The Railway Paintings

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Probabaly set in the 1930s or 40s, a young boy runs along the pathway near the railway line as the steam engine passes, one of the classic railway locomotive images by one of the leading railway artists. Published in May 2014, Striking Through Clouds is the only comprehensive history of 514 Sqn. Drawn from the squadron's official Operational Record Book, Striking Through Clouds covers the entire life of the unit from its formation in September 1943 to disbanding in August 1945. Every raid is documented with the contemporaneous summary and combat reports with night fighters. Details are given of the losses of all aircraft and crew, along with a researched explanation of the circumstances. The war's end meant a few short months of more rewarding activity for 514 Sqn. Operation Manna, the dropping of desperately needed food parcels for the Dutch, was followed by a long series of flights to collect prisoners of war from France and Italy. Tragedy was still not finished with the squadron when a Lancaster carrying 24 POWs and six crew crashed on leaving Juvincourt in France with the loss of all on board. The painting shows a quiet country railway crossing as a train passes through while a local postman chats to the occupant of the house near the crossing. The steam engine is the 1521 which was built in 1909 and 1521 appeared in Southern livery from 1923 to 1947. Bomber Command had, by now, demonstrated its capabilities as a tactical force, capable of the precision bombing of entrenched German forces even whilst in close proximity to Allied troops. There were occasional, nonetheless tragic, errors; a number of Canadian ground troops were killed by bombs when they had, for an unknown reason, used yellow flares which were confused with target indicators of the same colour, in use that day. Civilian casualties were also, regrettably, inevitable though these were much lower than might have been anticipated. With air supremacy established over the Normandy bridgehead, and most targets within range of supporting fighter cover, Bomber Command was now able to operate over France by day as well as night.

Jubilee class 4 - 6 - 0 locomotive no. 45684 Jutland at Kettering, with a northbound express from St Pancras. Boys from the town school mingle with porters and passengers enjoying the atmosphere of a main line station. The engine was built for the LMS in 1936 and withdrawn from service at the end of 1965. With a foreword by Flight Lieutenant Alex Campbell RCAF, DFC, the book brings to life the efforts and travails of 514 Sqn and its members.

LMS Jubilee Class 4-6-0 45585, 'Hyderabad' heads northbound. Waverley Express St. Pancras - Edinburgh. Edition sold out at publisher. We have located less than 40 copies of this previously sold out print. Great Western Railway 2-6-2 T Prairie Tank locomotive no.4571 heads a two coach local train through hilly countryside on a cross-country route. The driver of an Austin saloon car has pulled in off the road just in time for his sons to scramble up the bank to have a closer look at the passing train. No.4571 was withdrawn in 1961 after nearly 37 years in service.

As the war approached its conclusion, operations continued against oil facilities, as well as communications lines and troop concentrations as the Allied ground forces moved towards, and eventually into, Germany itself. The squadron took part in the controversial raid on Dresden, this being seen at the time as a routine operation to a communications target. In the prevailing circumstance of total war, morals and ethics could not be a key concern for the squadron as an organisation. It must never be forgotten that this was a fight for national, as well as personal, survival. The atrocities of the Nazi regime, now so clear, mean that the endeavours of the squadron and its crews were never anything less than absolutely necessary.

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Choose any two prints in this special offer and the lower priced item is half price. (Any free bonus prints already supplied with an item are separate and will also be included !) A 1930s steam locomotive on the Great Western Railway passes through a level crossing, while a family sit on the embankment with their blue Austin 7 parked nearby. On 22nd August 1945, the ORB simply noted '514 Squadron disbanded'. The written record suggests no fanfare or fuss to mark the end of the two-year life of the unit. There was a Farewell Dinner in the Officers’ Mess, and on that note 514 Squadron passed into history. Having developed the GH tactics to a degree that impressive results were regularly being achieved, 3 Group was allowed the latitude to operate independently of other Bomber Command groups when required, although the group’s aircraft participated in major raids until the end of hostilities. The Luftwaffe, recognising the switch in focus from Germany to more tactical targets in France, lost no time in moving its night fighters in response. This resulted in continuing losses to the squadron's aircraft and crews, though greater support was available on the ground to aircrew who managed to escape from their crippled Lancasters, including the irrepressible F/O Greenburgh, shot down over France in June 1944.