97th BG 342nd BS "Hustlin Hussy"

Re:97th BG 342nd BS "Hustlin Hussy" (noahatlic)

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 03:33:45 GMT

Awesome info...thank you. I look fwd to more if you have it

-Noah

Re:97th BG 342nd BS "Hustlin Hussy" (g35bob)

Sun, 05 Aug 2012 22:26:35 GMT

My Father Bob Carey,also flew for the 15th AAF, 97th BG and 342 SQ. He was a tail gunner and flew 35 mission between Sept. 1944 and March 1945. I have a leather Squadron patch that came off his jacket and also a new (old) one. Before he passed away he told me this was the correct patch for the 342 SQ. I will post a image as soon as I can scan it. It is not any that were posted on Wiki. It is a monkey baseball player throwing a round bomb with a lit fuse. I think I also have a picture of a crew member with a leather jacket with the patch on it standing in front of the tent where they lived. By the way the name of the plane he flew on was "The Bitter Bitch" which was shot down in Dec. 1944 over Yugoslavia. His crew survived and was picked up by the Partisans and safely hidden till they could be flown back to their base. I will try to post some information over the next few days. Take care, Bob

Attached a image of a like new patch and one that came from my father's jacket and a picture of him standing by his plane:

Re:97th BG 342nd BS "Hustlin Hussy" (noahatlic)

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 11:58:57 GMT

NARA is rough to get a hold of (in my experience), I have been round and round in circles trying to get to the right info on some previous stuff...its actually what led me here to this site and just started asking after I did my own research for years ;-)

-Noah

Re:97th BG 342nd BS "Hustlin Hussy" (martyjhawk)

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 10:29:36 GMT

I believe the bomb-kicking mule is a Disney designed insignia. There was another thread on this forum that had a couple of pages of Disney insignias attached and this was one of the ones included. You can also contact NARA at Maxwell AFB about the squadron's insignia. I did that a couple of years ago for the squadrons of the 99th BG. The gentleman in charge sent me scans of the official WWII insignias along with their official descriptions, and the history of the insignias which includes when they were officially accepted by the Army.

Marty

Re:97th BG 342nd BS "Hustlin Hussy" (noahatlic)

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 20:13:36 GMT

according to this image

it says 1943.

the other image that is a snake says "1950's", which doesn't make much sense b/c that unit was deactivated years before that.

Thanks,
Noah

Re:97th BG 342nd BS "Hustlin Hussy" (noahatlic)

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 20:10:16 GMT

Yeah those are the two I had in my mind and came across as well. Wish I had a picture of his jacket or something with it on it (I assume that patch would be worn on a jacket?)

Thanks,
Noah

Re:97th BG 342nd BS "Hustlin Hussy" (martyjhawk)

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 20:03:32 GMT

Here is a link to a site with a couple of versions. I don't know which is older or if either one is official. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/342d_Bombardment_Squadron

Marty

Re:97th BG 342nd BS "Hustlin Hussy" (noahatlic)

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 14:38:38 GMT

do any of you guys know what patch he would of worn for his unit, which was 97th BG, 342nd BS? I have paperwork for 97th BG, 342nd BS, 15th AF, 5th Wing Division.

I know each unit had its own patch but I have seen a few different ones and not sure which would be his for that time frame of 1943-1944

Thanks,
Noah

Re:97th BG 342nd BS "Hustlin Hussy" (noahatlic)

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 14:22:41 GMT

Thanks for clarification, really appreciate it

-Noah

Re:97th BG 342nd BS "Hustlin Hussy" (RSwank)

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 13:46:00 GMT

Left to right from the pilot's seat, so in your picture, #4 is the engine closest to the camera, it is on the wing without the star on top and is the engine furthest from the fuselage. .

Re:97th BG 342nd BS "Hustlin Hussy" (noahatlic)

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 13:39:00 GMT

I keep reading conflicting stuff as well.

So when you say left to right, are you referring from looking at the picture (head on), which would make it closest to the star? or sitting inside looking out, which would be same wing but considered left?

Thanks,
Noah

Re:97th BG 342nd BS "Hustlin Hussy" (PhilSave)

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 12:39:10 GMT

To my knowledge ( but may be I'm wrong), engines are numbered from left to right 1-2/3-4 So #4 is the external engine on the right wing
Phil

Re:97th BG 342nd BS "Hustlin Hussy" (noahatlic)

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 12:31:33 GMT

Quick question guys. In one of my grandfathers articles he mentions they lost the #4 engine due to an aerial assault. What engine would this be in this picture?

Thanks,
Noah

Re:97th BG 342nd BS "Hustlin Hussy" (noahatlic)

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 15:53:50 GMT

Thanks for all the responses everyone!

Thanks,
Noah

Re:97th BG 342nd BS "Hustlin Hussy" (buckeyeuk)

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 15:17:33 GMT

Marty
these are the actual dates.
May 19 1917 --May 28 1942 star with red centre ( Feb. 8 1918--Jan. 1 1919 used red-blue-white cocarde in France in AEF.)
May 28 1942 red centre deleted.
June 28 1943 red-outlined bars added.
Aug. 14 1943-- to 1947 blue border replaced red.
Nick

Re:97th BG 342nd BS "Hustlin Hussy" (martyjhawk)

Tue, 26 Jun 2012 11:00:07 GMT

Somewhere on this forum I am sure someone has summarized the different US insignias used on the planes during the course of the war, and when they were put into use and then discontinued. In general they went as follows:
Blue circle with white star, small red circle in center of star - 1914-1941, start of war
Blue circle with white star - 1942-1943
Blue circle with white star, yellow band around the blue circle - 1942 Operation Torch invasion of North Africa
Blue circle with white star and white bands, outlined with red - June to September 1943
Blue circle with white star and white bands, outlined in blue - September 1943 to 1947

I have seen photos where you can tell the center red circle was painted over on early planes, and photos where the white bands were added along with the surrounding red or blue bands in 1943. I don't know how much effort was put into changing the insignias on the field. I have seen at least a couple of photos of planes from the 5th Wing where it looked like the white bands and blue outer border were painted on with brushes and the width of the bands was no where near as wide as those applied in the factories.

I will also add that in the B&W photos, for the planes with the red surround to the insignia, the red surround looks lighter in color than the blue circle, but not as light as the white star. For the planes where the white bands were added with the blue surround, the blue surround looks darker than the blue of the circle. These photos of 99th BG planes illustrate this. El Diablo on the bottom has the red surround while K.O. in the middle has the added white bars and blue surround. (I added the wrong photo of El Diablo the first time)

99th K.O. compressed 99th El Diabl... 2nd view

Here is a link to a site that shows the various insignias:
http://www.timemoneyandblood.com/HTML/aircraft/americanAircraft/aircraftAmerican.html

Marty

Re:97th BG 342nd BS "Hustlin Hussy" (noahatlic)

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 16:32:15 GMT

thanks for the info Marty, I didn't realize they started at 0 and skipped 3.

so you're thinking its: open triangle, serial 295939, and 2 underneath for squadron. And on the logo, you think its got the blue border?

*Husslin Huzzy above appears to be a white border, then I guess you were saying there was also red borders too? So confusing the constant change, ha ha

Thanks,
Noah

Re:97th BG 342nd BS "Hustlin Hussy" (martyjhawk)

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 15:53:09 GMT

The tail number would be 25939. The squadron numbers were:
340 - 0
341 - 1
342 - 2
414 - 4

Here are a couple of photos to help show what typical tail markings and insignias were on some of these early planes. I think this Husslin Huzzy has the red surround to the star and bars. Later on the Y was added in the triangle, and the squadron numbers were put into white circles.

Marty

Re:97th BG 342nd BS "Hustlin Hussy" (noahatlic)

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 13:15:49 GMT

For the tail serial number on the plane, would it read as:

425939
or
25939

and Nick didn't the "2" designate the 341st BS? I know you said it doesn't appear the 342nd used the number "3"?

thanks,
Noah

Re:97th BG 342nd BS "Hustlin Hussy" (noahatlic)

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 13:25:56 GMT

Lots of info here...really appreciate it from you all. Wish I could piece that all together in my head, I need to write it down on a drawling or something...so much stuff going on with content. I'm more of a visual type of person, so some of this content is lost with my just reading it.

Thanks,
Noah