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SWEET
ROSE
O’GRADY
?
91/
On
a
listing
of
nose
art
titles
drawn
up
by
Tony
Starcer
some
40
years
after
the
war
he
included
the
name
Sweet
Rose
O'Grady.
In
spite
of
extensive
searching
no
photograph
has
been
located
which
shows
such
a
plane
in
91st
markings.
There
was,
however,
a
plane
with
this
name
assigned
to
the
303rd
Bomb
Group,
42-39885
is
the
only
such
titled
B-17
so
far
listed
as
being
part
of
the
8th
Air
Force
but
no
record
has
located
that
links
this
ship
to
the
91st.
The
title
almost
certainly
originates
from
the
1943
movie
of
the
same
name
that
starred
the
ever-popular
Betty
Grable
and
recurs
in
nose
art
on
a
number
of
different
airplane
types
in
other
theaters
of
operation.
The
303rd
Bomb
Group
was
part
of
the
Combat
Wing,
itself
part
of
the
1st
Air
Division
which
also
included
the
91st.
On
maximum
effort
missions
it
was
not
uncommon
for
groups
to
dispatch
spare
serviceable
aircraft
to
other
groups
who
had
more
crews
than
planes
available.
Such
a
situation
may
have
put
Sweet
Rose
O'Grady
on
the
field
at
Bassingbourn
but
usually
these
aircraft
were
loaned
solely
for
individual
missions
and
returned
thereafter
to
their
home
base.
Alternatively,
battle
damaged
planes
returning
from
missions
frequently
had
to
down
on
the
first
possible
airfield
and
thereafter
remained
while
repairs
were
undertaken.
Such
circumstances
often
led
to
snapshot
photos
beinq
taken
of
ground
crew
beside
these
strangers'
their
midst,
leading
to
supposition
that
the
ship
was
part
of
the
91st.
Fifi
was
a
prime
example
of
this,
a
94th
Bomb
Group
plane
which
force
landed
at
Bassingbourn
and
remained
there
for
a
considerable
period
of
time
being
patched
up
by
91st
ground
crews
before
returning
to
Bury
St.
Edmunds
and
continuing
its
combat
service.
Whether
Sweet
Rose
O’Grady
was
assigned
to
the
91st
or
just
visiting
and
how
or
why
Tony
Starcer
came
to
paint
the
nose
has
yet
to
be
determined.
If
the
ship
was
in
fact
the
303rd
aircraft
mentioned
above
then
its
nose
art
was
most
certainly
not
to
the
standard
one
would
have
expected
from
Tony
Starcer’s
hand.
Another
possible
option
is
that
this
plane
was
one
that
was
painted
with
its
nose
art
and
lost
almost
immediately,
through
enemy
action
or
transferred
out
of
the
group.
Further
research
is
required
to
explore
all
these
possibilities.
"Story
taken
from
Plane
Names
&
Fancy
Noses,
by
Ray
Bowden"
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