Vonnie Nose Art - May 1945

Information about this photograph:

  1. Aircraft No: 42-102593
  2. Tail Letter: C; Fuselage ID: K8-C
  3. Group/Squadron: 398th, 602nd
  4. Official Name of Aircraft: Vonnie
  5. Date of Photograph: May 1945
  6. Photo Location: Unknown
  7. Crew at time of Photograph: Unknown
  8. Final Disposition of A/C: Kingman Arizona, 5th December 1945
  9. Interpretive Comments: This is a picture of Vonnie 42-102593 K8-C. At the end of WW II, this airplane was the only airplane left in Squadron 602 of the original 68 airplanes that were flown over with the 398th Bomb Group in May 1944. I flew 2 combat missions in this airplane:

    - August 5, 1944 Dollberg, Germany
    - August 9, 1944 Saarbruken, Germany

    Joe K. Mansell
    Engineer-Gunner
    Lyle Doerr Crew
    Additional Comments:
    The Nose Art includes:
    - The V and 2nd N of "VONNIE"
    - A single swastica, meaning unknown to the webmaster
    - Small painted bombs representing missions flown by the Vonnie. By a careful count of the visible painted bombs on the nose, Les Dear of the UK Friends of the 398th, determined there were at least 102 Vonnie missions as of the time of the photograph. Someday this may help determine the photo date as databases become populated.
    The Engine Art includes:
    - Engine #1 named Betty, probably a wife or girlfriend of one of the crew.

Source Infomation:

  1. Photo Source: The Vic Jenkin's Photo Collection and now part of the 398ths Photo Preservation Project in England.
  2. Photo Reference: HALS CD II: ACC 3910 4 of 5/Envelope 1/103. K8C in flight
  3. Photographer: Unknown
  4. Information compiled by the 398th Web team with special thanks to Lee Anne Bradley, Joe K. Mansell, and Geoff Rice.
  5. If you would like to add information about this photograph, please contact our Aircraft Photo Coordinator. Please include the title.





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