Hawker Tempest pilots of 56 Squadron walk to their aircraft in preparation for a dawn patrol over Germany, early 1945.
"One of the first books I ever read was 'The Big Show' by Pierre Clostermann. I was deeply inspired by his description of combat in the ice-cold and hazy winter skies of north-west Europe in the closing months of the war. This inspiration stayed with me and in recent years has been reawakened by the 'joyful' experience of getting up before dawn to take my daughter to school here in Wroclaw in south-west Poland! With temperatures as low as -20C, I found myself reminded of the Tempests of 122 Wing gleaming in the winter sunrise, surrounded by the powdery snow that is so different to the wet snow that we get in England. This then, was the inspiration for 'Winter Tempest', a bitingly cold morning, calm air with clear skies above and the prospect of a fine winter's day ahead."