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Group Captain Brian Kingcome DSO DFC (deceased) - Art prints and originals signed by Group Captain Brian Kingcome DSO DFC (deceased)

Brian Kingcome

No Photo Available

1994Died : 1994

Group Captain Brian Kingcome DSO DFC (deceased)

Brian Fabris Kingcome was born in Calcutta on May 31st 1917. Brian Kingcome was educated at Bedford and in 1936 entered the RAF College, Cranwell. Soon after he began his pilot course he was seriously injured in a car accident and was told by the RAF medical board that he would never fly again as he was expected to suffer permanent double vision. But after months in hospital and with Brians strength of character he proved the board wrong. In 1938 he was posted to No 65, a biplane Gladiator fighter squadron based at Hornchurch. Brian Kingcome took part in the Battles of France and Dunkirk but transferred to 92 Squadron as a flight commander and flying Spitfires in May 1940 scoring his first victories in June 1940. Brian Kingcome became acting commanding officer during the latter stages of the Battle of Britain. During this time he and his pilots achieved the highest success rate of any squadron in the entire Battle of Britain. After being shot down by Me109s and wounded, he returned to active operations. In February 1942 he was posted to command 72 Squadron, followed by promotion to Wing Leader at Kenley. In May 1943 he was posted to lead 244 Wing in the Mediterranean during the invasion of Sicily. An Ace, Brian Kingcome flew Spitfires in combat continually until the end of 1944, his tally finishing at 8 and 3 shared destroyed, plus a score of probables and damaged. One of the prewar Cranwell elite, Brian Kingcome was to become one ofthe Second World Wars great fighter leaders, alongside such immortals as Douglas Bader, Bob Stanford Tuck and Johnnie Johnson. At the outbreak of war he was serving in 65 Squadron, but in May 1940 was posted to 92 Squadron as flight commander. On 25 May he shared a Do 17 and on 2 June destroyed two He l l Is and damaged a third. He shared a Ju 88 with two others on I0 July, and again on the 24th. On 9 September he probably destroyed a Bf 110 and two days later shot down a He 111. On the 14th he damaged another. He shot down a Bf 109 on the 23rd and next day probably destroyed another and damaged a Ju 88. Three days later he shared a Ju 88 again, damaged two others, probably destroyed a Do 17, and damaged one of these also. Around this time he was awarded a DFC for six victories, and on 11 October got a Bf 109 He claimed another next day, and also damaged one. In 1941 he became commanding officer, having frequently led the squadron. It will be noted that he claimed many probables and damaged during the Battle of Britain, and this was due to his view that it was more important to hit as many as possible than to try and confirm victories. On 16 June 1941 lie probably destroyed a Bf 109, and on 24 July shot one down. He was then rested until late in the year, when he was posted to command 72 Squadron, and in February 1942 gave escort cover to the Fleet Air Arm pilot Eugene Esmonde, who won the VC trying to attack German capital ships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and and the cruiser Prinz Eugen with Swordfish during the Channel Dash. In atrocious weather Kingcome caught a fleeting glimpse of tbe Scharnhorst - Oh what a beautiful battleboat! he exclaimed, just as a shell made a hole the size of a dustbin lid in his port wing. During 1941 he received a Bar to his DFC, having brought his score to 10. He was promoted to lead the Kenley wing, and on 15 April 1942 damaged a Fw 190. He probably destroyed a Bf 109 on 28 May, and during the year was awarded a DSO, having added another victory to his score. In 1943 he was posted to North Africa to lead 244 Wing, and lead this for 18 months, becoming a Gp. Capt. after the invasion of Italy. By the end of his stay with the wing he had brought his score to 18, and was then posted as SASO of a Liberator group, and flew an operation as a waist gunner over northern Yugoslavia after taking up this appointment. Sadly Group Captain Brian Kingcome passed away aged 76 in 1994.

Land, Sea and Air by Ivan Berryman.


Land, Sea and Air by Ivan Berryman.
13 editions.
7 of the 13 editions feature up to 2 additional signatures.
£2.70 - £400.00

September Victory by Nicolas Trudgian. (B)


September Victory by Nicolas Trudgian. (B)
2 editions.
Both editions feature up to 13 additional signatures.
£400.00 - £490.00

Give Us Spitfires by Ivan Berryman.

Give Us Spitfires by Ivan Berryman.
5 editions.
2 of the 5 editions feature up to 2 additional signatures.
£45.00 - £400.00


Tally Ho by Robert Taylor


Tally Ho by Robert Taylor
This single edition is sold out.
The edition features an additional signature.

Piece of Cake by Michael Turner.

Piece of Cake by Michael Turner.
This single edition is sold out.
The edition features 3 additional signatures.

Summer Victory by Robert Taylor.


Summer Victory by Robert Taylor.
This single edition is sold out.
The edition features 4 additional signatures.




Text for the above items :

Land, Sea and Air by Ivan Berryman.

Spitfire of 761 Training Squadron (attached to the Royal Navy) flies over the Forth Railway Bridge on the eve of World War Two, also shown is HMS Royal Oak departing Rosyth for the open sea.


September Victory by Nicolas Trudgian. (B)

Spitfires pass above a downed Me110 as they return to base at Biggin Hill in September 1940, the most intense and crucial phase of the Battle of Britain.


Give Us Spitfires by Ivan Berryman.

A solo spitfire flies through the clouds over southern England.


Tally Ho by Robert Taylor

In this classic Robert Taylor painting Brian Kingcome is seen leading the Spitfires of 92 Squadron in a diving attack into a force of HEIIIs over the city of London during the height of the Battle of Britain. Brian Kingcome flew Spitfires operationally virtually without break, right throughout the war.


Piece of Cake by Michael Turner.

In the calm of a fine summer evening a group of Spitfires returns from the last sortie of the day. Two small boys and a passing cyclist watch as the leading Spitfire sweeps over the boundary of the temporary airfield.


Summer Victory by Robert Taylor.

SOLD OUT.

Group Captain Brian Kingcome DSO DFC (deceased)

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