Final Victory by Simon Atack
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THE THIRD EDITION IN SIMON ATACK'S NEW SERIES OF COLLECTOR EDITIONS, FEATURING THE P-51 MUSTANG OF LEGENDARY ACE ROBIN OLDS.
Typical of the aggressive American fighter pilots to fly with the 8th Air Force in WWII was Robin Olds, the son of a First World War pilot. Having completed his training on the P-38, Olds arrived at RAF Wattisham, England in May 1944, assigned to fly the remarkable twin-boomed fighter with the 434th Squadron. It didn't take long for the novice pilot to make his mark.
On August 13 he opened his score by jumping two Fwl90s in a ground-level attack. After a brief but hectic fight, he brought both down. A couple of weeks later he bagged three Mel09s - his wingman got another two - when attacking a group of some fifty enemy fighters while escorting bombers high over Muritz Zee.
Converting to P-51D Mustangs, Olds completed two combat tours, flying virtually every type of fighter mission. By the end of the war, at 23 years of age with the rank of Major, Robin Olds was in command of 434 Squadron. His final tally was 13 air victories, and he was credited with a further 11.5 enemy aircraft destroyed on the ground.
Simon Atack's powerful painting recreates Robin Olds' last air victory of World War II. Flying Scat W/he is seen bringing down an Me 109 G10 high over Germany in the late spring of 1945 while flying escort to B-17s bombers of the 381st Bomb Group. Remarkably, this P'51 survived the war and in 1958 was sold to a private owner for the princely sum of $1196. In 1992 it was returned to its old wartime configuration.
THE SIGNATURE
Joining artist Simon Atack in individually signing each print in pencil, every copy of Final Victory is authenticated by legendary air Ace General Robin Olds.
After leaving West Point in June 1943, Robin Olds was posted to the 479th Fighter Group in England, joining 434 Squadron. Based at Wattisham in East Anglia, and flying P38s, he was involved in heavy bomber escort duties and fighter sweeps until the Normandy invasion, soon after which his Squadron
converted to P51 Mustangs. By early 1945 Robin Olds was in command of 434 Squadron taking part in the Battle of the Bulge, flying escort missions, and providing air support to the airborne attack across the Rhine. At the end of World War II Robin Olds had 24 1/2 victories, of which 13 were in the air. Later in Vietnam Robin Olds gained four more victories, flying X F4 Phantoms.
