Artworks (Exeter Related)
Below - Vital Force by Richard Taylor depicts Hawker Hurricanes departing from RAF Exeter flying low over the Devon countryside. Photo courtesy of Aviation Art Hangar.
Below - Vital Force by Richard Taylor depicts Hawker Hurricanes departing from RAF Exeter flying low over the Devon countryside. Photo courtesy of Aviation Art Hangar.
Below - Hurricane MK11C Night Fighters by Barry Price. Photo courtesy of Cranston Fine Arts.
Below - Using Pen and Crayons, Last of the Defiants by David Calow depicts the Boulton Paul Defiant situated in the RAF Museum, RAF Cosford. This particular aircraft did serve in operations from RAF Exeter. Photo courtesy of The Guild of Aviation Artists.
Below - WINTER COMBAT – THE PAINTING by Richard Taylor. The Battle of Britain may be over but the first snows of winter hint at the bitter fighting that still lies ahead as Squadron Leader Ian Gleed and the Mk.I Hurricanes of 87 Squadron head home to RAF Exeter.
Below - Ian Gleed 87 Squadron in some heavy action in his Hurricane MK1. Photo courtesy of Aviation Art.
Below - Tribute to Flt Lt Ian R Gleed by Ivan Berryman.
Flight Lieutenant Ian Widge Gleed is depicted in his personal Hurricane 1 P2798 (LK-A) of 87 Sqn shooting down a Messerschmitt Bf.110 on 15th August 1940. Just visible beneath the cockpit of the Hurricane is his mascot, Figaro, shown kicking a swastika. His aircraft was also easily identifiable by the red flash on its nose, a feature that was retained even when P2798 was painted all black for its night fighter role. Gleed scored many victories before being shot down and killed whilst flying a Spitfire Vc in the Western Desert in April 1943. Photo courtesy of Cranston Fine Arts.
Below - A Welcome Shore by Ivan Berryman.
Hurricane LK-M of No.87 Squadron piloted by Flt Lt Alex Thom DFC limps over the south coast of England on 19th August 1942. While supporting troops on the ground at Dieppe, the Hurricane was hit by ground fire and lost oil pressure. Alex Thom got the damaged aircraft back to Britain, making a forced landing at East Den. Ferried back to 87 Sqns airfield, he immediately set off once more for Dieppe in Hurricane LK-A.
Photo courtesy of Cranston Fine Arts.
Below - Strafing Run by David Pentland.
Flt Lt Alex Thom DFC of No. 87 Sqn strafes an enemy convoy in Hurricane LK-A during his second mission of the day to Dieppe on 19th August 1942. Photo courtesy of Cranston Fine Arts.
Below - Hurricane Heroes by Nicolas Trudgian.
Hurricanes of 87 Squadron return to their West Country base after repelling attacks by Luftwaffe bombers on nearby aircraft factories, August 1940. Flight Lieutenant Ian Gleeds Hurricane, in which he scored 20 victories, leads the Squadron pilots back to base to refuel, re-arm, and get airborne without delay.
Photo courtesy of Cranston Fine Arts.
Below - Late Arrival by Robert Taylor.
A lone Hurricane of 87 Squadron returns to base at Exeter, at the end of a grueling day of combat during late August 1940.
Photo courtesy of Cranston Fine Arts.
Below - Down and Out by Ivan Berryman.
In the evening of 18th of July 1941, Alex Thom took off in his No.87 Sqn Hurricane to intercept an enemy aircraft, spotted off the Scilly Isles. Attacking the enemy Heinkel He111 at an altitude of 1000 feet, his windscreen became covered in oil from the damaged machine. His wingman F/O Roscoe then also made an attack on the Heinkel, and it descended to sea level, eventually crash landing on the surface. Thom circled the downed aircraft as the crew hastily took to their dinghy before the Heinkel sank.
Photo courtesy of Cranston Fine Arts.
Below - An Early Bath by Ivan Berryman.
In the early evening of the 18th of July 1941, following coastguard reports of an enemy aircraft in their vicinity, two Hurricanes of 87 Sqn on detachment at the Airfield at St Mary's, Scilly Isles were scrambled to an area some 30 miles south west of the Scilly Isles where they intercepted a lone Heinkel He111. Alex Thom was the first to attack, his windscreen being sprayed with oil as his rounds tore into the Heinkel's starboard engine. Breaking away, his wingman F/O Roscoe now took over the chase, but the German bomber was already mortally wounded and was observed to alight onto the sea where upon the crew immediately took to their life raft as the Heinkel began to sink beneath the waves just minutes later, Thom circled overhead until he saw the motor launch arrive to pick up the German aircrew before returning back to St Mary's.
Photo courtesy of Cranston Fine Arts.
Below - This painting depicts Hurricane Mk IIc BE634, coded ZY-V with 247 Squadron, which was based at the time in Exeter in Devon. The squadron used half size roundels and code letters over their black camouflage.
Presented by Flight Artworks.
Below - A painting by artist Geoffrey Nutkins of a 213 Squadron Hurricane flown by Sgt M E Croskell over Southern England in the Summer of 1940.
The four remarkable sketches below were the talented work of Peter McNeil-Jones from Essex. All are signed and personalised to my good friend Rodney Moffatt from Uffculme, Devon. Rod' visited our Battle of Britain exhibition on Sunday 6 July 2025 at Exeter Airport terminal building and kindly offered them to us. Each of the four sketches had notes on the reverse which have been included on here also.
Thank you so much to Rod' for kindly donating these to the RAF Exeter memorabilia collection.
This page was last updated 25 March 2026.