Site Update Information for Webmaster

Posted:
By: COL Bruce E. Empric
On: 01/26/2004

To all:

  I've decided to post this info on the forum since I have not received responses to the separate e-mails I've sent to the webmaster at the webmaster@401bg.com (Larry Cooper) address.  I'm uncertain if he's still acting as such.  I wanted to ensure this information is made available to whomever is responsible for updating the site.  Key excerpts from my original messages follow:

Message 1

  I'm writing to pass on some additional 401st BG (H) aircraft nicknames that I've come across after reviewing Gary M. Valant's book "Vintage Aircraft Nose Art" copyright 1987.  Valant cites these aircraft as having been assigned to the 401st.  I do not see them listed on your current nickname roster.

"Dog Breath" s/n:  42-31330 (nose art picture on pg. 31)

"Hell's Angel" s/n:  42-97265 (nose art picture on pg. 37)

"Belle o' the Brawl" (A-2 leather flying jacket picture on pg. 73)

Also, based on the photos in the Valant book, the following corrections to existing nicknames on your list are provided for your consideration:

Valant cites "Fearless Fosdick" as having s/n:  43-37890 (nose art picture on pg. 60).  Current roster carries it as 42-102957.  Could there have been two aircraft with the same name in the Group?

"The Saint and Ten Sinners" (nose art picture on page 48).  Nose art clearly shows the word "The"

"Achin' Back" (A-2 leather flying jacket picture on pg. 73).  Jacket only shows "Achin' Back" without "My"

"BTO of ETO" (A-2 leather flying jacket picture on pg. 77).  Jacket reads as indicated and not "BTO in the ETO"

"TAG A LONG" (A-2 leather flying jacket picture on pg. 78).  Jacket has spacing between the syllables.

"The Farmer's Daughter" (A-2 leather flying jacket picture on pg. 79).  Jacket includes the word "The"

Message 2

  I missed capturing the below in my first message to you.  The following are additional aircraft nicknames associated with the 401st BG (H) not currently reflected on the web site list:

"Miss Brenny" - (A-2 leather flying jacket picture seen in the 401st BG (H) "Blue Book")

"Hi-Ho Silver"  - (A-2 leather flying jacket picture seen in the 401st BG (H) "Blue Book").  The exact same photo also appears in Valant's book on page 75.  Valant, however, cites it as belonging to the 322nd BS, 91st BG (H).  Not sure why the disconnect.

The following are slight corrections to existing nicknames on the 401st BG (H) web site list:

"Miss Gee Eyewanta (Go Home)" (A-2 leather flying jacket picture on pg. 20 of Valant book).  Jacket reads exactly as indicated (to include use of parentheses) and not "Miss Gee Eyewanna Go Home" as currently listed on the web site.

"Sleepy-Time Gal" (A-2 leather flying jacket picture in the 401st "Blue Book").  Jacket reads as indicated and not "Sleepy Time Girl" as currently listed on the web site.

"Satan's Chille'n" (A-2 leather flying jacket picture in the 401st "Blue Book").  Jacket reads as indicated and not "Satan's Chillen" as currently listed on the web site.

Message 3

  Yesterday evening I reviewed in detail a page in the 401st "Blue Book" that is entitled "Combat Mess Walls."  On this page appear various photographs taken inside the mess hall at Deenethorpe in which one can see numerous aircraft nicknames (with nose art images in some cases) and associated crew rosters for each aircraft painted on the wall and ceiling tiles of the quonset hut.  Although the actual crew roster names are illegible given the size of the images, it is possible to make out most of the aircraft nicknames.  The most important thing, however, is that the aircraft nicknames are grouped by squadron with the squadron insignia also appearing in some of the shots.  Using the web site aircraft nickname roster as well as the grouping of the nicknames on the tiles by squadron, I am able to provide you with the following squadron affiliations for heretofore unaffiliated aircraft.  Five new aircraft nicknames were also visible and are identified as such below.  Wording, to include punctuation marks in some cases, is as seen on the tiles:

612th Squadron (SC)

"Queen Sally"

"Channel Express II"

613th Squadron (IN)

"The Saint and Ten Sinners"

"Umbriago!" (note:  web site list has "Umbriago" affiliated with tail number 42-107092 (IY-E) as a second nickname for "Freckles."  It may be that "Umbriago!" started off in the 613th and was then transferred to the 615th).

"Wolf's Den"

614th Squadron (IW)

"Home James"

"Pfft!"

"Bottoms Up!"

"Sweet Seventeen"

"Patches"

"Day and Night"

"Victory Girl"

"Miss Behavin" (note that spelling on the tile differs slightly from that seen on the A2 picture which has it as "Miss "B" Haven")

"Blue Lagoon" (note that this represents a new aircraft nickname for the list)

"Little Rebel" (note that this represents a new aircraft nickname for the list)

615th Squadron (IY)

"Section 8" (note that this represents a new aircraft nickname for the list)

"Pakawalup" (Note that this represents a new aircraft nickname for the list.  Current list only reflects "Pakawalup II" though it, too, was assigned to the 615th Squadron at one point.)

"Time'll Tell"

"Mary Makers"

"Ruff and Reddy"

"Belle o' the Brawl" (note:  as mentioned in my earlier e-mail to you, this confirms a new aircraft nickname for the list)

"Leading Lady" (note:  web site list affiliates this name with tail number 42-39948 - squadron affiliation is now known to be IY)

"Ol' Massa" (note:  web site list has "Ol' Massa" affiliated with tail number 42-30855 (IN-N).  In the mess hall photo, however, it is grouped with other 615th Squadron aircraft nicknames.

  I hope that the above will help you to plug some of the data gaps in the list.

Regards,

Bruce

Re: Site Update Information for Webmaster

Posted:
By: Donald Byers
On: 01/26/2004

Thanks Bruce,

It is always good to post this type of info on the net so others are aware of what has been sent. If we don't see it we don't know it is the the way it is sometimes. Thanks again for posting your info.

Don Byers
Lubbock Texas

Re: Site Update Information for Webmaster

Posted:
By: E.R.Bingham
On: 01/26/2004

where can i access the 401st Blue Book,and what is it?I'm particularly interested in seeing nose art or the "Satan's Chille'n" jacket.And thanx for the correct spelling on that bird.
E.R.Bingham

Re: Site Update Information for Webmaster

Posted:
By: Donald Byers
On: 01/26/2004

Pictorial Record of the 401st Bomb Group, compiled and edited under the supervision of Gordon R. Closway, 401st Group Public Relations Officer, Newsfoto Publishing Company, 1946. This is what was called the Blue Book. Their was one reprint but don't recall the date off the top of my head. They are very hard to find but you can sometimes find them on E-Bay going for 100-200+ Dollars. There will be no other reprint that I know of. I can look for it and scan it in a JPG file and send it to you.

Don Byers

Re: Site Update Information for Webmaster

Posted:
By: E.R.Bingham
On: 01/27/2004

Thanx,that would be fantastic!

Re: Site Update Information for Webmaster

Posted:
By: Dale A Anderson
On: 01/27/2004

Col Bruce E Empric,
I am so glad that you have taken the time to post your message on our site. I am the groups Historian and always like to see this type of fact finding taking place. I want to add a note to your input. You have identified a plane called " Patches " as being part of the 614th sq. I think this is correct also as a member who flew on Patches with my Dad said the plane had two names, one was Patches which is what the crew called it by and the other name was Flak Rat II 42-97440 IW-A. This plane was shotdown in May 1944 C L Wilson Pilot.

Thanks,
Dale Anderson
Group Historian
hist401@alaska.com

Re: Site Update Information for Webmaster

Posted:
By: L.A.Mitchell
On: 01/27/2004

Mr. Empric, it is easier to be critical than correct.

Re: Site Update Information for Webmaster

Posted:
By: Jack Reid
On: 01/27/2004

there is a "Flypast" story in the August '96 or '97 issue that details the experiences of a 40st crew - Crew #13 - Haskett's Crew and their 13 July mission in the 'Mary Alice'. According to the narrator of the story (the radio operator) the crew did not have their own regular ship, so they nicknamed the Crew "Time'll Tell" and had that painted on the back of their A2 jackets (a picture accompanies the story)- it seems that the mess hall decorations identified may have been for both a/c and crews - anyone else familiar with the crew nicknames?

Re: Site Update Information for Webmaster

Posted:
By: COL Bruce E. Empric
On: 01/28/2004

To all:

  Glad to have been of assistance.  Should I develop more info, I'll post it to the forum (as opposed to sending it to the webmaster@401bg.com address) for your consideration and incorporation.
  In response to the mess hall ceiling tile artwork question, the answer is mixed.  In some cases the artwork depicted on the tiles matched the artwork on the B-17 noses - a case in point is "Fitch's Bandwagon."  In others, it did not.  For example, the tile depicting "Shade Ruff" with two crews listed (to include my uncle's as the # 1 crew) shows what appears to be a rough looking, skid row figure.  The A-2 leather jacket artwork for "Shade Ruff" seen in Valant's book on nose art, however, shows a Marilyn Monroe-like flying skirt image with flak bursts and 35 mission credits.  While we don't have images of the original Shade Ruff's nose art (it went down on the 8 MAR 44 Berlin mission), NARA images of "Shade Ruff # 2" reveal that it had the name only with no artwork.  Bottom Line:  The original "Shade Ruff" may or may not have had the skid row figure artwork on its nose.  Since "Shade Ruff # 2" had no artwork other than the name and number, at least one of the "Shade Ruff #2" crews decide to adorn its A-2s with the flying skirt image seen in Valant's book.  In both cases, however, the images capture the meaning behind "Shade Ruff" quite well.

Regards,

Bruce