Some recent sketches

Kato (Steampunk Model)

Frankenstein's Creation

Tony Soprano

Drive

Buddy Holly

Clint Eastwood

Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash

Elvis Presley

The Walking Dead

Johnny Cash

Rare items for sale

Grp Cpt Allan Wright, DFC*, AFC print - £15
or Original drawing signed - £25

Hardback book multi signed
£26.99

Hardback book signed by Bomber Command Veterans
£35

Hardback book signed by 5 Battle of Britain veterans
£26.99

David Pritchard Hurricane Print signed by eight Battle of Britain pilots
£20.00

A one-off Original Watercolour painting by David Pritchard
of Battle of Britain pilot Henryk Szcezesny
(Will feature in my next book Rise Against Eagles)
£75.00

A one-off Original Watercolour painting by David Pritchard
of Battle of Britain pilot Alan Harker
(Will feature in my next book Rise Against Eagles)
£75.00

Hurricane Print with orginal pilot signatures
£20

Hardback book multi-signed
£55

A4 card prints with original signatures - £50 for the two!
Wing Commander Bob Doe & Wing Commander Peter Ayerst

Original pencil drawing signed by four Battle of Britain pilots
£25.00

POTF Review in September's issue of FlyPast Magazine 2011

 

Click to zoom in!

Battle of Britain Sketches

 'Hurricane AK-F' signed by Flight Lieutenant Mike Croskell (213 Sqn)

  'Burma Hurricane' signed by Group Captain Byron Duckenfield, AFC (501 Sqn)

 Spitfire 'ZP-C' signed by Wing Commander John Freeborn, DFC* (74 Sqn)

P-40 'Kittyhawk' signed by Group Captain Billy Drake, DSO, DFC* (1 Sqn)

 'Spitfire' signed by Wing Commander John Freeborn, DFC* (74 Sqn)

'Spitfire AZ-D' signed by Wing Commander Bob Doe, DSO, DFC* (234 Sqn)

Limited edition A4 card prints with original 'Battle of Britain' veteran signtaures £17.99 each including postage & packing. E-mail legion05@hotmail.co.uk to place your order.

High Spirits by David Pritchard

Superb new painting by David Pritchard!






Click image to zoom in

At the height of the Battle of Britain pilots of 249 Squadron converse between sorties while their Hurricanes are serviced by dedicated ground crews at North Weald aerodrome.

(Left to right - Albert Gerald Lewis, 'Butch' Barton, John Grandy, Tom Neil, George Barclay, Terry Crossey and 'Tich' Palliser).

Veteran Signed Prints available at www.rabbitsqn.co.uk

Book Launch

My next book "The Battle of Britain: Portraits of The Few" is being launched by 'Rabbit Sqn' & 'Fighting High' at a special Battle of Britain pilot signing event on 28th May 2011 at The Holiday Inn hotel in Farnborough, Hampshire.

Please check www.rabbitsqn.co.uk or http://www.fightinghigh.com for more details & updates!

Hope to see you there! - Chris

Photo from the launch - 28/05/2011

Sgt Pilot Leonard Adlam Paintings

Sergeant Pilot
Leonard F P Adlam

Paintings by David Pritchard

Adlam served with No. 58 Squadron during the Battle of Britain flying Whitley bombers. He was killed on 21 October 1940 when Whitley T4171 code marked 'GE-O' crashed at Greenhow Moor, Yorkshire.

Adlam's story has been written by myself and will be released in the book "Failed to Return" due for release in September 2011 by Fighting High.

- Chris

For more infomation on this book please click on the link below -http://www.fightinghigh.com/bombercommandfailedtoreturn.htm

Hope: The Hero Initiative

I have written a short story for this great cause called "Avro Enders" - please check it out!

"Ronin Studios' HOPE: THE HERO INITIATIVE - a 188-page comic book anthology benefiting The Hero Initiative - is available in comic book stores everywhere starting February 21, 2011.

HOPE has 26 short stories and pinups by more than 80 creators from around the world. All have themes focused on heroes and the nature of heroism. The Hero Initiative creates a financial safety net for comic creators who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, and an avenue back into paying work."

Order Code is: DEC101038

http://www.ronin-studios.com/page.ph...ero+Initiative

New book due out in May 2011!

The Battle of Britain: Portraits of The Few
Written by Christopher Yeoman & Illustrated by David Pritchard
Foreword by Squadron Leader Geoffrey Wellum DFC

http://www.fightinghigh.com/

 

Review in 'Britain At War Magazine' #50 - Click image to zoom in

Portraits of the Few - Advanced Book Information

Click image to enlarge

Phantom Generations Special

The Phantom: Generations Special - out now! (Moonstone) 2010

I have co-written a story with DC comics writer Justin Gray for this issue! Available to buy at:

http://moonstonebooks.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=640

Or order a copy at your local comic book store.

Fighting High - Out Now!

Fighting High Volume 2 (Hardback)

I have written 2 articles for this book - "Bandit Six O' Clock High"and "A Dream Realised" - telling the early war stories of Hurricane Fighter Pilots Group Captain Byron Duckenfield & Flight Lieutenant John Greenwood.

For more information visit http://www.fightinghigh.com/ and order your copy soon!

"The book is a marvellously accomplished feat; it is a book I am honoured to receive and shall be proud to own."
Group Captain Byron Duckenfield

"I thought it was excellent and highly readable." Flight Lieutenant John Greenwood

Chris Yeoman July 2010

"Churchill's Few" by David Pritchard

Churchill's Few is a stunning painting of 92 Squadron pilots at Biggin Hill during the Battle of Britain. Now in print and signed by Spitfire & Hurricane pilots who served during WWII, this fantastic collectors item is now available to buy at www.rabbitsqn.co.uk.

'Fighting High' Volume 2

Fighting High Vol 2 will be released in July 2010.

I have written two articles for this hardback book on WWII RAF fighter pilots, Flight Lieutenant John Greenwood and Group Captain Byron Duckenfield.





For more information visit Fighting High


For additional information regarding my work, aviation artwork and 'Battle of Britain' signing events please click HERE.

John Freeborn on The One Show

Yesterday I spent the day with Wing Commander John Freeborn at North Weald as he was interviewed and filmed for the BBC's 'The One Show' being broadcast on Wednesday 2nd September 2009 at 7pm on BBC1. John was interviewed by journalist and presenter Lucy Siegle about his early days as a Spitfire pilot in the RAF during WWII. After a wonderful day there was a fantastic Spitfire display in tribute to John, which he thoroughly enjoyed.

(John with Lucy Siegle at North Weald)


My book 'Tiger Cub' - The Story of John Freeborn's time with 74 Squadron during the early stages of the war and the Battle of Britain was used for research by the BBC's team.

Tiger Cub is available HERE and HERE but can be ordered at any book shop or outlet.

- Chris Yeoman

To view the ONE show feature click HERE

Through Trials To The Stars

On a clear day in July 2009, I visited the Ship Lane Cemetery in Farnborough to find the gravestone of my Great-Uncle Leonard Adlam. As I walked around the peaceful, well kept grounds I soon arrived at the site where he was buried. After resting a poppy at the headstone of the grave I spent a quiet moment reflecting on his sacrifice.
The headstone inscription told the tale of a widow who had lost her beloved husband when he was just 25 years of age and the stone flower pot nearby bore a loving message from his daughter, Delphine. Not uncommon for the time, another husband and father had been lost in 1940, in the service of his country during World War II.
With great interest I began researching the events surrounding Leonard Adlam’s death and with help from various sources I have found the following information to aid me in the telling of his last night in action. It all began on Sunday 20th October 1940.

At 1900 hours the throaty growl of two Rolls Royce Merlin X engines sounded into the evening air at Linton-on-Ouse, North Yorkshire. The wonderful sound, unlike any other, belonged to a MK V Armstrong Whitworth Whitley of No. 58 Squadron.
As Pilot Officer Ernest H Brown from Streatham opened up the aircraft’s throttles the noise grew increasingly louder as it trundled across the grass aerodrome. In no time at all the Whitley known as O for Orange was airborne and climbing into the open sky.
So far it had already been an eventful day for the RAF who was particularly busy in the South of England fending off Luftwaffe attackers. Over 300 hundred sorties were flown by the fighter-bomber pilots of Jafu 2 throughout the day and at night their sorties continued with London and Coventry being the main targets. With No. 58 Squadron Whitleys airborne, including O for Orange, it was now Bomber Command’s turn to take the fight across the Channel.
Prior to this sortie, No. 58 Squadron has already been actively involved in an impressive number of offensive raids bombing industrial targets, usually in conjunction with No. 77 Squadron. Going back even further, it was in fact
No. 58 and No. 51 Squadron Whitleys that were the first aircraft to penetrate Germany in the Second World War, when they performed a leaflet raid in early September 1939.
On the evening of 20th October 1940, it was Pilot Officer Brown and his crew’s mission to bomb the Skoda factory at Plzen in Czechoslovakia, in their trusted aircraft Whitley T4171.
Pilot Officer Brown’s Whitley consisted of Sergeant Leonard F P Adlam, who was the second pilot, Sergeant Robert E Langfield, who was a Wireless Operator/Air Gunner, Sergeant Cyril S G Green, who was the Observer and Sergeant Marcel C Caryll-Tilkin, who was also a Wireless Operator/ Air Gunner. The latter of the five-man crew had previously had a frightening ordeal just six weeks prior to this operation when the aircraft he was in over Genoa ran out of fuel and was forced to ditch off the Margate coast. Fortunately, in the early hours of the morning Caryll-Tilkin and his crewmen were rescued from their dinghy.
When Pilot Officer Brown and his crew reached their intended target they successfully bombed the Skoda factory but not without paying a price. Enemy flak hit their aircraft, presumably causing damage to the port engine as Pilot Officer Brown was hit by shrapnel and badly wounded. Unable to continue flying the aircraft, Sergeant Leonard Adlam took over the controls and turned the Whitley for home.
Feelings amongst the crew were undoubtedly tense as the Whitley boys witnessed smoke trailing from the engine hit by flak, but Sergeant Adlam continued to fly the damaged aircraft across the Channel.
Finally a small sense of relief was felt as the southern coast of England came in to view, but as the Whitley limped further north it became lost and alarmingly short of fuel. With Pilot Officer Brown injured it was decided by the crew to head for base rather than abandon the aircraft and bale out, so Adlam continued to press on through the cloudy sky.
Most likely strained and exhausted, the Whitley crew continued to work together in finding their way home to safety, but their beaten up aircraft began to lose both height and fuel. Although on course for Linton-on-Ouse, the Whitley began to rapidly descend as it approached the Yorkshire Moors until finally O for Orange tragically crashed into a hillside at approximately 0612 hours on the 21st October 1940. The crash was heard by nearby villagers and soon after police, farmers and locals were soon hurrying towards the crash site. When they arrived they found a burnt out wreckage of the Whitley aircraft.
Sadly, Pilot Officer Ernest Brown, Sergeant Leonard Adlam and Sergeant Marcel Caryll-Tilkin were killed. Sergeant Robert Langfield and Sergeant Cyril Green survived, although both were seriously injured. Unfortunately two days later, Sergeant Green died in hospital due to the serious nature of his internal injuries, leaving Sergeant Langfield as the sole survivor of the incident.
The evidence suggested that the Whitley had crashed due to running out of fuel on its return from Czechoslovakia. Even the official Accident Records Card is believed to share this opinion, but a later development uncovered another insight into the crash when a German source stated that Whitley T4171 was claimed by a Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 88 pilot.
A Ju 88c pilot - Hauptmann Karl Hulshoff of I/NJG2 (who survived the war) was over the north of England on a specialist intruder mission (one of the first of its kind) when he apparently caught sight of the smoking Whitley of No. 58 Squadron as it attempted to return to base and shot it down.
Despite the conflicting records, the T4171wreckage at Greenhow Moor denoted that an intense blaze had occurred to burn the aircraft out. With the aircraft reported as being out of petrol it is unlikely that this was the cause of the fire but perhaps rather a consequence of falling victim to the Ju 88 night fighter.
If indeed this was the case then the loss of Brown, Adlam, Green and Caryll-Tilkin was even more tragic considering all they had been through the previous night of the crash. They had succeeded in dropping their bombs on the Skoda armament factory, used all the initiative they could muster in getting their damaged aircraft back across the Channel to the English coast and then a short distance away from base with next to no fuel they were shot down by a lone Ju 88 skulking like a predator through the north Yorkshire skies.
Aside from the loss of Brown’s Whitley two additional aircraft were also lost on this sortie but suffered no fatalities. One aircraft ditched in the River Humber and another ditched off Blackeney Point on the coast of Norfolk. Both crews were later rescued by lifeboat.
For many years to come, pieces of the dark green Armstrong Whitworth Whitley, bearing the Squadron code markings ‘GE-O’, flown by Brown and Adlam on its last sortie, would be found around the Yorkshire moor. The aircraft itself had only been at Linton-on-Ouse since 3rd October 1940, but it would always be remembered because of its brave crew, four of which valiantly lost their lives as they fought for their families at home and for the preservation of their land.

Due to the uncertainty of events surrounding O for Orange’s destruction and the conflicting reports currently available, it is impossible to state the exact reason why four men lost their lives in the early hours of the 21st October 1940. Whether it was a combination of flak damage, disorientation and bad weather over the high ground, or if it was indeed a Ju 88 night fighter that forced them into the hillside, is yet to be uncovered. What I can say for certain is that Sergeant Adlam’s death was keenly felt amongst my relatives. As a young boy my father can remember several occasions where he visited family graves with his mother. He would always marvel when they arrived at the headstone bearing the name Sergeant Leonard F P Adlam where he would gaze at the words “Through trials to the stars” – a fitting tribute to one of the ‘many’.

By Christopher Yeoman 2009

Tiger Cub is out TODAY!

‘Tiger Cub’ is the story of a Spitfire 'Ace' named John Freeborn who fought with No. 74 'Tiger' Squadron during the early stages of WWII and during the legendary 'Battle of Britain'. John was just 18 years old when he first began to fly operational patrols in hostile skies. His story is at times tragic, inspiring and full of bravery when we consider the many sacrifices made by young men, like John, who took to the skies in order to prevent a German invasion upon British shores. During the summer of 1940, many young men gave up their youth and their lives as they flew daily patrols against the Luftwaffe with hopes of gaining air superiority despite them being vastly outnumbered. As we approach the 69th Anniversary of ‘The Battle of Britain’ it is important that we remember the sacrifices made and courage shown by the fighter pilots who served during such a fierce conflict in our history. I hope you enjoy this book or simply just take the time to remember our heroes.


'Tiger Cub' is available at the following links:

Amazon - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tiger-Cub-Squadron-Fighter-Freeborn/dp/1848840233
Pen&Sword - http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/?product_id=1934

Best Wishes,

C

Pre-order "Tiger Cub" today!

Tiger Cub - The Story of John Freeborn DFC*
is now available to pre-order at the following websites: (Order from Pen & Sword for international shipping)

Pen & Sword -
http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/?product_id=1934

Amazon -
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tiger-Cub-Squadron-Fighter-Freeborn/dp/1848840233

Waterstones -
http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/displayProductDetails.do?sku=6602931

Play.com-
http://www.play.com/Books/Books/4-/9230844/-/Product.html?searchstring=tiger+cub+christopher+Yeoman&searchsource=0

The Book Depository -
http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/browse/book/isbn/9781848840232

WHSmith -
http://www.whsmith.co.uk/CatalogAndSearch/ProductDetails-Tiger+Cub+A+74+Squadron+Fighter+Pilot+in+WW+II+-9781848840232.html

AVRO ENDERS

CLICK PAGES TO ZOOM IN
WRITER: CHRIS YEOMAN

ARTIST: KELLY ISHIKAWA

COLOURIST: ANDY POOLE

LETTERER: BORIS MIHAJLOVIC

AVRO ENDERS

COPYRIGHT 2008

Coming soon.