OKINAWA

OKINAWA by Robert Taylor

Overall print size: 32 ¼” x 24” 
Image size: 25 ¾” x 16 ¼” 
S/N by Artist

Limited Edition Size of 400...$325.00

THE LIMITED EDITION
Joining Robert Taylor in signing every print are two distinguished Pilots who flew F4U Corsairs at Okinawa, including the Ace that is depicted in this dramatic piece:

Col DEAN CASWELL USMC / 7 victories
Col JOE McPHAIL USMC / 2 victories

200 Collectors Edition...$435.00

25 Collectors Artist Proof...$615.00

THE COLLECTORS EDITION
Each print in this TEN signature edition is additionally signed by eight Corsair Pilots who flew in combat during the Battle of Okinawa:

Col JIM SWETT MOH USMC / 15 ½ victories
Lt Col LYLE BRADLEY USMC
Capt PHILIP De GROOT USMC
1st Lt CLINT FLADLAND USMC
Lt Col WILLIAM LUCAS USMC
Lt Cdr TOM McBRIDE USN
Col BRUCE PORTER USMC / 5 victories
Lt Col DARRELL SMITH USMC

Plane type: F4U Corsair

TOWARDS THE BITTER END

Flying from USS Bunker Hill, F4U Corsairs from VMF-221 assault Japanese positions defending the island of Okinawa, April 1945. Leading the charge, USMC Pilot Lt Dean Caswell climbs away from the target after delivering a blistering rocket attack on a coastal installation.

Following their victory at Midway, American forces had fought a long and bitter campaign to retake the Japanese held islands in the Pacific. By the end of March 1945, however, they had finally captured Iwo Jima and looked towards Okinawa, a province of Japan itself. Less than 400 miles south of its mainland, it was the place from which the Allied invasion of Japan must be launched. Supported by a huge Naval presence, including one of the largest British fleets ever assembled, the assault began on 1 April 1945 with the largest amphibious landing of the Pacific war.

The Japanese response was ferocious seeing the peak of the kamikaze scourge and while the British ships with their steel decks fared much better, the relentless attacks took their toll on the US Fleet, highlighting a conflict worse than anything seen before. The 82 day battle was one of the most severe and bloody campaigns of WWII, accounting for over 14000 Allied deaths and five times that number of Japanese soldiers.