New Defiant Original Painting
I've just completed this 24" x 16" original painting of a Defiant engaging a He111 over Lincolnshire. There's a great story behind this one in more ways than one!
Pilot Officer ‘Sandy’ Ballantine and his gunner Sergeant McTaggart engage a Heinkel 111 over North Lincolnshire on the afternoon of 7th March 1941. Ballantine was airborne in Defiant N3333 YD-B of 255 Squadron performing an air test when he came across the Heinkel in layers of cloud. Less than two months later both men were forced to bale out of this aircraft when it was shot down in combat over Nocton in Lincolnshire.
I had the great pleasure of meeting the daughter of the pilot recently and got to know the full story of 'Sandy' Ballantine who was killed in Normandy just after D-Day. Because our meeting was being filmed for a TV documentary I can't say much more at the moment but look out for the full story in October/November 2018.
Prints are available HERE
The original is available HERE