

The Germans, meanwhile, suddenly found themselves unable to match the Allies for sheer numbers. As the tide began to turn against Germany early in 1918, the Jastas began to form into larger groups which earned the nickname ‘Circuses’, largely because they travelled from location to location to bring pressure to bear wherever it was needed instead of operating from fixed airstrips. The most famous of these Circuses was, of course, that led by Manfred von Richthofen, the ‘Red Baron’ who would ultimately be recognised as the highest scoring Ace of them all with a staggering 80 confirmed victories to his credit. Made up almost exclusively of the nimble Fokker DR.1 Triplane, the Albatross D.V and Pfalz D.III, Richthofen’s Flying Circus, comprising Jastas 4, 6, 10 and 11, took the fight to the Allied squadrons and wrought a terrible toll on them but, with the death of von Richthofen in April 1918, their appetite to fight seemed to visibly wane and even the introduction of the superb Fokker D.VII was unable to stem the impending victory of the Allied pilots in the skies above France.

In August 1918, a huge force of aircraft comprising the newly christened RAF’s 43, 54, 73, 201, 203, 208 and 209 squadrons launched a final offensive. The Sopwith Camels and SE.5As tore into the demoralised German formations and great pilots such as Werner Voss fell to their guns in the closing months.

Captain Ivan Smirnov

Captain Ivan Smirnov

So ended the first era of aerial combat in which the aeroplane proved itself to be a potent fighting machine in the hands of young men who had learned their art in an incredibly short time and who had set in stone the rule book on how it should be done. The equipment and technology may have changed almost beyond recognition in the ensuing 90 years or so, but many combat techniques and principles have remained, a legacy of those tentative years when the World’s first air forces and brave aerial gladiators took their first faltering steps and changed the course of history for ever.

This series of paintings of just some of the many Aces and their aircraft are intended not to glorify war, but to salute their innovation and their bravery. We will never see their like again.

Ivan Berryman, 2008.

Navigation
Page 3 of 8Previous .. Page 3 .. Next


Tribute to Ltn d R 'Willi' Nebgen by Ivan Berryman.


Tribute to Ltn d R 'Willi' Nebgen by Ivan Berryman.
8 editions.
£2.70 - £1100.00

1st Lieutenant Paul Baer by Ivan Berryman.


1st Lieutenant Paul Baer by Ivan Berryman.
8 of 9 editions available.
£2.70 - £500.00

Shuttleworth Salute by Ivan Berryman.


Shuttleworth Salute by Ivan Berryman.
2 editions.
£50.00 - £60.00


Tribute to Austro-Hungarian Ace Raoul Stojsavljevic by Ivan Berryman.


Tribute to Austro-Hungarian Ace Raoul Stojsavljevic by Ivan Berryman.
8 editions.
£2.70 - £1100.00

Major Edward Mannock by Ivan Berryman.


Major Edward Mannock by Ivan Berryman.
6 of 7 editions available.
£2.70 - £500.00

Into the Sun - Leutnant Werner Voss by Ivan Berryman.


Into the Sun - Leutnant Werner Voss by Ivan Berryman.
8 editions.
£2.70 - £2000.00


Battle Above the Alps by Ivan Berryman.


Battle Above the Alps by Ivan Berryman.
7 of 8 editions available.
£2.70 - £500.00

Last Dogfight of Werner Voss by Ivan Berryman.


Last Dogfight of Werner Voss by Ivan Berryman.
9 of 10 editions available.
All 2 editions featuring an additional signature are available.
£2.70 - £1280.00

Tribute to Ludwig 'Lutz' Beckmann by Ivan Berryman.


Tribute to Ludwig 'Lutz' Beckmann by Ivan Berryman.
8 editions.
£2.70 - £1100.00


The Final Curtain by Ivan Berryman.


The Final Curtain by Ivan Berryman.
6 of 7 editions available.
£2.70 - £800.00

Aviatik B.1 by Ivan Berryman.


Aviatik B.1 by Ivan Berryman.
8 of 9 editions available.
£2.70 - £500.00

Last But One by Ivan Berryman.


Last But One by Ivan Berryman.
7 editions.
£2.70 - £1100.00


Kapitanleutnant zur See Friedrich Christiansen by Ivan Berryman.


Kapitanleutnant zur See Friedrich Christiansen by Ivan Berryman.
8 of 9 editions available.
£2.70 - £500.00

Captain Arthur Henry Cobby by Ivan Berryman.


Captain Arthur Henry Cobby by Ivan Berryman.
9 editions.
£2.70 - £2900.00

Lucky 13 by Ivan Berryman.


Lucky 13 by Ivan Berryman.
6 editions.
£75.00 - £3000.00


Flight Lieutenant Rutland and Assistant Paymaster Trewin Locate the German Fleet at Jutland, 31st May, 1916 by Ivan Berryman.


Flight Lieutenant Rutland and Assistant Paymaster Trewin Locate the German Fleet at Jutland, 31st May, 1916 by Ivan Berryman.
8 of 9 editions available.
£2.70 - £500.00

Tribute to Hans-Joachim Buddecke by Ivan Berryman.


Tribute to Hans-Joachim Buddecke by Ivan Berryman.
7 editions.
£2.70 - £1100.00

Tribute to 8 Naval Squadron by Ivan Berryman.


Tribute to 8 Naval Squadron by Ivan Berryman.
8 editions.
£2.70 - £1100.00


Gothas Moon by Ivan Berryman.


Gothas Moon by Ivan Berryman.
7 of 8 editions available.
£2.70 - £500.00

Oblt Friedrich Navratil by Ivan Berryman.


Oblt Friedrich Navratil by Ivan Berryman.
6 of 7 editions available.
£2.70 - £400.00

Gotha UWD by Ivan Berryman.


Gotha UWD by Ivan Berryman.
9 editions.
£2.70 - £3400.00


Navigation
Page 3 of 8Previous .. Page 3 .. Next



Text for the above items :

Tribute to Ltn d R 'Willi' Nebgen by Ivan Berryman.

Flying with Jasta 7, Willi Nebgen scored four confirmed victories but sources suggest he shared in at least two others, meaning he most likely attained the magic number of 5 victories to make him an Ace. Shown here in his Fokker D.VII in the summer of 1918, it was painted all black except for the green and white diagonal flash on the fuselage. He was killed in action on 22nd October 1918 and is buried in West Flanders, Belgium.


1st Lieutenant Paul Baer by Ivan Berryman.

The outstanding qualities of the Spad S.VII were exploited to the full by Lieutenant Paul Baer, who was to become the first ace of the United States Air Service whilst serving with the 103rd Pursuit Squadron. This former Lafayette Flying Corps volunteer is also recorded as the highest-scoring Spad pilot in the USAS, claiming 9 confirmed victories before being shot down on 22nd May 1918 and being taken prisoner. His aircraft is shown here in combat with Albatross scouts of Jasta 18.


Shuttleworth Salute by Ivan Berryman.

To commemorate Shuttleworths Golden Jubilee in 1994. A Spitfire leads a Hawker Hind and a Gloster Gladiator in formation over Old Warden. The Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden aerodrome is recognised as one of the finest private collections of vintage aircraft in the world. Many of the exhibits have direct connections with the all too short but lively career of Richard Ormonde Shuttleworth himself, and all the aircraft are flown regularly - from the frail and endearing Bristol Boxkite to what is regarded as the most genuine Spitfire flying today. Here, this Spitfire leads a Vic-3 formation of the Collections Hawker Hind and Gloster Gladiator over Old Warden during a typical flying display to Commemorate Shuttleworths Golden Jubilee in 1994.


Tribute to Austro-Hungarian Ace Raoul Stojsavljevic by Ivan Berryman.

Flying with Flik 34, Raoul Stojsavljevic became an Ace flying the Hansa-Brandenburg D.I when he recorded his fifth victory on 13th February 1917. He scored a further victory claiming a Farman aircraft in that April while flying with Flik 16, before joining Jagdstaffel 6 to gain experience in fighter tactics during May 1917. Returning to Flik 16, he pioneered high-speed photo reconnaissance flying a Hansa-Brandenburg D.I, while also claiming two more victories over Farman aircraft in July 1917. His final victory was claimed in a D.I in September that year. Raoul Stojsavljevic was killed in 1930 when his commercial aircraft crashed in fog.


Major Edward Mannock by Ivan Berryman.

Despite having sight in just one eye, Major Edward Mick Mannock was to become one of the most decorated and celebrated aces of World War 1, bringing down an official 61 enemy aircraft in just eighteen months before himself being brought down in flames by enemy ground fire. He was reluctant to add shared kills to his tally, so his actual total of victories is recorded at 73. His decorations include the VC, DSO and 2 Bars, MC and Bar and he is depicted here diving on enemy aircraft in SE5a D278 of 74 Sqn in April, 1918.


Into the Sun - Leutnant Werner Voss by Ivan Berryman.

The great Werner Voss is depicted in his Fokker F1 103/17 of Jasta 10 in the Summer of 1917. Renowned by pilots from both sides for his bravery and extraordinary airmanship, the young ace scored a total of 48 confirmed victories before being brought down and killed by Lieutenant Rhys Davids' SE5 on the very day that he was due to go on leave. The Fokker F1 differed from the production DR.1 in detail only, Voss' machine being fitted with a captured 110hp Le Rhone engine and his aircraft was not fitted with the outer wing skids common to the DR.1.


Battle Above the Alps by Ivan Berryman.

Josef Kiss is depicted attacking a flight of Caproni Ca.III bombers above the Alps in a Hansa-Brandenburg C.1 of Flik 24 in 1916. He and his observer, Georg Kenzian successfully forced down two of these aircraft and returned to base safely, his own aircraft riddled with over 70 holes sustained during the combat. The Austro-Hungarian ace was to end the war with a total of 19 confirmed victories.


Last Dogfight of Werner Voss by Ivan Berryman.

The air battle that took place above the trenches of France on the evening of 23rd September 1917 was to go down in history as one of the most extraordinary dogfights ever. The young German ace Werner Voss found himself engaged with no fewer than eleven SE5s of 56 Sqn, among them British aces such as James McCudden and Arthur Rhys Davids. Hugely outnumbered, the brave Voss saw off several British aircraft with his amazing airmanship and accuracy of fire. Again and again he could have fled the scene due to his Triplanes superior rate of climb, but his attacks were insistent and deadly. His final moments came when Rhys Davids found himself on the tail of Voss and fired both his Lewis and Vickers guns into the little turqoise Triplane which was seen to drift toward the ground, his aircraft inverting before impact, killing Voss instantly. The painting shows Voss distinctive pre-production Fokker F. 1, with the yellow nose of Jasta 10, being pursued by the SE5 of Rhys Davids while, high above,a Spad is helping to keep a gaggle of Albatross DVs at bay.


Tribute to Ludwig 'Lutz' Beckmann by Ivan Berryman.

Lutz Beckmann joined Jasta 6 in December 1917, transferring to Jasta 48 then Jasta 56 in March 1918 before scoring his first victory. By the end of the war he had scored 8 victories - he is shown here in his colourful Fokker D.VII in September 1918. In World War Two he was awarded the Knight's Cross while commanding a unit flying the Junkers Ju52. He died in 1965.


The Final Curtain by Ivan Berryman.

On the 20th of April 1918, just one day before his death, the legendary Red Baron, Mannfred von Richthofen, claimed his final victory. His famous Flying Circus was engaged in battle by Sopwith Camels of No.3 and No.201 Squadron. Claiming his 79th victory, he had shot down Major Richard Raymond-Barker earlier in the dogfight - the British pilot being killed in the resulting crash. However, it is his 80th and final victory that is depicted here. In the centre of the painting, the Sopwith Camel of David Lewis has been brought into the firing line of von Richthofen, and is about to be sent down in flames from the sky - Lewis was fortunate to survive the encounter relatively unscathed. Meanwhile the chaos of the dogfight is all around this duel, with aircraft of both sides wheeling and diving in combat. The other pilots depicted are Weiss, Bell, Riley, Steinhauser, Mohnicke, Hamilton and Wenzl.


Aviatik B.1 by Ivan Berryman.

Based upon the design of an earlier 1913 racing biplane, Aviatik AG were able to introduce their B.1 into military service almost at the outbreak of World War 1, the type proving to be a useful reconnaissance machine during the early stages of the conflict. As with most B type aircraft of this time, the Aviatik B.1 was unarmed and carried an observer in the forward cockpit. Power was provided by a Mercedes D.1 inline engine whose large radiators were fitted to the port side of the fuselage, just above the lower wing. There is no record of exactly how many B.1s were constructed.


Last But One by Ivan Berryman.

In the skies just west of Amiens on 20th April 1918, the celebrated German ace, Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron, flying his famous all-red Fokker DR.1 Triplane 425/17 and accompanied by other DR.1s of his notorious Flying Circus, encountered Sopwith Camels of No.3 and No.201 Squadrons and a fierce aerial battle ensued. Two Sopwith Camels were to fall to the Red Baron's guns that day, the first of them being Major Richard Raymond-Barker, shown here flicking his aircraft to the right to avoid the German's fire. Raymond-Barker was almost immediately shot down, his burning aircraft being consumed by fire on impact. Just minutes later, Second Lieutenant David Lewis was caught and despatched, these two British scouts being the last ever victims of Baron von Richthofen.


Kapitanleutnant zur See Friedrich Christiansen by Ivan Berryman.

During a patrol on 6th July 1918, Christiansen spotted a British submarine on the surface of the Thames Estuary. He immediately turned and put his Hansa-Brandenburg W.29 floatplane into an attacking dive, raking the submarine C.25 with machine gun fire, killing the captain and five other crewmen. This victory was added to his personal tally, bringing his score to 13 kills by the end of the war, even though the submarine managed to limp back to safety. Christiansen survived the war and went on to work as a pilot for the Dornier company, notably flying the giant Dornier Do.X on its inaugural flight to New York in 1930. He died in 1972, aged 93.


Captain Arthur Henry Cobby by Ivan Berryman.

Arriving in France in 1917 with little or no air gunnery training behind him, Captain Arthur Harry Cobby went on to become the Australian Flying Corps highest scoring ace with 29 victories to his credit, five of them observation balloons. He is shown here in Sopwith Camel E1416 of 4 Sqn AFC (formerly 71 Sqn AFC) having downed one of his final victims, a Fokker D.VII on 4th September 1918. Cobby survived the Great War and served in the RAAF during the inter war period and World War Two, eventually leaving the service as Air Commodore CBE. He died in 1955.


Lucky 13 by Ivan Berryman.

Godwin von Brumowski's 13th victory against an Italian Macchi seaplane over Grado, in northern Italy.


Flight Lieutenant Rutland and Assistant Paymaster Trewin Locate the German Fleet at Jutland, 31st May, 1916 by Ivan Berryman.

Having spotted smoke on the horizon, Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty ordered that a floatplane be immediately launched from HMS Engadine to investigate. Without delay, Short 184 (serial No 8359) was airborne, but had to maintain a modest altitude due to the low cloud base. Flight Lieutenant Frederick Rutland (who would forevermore be known as Rutland of Jutland) and his observer G.S. Trewin, quickly spotted the German fleet, but found their radio transmissions to be jammed and, upon encountering engine problems, were forced to return to their tender where they were able to file their report. Sadly, an increasing swell made a further flight impossible and their report failed to be relayed to the British Fleet who continued their engagement with the Germans without the benefit of aerial reconnaissance.


Tribute to Hans-Joachim Buddecke by Ivan Berryman.

Hans-Joachim Buddecke was only the third ace to be awarded the Blue Max (after Max Immelmann and Oswald Boelcke), and was credited with a total of thirteen confirmed victories and many more unconfirmed. Seen here flying with Jasta 4 in a Halberstadt D.V in 1916 on the Western Front, he had previously flown Fokker Eindeckers here, and had served in Bulgaria and Gallipoli. He was shot down and killed in March 1918.


Tribute to 8 Naval Squadron by Ivan Berryman.

In this painting, the Sopwith Triplane N5468 named ANGEL of No.8 Naval Squadron is depicted around the time it was flying from St. Eloi in France in the summer of 1917. This aircraft clocked up more than 150 flying hours here before being sent to a training squadron at the end of the year. During this time, Captain Charles Jenner-Parson claimed at least two victories in this aircraft.


Gothas Moon by Ivan Berryman.

Just as the name Zeppelin had become the common term for almost every German airship that ventured over Britain, so the name Gotha became generically used for the enemy bombers that droned across the English Channel during 1917-1918, inflicting considerable damage to coastal ports and the capital. As the massed raids of Bombengeschwader 3 increased, a public inquiry in England brought about the formation of the Royal Air Force as an independent service to counter this new threat and fighters from Europe were brought home to defend against these marauding giants. As a result, heavy losses on the German side meant that daylight raids had to be abandoned and all operations were henceforth conducted by night. Here, a pair of Gotha G.Vs begin to turn for home as searchlights play fruitlessly over distant fires, the grim result of another successful nights work.


Oblt Friedrich Navratil by Ivan Berryman.

Born of Croatian parents in Sarajevo in 1893, Friedrich Navratil served under the Austro Hungarian flag throughout his considerable military career, becoming an outstanding pilot with Flik 3J on the Italian Front. He is depicted here chasing down a Hanriot of 72A Squadriglia da Caccia over Val del Concei in August 1918 to claim his third of ten victories. Navratil's distictive Albatross D.III (Oef) 253.06 was easily identifiable by his personalised 'Pierced Heart' emblem and is unusual in sporting the then new Balkenkeuz cross, untypical of Austro-Hungarian aircraft in WW1.


Gotha UWD by Ivan Berryman.

In response to a German Navy requirement for a floatplane version of their successful G.1 bomber, Gotha produced just one example of the Ursinus Wasser Doppeldecker, or UWD. The aircraft proved to be easy to fly with good take off and landing characteristics and was capable of carrying a considerable payload. On an unknown date in 1916, the UWD took part in a raid on Dover with four Friedrichshafen FF.33s, inflicting some damage to military installations in the area and returning safely. Despite this, Gotha UWD no 120/15 was written off by the navy early in October that same year. No further examples were built.

Contact Details
Shipping Info
Terms and Conditions
Cookie Policy
Privacy Policy

Join us on Facebook!

Sign Up To Our Newsletter!

Stay up to date with all our latest offers, deals and events as well as new releases and exclusive subscriber content!

This website is owned by Cranston Fine Arts.  Torwood House, Torwoodhill Road, Rhu, Helensburgh, Scotland, G848LE

Contact: Tel: (+44) (0) 1436 820269.  Email: cranstonorders -at- outlook.com

Follow us on Twitter!

Return to Home Page