Checkertails - Outbound Escort by Robert Taylor

Checkertails – the clue was in the name for there was no way of mistaking the highly- distinctive, black and yellow checkerboards that adorned the tails of the 325th Fighter Group. It was a sight that most Luftwaffe pilots dreaded and no wonder, because by the end of hostilities they’d chalked up some 520 aerial victories and dozens more aircraft destroyed on the ground, alongside the straffing of numerous targets such as trains, vehicles and airfields.

Veterans of North Africa and the invasion of Sicily, by the summer of 1944 the ‘Checkertails’ were based at Lesina on Italy’s Adriatic coast. Re-equipping with long-range North American P-51s they were now able to escort the heavy bombers of the U.S. 15th Air Force on all their missions north over the Alps to Germany, Austria, France, Czechoslovakia and Hungary, and west to Yugoslavia and Romania.

Robert Taylor, the world’s most instantly- recognizable aviation artist, remembers the heroic exploits of the men who flew with the 325th Fighter Group in his iconic piece. Few painters have the necessary skill to successfully blend the machines of war into beautiful landscapes as Robert, and his breath-taking work Checkertails – Outbound Escort is a classic example of just why he’s considered the greatest ever aviation artist. Taking centre stage are P- 51Ds from the 317th Fighter Squadron, 325th Fighter Group led by their CO, Major ‘Herky’ Green and his wingman First Lieutenant ‘Art’ Fiedler climbing in the crisp mountain air over the magnificent, still snow-capped mountains of the Alps en-route to support heavy bombers of the U.S. 15th Air Force in the summer of 1944.

---

The Legacy Remarques

Per Robert’s request, the Legacy Remarques are offered on this release where his talented son, Richard Taylor, will create specially hand-drawn pencil Remarques in the lower border of the print.

These are available in two sizes – ‘Quad’ (4 Remarques) and ‘Deluxe’ (7-8 Remarques).

Each Legacy Remarque print is issued mounted to full conservation standards to include all elements and signatures of the Collector’s Edition.

---

Mounted Signatures (Included with all but the canvas edition):

Colonel HERSCHEL ‘HERKY’ GREEN - 317th FS 325th FG – 18 victories

Colonel ARTHUR ‘ART’ FIEDLER - 317th FS 325th FG – 8 victories