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Day Duties for the Night Workers
by Robert Taylor
| With its mission completed, the mighty Lancaster slowly rolls to a halt on the lonely dispersal point; the roar of its four pulsating Merlin engines steadily slackens, replaced by an eerie silence, broken only by the snapping cracks of cooling metal. Slowly the seven weary crew tumble out of the fuselage, their faces etched with strain, eyes rimmed red with tiredness. For them it is the final act of another long, arduous and nerve-wracking operation, another eight hour ordeal to attack industrial targets in the Ruhr. This time they know they’ve been lucky; they reached the target and returned home safely, despite the deadly flak and prowling Luftwaffe night-fighters. For others, however, the work of war has just begun. As the massive Lancaster looms majestically over them, the ever vigilant ground crew begin the task of preparing ‘their’ aircraft for the coming night’s operation. Checking, repairing and double-checking again, making sure that nothing goes wrong on the next trip, nothing that could endanger the lives of the crew who depend on them. And then there are guns to be re-armed, bombs to be loaded and near-empty fuel tanks to be refilled. It will be a race against time. Robert Taylor’s magnificent new drawing, signed by distinguished aircrew who flew with Bomber Command during WWII, pays tribute to all the bomber crews who, night after night when the island fortress of Britain stood facing uncertainty, resolutely carried the fight to the enemy, delivering their deadly payloads deep in the heart of Germany. |
| Overall size:14½" x 20" | Available in the following editions |
| 100 | Limited edition | Signed by three Bomber Command aircrew | $95 |
| 125 | Bomber Command edition | Signed by fifty Bomber Command aircrew. (Includes author signed book) * | $375 |
| 25 | Bomber Command A/P | As above * | $445 |
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The Remarkable Story of One Pathfinder Force Attack, a Victoria Cross and 206 Brave Men Issued with the Bomber Command edition, each copy of the book is signed by the author. * Please note: An additional package shipping charge applies to the companion book on overseas orders. |
| Limited edition signatures | ||
| Flight Lt. Boris Bressloff DFC - PFF Navigator 635 Sqn | Flight Lt. Alan Payne DFC - Bomb Aimer 630 Sqn | |
| Warrant Officer Reg Cleaver - Engineer & co-pilot 419 Sqn | ||
| Bomber Command edition signatures | ||
| Flight Lt. Boris Bressloff DFC - PFF Navigator 635 Sqn | Flight Lt. Alan Payne DFC - Bomb Aimer 630 Sqn | |
| Warrant Officer Reg Cleaver - Engineer & co-pilot 419 Sqn | W/O Harry Gough - Rear Gunner 10 Sqn | |
| W/O Bill Bell - Navigator 103 & 166 Sqns | F/O Les Hadley - Navigator 40, 139 & 156 Sqns | |
| W/O Jim Booker - Navigator 635 Sqn | Flt Lt John Hall DFC - Rear Gunner 106 & 44 Sqns | |
| Flt Lt Ken Carlton - Flt Eng 156, 7 & 635 Sqns | W/O Jeff Hildreth - Wireless Op 170 Sqn | |
| Flt Lt Eric Clarke M.D. - Wireless Op / Air Gunner 49 Sqn | Flt Sgt Ken Jenkinson W.op / Air Gunner 57 & 617 Sqns | |
| W/O Richard Curnock - Rear Gunner 425 Sqn | W/O Ken Johnson MU Air Gunner / 61 & 9 Sqns | |
| W/O Eric Evans - Rear Gunner 463 Sqn | W/O Norman Jones - Flt Eng 625 Sqn | |
| W/O Reg Eves - Rear & MU Air Gunner 550 Sqn | Flt Lt William J Kelbrick - AG, RG MU 50 & 9 Sqns | |
| Flt Lt Dennis Field - Pilot 90 Sqn | Flt Lt H W ‘Bert’ Kirtland DFC - WOP Air Gunner 76 Sqn | |
| F/O George French - Bomb Aimer 76 Sqn | Flt Lt R L C Lasham DFC - Pilot 9 & 97 Sqns | |
| Flt Sgt Rudolf Leksinski - W/Op 300 Sqn | W/O Jack Linaker - Rear Gunner 9 Sqn | |
| Flt Sgt Norman Lusher - WOP/Air Gunner 9 Sqn | F/O Len McNamara DFC - Rear Gunner 10, 158 & 75 Sqns | |
| W/O Fred Maltas - Flt Eng 51 & 35 Sqns | Flt Sgt Len Manning - Rear Gunner 57 Sqn | |
| W/O Frank P Mannion - Rear Gunner 10 Sqn | W/O John Morrison WOP/Air Gunner 78,51 & 35 Sqns | |
| Flt Lt ‘Bluey’ Mottershead DFC - Pilot 158 Sqn | Flt Lt Harry Oakeby - Flt Eng 432 Sqn | |
| W/O Ken O’Brien DFM - Rear Gunner 10 Sqn | W/O Lou Parsons - Flt Eng 75 Sqn | |
| W/O Ernie Patterson DFM - WOP/Air Gunner 635 Sqn | W/O John Pearl - MU Air Gunner 207 Sqn | |
| W/O Ken Rogers - WOP/Air Gunner 9 Sqn | Sqn Ldr John Rowland DSO DFC - Pilot 12,613 & 625 Sqns | |
| Flt Lt Ron Smith DFC - Rear Gunner 9 & 617 Sqns | W/O Rex Statham - Flt Eng 158 Sqn | |
| Flt Lt ‘Dick’ Starkey - Pilot 106 Sqn | F/O Malcolm Staves - WOP/Air Gunner 207 Sqn | |
| Flt Lt Phil Tetlow - WOP/Air Gunner 9 Sqn | W/O Sam Thompson - MU Air Gunner 103 & 9 Sqns | |
| Flt Lt Wilf Tunstall DFC - Rear Gunner 158 Sqn | Flt Sgt Eric Varney - MU Air Gunner 207 Sqn | |
| F/O Frank Wheeler - Rear Gunner 466 Sqn | W/O Andrezj Wesolowski - WOP/Air Gunner 304 Sqn | |
| W/O Tony Winser - Rear Gunner 626 Sqn | F/O Raymond Worrall - Flt Eng 44 Sqn | |