Moonlight Gerald Coulson Size: 19" x 16" Edition: 350 Subject: Special Duties Lysander of 161 Squadron. Flight Lieutenant Peter Arkell of 161 Squadron (Special Duties) flying his Lysander en route to drop SOE Agents in France during 1944. Flying secret agents in and out of occupied France, transporting arms and radio equipment to the Resistance, and collecting downed airmen from behind enemy lines, was one of the most hazardous flying operations of World War II. These cloak and dagger sorties, always conducted at night by the light of the moon, required a cool head and inordinate flying and navigational skills - a duty performed courageously by the pilots of RAF Special Duty Squadrons. Due to their clandestine nature, the true magnitude of their operations only became fully appreciated when the war was over. Guiding a slow, unarmed aircraft, without navigational assistance other than a hand held map, the pilot had to locate a remote foreign field perhaps four hours flying time from base, lit only by half a dozen hand held torches. Without radio communication with those on the ground he needed to get his aircraft down, often in rough terrain, never knowing if his reception party had been betrayed and he was flying into the arms of the Gestapo. The aircraft most suited to these difficult tasks was the rugged Westland Lysander - the aircraft Gerald Coulson has chosen to portray in his tribute to the pilots of the Special Duties Squadrons. With the moon at its fullest phase, a Lysander from 161 Squadron is en-route to France, literally flying into the unknown. Each print in Gerald Coulson’s Limited Edition, Moonlight, is signed by Flight Lieutenant Peter Arkell. £65.00

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