Placing Star insignia on side of training aircraft objected to in view of very large number of aircraft that would have to be repainted, August, 1942

The War Department Circular No. 273, August 18, 1942, required that all trainer aircraft would have to have the star insignia painted on the fuselage, aft of the wing. The Southeast Air Forces Training Center, Maxwell Field, AL, pointed out that to meet this rquirement, not only would they have to expend a lot of effort on painting the insignia on all of their approximately 4,600 aircraft, but that they would also have to remove the field letters and numbers on all of these aircraft. They felt that the letter and field numbers were necessary for ready identification of aircraft in their training program. Thus, they requested if it was possible to have trainer aircraft excluded from the requirements of the circular.

The HQ. Air Forces Flying Training Command, Fort Worth, TX, to whom the above objection had been sent, in turn wrote to the Director of Individual Training, AAF, Washington, stating that there were approximately 15,500 training type airplanes in the Flying Training Command that would require a change of insignia in order to comply with W. D. circular No. 273. They requested that to avoid interruption of training schedules, and to conserve labor and materials, that the Circular be amended to exclude training type aircraft assigned to the AAF Flying Training Command.

Meanwhile, Maxwell Field, on September 29,1942, sent a letter to the Director, with recommendations for applying the star insignia to the fuselages of in-service training aircraft.

In reply, on October 12, 1942, the Director stated that the Aeronautical Board had proposed the following suggestions regarding the fuselage insignia; these were, if approved, going to be issued as anA-N spec. A maximum diameter of 50 inches and a minimum diameter of 20 inches were to be used for the fuselage insignia, standard sizes to be in multiples of 5 inches. The diameter to be used was the standard size which came closest to being 75 percent of the fuselage depth at the selected location. It was believed that the specified size and location of the fuselage insignia would leave adequate space on training airplanes for their identification markings.

It was also stated that, pending more definite information and the issue of appropriate instructions and technical orders, no action was to be taken by Flying Training Command to alter the markings on their aircraft.

Boeing B-17F-27-BO, 41-24639, was the last of the -27 block and is seen flying near its Bassingbourne, England, base in late 1942. It carries the yellow code letters of the 323rd BS, 91st BG, assigned to the 1st Bomb Wing, Eighth Air Force. (USAF)

Curtiss P-40C-CU, 41-13468, of the 31st FS in the 6th AF, Caribbean area. It is shown in its net-covered revetment; note the shadows on the aircraft’s camouflage. Photo taken in December 1942. (USAF)

Yellow outer ring added to lower wing and fuselage insignia for aircraft destined for use in invasion of North Africa, in Amendment to Op. Memo No. 9 for operation “Torch," dated September 30,1942,

In preparation for Operation “Torch”, the Allied invasion of French North Africa, an amendment dated September 30, 1942, to Operation Memorandum No. 9, dated September 25, 1942, was issued by Allied Force Headquarters under Gen. Eisenhower’s command. This amendment added a yellow ring around the star insignia on the fuselage and under the wing of all American aircraft taking part in this invasion. Intended for ground recognition, it was not required for use on the upper wing insignia. (However, it is obvious from photographs that many aircraft also carried the ring on the upper wing insignia – author). An order adding a two-inch thick ring to the fuselage star insignia was also issued by Gen. Spaatz on October 1,1942, in England for USAAF aircraft in the European Theater of Operations. It has been suggested that this yellow ring was added to the insignia to make it more resemble the British roundel and thus help reduce resistance to the invasion by the local French troops: they were considered to be more friendly to the U. S. forces than to the British forces, who had recently shelled the French Fleet in its home port to prevent it falling into Axis hands. (The later adoption of RAF type red, white, and blue fin flashes on USAAF aircraft serving in North Africa also lends credence to this suggestion – author.)