On the blog today, we're looking at three fantastic pieces of artwork from three of our May 2021 titles. Let us know what you think in the comments section and, if you would like to see any artwork from any of our June titles, be sure to mention that too!

 

NVG 295: SAS Combat Vehicles 1942–91 by Gavin Mortimer
Artwork by Henry Morshead and Irene Cano Rodríguez

 

 

This first illustration depicts a moment in France during Operation Houndsworth in 1944. This was the incident when an SAS jeep driven by Captain Roy Bradford encountered a German convoy parked on the side of a country road with dozens of soldiers lounging on the grass having breakfast. In the ensuing firefight, Bradford and Bill Devine, the rear gunner, were killed, and Chalky White and a French Maquisard were wounded.

 

 

CAM 362: Vietnam 1972: Quang Tri by Charles D. Melson
Artwork by Ramiro Bujeiro

 

 

This next piece of artwork shows the storming of the Quang Tri Citadel on 15 September 1972. Shown here are soldiers from the Vietnamese Marines in their “tiger stripe” camouflage uniforms. They are armed with M16 rifles; to the right, a machine gunner provides covering fire with an M60. The Marine to the left has an M18 Coloured Smoke Grenade attached to his right chest, and on his right shoulder can be seen the VNMC sleeve insignia. The darkness is illuminated by flares and tracer fire. The heavily destroyed state of the 19th-century Citadel is clear, the result of earlier fighting for the city; the rubble provided strong defensive positions for the communist troops from which they could hold off the attacking Marines.

 

 

COM 138: RAF Tornado Units of Gulf War I by Michael Napier
Artwork by Janusz Swiatlon and Gareth Hector

 

 

 

This last image, requested by AdamC, depicts a 11 Tornado GR 1 ZD744/BD Buddha of the Tabuk Wing. From 10 February 1990, most missions flown by the Tabuk Wing saw its jets tasked to drop LGBs. ZD744, which was originally from No 14 Sqn at Brüggen, is shown in a typical stores fit for these operations, with 2250-litre underwing tanks, AIM-9Ls on the stub pylons, ECM pods on the outer wing pylons and three LGBs on the shoulder pylons. Many of the Tabuk Wing aircraft were adorned with shark's mouth markings, and mission tally markers were initially painted in white. However, towards the end of the war, they were standardised and repainted in red.