"D-DAY - THE AIRBORNE ASSAULT"

by Robert Taylor

"D-DAY - THE AIRBORNE ASSAULT" by aviation artist extraordinaire Robert Taylor is a signed and numbered limited edition print from an edition limited to only 1000 prints.  This print was published in 1994 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of D-Day and has long been SOLD OUT at the publisher. As we near the 80th anniversary of the Normandy Invasion this print is very much in demand. Don't miss this amazing opportunity to own what has been hailed by D-Day luminaries as the most realistic portrayal rendered by an artist depicting events of June 6, 1944.

It began in pitch darkness. June 6, 1944 was only a few minutes old when the Airborne Pathfinders drifted silently down from the sky above the fields of Normandy. At first there seemed nothing untoward about the drone of aircraft in the night sky. The German garrisons in Northern France were used to the noise of aircraft overhead after dark, but this night seemed particularly busy. Looking skyward a German sentry caught sight of parachutes floating down, clearly visible as the moon fleetingly broke through the clouds. For an instant he thought it was the crew jumping from a damaged bomber, but when he saw the mass of canopies floating earthwards, he knew this was no ordinary event. Within moments of raising the alarm the crackle of automatic gunfire confirmed his worst fears: The Invasion of France had begun.

The first assault upon Hitler's 'Fortress Europe' came from the sky. Shortly after midnight waves of aircraft and gliders delivered three Divisions of elite airborne troops into Normandy, their crucial objectives to seize vital bridges, secure strategic positions and clear the way for the coming aerial armada. As the first streaks of dawn came over the horizon on that historic day, and with American and British paratroops already engaged in furious fire fights, the mighty amphibious armada began landing on the beaches of Normandy. Above them waves of troop-carrying aircraft towing gliders stretched from the coast of France all the way back to England. Closely escorted by fighters, they delivered over 20,000 highly trained men into the battlefield of Northern France. By nightfall the first phase of the greatest military invasion in history was complete. Five Divisions were ashore and the Allies had established a toehold in occupied Europe. For the Third Reich it was the beginning of the end. Without the advanced airborne assault, and the air supremacy achieved by the escort fighters, the amphibious landings could have been a disaster.

It was therefore an appropriate choice for artist Robert Taylor to depict the airborne troop carriers and escort fighters of the Ninth Air Force in his remarkable "D-DAY - THE AIRBORNE ASSAULT." Seen crossing the Normandy beaches are C-47 Dakotas of the 438th Troop Carrier Group towing CG-4 Waco gliders, closely escorted by P-51Bs of the 354 Fighter Group. Below, landing craft swarm ashore putting men and equipment on the beaches, and everything about this spectacular painting brings alive the events of that historic day three-quarters of a century ago. A superb collectors piece with which to remember D-Day, 1944.