Douglas A 20 Havoc 43 - 9436

[kurlannaiskos]

Originally Posted by Hemiman

Hello All..

Kurlan,
Your one pic that you posted showing the A-20's lined up is misidentified. Their actually 13th Sqdn planes..

the book it comes from only lists '3rd Bomb Group' and does not specify which squadron within the group.

The 13th had "Oscar" on the nose, where the other Sqdns had "Oscar" under or slightly forward of the horizontal stabilizer..

that would be correct for 'Big Nig' and 'Little Isadore'
and would make 'Patches' also a member of 13 BS.

Dick Walker, X-Co of the 13th, believes the pic was taken at Nadzab... Here's my good friend Jim "Two Gun" Brown in his 8th Sqdn G model "BUB'S BROTHER" Notice where "Oscar" is painted

Bill

very interesting...do you know what color the fin/rudder tips are for the 8th,13th and 90th squadrons ?
why is the GrimReaper called 'Oscar' ?
do you know the meaning of 'Bub's Brother'?
when I saw the photo I quessed that bub was short for beilzabub , meaning another name for the devil.

[Hemiman]

Hello Kurlan

that would be correct for 'Big Nig' and 'Little Isadore'
and would make 'Patches' also a member of 13 BS.


Yep, "Big Nig" and "Lil Isadora" were 89th .. "Patches was a 13th Plane..



do you know what color the fin/rudder tips are for the 8th,13th and 90th squadrons ?

8th - Yellow
13th - Red
89th - Green
90th - White


why is the GrimReaper called 'Oscar' ?


"Oscar" was the nickname given to the Skeleton..Don't know why, only know that's his name!!


do you know the meaning of 'Bub's Brother'?

Jim's brother, who was lost during the war, used to call Jim "BUB", so it was Jim's way of honoring him...


Bill

[kurlannaiskos]

two other pieces of information I forgot to divulge :

43-9436 was built in February 1944 and had fuselage number 1499
in white under the left tailplane.
this is seldom visible in photos (almost always in shadow)
but is in the location shown on the color profile posted above.

[Boomerang]

kurlannaiskos:

Thanks again for the wealth of information you have provided.

Boomerang

[kurlannaiskos]

Originally Posted by Hemiman

do you know the meaning of 'Bub's Brother'?

Jim's brother, who was lost during the war, used to call Jim "BUB", so it was Jim's way of honoring him...


Bill

that is a much better reason for the name.
much better than my guess, but that is what happens when you do not have the facts.

I am also fond of the idea of honoring a lost brother...I know how that feels.

by the way... Thank You for the information you provided.
in the photos of the 13th BS the red would look like the green in period black-and-white images.