As I've written before, the Military Nose Art website attracts a lot of visitors and of all our websites, receives the most contributions. A couple years ago a Cpl in the Australian air force sent images of nose art photos that his father had shot in New Guinea during WW II. Aussie troops supported U.S. Army Air Corps bombers and those planes often featured nose art.
This past month the son of career Marine sent images from his late father's collections. Frank Cline enlisted in the Marines in 1942 and rose to the rank of Lt. Colonel before retiring. His service began in the Philippine Islands as a radio man and with the 22nd Bomb Group was stationed at Anquar, one of the Palau Islands. His collection includes excellent examples of WW II nose art, and photos of the Philippines, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam.
I hope to have it available to the public soon. Lt. Colonel Cline's son has been researching the aircraft featuring nose art. In the meantime, here are a few images from this collection.
Maiden Montana
F4F Wildcats Guadalcanal
Frank Cline: "Taken at Yonpo beside the barracks we stayed in.
Taken the day we evacuated the strip. North Korea, early 1951"
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