MIDWAY TURNING OF THE TIDE

This stunning aviation panorama vividly brings to life the minutes just prior to the Battle of Midway, the decisive battle that wrote the name of the SBD Dauntless dive-bomber into military history. The date was 4 June 1942; the time was 10.10 hours; and the place was 20,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean, 200 miles north-west of Midway Island. It was the calm before the storm. The Dauntless pilots are in luck; by a stroke of fortune they have found the Japanese carrier fleet at its most vulnerable, decks packed with aircraft re-fuelled, re-armed and almost ready for take-off, But as the Akagi, Kaga, Hiryo and Soryu begin to turn into the wind to range the flight decks for take-off, the unthinkable happens. Plummeting out of the skies above them came the SBD Dauntless dive-bombers, flown by many of the most experienced pilots in the US Navy. Within seconds they will devastate the Japanese fleet, destroying half of the entire enemy carrier force. It was the beginning of the end for the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Midway turned out to be one of the most strategically decisive victories fought in the Pacific, and this truly great collector’s piece carries the signatures of four outstanding Dauntless pilots who flew in that historic Midway attack: Commander Dick Best, Captain Edward Anderson, Commander Don Ely and Rear Admiral Wilbur Roberts. This never-to-be-repeated combination of dramatic image, distinguished pilots and historical accuracy means that ‘Midway – Turning of the Tide’ is greatly sought after on the secondary market and can therefore reach high values.