The Battle of Britain was fought during the summer of 1940 over the skies of southern England and reached its climax on September 15, when the Royal Air Force (RAF) downed 56 invading German aircraft in two dogfights lasting less than an hour. The costly raid convinced the German high command that the Luftwaffe could not achieve air supremacy over Britain, and the next day daylight attacks were replaced with nighttime sorties as a concession of defeat. On September 19, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler postponed indefinitely "Operation Sea Lion"--the amphibious invasion of Britain. Although heavy German aid raids on London and other British cities would continue through spring 1941, the Battle of Britain had been effectively won.

By denying the Germans a quick victory, depriving them of forces to be used in their invasion of the USSR, and proving to America that increased arms support for Britain was not in vain, the outcome of the Battle of Britain greatly changed the course of World War II. As Churchill said of the RAF fliers during the Battle of Britain, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."

To commemorate this milestone in aviation, military and world history, John Perry has created a set of four full-figure studies of prominant fighter pilots of the day.; Group Captain Douglas Bader, Squadron Leader Adolf "Sailor" Malan, Major Adolf Galland and Major Werner Molders.

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New Collector Series - "Task Force Afghanistan"

Following the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, the U.S. and British air forces began bombing al-Qaeda and Taliban targets inside Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. On the ground, American and British special forces along with CIA Special Activities Division units worked with commanders of the Northern Alliance to launch a military offensive against the Taliban forces. These attacks led to the fall of Mazar-i-Sharif and Kabul in November 2001, as the Taliban retreated from the north of the country to the south. In December 2001, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was established by the UN Security Council to help assist the newly formed Karzai administration.

To pay tribute to the thousands of troops from many countries who have toiled under very tough conditions to bring peace and stability to the region, John Perry is currently researching and finalising several designs illustrating these troops in typical activities. This will likely become an "open ended" project which, once started, will be added to over the next few years. Prints will be available individually or may be grouped to form "sets". Individually or as a set, they will serve as reminders of the sacrifice and professionalism of all who have served in this Theatre of Operations.

The sketch to the left is only a workup drawing, yet it shows the degree of accuracy being rendered and the overall feeling of the prints to follow.

The first of these Task Force Afghanistan prints will be available in September 2010. Please check back for updates and announcements.