Home at Dawn by Nicolas Trudgian.

When No 49 Squadron Lancasters bombed the S.S. barracks at Berchtesgaden on 25th April 1945, its aircrews completed a campaign that had begun 5 and a half years earlier in September, 1939. From the very beginning, 49 Squadron were in the thick of the action with one of their pilots, Roderick Learoyd, winning Bomber Commands first Victoria Cross. In 1942 it was Lancasters of 49 Squadron that led the epic raid on Schneider armament and locomotive works at Le Creusot. In 1943 they flew the shuttle-bombing raids to Friedrichshafen and Spezia, attacked the heavily defended rocket sites at Peenemunde, and in preparation for D-Day, bombarded the coastal batteries in Normandy and the V-1 sites in the caves by the river Loire, north of Paris. Later in 1944 the squadron notably took part in the raid on German Baltic Fleet, continuing to fly important bombing missions against the Nazi war machine until the final collapse of the Third Reich. So it was fitting that an RAF squadron whose history went right back to 1916, should make the coupe de grace at Berchtesgarden. Northern Europes short summer nights, with darkness lasting but a few hours, often saw the RAF bomber crews returning to England at dawn, and it is one such scene which is caught up over the river Orwell at Pin Mill, Lancasters of No. 49 Squadron descend low over Suffolk, heading towards their base at Fiskerton. The night raid on Hamburg is almost completed. Spitfires from No. 129 Squadron, based at Hornchurch, having made an early morning attack on German installations in Holland, have picked up the bombers and escorted them home.

Signed by Flight Lieutenant Eric Jones, Flight Lieutenant Leslie Hay, Flight Lieutenant Robert Souter and Flight Lieutenant Ernest Webb , in addition to the artist.

Signed limited edition of 500 prints.

Paper size 31 inches x 24 inches (79cm x 61cm)