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Nose art painted by Cpl Anthony L Starcer
91st Bomb
Group (Heavy)
Bassingbourn, England
HEY DADDY B-17G 43-38036 401st Squadron
Starcer's skill was also used for portraiture on several occasions
including this masterly study on "Hey Daddy". The plane was assigned
to the 91st in mid July 1944 and undertook a number of PFF lead roles,
the first of which was to the dreaded Merseburg on 29th July. A
different crew took the plane for each of its leads between then and
November when it was replaced in that capacity by newer ships. In
February 1945, it as withdrawn from combat and refitted with radio
counter measure equipment -- "carpet jammers" to mask the bomber
formations from German ground radar. The aircraft may have been loaned
to other units in the closing weeks of war but returned to regular
combat flying in April when it was re-assigned to 322nd Bomb Squadron.
Surviving the war, it returned to the USA in June 1945 to be
scrapped.
© Ray Bowden
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