On the afternoon of Sunday, 13th September 1931, Flt. Lt J N Bootham, RAF, in a Southampton-built S6B seaplane, tore through the skies over the Solent to average 340.08mph round a 217-mile course. This fly-over was sufficient for Great Britain to g......
During the early part of World War II the coastline of Britain was constantly under threat, particularly the busy shipping lanes of the North Sea. As well as carrying out bombing raids on strategic coastal targets and ports such as Luftflotte 5s att......
In Gerald Coulsons fine study First Light, Mk Vb Spitfires of 92 Squadron climb out of Biggin Hill at the outset of an early morning patrol on a cold winters morning in February 1941. Leaving the mist behind as the first beams of light streak across......
Its a cold, misty winters day early in 1943 and a pair of Mosquitoes B. Mk IV return from a low level precision bombing raid over Occupied Europe. As the sun rises over the East Anglian countryside the unmistakable sound of Merlin Engines shatter ......
The inspiration for this subject was principally the setting. A low sun turning the tops of towering cumulus to a soft ochre against a backdrop of azure. Through breaks in these massive clouds can be seen a landscape beginning to fade, greens and y......
The Avro Lancaster was possibly the most versatile and successful bomber aircraft ever and certainly became the backbone of RAF Bomber Command during WWII. Being able to deliver a greater payload than any other aircraft of The War, the Lancaster was ......
2 print editions available from £160.00 All 1 canvas print edition sold out.
Military fast jets spend most of their operational time at very low level. Sparsely populated areas such as the valleys of North Wales, Scotland and the lakes of Cumbria, provide ideal training areas to perfect the skills required to hide behind high......
After having shoot down an Albatros DV over Ypres, captain Billy Barker in his personal aircraft B6313 leads his flight of novices in loose formation back to Allied Lines. Flying West into the early evening sun against the back drop of a dramatic sky......
Gerald Coulson said of this painting : <i><br>How very fortunate to be in a position to paint aviation as a result of direct experience. This aeroplane has been featured in many of my paintings. The fact that I have flown this machine for years and......
The 70th Anniversary of the Spitfire 1936-2006. Geralds majestic study of Spitfire prototype K5054, resplendent in its new all-blue paint scheme, is seen banking high above the clouds during an early test flight in March 1936. As the little fighter l......
Few pilots can resist the temptation for low flying should the opportunity present itself. Out of sight of the spoil-sport eyes of the authority, the rules will be broken, the artist would indulge in this chancy but undeniable thrill. A great sensati......
1 print edition available from £140.00 1 ex-display print available from £80.00
It is June 1944 and, as dawn begins to break over East Anglia, Mosquito B Mk XVI bombers of the Light Night Striking Force return from a raid over Berlin. The sun is just beginning to rise and the peaceful tranquility is shattered as these majestic a......
In a majestic new painting combining his love of landscape with aviation, Gerald Coulson depicts Bud Anderson and Chuck Yeager racing their Mustangs at low level through an Alpine landscape, oblivious to the record-breaking air battle involving the ......
Chariots of Fire depicts Spitfires of 610 squadron (County of Chester) engaging Messerschmitts 190E of the Luftwaffe over the South Coast of England, August 1940. ......
1 print edition available from £360.00 Original Sold.
If the German and Italian forces were to succeed in their campaign in North Africa something had to be done about Malta. British submarines and torpedo carrying aircraft based on the tiny Mediterranean island were wreaking havoc with Axis shipping, ......
With its sleek, graceful design, instantly recognisable by its thin, aerodynamically advanced elliptical wings, the Supermarine Spitfire was the creation of R. J. Mitchell, an aeronautical creative genius. His fighter was to become not only the most......
The Rolls Royce Merlin C Engine of Spitfire prototype K5054 is put through its paces in between early test flights at Eastleigh Aerodrome in March 1936. ......
RAF Coastal Command fought a lonely war charged with defending the English Channel and the North Atlantic convoy routes, hunting U-boats, reconnaissance and rescuing downed airmen. And one aircraft above all others came to symbolise Coastal Command......
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. ......
As Britain holds itself ready for perhaps the greatest battle it has ever fought, a pair of Mk 1 Hurricanes of 213 Squadron set out from their base at Biggin Hill for an early morning patrol over the Channel, they could meet the enemy at any moment.......
The new boy follows the more experienced squadron pilot, learning the manoeuvres which will be so important in the months to come. The two Spitfires fly over the southern coast which will soon become the air battlefield on which the face the German ......
Royal Flying Corps SE5As of 56 squadron engaged in air combat with flying circus Fokker Dr1s commanded by the great German ace Baron von Richthofen, France 1917. ......
Conceived initially by Hawkers (of Hurricane fame) as a fast powerful fighter, the Typhoons performance in this role proved to be disappointing in the respect of rate of climb, and at height. They did however eventually come into their own as a super......
an all time classic image of the Lancaster bomber of Bomber ommand being prepared by the RAF ground crew. The ground crew showed their expertise and commitment in keeping these superb bombers ready and in top condition in all weather. In this atmos......
Here, in the brightening morning sky, Typhoons are prepared for the first sortie of the day. One has already fired up its big, powerful engine, blowing up whirlwinds of Normandy dust, ground crew hover, ready to remove chocks prior to taxi and take-o......
On August 15th 1942, under the leadership of Don Bennet, a new group was formed from Bomber Command to develop specialised target finding and target marking. Made up purely from experienced volunteers, this elite and highly trained group of men were......
Big Brothers and Little Friends : the enduring bond between the bomber crews and fighter pilots of the USAAF Eighth Air Force in their prolonged and hotly contested air war against Hitlers Nazi Germany, 1942-1945. ......
The roar of Daimler-Benz engines at full power awakens the day as Gunther Lutzow, his aircraft still in the markings of his previous unit JG51, leads his Me109Fs of JG3 into combat from a snow covered airfield at Schatalowka on the Russian Front, in......
With the familiar Lincolnshire countryside beckoning, a Lancaster of the famous 617 Dambusters Squadron, makes its final approach after a raid on Germany, late summer 1944. Gerald Coulsons painting Summer Harvest winds the clock back sixty years, re......
Entering service in 1951, the Shackleton has been seen worldwide performing anti-submarine and search and rescue duties prior to the installation of the radar necessary for the airborne early warning role in 1972 wit No.8 squadron. Phased out during......
A pair of English Electric Lightning F3s of 111 squadron depart. Reheat selected, they accelerate rapidly to blast off, cascading spray from a rain-soaked runway. This is the classic interceptor, with superb handling qualities and unmatched climb-to-......
1 print edition available from £80.00 1 ex-display print available from £85.00
To commemorate this much-loved and incomparable aircraft, Gerald Coulsons evocative painting depicts a Mosquito B Mk. XVI, a high altitude bomber version, on operations deep over occupied Europe. In this guise the Mosquito was by far the fastest pis......
Flight Lieutenant Mick Martin readies his crew to release their bouncing bomb as he makes his run into the Mohne Dam. Flanking him is the Lancaster of Wing Commander Guy Gibson, using his aircraft to draw flak from the gunners along the dam. ......
Just after midnight, on the night of 16/17 May 1943, Lancaster crews of 617 Squadron undertook what was to become the most remarkable and probably best remembered air raid of the Second World War. Flying all the way from their base in England in dark......
A telephone rings at a typical flight dispersal: a call from Operations sends pilots and ground crew running for aircraft ready fuelled and armed. A mechanic starts the engine of the spitfire in the foreground and it explodes into life, blasting out ......
Famous for the Dambusters raid during the Second World War, RAF 617 Squadron is now based at Lossiemouth in Scotland. With its high-tech Tornados, the squadron today presents a very different picture to that of the 1940s. In 1990 they again found th......
Flying secret agents in and out of occupied France, transporting arms and radio equipment to the Resistance, and collecting downed airmen from behind enemy lines, was one of the most hazardous flying operations of World War II. These cloak and dagge......
On July 21st 1951 WB188, the Hawker PIO67 Prototype, made its first flight from Boscombe Down, flown by Hawker Chief Test Pilot and WWII fighter ace, Squadron leader Neville Duke DSO, OBE, DFC**, AFC. This historic aircraft went on to become the Hunt......
An all time classic image of the Lancaster bomber of Bomber command at altitude crossing the coast on its way to another bombing mission in Europe. In this atmospheric classic image, Gerald Coulson has shown this stalwart of the Royal Air Forces Bom......
3 print editions available from £18.00 1 ex-display print available from £35.00
A surprise dive bombing attack at 12.45pm as Spitfires of 65 squadron were taking off. 148 bombs were dropped on the airfield and hangars. The entire squadron got airborne with one exception, its engine was stopped by the blast from one of the bombs.......
Up to 1942 Bomber Command operations were beset by many problems. The means they had to accurately pinpoint the target and assault it were totally lacking, in fact their Commander in Chief, Air Marshall Arthur Harris later wrote : It was glaringly ob......
3 print editions available from £160.00 All 1 canvas print edition sold out.
The Vickers-Armstrong Wellington entered service life in the RAF in 1938 as a medium bomber. As the mainstay of the Bomber Command, it bore the initial brunt of the RAFs night offensive during 1940. Without the benefit of sophisticated navigation aid......
Gerald Coulson's dramatic painting Bolt for the Blue, published to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first flight of the Lightning, captures the very essence of this formidable fighter. Seen climbing out of RAF Wattisham, a Lightning F.3 ......
The Boeing Stearman PT 17 is a picture painted by Gerald Coulson essentially for the American Market and as a little self-indulgence. The U.S. equivalent to the Tiger Moth, it was typically larger and more powerful, being based around a comparativel......
It is 7.15pm on 25th May 1941. The place, North Atlantic. The mission to find and sink the massive German warship Bismarck. The weather was very bad and worsening noticeably with storm force winds, rain squalls and increasingly heavy seas. With seem......
During the early 1930s, Imperial Airways of London introduced to its European and Eastern routes the HP42, an enormous four-engined Handley Page biplane carrying up to 38 passengers at a sedate 100mph. For the first time air travellers could enjoy P......
Published to mark the 50th anniversary of the first RAF bombing raid of the second world war, on the 4th of September 1939 by the Blenheims of 107, 110 and 139 squadrons. ......
One of Europe's Leading Military and Aviation Artists, David Pentland has produced a wealth of Paintings for Cranston Fine arts, who are proud to have David as one of their leading Artists. As you browse down his wonderful work you may be interested to know that many of the Paintings are still available, and to a collector his work would certainly be a valuable addition. David's Paintings have gone up in value over the past 2 years, and have seen a growth in value of nearly 100%.
£100 off Original Aviation and Military Pencil Drawings!
Save £100 on a range of over 50 original pencil drawings by artists David Pentland and Ivan Berryman.
Most of these drawings also feature the signatures of veterans of army or air force, many with up to 5 signatures!
