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75 Squadron material |
NOSE ART |
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| “Bones”
75 Sq. Wellington painted 1940. Refers to Wellington L7948 of No.75 Sq. Coded AA-V also bearing the name “Cuthbert” |
“Donald Duck” painted by D.W. Smith BEM (see below) on 75 Sq. Wellington in 1940. This aircraft shot down in August 1940. Most likely refers to Wellington Mk Ic Ser. No. R3176 Ex-Ops on Horst, crashed at Barton Mills, Suffolk 03. /04. 08.40. Sq/Ldr. W.I. Collett killed, (buried St Nicholas, Feltwell), 5 crew injured. | “Popeye”
painted by D.W. Smith BEM
(see
below)
on a 75 Squadron Wellington in 1940. This
aircraft crashed into the River Humber on 03.05.41. Refers to Wellington Mk Ic Ser. No. R3169 of 75 Sq. Ex-Ops on Hamburg 06/07.05.41 Sgt D.L. Nola & 4 crew killed, 1 Uninjured. |
“Wimpy”
Painted by D.W. Smith BEM
(see
below) on a 75 Squadron Wellington in 1940. This aircraft
crashed in a field Near Feltwell in October 1940. Wellington Mk Ic Ser. No. L2820 of 75Sq. Crashed on Methwold Fen due to fog. F/Lt C.L.Gilbert & 5 crew injured. |
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“Old Bill” Painted by D.W. Smith (see below) on a 75 Sq. Wellington in 1940. Aircraft Transferred to No. 37 squadron and sent out to Egypt |
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Dave Homewood has a website dedicated to the men and women from Cambridge, New Zealand, who served in the various Air Forces during the war. A number served on 75 (NZ) Sqn and some died on that Sqn, One was Brian McNamara. "On his page I have added some newspaper articles with letters that he wrote home, and he mentioned several new Wellingtons in 1940 for the Sqn which received the Snow White characters. His plane was adorned with Dopey. I'd love to see photos of those some day if any exist." To see Brian's page - http://www.cambridgeairforce.org.nz/Brian%20Mcnamara.htm | |
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Thomas Fredrick Duck. Original nose art fabric from a 75 (NZ) Squadron Wellington bomber. This picture was sent to me in October 2011 by Stephen Kelly. He saw it on display at the Wigram Airforce Museum in Christchurch. His father, Charles W B Kelly, was navigator/bomb aimer and the pilot was named Wright. It is a very large file which means that the writing and description are able to be read. |
From
Richard Smith in 2015:
I have been researching my grandfathers wartime history as a rear gunner, in his records his training was with 148 and 75 Squadron for a short period during 1940, it doesn’t say where he was stationed. I was interested when I across your website with the nose art of Popeye etc to see they were drawn by D. W. Smith, as this matches my grandfathers initials which stand for Denys Wilfred Smith. He was also awarded the BEM but not until 1982. Can anyone shed any light as to the D.W Smith mentioned in the captions in the nose art page? |
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