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Harbourne Stephen
| Wing Commander Harbourne Stephen CBE, DSO, DFC (deceased) Flying Spitfires with 605 squadron he took part in the air battles over France and Dunkirk and throughout the thick of the Battle of Britain. He was one of the top scoring R.A.F. pilots at the end of 1940 with 22 and a half air victories. In 1942 he was posted to the far east where he took command of 166 wing, remaining in fighters until the end of the war. After the war he had a successful career in newspapers where he became managing Director of the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph. He died on 20th August 2001. |
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A Call to Arms by David Pentland. (P) Spitfires of No.603 Squadron, 23rd November 1940. The nearest aircraft is P7389 of Archie Winskill. |
Fighting Lady by Graeme Lothian. A solo Spitfire on patrol off the coast of Dover during the Battle of Britain. |
Evening Patrol by Gerald Coulson. During the early part of World War II the coastline of Britain was constantly under threat, particularly the busy shipping lanes of the North Sea. As well as carrying out bombing raids on strategic coastal targets and ports such as Luftflotte 5s attack on the north-east in August 1940, allied shipping was regularly attacked at sea as the Luftwaffe tried to disrupt supplies. The RAF played a vital part in protecting these supplies, escorting fishing fleets and shipping convoys, as well as long range patrols over the sea, seeking enemy activity and intercepting high altitude reconnaissance aircraft. These patrols were often long and arduous with pilots running the gauntlet of, if shot down, ditching into the sea. Often pilots would survive being hit and baling out, only to succumb to the freezing and hostile waters of the North Sea. Often fighter squadrons being rested during the Battle of Britain, would be moved to northern locations such as Acklington and Leconfield, and carry out coastal and sea patrols before returning to the more intense fighting in the south. Flying over the Humber Estuary as the sun is setting, pilots of 610 Sqn return their MKII Spitfires to Leconfield after a convoy patrol late in 1940. |
The Right of the Line by Graeme Lothian. Sailor Malam leading 74 Squadron engaging Me109s of I/JG52 during the Battle of Britain, September 1940. |
First Flap of the Day by Nicolas Trudgian. HM Stephen - one of the Battle of Britains top scoring fighter pilots, brings down two Me109s in quick succession over the White Cliffs of Dover, early on August 11, 1940. Flying a Spitfire with 74 Squadron, HM shot down five German aircraft on this day, and damaged a further three. The note in his log book starts First flap of the day at 0600 hrs ... Published 2000. Sadly, all of the pilots who signed this edition have since passed away. |
Enemy Approaching by David Pentland. (P) Hurricanes of No.605 Squadron, October 1940. Aircraft pictured are P3308 UP-A of A A McKellar and N2471 of P Parrott. |
Channel Sweep by Richard Taylor. On 14th June 1940, the first German jackboots were heard on the streets of Paris. Within days France signed an armistice and Hitler could now turn his avaricious eyes north and across the grey waters of the Channel. The island of Britain stood alone and, faced with the threat of imminent invasion, few gave her much chance of survival. Before the all-conquering Panzers could invade, Germany needed to gain air superiority and Goering boasted that his Luftwaffe 'would quickly sweep the RAF from the skies' - how wrong he would be. The Battle of Britain began on 10th July 1940 and for the next eight weeks most front-line squadrons were often flying four missions a day. Totally outnumbered by the Luftwaffe the RAF was close to breaking point by early September, with some units reduced to a handful of pilots and aircraft. Then on 7th September, an over-confident Goering made a fatal error. Believing the RAF destroyed, he changed tactics and the Luftwaffe began bombing civilian targets in London. It was the respite that Fighter Command needed and the tide of battle was turned. Against overwhelming and seemingly impossible odds, a replenished RAF repelled the Luftwaffe and by the end of October it was over. Richard Taylor's stunning painting depicts Mk1 Spitfires from 92 Squadron undertaking a defensive sweep along the Kent coastline against a dramatic backdrop of the white cliffs of Dover, at the height of the battle in September 1940. |
Clipped Signature - Harbourne Stephen. Flew Spitfires with No.605 Sqn over France and Dunkirk before fighting in the Battle of Britain, and had scored 22.5 victories by the end of 1940. He took command of 166 Wing in the Far East until the end of the war, then had a career in newspapers, becoming managing director of the Daily Telegraph. He died in 2001. |
Height and Sun by Robert Taylor. If you had the height, you controlled the battle. If you came out of the sun, the enemy could not see you. If you held your fire until you were very close, you seldom missed. These three basic rules contributed to the prowess in aerial combat of some of the most successful fighter pilots in history and seldom were they more valuable than when outnumbered. Between July and October 1940 the brave young pilots of RAF Fighter Command were under intense pressure from the constant attacks of the Luftwaffe and the Hawker Hurricane was the machine of the Battle of Britain, accounting for 80 percent of Allied victories. In this painting, Hurricanes of 32 Sqn climb high into the morning sky, gaining Height and Sun in an attempt to take the advantage over the onslaught of enemy fighters - August, 1940. This image captures the surreal calmness above the clouds, belying the fury of action and ultimate sacrifices made in those crisp blue skies. |
Combat Over London by Robert Taylor During the legendary Battle of Britain Spitfires of 92 Squadron are engaged with Messerschmitt Me109s of JG-2 in a high-altitude dog-fight directly over London in September 1940. Way below bombers of the Luftwaffe attempt one of their final daylight raids over the capital. |
A Time for Heroes by Robert Taylor Royal Air Force and Royal Navy fighter aircrews flew combat throughout the six long years of World War Two. At the outbreak of war in 1939 four RAF Hurricane squadrons and two equipped with Gladiators went immediately to France where in short time New Zealander Cobber Kain became the first Allied Ace of the war. In April 1940 Hurricanes and Gladiators saw in action in Norway, when Rhodesian Caesar Hull of 263 Squadron became the second air Ace. By the fall of France the new Spitfire joined in the great air battles over the Channel as the British Expeditionary Force evacuated Dunkirk. Bob Stanford -Tuck, Douglas Bader, Peter Townsend, Sailor Malan, and many other great Aces gained their first victories, but with German forces massing on the French coast, the invasion of Britain looked imminent. Only RAF Fighter Command stood in Hitlers way. By July, the most famous of all air battles had begun. The next three months, under glorious summer skies, saw the most decisive and continual aerial fighting in history. The British victory in the Battle of Britain was to fundamentally change the course of the war and, ultimately, the course of history. But there were four and a half more years of air battles still to be fought and won -from the English Channel Front to the North African desert, from the Mediterranean to Far East Asia. It fell to Fleet Air Arm pilots to see the last air fighting for British and Commonwealth pilots, by then equipped with Seafires and American Corsairs and Hellcats, as they took part in the final assaults on the Japanese mainland. As the last embers of hostilities faded into history the centuries old doctrine of maritime supremacy had gone. Now the aircraft ruled. In his masterful painting A Time For Heroes Robert Taylor pays tribute to the World War II fighter aircrews of the RAF and Fleet Air Arm. A panoramic scene from the era of the Battle of Britain shows Mk I Spitfires of 234 Squadron, 10 Groups top scoring squadron, returning to St. Eval after intercepting heavy raids on south coast ports during the heaviest fighting, in September 1940. St. Michaels Mount, the castle built on the site of a 14th Century monastery to defend Britains shores from earlier enemies, provides a symbolic backdrop as once again a band of brothers is called upon to defend their Sceptred Isle. Sadly, since the passing of Mahinder Pujji in September 2010, all of the great pilots who signed any of the editions of this print have now passed away. |
Fight for the Sky by Robert Taylor. All through the long hot summer of 1940 they crossed the Channel from stolen bases in northern France, coming in mighty swarms to deliver their deadly cargo. Bombers and dive-bombers, single-seat fighters and fast twin-engined attack aircraft, their menacing shapes glinting with swastikas and black crosses, blackening the summer sky. Over 3000 aircraft were at the disposal of the boastful Luftwaffe supremo, Hermann Goering. Within just a matter of weeks, he promised Hitler, the RAF would be annihilated, allowing the invasion of Britain to proceed unhindered, and Britain would become the final piece of the jigsaw giving Nazi domination throughout Europe. Against the might of German airpower stood less than 600 Spitfire and Hurricane fighters, and as many young pilots determined to the man to defend their homeland. And so commenced the battle that was to develop into the greatest aerial conflict in history. Always outnumbered, often flying six sorties a day, the RAF's young fighter boys flew themselves to the point of exhaustion. Pilot losses forced desperate squadron commanders to take youngsters into combat, some with just a few hours on fighters. They flew and fought like tigers and they paid a heavy price, but never did they lose their spirit. Robert Taylor's wonderfully realistic painting captures the very essence of that epic battle. A Heinkel 111 has been brought down, one of many never to make it home on this bright and sunny day. As the Luftwaffe bomber's crew emerge from their broken aircraft, relieved to have survived the crash-landing, a Mk I Spitfire from No.66 Squadron roars low overhead to verify another victory. In the distance, Hurricanes from No 56 Squadron hurry back to North Weald to refuel and rearm. High above the battle rages, the vapour trails telling their own story. |
After the Battle by Robert Taylor. No text for this item |
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