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Safe Passage Home
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Product Description
Safe Passage Home by John Shaw
250 Limited Edition: $275
Overall size: 35 1/4" x 23 3/4"
Image size: 28 3/4" x 16 1/4"
Image size: 28 3/4" x 16 1/4"
S/N by Artist and Two (2) additional signatures
Also available as...
25 Artist Proofs with two signatures...$350
Plane Type: P-51C Tuskegee "Kitten"
Flying his P-51C “Kitten,” Lt Charles McGee and Mustangs of the 332nd Fighter Group escort B-24s of the 459th Bomb Group back to their base in Italy after a daylight bombing mission, summer 1944. Known as the “Red Tails,” these all-black pilots gained a reputation for their unequaled record of safely protecting their bombers, often being specifically requested for this duty by the bomber crews themselves.
Training at Tuskegee in Alabama and made up almost entirely of African-Americans, the young pilots of what was to become famously known as the Tuskegee Airmen first went into action in Italy in May 1943 as the 99th Pursuit Squadron.
Contending with prejudice from certain quarters within the air force and much of the press, the 99th was equipped with second-hand P-40 Warhawks and later P-47 Thunderbolts flying fighter-bomber missions against railroads, bridges and communication centers. However in July 1944, the unit joined the 100th, 301st and 302nd Fighter Squadrons to form the 332nd Fighter Group at Ramitelli Airfield. Now equipped with P-51 Mustangs with bright red spinners and tails, they became lastingly known as the “Red Tails”
Under the strict leadership of Colonel Benjamin O. Davis, who insisted his men stay close to the bombers they were escorting, rather than pursuing enemy fighters, their dedicated task was to protect the bomber forces. And they excelled! Flying until the end of hostilities over Southern Europe and eventually as far as Berlin, their record on protecting their bombers was second to none, and that iron discipline would earn this famous unit the respect of hundreds of bomber crews.
One of the many units regularly escorted by the Tuskegee Airmen was the 459th Bomb Group, 15th Air Force, which began flying missions out of Giulia Airfield in Italy from March 1944 over Europe including France, Yugoslavia and Greece. Flying almost 200 combat missions, the Group successfully attacked numerous targets including oil refineries, railroads, heavy industry, communication lines and bridges. The unit was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation for its daring raid against airfields in Bad Voslau on April 23rd, 1944, pressing on through a barrage of flak and enemy fighters.
The Tuskegee airmen have achieved iconic status since WWII and Benjamin O. Davis would go on to become the first African-American general officer in the U.S. Air Force, eventually rising to the rank of Four Star General. The four squadrons of the 332nd completed over 15,000 combat sorties in over 1,800 missions, destroyed over 250 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and on the ground (including three German Jets in one day), 950 railway trucks and locomotives, and even a destroyer by machine gun fire! The Group was awarded three Distinguished Unit Citations and their pilots decorated with almost 900 medals, including a Silver Star and 96 DFCs.
This powerful new piece by one of the world’s most accomplished and widely collected Aviation Artists, John Shaw, is released as a lasting tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen and the brave bomber crews who endured those grueling missions in the skies over occupied Europe during WWII.
Training at Tuskegee in Alabama and made up almost entirely of African-Americans, the young pilots of what was to become famously known as the Tuskegee Airmen first went into action in Italy in May 1943 as the 99th Pursuit Squadron.
Contending with prejudice from certain quarters within the air force and much of the press, the 99th was equipped with second-hand P-40 Warhawks and later P-47 Thunderbolts flying fighter-bomber missions against railroads, bridges and communication centers. However in July 1944, the unit joined the 100th, 301st and 302nd Fighter Squadrons to form the 332nd Fighter Group at Ramitelli Airfield. Now equipped with P-51 Mustangs with bright red spinners and tails, they became lastingly known as the “Red Tails”
Under the strict leadership of Colonel Benjamin O. Davis, who insisted his men stay close to the bombers they were escorting, rather than pursuing enemy fighters, their dedicated task was to protect the bomber forces. And they excelled! Flying until the end of hostilities over Southern Europe and eventually as far as Berlin, their record on protecting their bombers was second to none, and that iron discipline would earn this famous unit the respect of hundreds of bomber crews.
One of the many units regularly escorted by the Tuskegee Airmen was the 459th Bomb Group, 15th Air Force, which began flying missions out of Giulia Airfield in Italy from March 1944 over Europe including France, Yugoslavia and Greece. Flying almost 200 combat missions, the Group successfully attacked numerous targets including oil refineries, railroads, heavy industry, communication lines and bridges. The unit was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation for its daring raid against airfields in Bad Voslau on April 23rd, 1944, pressing on through a barrage of flak and enemy fighters.
The Tuskegee airmen have achieved iconic status since WWII and Benjamin O. Davis would go on to become the first African-American general officer in the U.S. Air Force, eventually rising to the rank of Four Star General. The four squadrons of the 332nd completed over 15,000 combat sorties in over 1,800 missions, destroyed over 250 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and on the ground (including three German Jets in one day), 950 railway trucks and locomotives, and even a destroyer by machine gun fire! The Group was awarded three Distinguished Unit Citations and their pilots decorated with almost 900 medals, including a Silver Star and 96 DFCs.
This powerful new piece by one of the world’s most accomplished and widely collected Aviation Artists, John Shaw, is released as a lasting tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen and the brave bomber crews who endured those grueling missions in the skies over occupied Europe during WWII.
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