A Dornier 217 of KG­2 overflies a railway station somewhere in southern England during the early part of WWII. A British officer's wife is seeing him off at the station as they take their dog for a stroll. Troops wait on the platform for the train, which is just pulling in. A group of airmen jump off a truck and head across the line to entrain. Suddenly, the German bomber screams overhead, racing for home after having bombed a target earlier in the night. The ground trembles with its engines, and you can imagine the shock and surprise of the people on the ground. Another dramatic, fleeting moment in the titanic struggle of war.

Signatures

Josef Steudel

Josef Steudel signs Robert Bailey's NIGHT CROSSING print in Pennsylvania.

Robert putting the finishing touches to the new project. Heavy orders have already been received on this print project, from collectors wishing to match numbers to their UNSCHEDULED ARRIVAL and RUHR EXPRESS night scenes.

NIGHT CROSSING as it sat on the easel around mid-January 1999. Robert puts the human figures in last; this is because he needs to know the color of light which has to fall on them, and because the position of lights in the railyard determines where the shadows from the figures will fall. These were all live models who dressed up in military uniforms for this project. Looks pretty bare without the troops, doesn't it? Of course, the airplane has to go in, too.