Brushstrokes

Nose art goes to war.

- James P. Busha

 

The depiction of intricate designs, figures, and names painted on war machinery was an age-old tradition long before World War II fighters and bombers entered the fray. The Vikings adorned their warships with likenesses of dragons, chesty ladies, and clan crests. European knights decorated their swords and shields with similar designs, and not to be outdone, the Indians of the American West painted their ponies in preparation for battle.

Nose Art at the Beginning

During the “war to end all wars” (i.e., WW I), the various pieces of war machinery soon became the background for aspiring artists. One of those was Walt Disney. As an ambulance driver, Disney observed the ugliness of war firsthand and whether as a relief from insanity or simply as a morale builder, he painted the canvas sides of his ambulance with early versions of some of his yet-to-be-born cartoon characters. And aircraft on both sides of the trenches were adorned with a variety of artwork, including a loved one’s name and fairy-tale cartoons, to name a few.

After the war ended in 1918, the nose art on aircraft subsided and began to fade, with the exception of squadron artwork on certain early military aircraft. But nowhere was military artwork more revered and colorful than on the fuselages of U.S. Army Air Corps aircraft during WW II.

Making an Airplane “Mine”