by
Robert Taylor
Joining artist Robert Taylor in signing 'Compass Heading' are
12 Doolittle Raiders aircrew who took part in the historic raid on
Tokyo
See here for a detailed list of who signed
the print
On 18 April 1942, in a heavy swell, the Hornet launches her 16 Army
Air Force B-25
Mitchell bombers, bound for Tokyo, a distance of over 800 miles.
As the Hornet pitches and rolls in the mid-Pacific swell, the
Tokyo raid gets under way.
Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle's B-25, safely airborne and
having completed a 360
degree turn, flies over the carrier to check his compass - vital
for navigation so far from
land - while the number two aircraft rolls down the deck under
full throttle. Fourteen
more B-25s, their engines running, are ready to follow their
leader into history. Never
before had bombers been launched from an aircraft carrier, let
alone from a heaving
deck in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Each B-25 crewman knew his chances of surviving the one-way trip
was slim. But they
also knew their mission would strike a significant blow at the
heart of Imperial Japan,
and that goal, so soon after the infamous attack upon Pearl Harbor,
was enough
incentive for this courageous band of flyers.
Each of just 500 prints in this important edition is signed by
pilots and crews that flew the
famous Doolittle Raid, April, 1942. It is probably the very last
opportunity to acquire a
top quality limited edition print carrying so many signatures
of the famous Doolittle's
Tokyo Raiders.