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OLD
BATTLE
AXE
43-37887
B-17G
91/323-T
OR-T
91/401-J
LL-J
 The
crew
of
David
Hettema
had
flown
many
of
their
missions
in
a
number
of
airplanes,
including
nine
in
Bomber
Dear,
before
they
were
finally
assigned
their
own
brand
new
silver
B-17G
in
August
1944.
One
of
David
Hettema’s
ambitions,
beside
that
of
surviving
his
tour,
was
to
paint
the
nose
art
onto
his
own
ship.
Others
had
told
him
to
get
in
touch
with
Tony
Starcer
when
he
had
decided
on
the
name
and
artwork
he
wanted
but
he
was
adamant.
It
was
his
ship
and
he
would
do
the
nose
art.
Having
already
dabbled
in
some
cartooning,
for
his
own
amusement,
David
set
to
work
using
some
of
the
brushes
he
had
been
sent
by
the
Higgins
Ink
Company
in
the
States.
He
had
written
to
them
to
say
how
short
supplies
were
the
UK
and
how
much
he
missed
the
materials
he
had
used
at
home.
His
letter
brought
forth
a
package
of
ink,
pens
and
brushes
for
his
personal
use.
With
suggestions
from
his
crew
he
designed
and
painted
a
colorful
and
original
nose
art.
The
colored
rough
that
he
prepared
was
sent
back
home
to
his
fiancee
Norma
and
is
still
kept
safely
in
the
family
album
after
almost
50
years.
The
higher
echelons
of
power
were
under
pressure
to
curtail
and
censor
any
risque
nose
art
that
might
appear
but
there
was
no
such
problem
likely
to
occur
with
the
nose
art
of
Old
Battle
Axe.
Some
minor
simplification
occurred
during
the
translation
of
the
rough
design
onto
the
side
of
the
nose
but
it
was
a
superbly
executed
and
amusing
piece
of
artwork.
Hettema
was
pleased
with
his
work
and
with
his
new
plane
but
before
he
could
take
Old
Battle
Axe
into
combat
she
was
taken
away
from
him
to
be
made
into
a
Mickey
radar
ship.
Unperturbed,
he
set
about
designing
another
nose
art
for
his
new
replacement
plane,
Super
Mouse.
Old
Battle
Axe
saw
a
lot
of
combat
and
had
flown
22
missions
by
the
time
it
was
forced
to
land
at
Brussels
on
21st
November
with
severe
battle
damage.
Although
abandoned
there
by
the
crew,
it
was
repaired
and
returned
to
Bassingbourn
later.
By
April
of
1945,
Old
Battle
Axe
had
been
modified
as
a
'Carpet
Jammer'
and
flew
several
missions
in
this
role.
The
task
of
the
'Carpet
Jammer'
was
to
interfere
with
the
German
air
defense
communications
with
radio
counter
measures.
The
installation
of
a
Axe
would
have
required
the
installation
of
a
variety
of
special
equipment
including
APT-2
and
APQ-9
transmitters
for
use
against
the
German
Wurzburg
radars.
These
transmitters
radiated
noise
over
a
whole
range
of
frequencies
to
mask
the
movement
of
a
bomber
formation
and
interfere
with
gun
laying
radars.
Old
Battle
Axe
successfully
accomplished
its
RCM
role
throughout
April
covering
targets
including
Fassberg,
Stendal,
Oberpfaffenhofen,
Oranienburg
and
the
infamous
Regensburg.
On
8th
June
it
was
one
of
many
91St
planes
to
take
a
crew
and
passengers
back
to
the
USA,
under
the
command
of
1/Lt.
William
Lockwood.
"Story
taken
from
Plane
Names
&
Fancy
Noses,
by
Ray
Bowden"
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