"Red Tail Pass"
Sheet Size: 22" x 33" • © 2003
Print Editions
100 Limited Edition
With TEN co-signatures.
$245 (sold out)
200 Tuskegee Edition
With THIRTEEN co-signatures.
$285
20 Artist's Proofs
With FIFTEEN co-signatures.
$325 (sold out)
20 Remarqued Edition
With NINE co-signatures.
Individually remarqued.
$395
5 Publisher's Proofs
With FIFTEEN co-signatures.
Individually remarqued.
$475 (sold out)
150 Studio Edition
Signed by the artist only.
$160
5 Images on Canvas
Please phone your retailer for details.
$895
30 Crew One Edition
Not for sale by publisher.
50 Crew Two Edition
Not for sale by publisher.
March 31-April 1, 1945. A momentous two-day period in which the Tuskegee pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group sweep southern Germany, destroying 25 enemy aircraft while incurring only one loss.
Signatures
1st Lieutenant Spann Watson is originally from Johnston, South Carolina. He attended the Combat Crew Trainer Station at Walterboro, South Carolina. He then went overseas as one of the original pilots of 99 Fighter Squadron. He returned early for assignment to the 332nd Fighter Group. Reactivated 99 Fighter Squadron for Far East duty in May 1945. Lieutenant Watson was the Primary Operations Officer from May 1945 to June 1949. During this time the squadron had 146 pilots and 14 Flight Leaders. Lieutenant Watson flew 30 missions. His decorations include the Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters. He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel.
1st Lieutenant John H. Leahr was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He flew coastal and harbor patrols in the P39 for the 12th Air Force before joining the 15th Air Force, escorting bombers and flying strafing missions in P47 Thunderbolts and P51 Mustangs. He was with the 332nd Fighter Group, 301 Fighter Squadron . Missions flown: 132. After completing his combat tour in December of 1944, he returned to TAAF as a Flight Instructor. Lieutenant Leahr's decorations include: Air Medal with 7 Oak Leaf Clusters, plus Area and Theater ribbons.
Flight Officer Charles A. Lane Jr. was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He attended the Harriett Beecher Stowe Teachers College, but studies were interrupted in 1943 when he entered the forces. He flew 26 combat missions in P47's and P51's with The Tuskegee, in 99 Squadron. He was in the forces for 27 years, flying fighters, transports, and the B-52. He has The Air Medal with 3 OLC's, and retired as a Lieutenant Colonel.
Staff Sergeant James A. Sheppard is originally from New York City, New York. He enlisted in the Air Force in 1942 and was assigned to the Tuskegee Army Airfield as an Aviation Maintenance Technician. He served with 100 Fighter Squadron and later with 301 Fighter Squadron in the USA and in Europe as a mechanic and crew chief.
1st Lieutenant John F. Briggs was bom in St. Louis, Missouri. He flew 125 combat sorties in the P39 Bell Airacobra over Naples and the Anzio beach-head in the 12th Air Force Tactical Air Command. He also flew 70 combat missions in the P47 Thunderbolt and P51 Mustang in the 15th Air Force Strategic Air Command. He served with 99 and 100 Fighter Squadrons. He retired as Major and was decorated with the DFC and Air Medal with 7 Oak Leaf Clusters. 1st Lieutenant Briggs has an Me109 to his credit.
1st Lieutenant Richard D. Macon was born in Birmingham, Alabama. In 1943 he became a cadet and graduated as a fighter pilot. He then flew the P40, P39, and P47. Lieutenant Macon became a replacement pilot with 99 Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group and has 161/2 missions to his credit. On August 12, 1944, he was strafing ground targets over southern France when his Mustang was hit by ground fire. It was flipped upside down at tree-trap level and the right wing separated. The next thing Lt. Macon knew, he was lying in afield and his parachute had deployed. He learned that his plane had crashed into a building used by the Germans as a headquarters, killing over 40 German officers and soldiers. Lieutenant Macon's neck was broken and the lower part of his body was temporarily paralyzed. Narrowly missing being shot by a firing squad, he became a POW for over 9 months. Decorations include The Air Medal, Presidential Citation and Purple Heart. He retired with the rank of Captain.
1st Lieutenant Robert L. Martin was born in Dubuque, Iowa. He flew with 100 Fighter Squadron and has 631/2 missions to his credit. March 3, 1945, he was shot down by ground fire over Zagreb aerodrome (Yugoslavia) and parachuted from the burning airplane. He was rescued by Yugoslav partisans but was not captured by the Germans. He spent five weeks in Yugoslavia and then returned to Italy by truck and plane. Decorations include DFC, Purple Heart and Air Medal with 6 OLC's.
Captain Howard L. Baugh was born in Petersburg, Virginia. He joined the U.S. Army Air Corps in March 1942. He was with 99 Fighter Squadron in Sicily in July 1943 and flew 135 combat missions in P40's and P51's. He attacked artillery batteries, truck convoys and radar installations. Other duties were escorting B17 and B24 formations. Captain Baugh shared a FW190 victory and retired with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
1st Lieutenant William H. Holloman III was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He flew P51's with 99 Fighter Squadron , 332nd Fighter Group, during early 1945. After World War II he flew P47 Thunderbolts with 301 Fighter Squadron and during the Korean war was a MATS pilot. On one mission he was flying the wounded back to the States from the Far East and Korea. He was also the first black helicopter pilot in the Air Force. Bill Holloman later flew with Pacific Western Airlines in Canada. He was recalled to active duty in 1966, serving in Vietnam and later in Europe. He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel.
1st Lieutenant George A. Taylor was born in Middlesex County, Virginia. He flew 120 combat missions in the P39 Airacobra over Naples Harbor and the Anzio beach-head in the 12th Air Force Tactical Air Command. In the 15th Air Force, he flew missions to southern France, southern Germany and the Ploesti oil fields, Romania. This was in the P47 Thunderbolt and P51 Mustang. He was with 100 Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group. Decorations include 2 Bronze Stars and The Air Medal.
Staff Sergeant Levi H. Thornhill was born in Appomattox County, Virginia. He was with 302 and 99 Fighter Squadrons. His basic training was at Tuskegee, then Aircraft Mechanic School at Lincoln AFB in Nebraska. He served with the Tuskegee in Italy during 1944-45 and later took pilot training, serving in Germany after the war. He retired as a Major.
1st Lieutenant William B. Ellis was born in Atlanta, Georgia. He flew with 302, 301 and 99 Fighter Squadrons of the 322nd Fighter Group, 477th Fighter Wing. After the war, he was one of eight fighter pilots who transferred to the 477th Bomb Group, to fly the B25.
Lieutenant James H. Harvey is originally from Montclair, New Jersey. In April of 1944 he was within one hour of embarking to join the 332nd in Italy, when his group received word that the Italians had surrendered. Rejoined the 99th in June 1945, at Goodman Field, Kentucky. They were slated to go to Okinawa to escort bombers attacking Japan. But the A-bomb was dropped and the war ended. He flew the P40, P47 and P51. He retired from the force as a Lieutenant Colonel. Awards include DFC, Air Medal with 10 OLC's, and the Distinguished Unit Citation with 10 OLC's.
2nd Lieutenant George E. Hardy hailed originally from Philadelphia, PA. During 1945 he was based at Ramitelli, Italy, with 99 Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group, flying the P51 Mustang. He flew 21 combat missions. In addition, 45 combat missions over Korea in the B-29 and 70 combat missions in AC-119K Gunships over Vietnam. Decorations include The Air Medal with 2 OLC's, Air Medal (Korea) with 3-7 OLC's and DFC (Vietnam) Air Medal with 8-11 OLC's. He retired as a Lt. Colonel.
1st Lieutenant Theodore G. Lumpkin was born in Los Angeles and drafted at Fort McArthur in LA before being shipped to Tuskegee. He served as an Intelligence Officer with 100 Fighter Squadron in Italy from 1943 to October 1945. Decorations include the Victory Medal. Lt. Lumpkin retired as a Lieutenant Colonel.
In memorium:
The late Captain Robert W. Williams flew 'Duchess Arlene,' the aircraft featured in RED TAIL PASS. He flew 50 combat missions, later writing the manuscript for the 1995 movie 'The Tuskegee Airmen.' Captain Williams was with 100 Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group and had two victories. He was awarded the DFC, the Air Medal with 6 OLC's and the Presidential Distinguished Unit Citation.
The Story
By March of 1945, Germany was surrounded and fighting a purely defensive war. To the east, the Russian juggernaut, both army and air force, rushed headlong toward Berlin, crushing any resistance in its path. In the west, the Allies had crossed the Rhine River into Germany and were pushing the battered German army further east. To the south the Allies advanced north past Rome and into the Po Valley of Italy, ever closer to her homeland beyond the Italian and Austrian Alps.
The Allied air forces were relentless in their bombing and destruction of any effort put up by the beleaguered Luftwaffe in these final days. Among the fighter squadrons that were involved in the missions were the Tuskegee pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group. Flying out of Ramatelli, Italy, they continued their escort duties, providing the necessary protection for the bombers to hit their targets in central Germany. Many of these missions still met enemy resistance, and some of the air battles were fierce.
On some occasions they battled with the new Luftwaffe wonder weapons of jet and rocket design which, though technologically advanced, were too few in number and introduced too late to change the course of the war. Starved of fuel, the German war machine staggered on when it should have ended sooner. But Hitler insisted on battling on to ultimate self-destruction, both for himself and the German population.
In Robert Bailey's air combat painting, RED TAIL PASS, Tuskegee Mustangs are seen streaking over southern Germany on April 1, 1945. On this day and the preceding day, they destroyed 25 enemy aircraft with only 1 lost. It was a historic two-day period for the Tuskegee, of which they will always be proud.
Up front are 'Duchess Arlene' (1st Lt. Robert W. Williams) of 100 Fighter Squadron, and 'Creamer's Dream' (1st Lt. Charles White), 301 Fighter Squadron.
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