Lieutenant-Colonel Jimmy Doolittle launches his B-25 Mitchell from the heaving deck of the carrier USS Hornet on the morning of 18 Apri1, 1942.

It was a simple plan with a single objective, yet impossibly difficult and fraught with danger at every step. Within four short months of the infamous attack on Pearl Harbor, the USS Hornet would sail to within range of the Japanese coast and launch sixteen heavily-laden B-25 bombers, never previously flown off the deck of a carrier, to make a daring strike against major Japanese cities. With each aircraft weighed down by a ton of bombs and fuel to fly 2400 miles, take-off would be marginal; landing a twin engine bomber back on the short deck, impossible. The crews would have to fly on towards China and make the best they could of survival.

At 8:00am on the morning of 18 April, 1942 Admiral Halsey flashed a message to Hornet to launch aircraft; the klaxon aboard ship boomed ‘Army pilots, man your planes! “In worsening weather, and with mountainous waves sending spray over the bow, Hornet ~s’ deck was a hive of activity as the crews ran to their aircraft. By 8:20, with engines warmed and magnetos checked, mission leader Lieutenant-
Colonel Jimmy Doolittle gave the thumbs-up to the deck launching officer. Releasing brakes, he pushed the throttle levers to the stops, and gunned his heavy bomber towards the heaving bow of the ship, timing his run to coincide with maximum pitch of the deck. The B-25 became airborne with feet to spare.

Inspired by his many meetings with survivors of the raid, Robert Taylor has created a wonderfully faithful recreation of the scene as Jimmy Doolittle lifts his heavily laden B-25 off the deck. Fifteen gallant crews, with engines turning, are lined up and ready to follow. These gallant “Doolittle Tokyo Raiders” struck the first blow to the very heart of the Japanese Empire, puffing fear into the minds of the nation’s leaders, causing the Japanese to divert aircraft and equipment from offensive operations to the defence of their homeland. A tiny raid by the standards of what was to come, but massively important in the context of the war in the Pacific. Another Robert Taylor masterpiece.

THE LIMITED EDITION
Joining artist Robert Taylor, each print has been personally signed by FIVE Doolittle Raiders:

Major General DAVID M. JONES
Staff Sergeant DAVID J. THATCHER
Lieutenant Colonel RICHARD E. COLE
Staff Sergeant EDWIN W. HORTON
Major THOMAS C. GRIFFIN

550 Signed and numbered prints £200inc vat (£170.21+vat)
25 Artists Proofs £325 inc vat (£276.60 +vat)

THE COMMEMORATIVE PROOFS
Each print in this edition is accompanied by an exclusive pencil companion print ' The Day Now Dawns' the two are signed by a total of THIRTEEN Doolittle Raiders:

Lieutenant Colonel FRANK A. KAPPELAR
Lieutenant Colonel CHASE J. NIELSON
Colonel WILLIAM M. BOWER
Lieutenant Colonel EDWARD J. SAYLOR
Second Lieutenant CHARLES J. OZUK
Lieutenant Colonel ROBERT L.HITE
Second Lieutenant WILLIAM L. BIRCH

Mr TUNG - SHENG LIU

The Day Now Dawns - 07:00hrs aboard the USS Hornet 18 April 1942. This stunning and historically accurate pencil drawing print by Robert Taylor, has been released as a signed companion print. Overall print size 16½"x 14¾"

300 Commemorative Proofs £420 inc vat (£357.45+vat)

THE GICLEE CANVAS EDITION
These superb reproductions on canvas will be accompanied by an exclusive certificate personally signed by all thirteen Doolittle Raiders:

25 Giclee Canvas Proofs £995 inc vat (£846.81+vat)

THE DOOLITTLE TRIBUTE PROOFS (subject to availability)
Each special set includes both Commemorative edition prints accompanied by an ORIGINAL pencil drawing by Robert Taylor. Each drawing is conservation matted to include the original signatures of FOUR further Doolittle Raiders and GENERAL JIMMY DOOLITTLE making a total of EIGHTEEN signatures.

General JAMES H. DOOLITTLE (matted)
Brigadier General EVERETT W. HOLSTROM (matted)
Major HOWARD A. SESSLER (matted)
Captain J. ROYDEN STORK (matted)
Major GRIFFITH P. WILLIAMS (matted)

Original Robert Taylor Drawing - conservation mounted to include the above 5 signatures including that of General Jimmy H Doolittle. Overall size 17¾"x 14½"

15 Doolittle Tribute Proofs £1795 inc vat (£1527.66 +vat)

Orders from outside the European Union are free of VAT.

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