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Mission to Buin Harbor by Stan Stokes. Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1916, Ken Walsh enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1933. He initially served as an aircraft mechanic and radioman, and was accepted for pilot training in 1936. He graduated in 1937 receiving his Wings of Gold at Pensacola, Florida. Walshs initial assignment was with VO-7M (later to be designated VMS-1) at Quantico, Virginia. He later served with various scouting and observation squadrons attached to the USS Yorktown, USS Wasp, and the USS Ranger. In mid- 1941 Kens ambition of becoming a fighter pilot was realized when he was transferred to VMF121. With more than 1600 hours of flying time, Walsh was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1942 and was assigned to VMF-124, the first Marine squadron to be equipped with the Chance Vought F4U-1 Corsair. He flew combat missions with VMF-124 from February to September 1943 in the campaign to retake the Solomon Islands. During this period he attained twenty confirmed aerial victories. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for his actions on August 15 and August 30 of 1943. On the 15th Walsh repeatedly dove his Corsair into a large enemy formation which outnumbered his own division by six-to-one. Although his aircraft was badly shot~up, Ken managed to down two Japanese dive bombers and one fighter. On the 30th his aircraft developed engine trouble on a vital escort mission of 27 B-24s accompanied by 30 Corsairs to Kahili Aerodrome on Bougainville. Walsh landed his aircraft at Munda, and within minutes had borrowed another which was on scramble alert. Flying at maximum speed at 30,000 feet, Walsh reached the target area as a flight of fifty Japanese fighters prepared to dive on the B-24s and F4Us. He dove through the enemy fighter force bagging two Zeros, and then joined up with his squadron mates in the vicinity Kahili. As the bombers broke formation Walsh and his fellow Marine pilots engaged in a frantic dogfight, during which Ken managed to down two more Zeros, before being forced to ditch the borrowed Corsair. He was later picked up by a Higgins boat. On June 5, 1943 Walsh, as depicted in Stan Stokes painting, flew fighter escort for Navy Air Group Eleven (CAG-1 1), on a mission to Buin Harbor, Bouganville. A strike force of 15 Douglas SBDs and 12 Gruniman TBFs were to be escorted. Walshs assignment was to make sure that no enemy fighters attacked the T13F flown by Weldon Hamilton, the Air Groups Commander. As Hamilton made his bomb run, Walsh shot down a Japanese Zero attacking his own wingman. As the strike force departed the area a Mitsubishi Pete attacked Hamilton, and Walsh closed quickly and destroyed the attacker. After his combat tour, he became a Training Command Flight Instructor at NAS Jacksonville. He returned to combat in 1945 with VMF-222 flying F4U4 Corsairs initially out of the Philippines, and later, Okinawa. He scored his final confirmed aerial victory, his 21, on June 22, 1945, when he downed a Kamikaze. Following the War, Ken served with The Bureau of Aeronautics in Washington. He flew combat-cargo and air evacuation of wounded personnel missions during the Korean Conflict with VMR- 152, a squadron he would later command. In 1958 Ken was promoted to Lt. Colonel, and he was transferred to Japan in 1959 to serve as Aircraft Maintenance Officer for the First Marine Aircraft Wing. Ken Walsh retired from the USMC in 1962 following more than 28 years of continuous military service to his country. He was the first Corsair ace and third highest scoring Corsair ace of WWII. Ken Walsh passed away suddenly on July 30,1998. We will all miss him. Item Code : STK0082 Mission to Buin Harbor by Stan Stokes. - This Edition TYPE EDITION DETAILS SIZE SIGNATURES OFFERS YOUR PRICE PURCHASING PRINT Signed limited edition of 500 prints. Only two prints of this edition remain. Size 22 inches x 18 inches (56cm x 46cm) Walsh, Kenneth A + Artist : Stan Stokes Signature(s) value alone : £60 £170.00 All prices on our website are displayed in British Pounds Sterling

Signatures on this item
*The value given for each signature has been calculated by us based on the historical significance and rarity of the signature. Values of many pilot signatures have risen in recent years and will likely continue to rise as they become more and more rare.
Name	Info
Lieutenant Colonel Kenneth A Walsh (deceased) *Signature Value : £60	Ken Walsh was born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 24th 1916. On December 15th 1933, Kenneth Walsh joined the Marines, becoming a mechanic and radioman. In April 1937 he received his wings while still a Private, but was promoted to Corporal immediately after. Ken Walsh achieved an impressive 21 victories in his 104 combat missions. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for two separate actions in August 1943 when, overwhelmingly outnumbered, he destroyed 7 enemy aircraft before being shot down himself. He scored his final victory on 22nd June 1945 over Okinawa. Walsh remained in the Marine Corps for a full career, flying transports in Korea and retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel in February 1962. He was the 4th highest scoring Marine Corps fighter Ace of World War Two. Sadly he passed away on 30th July 1998.

The Aircraft :
Name	Info
Corsair	The Chance-Vought F4U Corsair was arguably the finest naval aviation fighter of its era. Work on this design dates to 1938 and was headed-up by Voughts Chief Engineer, Rex Biesel. The initial prototype was powered by an 1800-HP Pratt & Whitney double Wasp radial engine. This was the third Vought aircraft to carry the Corsair name. The graceful and highly recognizable gull-wing design of the F4U permitted the aircraft to utilize a 13-foot, three-blade, Hamilton Standard propeller, while not having to lengthen the landing gear. Because of the rigors of carrier landings, this was a very important design consideration. Folding wings were also required for carrier operations. The F4U was thirty feet long, had a wingspan of 41 feet and an empty weight of approximately 7,500 pounds. Another interesting feature was the way the F4Us gear rotated 90 degrees, so it would lay flush within the wing when in the up position. In 1939 the Navy approved the design, and production commenced. The Corsair utilized a new spot welding process on its all aluminum fuselage, giving the aircraft very low drag. To reduce weight, fabric-covered outer wing sections and control surfaces were fitted. In May of 1940 the F4U made its maiden flight. Although a number of small bugs were discovered during early flight tests, the Corsair had exceptional performance characteristics. In October of 1940 the prototype F4U was clocked at 405-MPH in a speed test. The initial production Corsairs received an upgraded 2,000-HP radial giving the bird a top speed of about 425-MPH. The production models also differed from the prototype in having six, wing-mounted, 0.5 caliber machine guns. Another change was a shift of the cockpit about three feet further back in the fuselage. This latter change unfortunately made naval aviators wary of carrier landings with the F4U, due to its limited forward visibility during landings. Other concerns were expressed regarding a severe port wing drop at landing speeds and a tendency of the aircraft to bounce off a carrier deck. As a result, the F4U was initially limited to land-based USMC squadrons. Vought addressed several of these problems, and the Royal Navy deserves credit for perfecting an appropriate landing strategy for the F4U. They found that if the carrier pilot landed the F4U while making a sweeping left turn with the port wing down, that sufficient visibility was available to make a safe landing. With a kill ratio of 11 -to- 1 in WW 11 combat, the F4U proved superior in the air to almost every opposing aircraft it encountered. More than 12,000 F4Us were built and fortunately a few dozen remain in flyable condition to this date.

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