Caption update: Insignia of the 350th Fighter Group during WWII. The blue represents Great Britain, where the group was formed, and the Gold represents America, the origin of the ground echelons. The RAF wings in the blue field represent the American pilots serving with the RAF who were brought in to form the new group , while the USAAF wings represent the American flyers from veteran fighter groups who made up the balance of the 350th's pilots. The heraldic bend states "Boldness and Vigor" in Arabic, a nod to the time spent fighting in N. Africa. The seven stars represent the 7 campaigns in which the 350th FG participated: Tunisia, Sicily, Naples-Foggia, Rome-Arno, Southern France, North Apennines and the Po Valley. Although never used as such in WWII, a patch of the insignia was realized in 2005 by Ron Macdonald, son of 346th Pilot Ronald Macdonald.
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350thFG, Patches
350thPhotoProject 81
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Original 1944 embroidered 345th patch from Gilbert Vizcarra's Flight Jacket.
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345thFS, 350thFG, Patches, WWII
350thPhotoProject 2126
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Gil Vizcarra'a silk flying scarf painted in 1945 in theater. Pilot's signed their names and wrote the name of their aircraft on the scarf. Great source for connecting pilots to their planes nose art.
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345thFS, 350thFG, Patches, WWII
350thPhotoProject 2612
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Patch painted by Jack Bills, the squadron Painter with the same paint and colors used on the Planes. This is the best source to determine 345th a/c colors schemes.
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Patches, WWII
350thPhotoProject 2119
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Matthews flight Jacket with a painted patch. Patch painted by Jack Bills, the squadron Painter with the same paint and colors used on the Planes. This is the best source to determine 345th a/c colors schemes.
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345thFS, 350thFG, Patches, WWII
350thPhotoProject 2854
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Post war jacket Gil Vizcarra's family made for Gil.
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Patches, WWII
350thPhotoProject 2630
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345thFS, Patches, WWII
345thcolor028_Devhawk
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345thFS, Patches
350thPhotoProject 2115
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345thFS, 350thFG, Patches, WWII
346th_p-39_350th
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The 346th switched insignias when they switched from the P-39 to the
Jug -- the cobra motif was no longer applicable. Designed by 346th
pilot Shuford "Big Al" Aleander. In his own words: "I was one of the
last few pilots to get my own plane, and as far as I can remember, it
only had 3 or 4 missions on it. By this time, we had been flying the P47
for most of the summer. We never had time to get the Squadron "logo"
painted on my plane, and this is sort of sad since I designed the Logo
for the squadron in early summer. At the time, I was doing all sorts of
things with the Bugs Bunny and Walt Disney characters. If you see
anything which resembles the original, this was Goofy, with flak
bursting all around him, sweating blood while flying a plane made from a
whiskey barrel and C-ration crates, with a pop gun (firing a cork) as
the gun and an umbrella on the side for a parachute."
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346thFS, 350thFG, Patches, WWII
350thPhotoProject 29
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The 346th switched insignias when they switched from the P-39 to the
Jug -- the cobra motif was no longer applicable. Designed by 346th
pilot Shuford "Big Al" Aleander. In his own words: "I was one of the
last few pilots to get my own plane, and as far as I can remember, it
only had 3 or 4 missions on it. By this time, we had been flying the P47
for most of the summer. We never had time to get the Squadron "logo"
painted on my plane, and this is sort of sad since I designed the Logo
for the squadron in early summer. At the time, I was doing all sorts of
things with the Bugs Bunny and Walt Disney characters. If you see
anything which resembles the original, this was Goofy, with flak
bursting all around him, sweating blood while flying a plane made from a
whiskey barrel and C-ration crates, with a pop gun (firing a cork) as
the gun and an umbrella on the side for a parachute."
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346thFS, 350thFG, Patches, WWII
346th FS Patch Original Tomlinson
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The 346th switched insignias when they switched from the P-39 to the
Jug -- the cobra motif was no longer applicable. Designed by 346th
pilot Shuford "Big Al" Aleander. In his own words: "I was one of the
last few pilots to get my own plane, and as far as I can remember, it
only had 3 or 4 missions on it. By this time, we had been flying the P47
for most of the summer. We never had time to get the Squadron "logo"
painted on my plane, and this is sort of sad since I designed the Logo
for the squadron in early summer. At the time, I was doing all sorts of
things with the Bugs Bunny and Walt Disney characters. If you see
anything which resembles the original, this was Goofy, with flak
bursting all around him, sweating blood while flying a plane made from a
whiskey barrel and C-ration crates, with a pop gun (firing a cork) as
the gun and an umbrella on the side for a parachute."
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346thFS, Patches, Shifflet Collection
350thPhotoProject 2548
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The 346th switched insignias when they switched from the P-39 to the
Jug -- the cobra motif was no longer applicable. Designed by 346th
pilot Shuford "Big Al" Aleander. In his own words: "I was one of the
last few pilots to get my own plane, and as far as I can remember, it
only had 3 or 4 missions on it. By this time, we had been flying the P47
for most of the summer. We never had time to get the Squadron "logo"
painted on my plane, and this is sort of sad since I designed the Logo
for the squadron in early summer. At the time, I was doing all sorts of
things with the Bugs Bunny and Walt Disney characters. If you see
anything which resembles the original, this was Goofy, with flak
bursting all around him, sweating blood while flying a plane made from a
whiskey barrel and C-ration crates, with a pop gun (firing a cork) as
the gun and an umbrella on the side for a parachute."
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346thFS, Patches, WWII
346FS_350thFG
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The 346th switched insignias when they switched from the P-39 to the
Jug -- the cobra motif was no longer applicable. Designed by 346th
pilot Shuford "Big Al" Aleander. In his own words: "I was one of the
last few pilots to get my own plane, and as far as I can remember, it
only had 3 or 4 missions on it. By this time, we had been flying the P47
for most of the summer. We never had time to get the Squadron "logo"
painted on my plane, and this is sort of sad since I designed the Logo
for the squadron in early summer. At the time, I was doing all sorts of
things with the Bugs Bunny and Walt Disney characters. If you see
anything which resembles the original, this was Goofy, with flak
bursting all around him, sweating blood while flying a plane made from a
whiskey barrel and C-ration crates, with a pop gun (firing a cork) as
the gun and an umbrella on the side for a parachute."
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346thFS, Patches
350thPhotoProject 2166
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The 346th switched insignias when they switched from the P-39 to the
Jug -- the cobra motif was no longer applicable. Designed by 346th
pilot Shuford "Big Al" Aleander. In his own words: "I was one of the
last few pilots to get my own plane, and as far as I can remember, it
only had 3 or 4 missions on it. By this time, we had been flying the P47
for most of the summer. We never had time to get the Squadron "logo"
painted on my plane, and this is sort of sad since I designed the Logo
for the squadron in early summer. At the time, I was doing all sorts of
things with the Bugs Bunny and Walt Disney characters. If you see
anything which resembles the original, this was Goofy, with flak
bursting all around him, sweating blood while flying a plane made from a
whiskey barrel and C-ration crates, with a pop gun (firing a cork) as
the gun and an umbrella on the side for a parachute."
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346thFS, Patches, WWII
color5025
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347th FS Patch No Thunderbolts
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Patches
350thPhotoProject 2Faltum color
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The original insignia of the Screaming Red Asses, designed by George Faltum and approved by 347th CO Maj. Grable after months of indecision. It appeared on at least one P-39, but was made famous on the cowl of many a P-47. It was later enhanced with 2 additional lightning bolts by 347th squadron artist Richard Gurney.
