The War Up North by Stan Stokes.

The fighting in the Aleutian Island chain has largely been neglected by many WW II historians, as has the role of the Lockheed Ventura. The Ventura was a high performance aircraft and not that easy to learn to fly. Like the B-26 Marauder the Ventura earned a poor reputation from pilots and crews during training, but eventually became an unqualified success in the field. Despite an uncertain debut for this aircraft, during the last two and a half years of the War Venturas played a major role in the Pacific War. The Ventura was a follow-on to the successful Lockheed Hudson that had been purchased by the RAF. Whereas the Hudson was a militarized version of the Model 14 the Ventura was a militarized version of the Model 18 Lodestar. The Ventura utilized powerful 2000-HP Double Wasp radials and the designers utilized a paddle-style propeller. The paddle props coupled with the closeness of the engine nacelles to the fuselage gave the Ventura a distinctive sound. The Ventura was well armed and could carry a decent bomb load, and was fast enough to avoid many encounters with opposing fighters. The Ventura entered combat with the RAF in December of 1942. Despite the 300-MPH plus speed of the Ventura, the RAF became disenchanted with the Ventura as a low altitude attack bomber, and the USAAF stepped in to pick up the RAF production. The USAAF designated some early Venturas as B-34s and some later variants as B-37s. The US Navy negotiated an agreement with the USAAF to acquire some Venturas as a compliment to its force of PBY Catalina amphibians. The Catalinas were slow and vulnerable to attack, and the Navy felt that a fast land-based reconnaissance and patrol plane would be helpful. The Ventura also had enough offensive firepower to be utilized in the pinch as an attack bomber on enemy supply depots. The Navy adopted the PV designation for the aircraft (P for patrol and V for Vega - the division of Lockheed that produced the aircraft.) Some 1600 PV-1s were produced for the Navy between 1942 and May of 1944. The Navy added fuel capacity - giving the PV-1 a combat radius of 1600 miles. They also modified the nose of the aircraft. The bomb capacity was 3000 pounds and it was possible to carry a single torpedo in the bomb bay. The first Navy deployment of the Ventura was to the Aleutians in April 1943 (VB-135 and VB-136.) These squadrons perfected radar-bombing missions and on two other occasions attacking forces of Japanese Betty Bombers were turned back by Navy Venturas. The wicked flying weather in the Aleutians took as great a toll on our forces as did the enemy. Stan Stokes painting is intended as a tribute to those that fought in the War Up North.

Supplied with signed and numbered certificate of authenticity.

Signed limited edition of 4750 prints.

Print size 16 inches x 11.5 inches (41cm x 30cm)