Help to ID a DC-3

[Ewan]

Hi everyone

I am in the process of scanning a large collection of slides, negs and prints that go back many many years. One of the ones that has raised curiosity is a pic of a DC-3 taken at Bouganville at the end of the war by a colleague's dad. There is a logo behind the cockpit on the skin but none of us have been able to ID it or what it represents. Pics below - anyone able to help out, be most grateful. This guy is now 90 and pretty frail and his memory is failing so we are trying to piece as much of this together as we can

Logo



and aircraft



Cheers

Ewan

[Pathfinder]

The most basic stencil of a US Marine Corps EGA---Eagle, Globe and Anchor.

Marine (Navy) "DC-3s" are militarily referred to as R4Ds.

Last edited by Pathfinder on Sun Mar 24, 2013 4:43 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Ewan]

Excellent - Thought it may have been but am more used to seeing the anchor straight down as opposed to on the angle. Thanks for the positive ID.

[Pathfinder]

There is no variant of the USMC EGA that has the anchor straight down....it is always hooked to the left when viewed.

Don't confuse Navy insignia (which regularly feature anchors down) with USMC....Same branch....decidedly different outfit!

[Ewan]

Ah right, thanks for that, still finding my feet here, that's a great help, much appreciated

[The Inspector]

Given it's polished exterior and general spotless, dressed up exterior I'd bet it was some Marine Generals personal aircraft.

[Dan K]

There is no variant of the USMC EGA that has the anchor straight down....it is always hooked to the left when viewed.

I never served in the Corps, so this is only a repeat of what I've read or have been told.

Somewhere along the road of life, I was informed that the anchor of the Marine Corps EGA always swung to the fore of the aircraft.

[Pathfinder]

That is a common format when displaying anything heraldic on two sides of a single object...such as shoulder patches with a "facing" element such as the screaming eagle. They are printed "backwards" so they can be displayed with the Eagle facing forward when worn on the right shoulder (designating previous combat unit/)

[Dan K]

That is a common format when displaying anything heraldic on two sides of a single object...

Apparently not common enough!

Or is intentionally reversing an insignia's common alignment a subtle way for veterans to say, "Up yours, Marines/Navy/Army/Air Force/Coast Guard"?






(My apologies to Ewan for getting so far off track)

[Pathfinder]

Dan--

Heraldry is an "art-science". There are rules in heraldry that have been adopted because they represent something. Art can be just about anything....Bringing order and significance to artistic symbols is the essence of heraldry.

The photos of the F3F show that the folks who marked the plane had a proper "appreciation" of the heraldry of the EGA as displayed on an object that travels in a particular direction.

The livery on a plane that might feature an arrow would look pretty silly flying feathers first, so it is likely that that element would be reversed to make the point fly forward on other side of the plane.

Heraldicly speaking and American flag on a moving object--plane, truck, car... persons shoulder should display with stars 'to the front' or moving forward....not stripes forward. Many of our Brit WIXers could point to examples of the Union Jack being displayed upside down or backwards...a subtle thing that we 'provincials' don't pick up on because all we see it the geometric pattern of their flag...

The folks who applied the EGA to the side of the Tigercat just painted the insignia on the plane...doubtless it means a great deal to them...and it is what it is---the insignia of the USMC---but nobody says they HAVE to adhere to heraldic propriety in this application.