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Nose art painted by S/Sgt Lynn E Trank
405th Fighter
Group, 510th Fighter Squadron
Christchurch, England - Picauville
& St Dizier, France -- Kitzingen, Germany
The HEMPSTEAD WARRIOR
also known as MISS CAESAR
P-47 serial unknown 510th Fighter
Squadron
Assigned to Lt Ken Koslow from Hempstead NY. Sgt Trank painted an unusual combination of heraldic shield and a beguiling warrior maiden about to wield the two-handed sword from its design. This imagery was painted onto the pilot's A2 and although the leather jacket wore out the beautifully painting artwork was salvaged. Trank was surprised to see his handiwork still in existence some 50 years after it had been originally painted on plane and jacket.
When the P47 was re-assigned to another pilot the name was changed to "Miss Caesar" but the girl and shield remained. Lynn Trank mentioned that he had never seen any photos of the Thunderbolt with this artwork on. Sadly, he died a few months before I located this image on the 510th Fighter Squadron web site (www.510fs.org). Part of their superb Gardocki Collection of photos, it is reproduced below by courtesy of Mike Barrowman and Dave Sarvai.
© Ray Bowden
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