Checkertails
- Outbound Escort -
by Robert Taylor
| Checkertails – the clue was in the name for there was no way of mistaking the highly- distinctive, black and yellow checkerboards that adorned the tails of the 325th Fighter Group. It was a sight that most Luftwaffe pilots dreaded and no wonder, because by the end of hostilities they’d chalked up some 520 aerial victories and dozens more aircraft destroyed on the ground, alongside the straffing of numerous targets such as trains, vehicles and airfields. Veterans of North Africa and the invasion of Sicily, by the summer of 1944 the ‘Checkertails’ were based at Lesina on Italy’s Adriatic coast. Re-equipping with long-range North American P-51s they were now able to escort the heavy bombers of the U.S. 15th Air Force on all their missions north over the Alps to Germany, Austria, France, Czechoslovakia and Hungary, and west to Yugoslavia and Romania. Robert Taylor, the world’s most instantly- recognisable aviation artist, remembers the heroic exploits of the men who flew with the 325th Fighter Group in his iconic piece. Few painters have the necessary skill to successfully blend the machines of war into beautiful landscapes as Robert, and his breath-taking work Checkertails – Outbound Escort is a classic example of just why he’s considered the greatest ever aviation artist. Taking centre stage are P- 51Ds from the 317th Fighter Squadron, 325th Fighter Group led by their CO, Major ‘Herky’ Green and his wingman First Lieutenant ‘Art’ Fiedler climbing in the crisp mountain air over the magnificent, still snow-capped mountains of the Alps en-route to support heavy bombers of the U.S. 15th Air Force in the summer of 1944. Painted by Robert in 2023 and faithfully reproduced as a fine art limited edition print, every copy of this print has been signed by Robert and embossed with the logo of The Robert Taylor Trust, a body established to preserve Robert’s legacy and safeguard the future copyright of his work in years to come. |
| Overall size: 23¼" x 40¾" | Available in the following editions | Image size: 15½" x 32½" |
| 25 | Collectors edition | Signed by Robert Taylor - matted with two P-51 Ace signatures. SOLD OUT | |
| 5 | Artist's proof | As above SOLD OUT | |
| 5 | Legacy Quadruple remarque | As above low inventory | $2095 |
| 10 | Legacy Deluxe remarque | As above low inventory | $3345 |
| 75 | Giclée Studio proof | Giclée on canvas - image size 16" x 34" (ships rolled) | $695 |
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The Remarques As per Robert’s request, Legacy Remarques are offered on this release where his son, Richard Taylor, will create specially hand-drawn pencil Remarques in the lower border of the print. |
| The signatures |
| Colonel Herschel ‘Herky’ Green - 317th FS 325th FG – 18 victories Herky Green was the leading Ace of the 15th Air Force with 18 aerial victories and a further 10 on the ground. He flew in the North African and Italian campaigns during 1943 and 1944 flying with the 325th Fighter Group. By the end of his career he had flown 100 missions flying, P-51 Mustangs, P-40 Warhawks and P-47 Thunderbolts. |
| Colonel Arthur ‘Art’ Fiedler - 317th FS 325th FG – 8 victories Art Fiedler joined the 325th Fighter Group in Lesina, Italy in 1943 flying the P-51 Mustang, scoring his first 2 aerial victories flying as bomber escort on the Ploesti oil refinery raid shortly after. Art ended WWII with 8 aerial victories and went on to have a distinguished career in the USAF flying a further 247 combat missions in Vietnam. |
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Receive your print fully framed and ready to display. Please call or email us for a custom framing quote. |