HUNTERS IN THE DESERT

Led by the brilliant Eduard Neumann, the JG-52 pilots were given a freedom in the air not experienced on the Channel Front.  Flying in free-ranging pairs and fours they roamed the North African skies, pouncing from height upon enemy formations.  The tactics suited the talents of the more aggressive pilots, and stars quickly emerged, none more prominently than Hans-Joachim Marseille.  During a short but mercurial career in the Desert, Marseille claimed over 150 victories, more than any other Luftwaffe Ace against the R.A.F. pilots during World War II.

This popular limited edition, the last in Robert Taylor's long sold-out Protagonist series, records Marseille's jubilant low pass as he returns to his Desert airstrip having just achieved his 100th victory.  In the foreground his fellow pilots are seen clambering out of their Me109s having just completed another successful mission.  Robert's masterful painting painting brings to life the heat and dust of the Western Desert, the acrid aroma of hot engines and the exhilaration of victory as another combat mission ends.