I bought this yesterday.  I am pretty sure I have seen this nose art before.  Enjoy!





[image]local://15968/13092A835E0C43CA9DBE7CD26466BA37.jpg[/image]

[image]local://15968/52B6B4590B254D7C80C67FBF37CB0E5A.jpg[/image]

Attached Image(s)

If you go here: http://www.6juin1944.com/assaut/aeropus/en_9tcc.php
you will find that "Peoria" was the code name for the coastline crossing point on D-Day at Cotentin peninsula for 82nd Airborne, located some distance North of "Muleshoe". It will be interesting to hear what the name of the landing place is, it's somewhat difficult to read on the photo (text on rear side of nose art, seems to be written with pencil). Looks like La Moy; I think it should be Le Moy, but no hits. I will assume that a glider on D-Day was not allowed to have a secret code on it's nose art, so when looking for geographical names for Operation Dragoon in Southern France medio August 1944 I found the name Le Muy in Rex Shama's book. "The three DZs were located some twenty miles inland around Le Muy (about 38 miles SW of Nice).

The person this came from was a US Army Signal Corps Captain detailed to the 7th Zouave Division of the French Army.  The inscription on the tube this was rolled in said it was picked up about a month after the drop in La Moy (his spelling).  Since the code names were code names, I doubt anybody knew about them before they painted a name on their airplane.  Just lucky, I guess.