P-38 LIGHTNING NOSE ART
ON 80TH FIGHTER SQUADRON AIRCRAFT
OF THE 8TH FIGHTER GROUP
AT IE SHIMA, JAPAN 1945

The following photos are of P-38 Lightnings believed to belong to the 80th Fighter Squadron, 8th Fighter Group taken at Ie Shima Airfield, Japan in 1945. The photographs belonged to a 5th Air Force, 64th Bomb Squadron, 43rd Bomb Group veteran Don Galarneau from Portland, Oregon who gave them to Mike Merryman.

Photo:- Mike Merryman Collection

P-38 Lightning "Miss Mecca II" piloted by J.L. Susott

Photo:- Mike Merryman Collection

P-38 Lightning "Glamour-Puss II"

Photo:- Mike Merryman Collection

P-38 Lightning "Dream Girl"

Photo:- Mike Merryman Collection

P-38 Lightning "Polly"

Photo:- Mike Merryman Collection

P-38 Lightning "Pay Off"

Photo:- Mike Merryman Collection

P-38 Lightning "Ready Maid"

Photo:- Mike Merryman Collection

P-38 Lightning "Cyclone No Guts No Glory" piloted by Captain Emmett S. "Cyclone" Davis,
the Commanding Officer of the 80th Fighter Squadron, 8th Fighter Group

Photo:- Mike Merryman Collection

P-38 Lightning "Wishful Thinking" piloted by Lt. R.H. Hendrickson

Photo:- Mike Merryman Collection

Unidentified P-38 Lightning

Photo:- Mike Merryman Collection

64th Bomb Squadron, 43rd Bomb Group veteran Don Galarneau from
Portland, Oregon who gave the above nose-art photographs to Mike Merryman.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I'd like to thank Mike Merryman for passing on the above photographs on this web page. Mike's father, Delmar Lee Merryman (new deceased), who was 87 years old in 2005, was a member of the 4th Depot Repair Squadron, 4th Air Depot from 1942 to 1945.

I'd also like to thank Thomas Robinson who made drum scans of the negatives of the above photos on a Howtek 6500. Thomas told me that it would not have been possible to scan the negatives using a conventional scanner because the film was curled and damaged.

Can anyone help me with more information?

"Australia @ War" WWII Research Products

This page first produced 23 January 2010

This page last updated 24 January 2020