A Winter’s Dawn By Philip E West

Mounted Edition Print

This peaceful scene at East Kirby in the winter of 1944 gives a very real feel for the vitally important work undertaken by ground crew in all weathers.

At this stage of the war, to help identification at a distance, the tail fins of 57 – squadron Lancasters wore a black vertical bar on a red background.

The squadron flew on 348 raids, with 108 Lancasters lost in action plus 31 accidents.

Signatures – The prints have been signed by the artist Philip West and the following distinguished WW2 airmen, We do hope you will find these biographies of interest.
We hope that by knowing a little about the men behind each signature, it will help you to get the most from your copy of ‘A Winter’s Dawn’.
We would ask you not to reproduce the biographies in any format without our permission.

Flight Lieutenant George Dunn, DFC Ld’H – Bomber Command Pilot

George Dunn enlisted in the RAF in January 1941, and was called up in June of the same year, He was allocated to RAF Bomber Command and trained as a pilot in the UK and Canada (under the Empire Air Training Scheme).

In May 1943 he was attached to 10 Squadron (very fleetingly) and then to 76 Squadron based initially at Linton-on-Ouse and then at Holme-on-Spalding-Moor in Yorkshire, part of 4 Group Bomber Command. Between May 1943 and October 1943 George took part in air operations against targets in Occupied Europe and Germany, completing his first ‘tour’ (30 operations) two weeks after his 21st birthday. During this time he took part in a number of ‘significant’ raids, including Hamburg and the V weapon research facility at Peenemunde.

After a period instructing (which could almost be as hazardous as operations) he converted to flying Mosquitos and flew with the Light Night Striking Force flying nuisance and diversionary raids, and later with the meteorology flight flying solo sorties to obtain advance weather data for planning raids.

Now 96 Years old (2019), George is still active giving talks about his experiences and raising funds for maintaining the Bomber Command memorial in London’s Green Park

Flight Lieutenant John Bell, MBE DFC Ld’H – John was a 16 year school boy in September 1939 preparing to return to school.

His Father predicted that the war would not last very long so John should consider his future and find a job. He became an office boy with a firm of accountants in the city of London.
By the time he was 18 years the war had intensified and so in 1941 joined the RAF. He had hoped to be a pilot but at the selection day he was told he was too tall so would not fit in a cockpit.
He then began training as a navigator / bomber, which he completed in South Africa.

In January 1943 he was posted to an Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) where he became part of a five man crew of a Wellington bomber. The crew was increased to seven and they were trained on the new 4 engine bombers. They were then posted to 619 Squadron at RAF Woodall Spa to fly in an Avro Lancaster.

In June 1943 they undertook their first tour of bombing raids. All bomber crews had to complete 30 missions before they were entitled to a break.

The break would be to train other crews after which they would be called back to do further 20 missions. Realising they would probably be split-up if they took the break they opted to carry on. This was not unusual as the crews formed a very close bond with each other.

Hoping for a change from the large high altitude formation night bombing raids they transferred to 617 Squadron (The Dam Busters) at RAF Scampton. Only to be informed by the C/O Leonard Cheshire that his Squadron were no longer flying low level missions. Instead they was about to become a high altitude precision bombing unit.

Philip West is recognised as one of the world’s finest aviation artists. Collectors of his original oil paintings span the globe, many waiting patiently for his next breathtaking canvas to appear.

Self taught, Philip has won many accolades for his paintings, not the least of which was the prestigious Duane Whitney Award for Excellence at the 1997 American Society of Aviation Artists Exhibition.