Escort to the Scharnhorst by Simon Atack  Depicting a scene from Operation Paderborn as Scharnhorst ploughs through a lively swell with Fw190s of I./J65, based at Oslo Fornebu, providing fighter cover. Steaming in company with destroyers Z-28 and Erich Steinbrinck, the mighty German battleship has departed Gotenhafen and is heading towards Bogen Bay, near Narvik in Norway. She later sank with only 36 survivors.  Signed by Wilhelm Alsen who was starboard gunner on Scharnhorst. Operation Calendar by Simon Atack  The besieged island of Malta, the tiny fortress island so vital to Allied strategy in the Mediterranean, was in April 1942, the most heavily bombed place on earth.  With some 600 fighters and bombers based in Sicily, the Axis air forces were intent on neutralising the island, to gain total air and sea supremacy in the region.  Against this continual aerial onslaught, by early April the RAF could muster just 6 serviceable fighters.  The vital naval dockyards and airfields were in danger of annihilation.  Following an urgent cable from Winston Churchill to President Roosevelt, the carrier USS Wasp embarked 52 Mk Vc Spitfires of 601 and 603 Squadrons and, under Captain J W Reeves Jr, USN, sailed from Glasgow on 14 April.  In the early hours of 19 April, escorted by the cruiser Renown and four British and two American destroyers, the heavily laden carrier slipped through the Straits of Gibraltar in darkness.  "Operation Calendar" began early the following day, when Wasp launched 11 of her F4F Wildcat fighters to provide air cover while the Spitfires started taking off.  With the sun already up, by 0645 all 47 serviceable fighters were despatched.  Monitoring all this activity, Luftwaffe Me109s lay in wait, attacking as the Spitfires made landfall.  All but one landed safely, and from their arrival the Spitfires began to dominate the sky above the beleaguered island, and Malta was saved. The Graf Spee by Simon Atack  With war but a few months old, the German pocket-battleship Graf Spee was roaming the South Atlantic trade routes sinking British merchant shipping with impunity. Within a few weeks, under the wily captain Hans Langsdorf, the battleship had sunk or captured merchantmen totalling over 50,000 tons, without loss of life to either side. Commodore Henry Harwood hunted Graf Spee down, his three Royal Navy cruisers engaging the battleship on 13th of December 1939, in what became the Battle of the River Plate. During the two hour engagement, in which two British cruisers were badly damaged, Graf Spee had also been hit, and put into the neutral port of Montevideo for repairs. Believing Harwoods force to be larger than it was, trapped in port, Langsdorf scuttled the great warship in the harbour. It was the Royal Navy's first major coup of the war.  The painting shows Graf Spee making her way through a choppy cross-current as she leaves the German port of Wilhelmshaven for final trials just a few weeks before the outbreak of war in September 1939. Farewell the Hood by Simon Atack  A study of HMS Hood, pride of the Royal Navy, as she steams majestically through the Swept Channel departing Scapa Flow on 22nd May 1941. Having fuelled at the naval base in Scotland, she steers clear of floats suspending torpedo and submarine nets, as she heads for open water and the North Sea. The crew of a naval cutter wave farewell as the mighty battleship departs upon what will prove to be her final voyage: just a few days later she encountered the German battleship Bismarck in the Denmark Straits. In the exchange that followed, Bismarck's second and third salvoes made direct hits on Hood. Her magazines exploded and the mighty battleship sank in minutes taking all but three of her complement of 1420 sailors with her.  Prints are signed by Ted Briggs the only living survivor.

Simon Atack: About the Artist Simon began drawing aircraft and warships at a very early age, his sketches mysteriously appearing on the end-papers of his parents hardback novels, nursery books, and any other clean white surface he came across. Invariably using biro, still one of his preferred sketching instruments today, his efforts were indelible, if not always appreciated at the time. At about 8 years of age he was given his first set of oil paints, possibly to save the family library, and has painted with little else ever since. After regularly winning the school art prize it became obvious to all concerned with his education what his next step should be, and at age 16 he commenced formal training at Wakefield College of Art. There he studied graphic design, illustration and life drawing, all of which matured his ability to sketch into a disciplined skill. Though grounded in the disciplines of art during this period of training, his skills as a painter in oil are however largely self-taught. After leaving art college, like thousands of other art students, the young artist found it impossible to get a job where he could employ his skills. Though the agencies he approached liked his portfolio, without practical experience he was always left to try his luck at the next interview. Recognising the need to find an alternative line of work, and with his interest in aircraft still very much alive, the young Simon Atack joined the Royal Air Force. Following training, upon arrival at his first posting, by a stroke of good fortune his new Commanding Officer noticed the word artist on his file, and asked Simon if he'd like to produce a few aeroplane pictures to cheer the walls up a bit! It was an opportunity the ex-art student, now professional airman seized with both hands. His first pictures soon led to commissions for other units, Squadrons, and individuals throughout the RAF, to such a degree that in no time he became an unofficial military artist for the Service. However, his RAF days were not long to end and his success had given him the encouragement to pursue a career as a full-time professional artist upon his return to civilian life. Throughout the 1980s, like any young artist making his way, he would draw and paint the wide variety of subjects that clients asked him to tackle. Florals proved popular, with daisies in particular demand! Two of his large examples being exhibited at the 1989 Paris Salon, which brought commissions for similar works from galleries and corporate clients all over Europe. Landscape paintings were published as prints, a series of paintings for greeting cards was commissioned, and at last the fledgling professional artist began to feel he was starting to make his mark. Working from his studio in a haunted 18th century farmhouse in Yorkshire, by the mid 1990s he returned to his favourite subjects, painting aircraft, ships and the sea. Much influenced in his early career by the aircraft and ship paintings of Roy Cross, Simon remembers slavishly copying this artist paintings in an effort to get some idea of how they were constructed, even spending his spare cash collecting aircraft model kits solely for the Roy Cross artwork on the boxes! He credits much of his inspiration today to this artist. In common with many aviation artists, he also much admired  the work of Frank Wootton, particularly the beauty of his cloudscapes and his rich use of colours. The standards set by both these artists were the benchmarks Simon strove to attain in his paintings, employing a mix of technical accuracy and painterly vision. In later years he has come to appreciate and enjoy the work of David Shepherd, who became a mentor during the long climb of his career, and he is a great admirer of Robert Taylor whose paintings, according to Simon, are everything aviation art should be. Today Simon Atack's has achieved the kind of recognition that his blend of natural talent and studious application deserves. His original paintings, always in great demand, have great impact and dimension. Now published by Military Gallery, his fine quality work is available to a wide audience where his talent will be easily recognized by those who appreciate the finer points of aviation and maritime art.