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| 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 |
  General Gunther Rall (deceased) *Signature Value : £75 | A young pilot with III/JG52 at the outbreak of war. He quickly demonstrated his natural ability and leadership qualities, scoring his first air victory early in the Battle of Britain, and by July 1940 was leading 8/JG52. After transfer to the Eastern Front his air victories mounted at an astonishing rate. A crash hospitalised him but within nine months he was back in the cockpit, and, when commanding III/JG52, gained the Wings 500th victory. Gunther fought throughout the war to become the 3rd highest Ace in history with 275 victories. He was awarded the Knights Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords. Gunther Rall was born on March 10, 1918 in the small Bavarian town of Gaggenau, Baden. Immersing himself in Boy Scout activities during the difficult economic times in Germany following WW 1, Rall finished school in 1936 and joined the German Army. Influenced by a friend, who was a young officer in the Luftwaffe, Rall entered pilots school in 1938. His initial posting was with JG52. He attained his first aerial victory during the Battle of France in May of 1940. During the Battle of Britain JG52 absorbed many casualties, and Rall was promoted to Squadron Commander at the young age of 22. With his fair-hair and smooth complexion the young officer looked even younger than his years. But behind this pleasant exterior was a fierce competitor with the heart of a tiger. Later, Ralls squadron would support the attack on Crete, followed by deployment to the Southern Sector on the Eastern Front. Ralls victory totals began to mount. Following his 37 th victory, GiInther was himself shot down. He was lucky to survive the crash, but with a badly broken back he would spend most of the next year in various hospitals. In Vienna at the University Hospital he would meet his future wife, Hertha. Miraculously, Rall recovered and returned to the Luftwaffe in August of 1942. By November his score exceeded 100 and he was awarded the Oak Leaves to accompany the Knights Cross he was awarded only weeks earlier. As the War progressed against Russia, Rall began to encounter ever more experienced Soviet pilots flying better performing aircraft. Despite this fact, and being shot down several more times himself, Ralls victory tally kept rising. By March of 1944 the ace had attained 273 aerial victories. With the War now going badly for Germany, Rall was transferred to the Western Front. He was able to attain only two more victories against the swarms of Allied bombers and fighter escorts which now pounded Germany every day and night. In May of 1944 Rall was shot down by a P-47. Losing his thumb in the battle he remained out of combat until later in 1944. Ralls final assignments included flying 190Ds as Kornmodore of JG300, and flying the Me-262 jet. Ralls 275 aerial victories (attained on less than 700 combat sorties) make him the third highest scoring ace of all time. If not for the down time suffered as a result of his broken back, Rall might have actually equaled or exceeded Erich Hartmanns alltime record of 352 aerial victories. Rall was not much for socializing during the War. He was a fierce competitor with a businessmans attitude about flying. He was an excellent marksman, and possibly the best deflection shot expert of the War. He continued to fly with the Bundeslufwaffe following the War, serving as its Commander-In Chief in 1970-74. Sadly Gunther Rall died on 4th October 2009. |
  General Johannes Steinhoff (deceased) *Signature Value : £80 | By early 1940 Macky Steinhoff was leading 4 / JG-52 during the Battle of Britain. He was then transferred to the eastern front where his success continued. In the final stages of the defence of the Reich he joined JV-44 flying the ME 262 in which he scored 6 victories before being seriously burned in a crash. He flew 939 missions scored 178 victories and was awarded the Knights Cross with Oak leaves and swords. |
 General Joseph Risso (deceased) *Signature Value : £45 | Born in Cardolive on the 23rd January 1920, Joseph Risso was first engaged in aviation in 1938, he entered the Caudron d'Ambérieu pilot school the same year. In 1939-1940, he finished his education at the school of Istres. After the armistice of 1940, he escaped from Nouvion (today El Ghomri, Algeria) aboard a Simoun to join Gibraltar. After a forced landing at La Línea , he succeeded in rallying the FFL in Gibraltar and then in England. Joseph Risso joined the RAF in 1940. Flying Hurricanes with 253 squadron, he later took part in Turbin-light night fighter operations over the North Sea. In March 1943 Joseph Risso was one of the first batch of 14 pilots to take part in air operations over the Russian front with the first Normandie-Niemen Squadron. Joseph Risso was one of the very first elements of the hunting group 3 Normandy. He arrived in the USSR at Ivanovo in October 1942 and remained in that unit until 1948. Only three of these first pilots survived the war. Joseph Risso flew over 600 missions and scored 11 victories. He was decorated by France and the Soviet Union. He then held numerous positions in the Air Force; He was assigned to the General Staff of the 5th RA in Algiers, the {11th} Fighter Squadron (2nd in command), to the 13th All-Weather Fighter Squadron (Commander). He was also an auditor at the NATO Defense College and subsequently assigned to the Directorate of Military Security . After a visit to the Center for Advanced Military Studies and the Institute of Higher Studies of National Defense, he headed the Air Defense Operations Center at Taverny as a brigadier general. Sadly Joseph died 24th November 2005 at the age of 85. |
| Lieutenant General Arseny Vasilyevitch Vorozheikin (deceased) *Signature Value : £55 | Lieutenant General Arseny Vasilyevitch Vorozheikin was born on October 28, 1912 in Prokofievka village, now Gorodetsky district of Nizhny Novgorod region in a peasant family. Russian. A member of the CPSU (B) / Communist Party since 1932. Joined the Red Army in 1931-1933 and since 1934. In 1937, he graduated from the Kharkov Military Aviation School of Pilots. He participated in battles at the Khalkhin-Gol in 1939, had 30 air battles, shot down six Japanese planes (during one of the fights, seriously injured spinal cord, was invalided out of the army, but despite this, he returned into the unit). During the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-40 - Air squadron commander. In 1942, he graduated from the Air Force Academy. On the Great Patriotic War fronts since 1942. He participated in battles at the Kalinin, Voronezh (renamed in the 1st Ukrainian on October 20, 1943) Fronts. Fighting in the ranks of the 2nd Air Army, by January 1944, Squadron of the 728th Fighter Aviation Regiment (the 256th Fighter Air Division, the 5th Fighter Air Corps) Captain Arseny Vorozheikin made 78 sorties and personally destroyed 19 enemy planes participating in 32 air battles. By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet on February 4, 1944 for courage and heroism in the battles against the Nazi invaders, Arseny Vorozheikin was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union, the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal (? 2043). By mid-summer of 1944, Squadron commander Vorozheikin carried out 28 sorties; participated in 14 air battles, in which he personally shot down 11 enemy planes. In total a fighter pilot, A. Vorozheykin made about 400 combat sorties, shot down 52 enemy planes in person (of which 6 – at the Khalkhin-Gol) and 14 in the group. He got three injuries. In July 1944, he was appointed commander of the 32nd Fighter Regiment. By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet on August 19, 1944 Captain Arseny Vorozheikin was awarded the second Gold Star medal (? 28). Since 1944, A. Vorozheikin – a senior training pilot of the Combat Training tactical aircraft. After the war, commanded the famous Soviet ace aviation regiment, division, and was the first deputy commander of the Black Sea fleet air defense. In 1952, he graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff. He mastered many types of jet aircraft, including the La-15, the Yak-15 the Yak-17, the MiG-15, and the MiG-17. Since 1957, Major General of Aviation, A. Vorozheikin - in reserve, and then retired. He lived in Moscow, was engaged in literary pursuits. Died on May 23, 2001. He was buried in Moscow at Troekurov cemetery. |
| Lieutenant Jacques de Saint Phalle (deceased) *Signature Value : £50 | Escaping occupied France in 1942. Jacques was smuggled to England by American embassy staff in Madrid. Desperate to join the Free French Air Force he failed to tell his superiors that he never flown before! Volunteering quickly to fly in Russia. He was never found out. Arriving on the eastern front in late 1943 he flew 100 missions with the Normandie Niemen. Although de Saint Phalle himself flew more than 100 missions he had only one confirmed kill, shooting down an Fw 190. His own Yak fighter had already been riddled with bullets and he was forced to crash-land as he saw his enemy's plane explode. In 1945 Jacques joined Air France and completed 30 years service retiring as a senior 747 Captain. Passed away 15th June 2010. |
| Major General Konstantin Mikhailovitch Treshyov *Signature Value : £50 | On 22nd June 1941major general Treshyou took off on a alert at 3.45pm – 15 minutes before the war officially began. During that first day he made 12 combat missions and in pair with his flight leader, downed two enemy planes. Maj. Gen Treshyou fought over Leningrad, Stalingrad, Warsaw, Berlin and Prague. He flew 556 combat missions, scored 28 victories and was decorated hero of the Soviet Union. |
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