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| CLICK HERE FOR A FULL LIST OF ALL NICOLAS TRUDGIAN PRINTS BY TITLE |
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Staff Sergeant Donald Bjornson
Born on February 8th 1923 in Bentley - Alberta, Canada, and raised raised in Spokane, Washington. He worked briefly in the Civilian Conservation Corps at age 16. Moved to Portland, Oregon and after some temporary jobs, received training and went to work for Boeing Aircraft in Seattle. Don went on to serve in the Army-Air Force during World War Two. He received 21 weeks of training in airplane mechanics, sheet metal fabrication, arc welding, and 50 caliber gunnery operation. He became a Aerial Gunner with the 645th Sqn and was assigned to an A-20 Havoc Light Bomber. He flew 65 combat missions with his crew in the battles of Normandy, Rhineland, the Ardennes, including the Blankenheim Strike and Northern France, Europe and Western Europe, engaging some of America's adversaries of that time, firing his two 50 caliber machine guns in direct airborne combat. He earned the silver star and five oak leaf clusters, the European-African-Middle Eastern Service, American Victory, and Good Conduct Medals. Separated from the 645th Bomb Squadron, then honorably discharged from the Army-Air Force on June 16th, 1945. Donald died on the 7th of May 2012 in West Sacramento.
| Staff Sergeant Donald Bjornson - Signed Nicolas Trudgian Aviation Art Prints Pilot and Aircrew Signatures |
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| Text for the above items : |
Raising Havoc in the Ardennes by Nicolas Trudgian. It is January 1945, and its cold. The German advance in the Ardennes is nearly over, but the Panzer Army is desperately throwing more troops into the breach who try to keep their momentum going in The Battle of the Bulge. Tasked with preventing German reinforcements from reaching the battle front, the Ninth Air Force launched a series of low-level attacks on enemy ground forces as they wind their way through the Ardennes. Flying conditions were not easy, cloud bases were low, and snow was in the air. Nicolas Trudgians new painting recreates an attack on January 23, 1945, by Douglas A-20 Havocs of the 410th Bomb Group. Locating an enemy convoy in open space near the German town of Blankenheim, the Havoc pilots make a swift attack diving from 8000 feet, catching the German force by surprise: Hurtling down the line of vehicles at 320mph they release their parafrag bombs from 300 feet then, dropping just above the roofs of the army trucks continue down the column blasting everything in sight with their forward-firing .50mm caliber machine guns. In the space of a few minutes the attack is completed and the convoy decimated. With ammunition expended and fuel running low the A-20 Havocs climb out of the zone and head for base in France. A 20mm shell has hit the lead aircraft wounding the Bombardier/Navigator Gordon Jones, which will seriously hamper their return through a blizzard, but all aircraft make it safely home - the lead aircraft, on landing, counting over 100 holes of various sizes. For their part in leading the successful attack the Lead Pilot Russell Fellers and Bombardier/Navigator Gordon G. Jones received the Silver Star. Published 2001. Signed by A-20 Havoc combat aircrews, including two Silver Star recipients, from World War Two. |
| Staff Sergeant Donald Bjornson Squadron details |
| Staff Sergeant Donald Bjornson Aircraft details |
 Havoc Manufacturer : Douglas | Havoc A-20 |
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