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Need help Identifying marking on C-47


GMPETE
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Does anyone know what the white squares represent on both sides of the nose of this C-47? Flight Leader? Squadron C.O.?

I believe this aircraft belonged to the 47th Troop Transport Squadron of the 313th Troop Carrier Group, which dropped the 82nd Airborne on D-Day. The censor stamp on the back has a date of 12 October 1944, which is after the Holland drops, which the unit also participated in. Any help appreciated. The rest of the related unit images are posted in a thread in the Ephemera and Photographs section: http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/287835-47th-troop-carrier-squadron-313th-tcg-c-47-skytrain/

 

post-20738-0-34704400-1491618451_thumb.jpg

 

 

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Invasion stripes are for Market Garden, half of what they were for Overlord. On the squares, could they be painted over nose art?

 

post-34986-0-27371900-1491620609_thumb.jpg

 

 

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Thanks for the reply patches. Interesting Idea about the nose art. Could be that the squares are masking something, but seems like they would have just used the fuselage green.

I think the leading edges of the wings were black at Normandy also, so can't say from this photo whether the upper half of the stripes were painted out or not.

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I am pretty sure Its hiding markings/previous name of the plane, That section of the plane only had custom markings by the current crew that was assigned to it.

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Every troop carrier group had photographers assigned to them from the Army Signal Corps. This is where we get the photos of them from the ETO. Both movie's and stills. At the end of the War it was very common for the personal of the TCG's to be given the opportunity to buy copies of many of these photo's collected by the signal corps. I've seen more than six individual collections of these photo's from individuals of my late father-in-laws TCG alone.

Many of the photo's available show signs of the prints being "censored", either for security or possibly questions of taste. Most originals found in places like the National Archives don't show signs of these censoring.

IMHO, the Nose Art on this particular aircraft was either covered or the picture altered because the image may have been considered at the time as possibly offensive to some. This practice seems to vary between the different TCG's.

Aircraft names didn't change very often during the time from D-Day to the end of the war, and the crews while occasionally being temporarily assigned to a different air craft, usually due to maintenance issues. Usually stayed together and with the same plane.

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Thanks sactroop. I think you guys are right. It almost looks as though these were some kind of paper panels taped over the name and/or artwork. Maybe also since the aircraft was the backdrop for the unit portraits they wanted it to be as generic as possible. Close examination of the actual prints suggest to me that whatever it is/was, it was physically on the aircraft when the photos were taken, rather than retouched in printing.

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