Original Artwork Print: “Knights Move” Painting of The Battleship Tirpitz during Operation Rösselsprung; Signed by Artist and 6 WWII German Kriegsmarine Veterans – 35 ¾” × 23 ⅝” Original Items

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a lovely print of Robert Taylor’s painting KNIGHTS MOVE, measuring 35 ¾” × 23 ⅝”. This is number 141/400 of a run of these prints made for collectors, and will make a fantastic display piece on any wall. There were several editions of this print made, and this is the “Tirpitz Edition”, which features six signatures instead of the 4 found on the “Limited Edition”. This and many other prints were published by The Military Gallery in Wendover England over the past 20+ years.

The painting shows the battleship Tirpitz under the command of Admiral Schniewind, in company with battleships Scheer and Hipper, setting sail during “Operation Rosselsprung”, destined for the open sea and the North Atlantic convoy traffic.

Messerschmitt Me109s of JG5, based at Petsamo, provide overhead cover while flotilla escort vessels make up the fearsome armada. The magnificent Norwegian mountains provide a spectacular backdrop this comprehensively realistic and stirring World War Two image.

This is summarized in the paragraph below the framed print, which reads:

KNIGHTS MOVE
by
Robert Taylor

The battleship Tirpitz leads a German naval battlegroup close to the coast of northern Norway during Operation Rösselsprung, July 1942. There target-to attack the Allied supply convoy PQ17 en-route to Russia. Escorted by Me109s Of JG5 and destroyers of the German Kriegsmarine, the Tirpitz steams ahead of the heavy cruisers Hipper and Scheer.

Each copy of Knights Move was been signed by the artist as well as the following Kriegsmarine Veterans from WWII:

– Leutnant Zur See Willibald Völsing
– Fänrich Arnold Schroeder
– Oberleutnant Ernst Scheufele
– Major Erich Rudorffer – Knights Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
– Oberst Hajo Hermann – Knight’s Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords
– Unteroffizier Heinz Kern

Also included is the Certificate of Authenticity from the MILITARY GALLERY, which gives a more detailed description of the service for each veteran. It also details the various levels of the print that were available.

A great display item ready for further research and display.

Operation Rösselsprung was a combined airborne and ground assault by the German XV Mountain Corps and collaborationist forces on the Supreme Headquarters of the Yugoslav Partisans in the Bosnian town of Drvar in the Independent State of Croatia during World War II. It was launched 25 May 1944, with the goal of capturing or killing Partisan leader Marshal Josip Broz Tito and destroying the headquarters, support facilities and co-located Allied military missions. It is associated with the Seventh Enemy Offensive (Serbo-Croatian: Sedma neprijateljska ofenziva) in Yugoslav history, forming part of the Seven Enemy Offensives historiographical framework. The airborne assault itself is also known as the Raid on Drvar (Serbo-Croatian: Desant na Drvar).

Operation Rösselsprung was a coup de main operation, involving direct action by a combined parachute and glider-borne assault by the 500th SS Parachute Battalion and a planned subsequent link-up with ground forces of the XV Mountain Corps converging on Drvar. The airborne assault was preceded by heavy bombing of the town by the Luftwaffe. The ground forces included Home Guard forces of the Independent State of Croatia along with collaborationist Chetniks. Tito, his principal headquarters staff and the Allied military personnel escaped, despite their presence in Drvar at the time of the airborne assault. Fierce Partisan resistance in the town itself and along the approaches to Drvar contributed to the failure of the mission. Other factors included the German intelligence agencies refusing to share the limited information available on Tito’s exact location, and the lack of contingency planning by the commander of the German airborne force.