Remember Pearl Harbor

December 7, 1941. "A day which will live in infamy . . . "

Remember Pearl Harbor!

A December 9, 1941 editorial in The Oregonian newspaper claims to have been the first to use the catchphrase, "Remember Pearl Harbor!" In the months that followed the surprise attack, all manner of retail items were emblazoned with the phrase, and sold to Americans wanting revenge for what happened to her sailors, soldiers, and ordinary citizens that sunny Sunday morning on December 7.

Disney artist Hank Porter created all of the art found on the six Aircraft Warning Service posters in this thread. Five of the images come our way courtesy the Porter family, while the sixth is from The Walt Disney Archives.

One of the posters in the series features a caricature of a stereotyped Japanese soldier. This type of illustration is rare from the Disney Studio. While other Hollywood cartoon studios often portrayed enemy stereotypes in their cartoons, Disney rarely did. And for the amount of war-related combat insignia and home front items produced using Disney-created art, the number of "enemy" stereotypes depicted is an exceptionally small number.

As a side-note, I've been interviewing WW II veterans about their time in the military for many years now. In 2006 I interviewed a Pearl Harbor survivor named Donald Stratton. Donald not only witnessed the Japanese attack firsthand, he lived it - Donald was aboard USS Arizona the morning of December 7. My interview with Donald is one of the most emotional interviews I have ever conducted with a WW II veteran. Donald's recollections of that fateful day can be read here.

Remembrance Day - Appreciate America

Today is the day we honour the sacrifices our military veterans have made. In Canada and other Commonwealth countries we refer to today as Remembrance Day - for my American friends it's Veterans Day.

I thought the following would be an appropriate image to post.

This patriotic poster was printed in August 1941 for the Department of Education, and is from a set of nine featuring famous cartoon characters from the 1930s and 1940s. Other posters in the series featured images of Orphan Annie and her dog Sandy, Uncle Bim and Chester from The Gumps, Joe Palooka, Harold Teen, The Toodle Family, and Don Winslow.

Donald Duck was featured on his own poster with the tagline: "I get exasperated at people who squawk!" The Mickey Mouse image on the poster in this entry was also printed on a cachet.

View last year's blog post here.

Having personally interviewed around four dozen WW II veterans, I am fully aware of the sacrifices they've made, and what they've done to guarantee the freedoms many of us take for granted. The next time you see a veteran, consider offering them a word of thanks.

Bonafide war hero comes to the Disney Studio

Among the many training films produced at the Studio for the military, was a series created with the assistance and knowledge of a bonafide war hero.

Commander Thach demonstrates the "Thach weave" to Walt Disney, while animator Art Scott looks on, in this rare wartime color image.

Flying magazine reported: ". . . a veteran of Pacific fighting returned to the United States. He had been at the head of one of the fightingest [sic] of Navy Squadrons. His name was J.C. Jimmy Thach, a Navy commander credited with training the famed 'Butch' O'Hare and other aces and with the development of the 'Thach weave,' a new fighter technique. Enlisting Thach’s experience, the Navy ordered 10 pictures on fighter tactics. The completed job was to run from 15,000 to 20,000 feet and to cover every phase of fighting."

The films were collectively known as the "Jacksonville Project, Production 2648." The official name for the series was "FIGHTER COMBAT TACTICS, MN84 A-I." Two films in the series were produced in color: MN84F and MN84G. Only six of the 10 films are currently known to exist.


The list of fighter combat training films written and directed by Thach included:

• MN84A – Use of the Illuminated Gun Sight
• MN84B – Gunnery Approaches
• MN84C – Snoopers and How to Blast 'em
• MN84D – Don’t Kill Your Friends
• MN84E – Group Tactics Against Enemy Bombers
• MN84F – Offensive Tactics Against Enemy Fighters
• MN84G – Defensive Tactics Against Enemy Fighters
• MN84H – Escort Doctrine
• MN84I – Combat Patrol
• MN84J – Conclusion and Summary

Ub Iwerks, who had returned to the Studio in 1940 after quitting in 1930, was the executive producer of the series. Dan Keefe directed the live-action segments involving Thach, who was at the Studio for the filming of one segment in January 1943. Animators on the series included: Jack Atwood, Bob Carlson, Jim Davis, John Hench, Bill Layne, Lance Nolley, Art Scott and Harvey Toombs.

A Studio inter-office communication sent from Carl Nater, the Studio's Production Coordinator for military films, to Thach on July 21, 1943, outlining the cost for three of the films in the Thach series.

The Los Angeles Times reported: "Motion pictures are playing an important role in the victories being scored over the Japs in the air above the South Pacific. This was disclosed yesterday when Comdr. John S. (Jimmy) Thatch [sic] staff gunnery officer at the Navy base in Jacksonville Fla., said good-bye to the staff at the Walt Disney Studio, where he has been stationed nearly a year, since his return from a combat zone, supervising and narrating a series of training pictures for the Navy on fighter combat tactics.

An advocate of fundamentals, he claims the 'Fighting Three' won their battles before they left the carrier flight deck. The Navy Flyer-hero, considered one of the best strategy combat pilots in the world, stressed the high importance of training films in preparing our pilots for victorious aerial combat."

During the war, a cartoon character named Dilbert Groundloop was created by Captain Austin Doyle USN, and Lt. Cdr. Robert Osborn USNR. Dilbert came to symbolize the newly minted aviator who thought he knew everything and didn't need to learn anymore. In this memo, Osborn congratulates Thach on one of the film's in the series.

The Walt Disney Company currently owns no material related to the production of these films. Being "confidential" in nature, all of the scripts, pre- and post-production art, and unused edited film were returned to the Navy.

This essay, written by Cdr. Thach, appeared in Dispatch From Disney's, a newsletter sent to Disney staff serving in the military. The caricature of Thach was drawn by artist Bob Moore.

As an interesting side-note, Thach was a critic of another wartime strategic initiative undertaken at the Disney Studio, namely Alexander de Seversky's theory of building long-range, multi-gun bombers. Seversky published his theory in book form under the title Victory Through Air Power.

A Port Arthur News article reported in part: "Lieut. Comdr. John S. Thach . . . asserted . . . the United States could 'cut a path across the Pacific to Japan,' with a well-balanced fleet spear-headed by aircraft carriers. 'There is a popular theory that we can win this war in an easy way, that we can build a fleet of colossal bombers that will fly thousands of miles to bomb the enemy and return to wait for a message of surrender.' On the contrary, Thach said the nation would have to win the war the hard way, by sending carrier-based fighters and dive-bombers to gain and hold control of the air while occupation forces move in under such protection."

Page one of a 25-page radio script in which Thach, or an actor portraying him, discusses his new tactic without giving away top secret information.

Disney Studio service flag - film footage - never seen before

There's a great site on the internet that's making available public domain government film footage. The site, CriticalPast, has posted some great Disney-related clips.

This clip in particular shows the Disney Studio's service flag - the only image I've ever seen of the flag in almost 20 years of researching the Studio's involvement in the war.


When queried several years ago, the Disney Archives had no knowledge of the flag or what happened to it. This exact flag is mentioned in the 1943 Disney employee newsletter, a softcover booklet titled Dispatch From Disney's. A letter in the newsletter "penned" by Mickey Mouse read:

"We now have quite a service flag and all of us here are damned proud of it. We have it hanging in the 2nd floor window facing the theater and it's visible from the walk as you come in from the commissary. Nora and Esther made it at night after work and we think it's the best looking in the valley."

By 1944, the Studio's flag had 165 stars sewn onto it. The breakdown of staff serving in the military included: 85 Army, 49 Navy, 21 Marine Corps, 7 WAVES, 2 Merchant Marine, and 1 WASP.

The flag also displayed five gold stars, which represented an employee killed in the line of action. These staffers included: Burdette Sykora, Assistant Direction; Gerald James, Animation; John Leighton Jr., from the New York office; Robert Squire, Cutting Department; and Bernard Walmsley from the Traffic Department.

At the time, the 165 stars repersented more than 25 percent of the Studio's manpower.

Beauty didn't kill the beast . . . Mickey Mouse did

Provocative headline isn't it? But it's true, right? Well, yes, sort of.

One component of the Disney Studio's participation in the war was the creation of approximately 1,200 combat insignia

The first insignia request arrived at the Studio in 1939 via a member of Fighter Squadron Seven (VF-7), based aboard the aircraft carrier USS Wasp (CV-7). The second request, received in the spring of 1940, was looking for a design for a squadron of patrol torpedo boats (PT boats were high speed wooden craft that carried a compliment of .50 caliber machine guns, 20mm and 40mm anti-aircraft guns, depth charges, mortars and of course, torpedoes). When America declared war in 1941, the number of requests rose dramatically.

During the war many units used a Disney character in their insignia design without obtaining proper authorization from the Studio - enterprising and artistic servicemen drew whatever design a senior officer or fellow serviceman wanted for their unit's insignia.

This was the case in the fall of 1931, when an enterprising artist at Naval Reserve Aviation Base Floyd Bennett Field in New York created a design featuring Mickey Mouse. The emblem has Mickey sitting atop a bird, which looks like either an albatross or a sea gull. There is a bomb and a trident under the bird's wings, and the Statute of Liberty is visible in the background.

The very first use of a Disney character on a combat insignia, created in the fall of 1931 for a squadron of Curtiss O2C-1 Helldivers. Ensign Edward F. Conway stands beside one of the planes with the squadron's Mickey Mouse insignia displayed on the fuselage. Ensign Conway also sports a patch of the design on his jacket.

Floyd Bennett Field was dedicated in June 1930, as New York's first municipal airport, by Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd. The field was named after Navy Warrant Officer Floyd Bennett, a New York native who had accompanied Admiral Byrd on the MacMillan Expedition to Greenland in 1925. Bennett was also Byrd's pilot on their attempted first flight over the North Pole in 1926.The facility was built on Barren Island at the southern tip of Manhattan.

Patch of the design worn by men in the unit.

From 1931-1941, the field was one of eight Naval Reserve Aviation Bases that focused on providing primary flight training for Navy pilots. The base received a compliment of Curtiss O2C-1 Helldivers, a multipurpose planed used as a dive-bomber and observer aircraft, from the active fleet in 1931.

Helldivers with the Mickey Mouse emblem on their fuselages, lined-up on the runway at NRAB Floyd Bennett Field.

According to Lawrence Suid's book, The Making of the American Military Image in Films, an RKO Studio location manager contacted the Navy in December 1932 asking for the use of four Navy Helldivers for one day's flying time of two-and-a-half hours. The reason? RKO wanted to use the planes in the film King Kong. In late December the Navy denied RKO's request.

King Kong poster.

When RKO camera crews traveled to the east coast to film location shots for King Kong, an RKO representative contacted the Commanding Officer of NRAB Floyd Bennett Field with an offer: RKO would donate $100 to the Officer's Mess Fund and pay the pilots $10 each to fly around the Empire State Building. The C.O., not knowing his superiors had previously denied RKO's request, accepted the offer.

Four Helldivers took part in the filming. The fuselage of each sported the squadron's unofficial Mickey Mouse emblem. According to Suid's book, then Lieutenant John Winston recalled he and three other pilots were given orders to "go and jazz the Empire State Building." It took the pilots less than 15 minutes to accomplish their mission. Winston recalled, "We didn't know what it was all about. They just said there was some kind of movie being made."

King Kong publicity b/w photo. The Mickey Mouse emblem is partially visible on the fuselage.

RKO captured footage of the planes flying in formation, peeling off and then diving at an imaginary target, then looping and and attacking from the opposite direction. According to Suid's book RKO, "intercut twenty-eight scenes of the Navy aircraft with process shots and miniatures to create the fatal assault on Kong atop the Empire State Building."

A miniature Helldiver model, complete with Mickey Mouse emblem, sold at a recent Profiles in History auction - this model was allegedly used in the filming of King Kong.

If you watch King Kong closely, you can see the Mickey Mouse emblem on the plane's fuselages. This YouTube clip shows the four Helldivers taking off from Floyd Bennett Field and clearly shows the Mickey Mouse design on the fuselages as the planes attack King Kong.

So, not only was this design the earliest depiction of a Disney character on a combat insignia, but the design is also linked to one of the greatest science fiction films ever made - the mouse, in a roundabout way, had a hand in the death of the so-called eighth wonder of the world.

United China Relief - part 2

This great image of Walt Disney holding the finished art for United China Relief, comes from the family of artist Van Kaufman. Click here to see a previous post on the topic.

Click the label below the post to see some additional blog entries related to Van Kaufman.

Remembrance / Veteran's Day

Today, November 11, is the day we honour our veterans for their service.

During World War II, Walt Disney and his staff displayed their patriotic side in many forms. The following item from my collection represents one of the many home front items produced at the Studio during the war. This program, and one other version, were stock images produced for the Masquer's, a Hollywood social club composed of Hollywood's elite that was formed in May 1925.


During the war, members of the Masquer's club traveled throughout California, entertaining men and women in the Armed Forces. Some of the club's more famous members included Buster Keaton, Sid Grauman, Gene Autry, Jack Warner, Lauren Bacall, Phil Silvers, Tom Mix, Humphrey Bogart, Louis B. Mayer, Jesse Lasky, Lionel Barrymore, Joseph Schenck, Lou Costello, Joe E. Brown, Spencer Tracy, and Shirley Temple.

The illustration on the cover of this program was created by Disney artist Hank Porter, as were the inside and back cover drawings.

This program was for an event hosted in honour of the 441 Base Unit and marked the 72nd such function hosted by the Masquer's. This dinner and show took place on August 19, 1944, in The Masquer's Club, in Hollywood.

This program belonged to Lorraine Krueger, an actress and tap dancer who appeared in 30 movies over the course of her career, in addition to 281 camp shows during WW II.

Seaman Si - The Funniest "Gob" in the Navy

Here's a little hardcover 95-page booklet published in 1918 that I added to the collection quite awhile ago. The art was created by Perce Pearce who started at the Disney Studio in February 1935. Pearce was employed as a story man, producer, and director.


The booklet tells the story of Seaman Si and is subtitled, "The Adventures of a Blue Jacket on the High Seas of Fun and Adventure." The art was created while Pearce was stationed at the U.S. Naval Training Station, Great Lakes, Illinois. At the time, Great Lakes was the largest naval training center in the world.


As an interesting side-note, Roy Disney trained at Great Lakes when he joined the service during World War I. More info on Roy's time in the service can be found in a previous post on my other blog Vintage Disney Collectibles.

The book is a bit on the fragile side, so I doubt I'll be scanning anymore images from the inside pages, so enjoy the above for now.

56th Signal Battalion - insignia

Several months ago I added a February 1945 anniversary program for the 56th Signal Battalion to my collection. The back cover features a colorful reproduction of the unit's Disney designed insignia. This particular design was created in the winter of 1941, by Disney artist Van Kaufman.


To get around War Department restrictions, which disallowed any insignia designs that gave away a unit's designation, Kaufman has used 5 stars above the rabbit and 6 stars below to indicate the 56th's designation. The lightning bolt was often used as a sign the unit in question was involved in a communications role, while the rabbit in question may or may not be Thumper from Bambi.

The 56th was first constituted in October 1927. During WW II, units such as the 56th provided communications for U.S. Army Corps Headquarters - this included both radio and telephone line hook-ups.

In July 1942, the unit left the United States for Scotland. From there the men engaged in training exercises in Northern Ireland, and in November 1942 the unit traveled to England, where they remained until the D-Day invasion.

A DUKW amphibious Radio Beach Landing Vehicle. Normandy, 1944
Image courtesy: http://www.pbase.com/rhssr

On June 6, 1944, the men of the 56th Signal Battalion landed at Omaha Beach, on the Normandy coast of France. From there the unit supported combat operations in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany and finally Czechoslovakia.

Lieutenant R. Hilliard poses in front of an enemy pillbox near St. Vith, Belgium, September 1944
Image courtesy: http://www.pbase.com/rhssr

In February 1946 the unit departed Europe for home. On March 8, 1946, the unit was inactivated at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey. The 56th Signal Battalion was awarded several battle streamers and the Meritorious Unit Commendation, for its participation in WW II.

Retirement News from the Disney Archives

I received the following message today, from my friend Robert Tieman of the Walt Disney Archives

"Hi Everybody,

I want to let everyone know that I have decided to retire from Disney after 22-plus years. My last day is still a way off -- the 30th of July -- but the countdown has begun.

It sounds like a cliche, but it’s true that the decision to leave is filled with mixed feelings. So many people to miss. So many memories to take with me.

I will still be in Los Angeles for the near future, and with my Retiree ID card, you will see me here for lunch so often that many people will think I’ve never left. I also have a few new book ideas rattling around in my head, so I might even be back here doing research!

Needless to say, it’s been a pleasure working with all of you.

Robert."

Robert has been extremely helpful to me over the course of many, many years. He has helped identify dozens of insignia designs for me. As well, he has provided me with background information and creation dates for many designs, and he has answered many general questions.

Thanks very much Robert, for all of your help!

I wish you the very best!

David

Mickey Mouse - D-Day Invasion Password? Not.

My friend and fellow researcher Michael Barrier alerted me yesterday to an absolutely outstanding post on his blog.

For decades there has been an urban myth, which said the phrase "Mickey Mouse" had been used by Allied soldiers as the password for the D-Day invasion of June 6, 1944. This story has been repeated in many Disney reference books, including, I must sheepishly admit, my own book Toons At War.

Michael has uncovered a newspaper article which seems to solve the mystery. The correct story indicates "Mickey Mouse" was used as a password by Naval officers seeking admittance to a pre-invasion briefing.

To read the entire story as researched by Michael, please click here and look for the entry dated May 31, 2010.

As an interesting sidenote, the image Michael used in his post was one of two illustrations created by Disney artist Hank Porter for use on the covers of Masquer's programs. The Masquer's were a traveling group of Hollywood celebrities who entertained servicemen at various military facilities in California.

War comes to the Disney Studio

Everyday routine at the Disney Studio changed dramatically the day following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. On December 8, 1941, Walt Disney received an urgent phone call at home. There had been an invasion of sorts at his Studio in Burbank.

In an interview with his daughter Diane and author Pete Martin, Walt Disney recalled that fateful day when he received a phone call at home:

"...I was at home and we got word that they’d bombed Pearl Harbor...it was on the radio...shortly after that I got a call from the Studio Manager and he had been called, in turn, by the police. He said, 'Walt, the Army is moving in on us'...they came up and said they wanted to move in, and [he] said, 'I’d have to call [Walt],' and [the Army] said, 'call him but we’re moving in anyway.' Five hundred troops moved in the Studio."

"I had a big closed sound stage. They said, 'We want that, get this stuff out of here.' We had to move all of our equipment. They moved into every area. We had some sheds...where we parked automobiles. They said, 'What are these sheds?' I said, 'Parking for the employees.' They said, 'Take 'em over.' They moved in there and stored three million rounds of ammunition. They posted guards at all of our gates."

"They had 14 trucks on this sound stage because they could close the stage and work in a blackout. That’s where they were repairing all of the optical systems for the anti-aircraft [guns]. These soldiers were part of the anti-aircraft force that was stationed all around. They had these guns all over the hills...because of the aircraft factories." "I had them there for eight months before they moved out...they were sleeping in every room. I had to double my artists up in rooms so that an officer could have a place to sleep. They had their sleeping bags down on the floor...they set-up their own mess kitchen."

"It was kind of exciting. But it was kind of funny they way he said, 'Well go ahead...call him up and ask him.'"

I acquired the following document recently. Click on the image to see a larger copy.


The memo was sent out by Walt Disney just 11 days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. I think the memo really conveys the emotion and sense of urgency surrounding America's entry into the war.

In the hours and days following the attack on Pearl Harbor, there was a real feeling the mainland of the United States would also come under enemy attack. With the Lockheed aircraft plant a next door neighbor, there was a very real possibility the Disney Studio might be hit by stray bombs during an air raid. Thankfully this never occurred.

I hope to post some more interesting war related inter-office memos in the near future. I recently obtained a small cache of them and I am hoping some will be as interesting as this one.

Donald Duck insignia - help!

My good friend and fellow Disney collector John Fawcett owns this original Disney WW II combat insignia art - given the design element, we surmise this illustration may have been created for a torpedo bomber squadron.


Besides vintage and WW II era Disney memorabilia, John also runs a great museum in Maine, which is loaded with hundreds of great pop culture artifacts - to find out more about the museum, the collections and the hours of operation, please click this link.

And in the meantime, if anyone has any info on this particular design, or any other Disney wartime item for that matter, please send me an email.

Thanks!

Van Kaufman - insignia artist

This great newspaper clipping came my way via Kris Kaufman, son of Disney artist Van Kaufman.

Van was one of several artists who helped Hank Porter fulfill combat insignia requests at the war's outset. Van was eventually drafted and served in the Army Air Force, attaining the rank of Tech Sergeant.


This image appeared in the April 2, 1942 edition of the Los Angeles Evening Herald and Express. The headline above the photo read: "Junior Army Sees Demonstration On Defense Cartoons," while the caption read:

"Junior Army members, who were guests of Walt Disney at his studio, are shown as they applauded Van Kaufman, studio artist, after he showed them how he drew insignia for Army and Navy planes using characters made famous in "Fantasia" as themes."

Van returned to Disney's after the war, but in 1949 left at the invitation of Art Fitzpatrick, famed automobile artist. The two produced dozens of magazine ads for Mercury, with Art working on the cars and Van working on the backgrounds and people.

In 1953 Art went to work for Buick and took Van along with him. The pair eventually produced 285 illustrations for Buick's Wide Track campaign. To learn more about Art and Van's association and to see some of the stunning automobile art they created together, please visit this link.

Upcoming weeks will feature more great images from the scrapbook Kris has of his father's wartime inisgnia contributions.

3rd Auxiliary Surgical Group - insignia

In honor of the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings, which took place on the beaches of the Norman coast, June 6, 1944, I present the insignia art for the 3rd Auxiliary Surgical Group, which came into my possession a couple of years ago.

From what I have been able to glean off the internet, the 3rd was one of the early precursors to a modern day MASH unit. Portable surgical hospital teams consisted of an operating surgeon, two assistant operating surgeons, an anesthetist-internist, and up to four enlisted technicians. They were attached to clearing stations, field hospitals, and evacuation hospitals and performed procedures on patients in whom delay or transport would likely be fatal.

The 3rd had previously seen action in North Africa, Sicily and Italy, before being deployed to England in advance of Operation Overlord. I haven't been able to find out much about the unit, but what few facts I have located are presented below:

Of the Group's 18 portable surgical teams, 12 landed on Omaha Beach, while six landed at Utah Beach.

Two surgical teams from the 3rd accompanied the glider assault wave - their mission was to establish aid stations on the fields of the landing zone and to set-up an operating room for major surgical procedures.

A group of eight men from the 3rd also volunteered to go in on D-Day with the 101st Airborne Division - this detached service was an experiment to see if there was any advantage in taking a surgical team to where the casualties were, rather than transporting those casualties back to evacuation hospitals. The volunteers involved called themselves the 1st Airborne Surgical Team and they were attached to the 326th Airborne Medical Company.

Prior to the Battle of the Bulge, two surgical teams from the 3rd were sent to the 44th Evacuation Hospital in Malmedy, Belgium. Trucks carrying members of one of the teams passed through the main crossroads outside of Malmedy just minutes before German units took control of the intersection.

Dr. Norman Kornfield was a member of one of the 3rd's surgical teams. On December 22, 1944, in Liege, Belgium, Kornfield anesthetized the German officer who was thought to have ordered the Malmedy Massacre. Fifty years later, a newspaper article recounted Kornfield's experiences:

"...he needed blood badly. But blood supplies for Allied soldiers were scarce. I decided to just give him saline, and he died...an hour later, an American military intelligence team came to the hospital and asked to interrogate the captured German officer. Kornfield...regretfully told the intelligence team that the patient had died only an hour before. I could have saved him, Kornfield said. But the intelligence men told him not to regret his decision to withhold the needed blood. You did the right thing, Doc, one of the men said. We know everything we need to know about the Malmedy killings."

I am not quite sure what animal is depicted in this design and why it was chosen. it looks to me to possibly be a mole, but I'm not sure. I'm also not sure what type of medical instrument the animal is holding.

UPDATE: September 6, 2010

I now believe the animal in the image is a guinea pig, and the surgical instrument he is supposed to be holding in his hands is a scalpel.

Here is the image as it appeared in the April 1944 edition of Walt Disney's Comics & Stories:

206th Coast Artillery, Battery B - insignia

Love the patriotic color combination in this piece, which was created by Hank Porter in the spring of 1941. I thought the colors were appropriate for a Memorial Day post, which my friends in the USA are celebrating to honor their veterans. I added this piece of original art to my collection a year or so ago. Enjoy!

Happy Easter !

I bought this neat little Easter card a few months ago and seeing this weekend is Easter, I thought it appropriate to publish this post now. The card is marked on the reverse "Hallmark" and "Copyright 1943 Walt Disney Productions."


The inside of the card reads:

"Behind this little Easter card
Are many thoughts of you,
And many special wishes
For good luck in all you do,
And may the luck and happiness
You're being wished today
Be with you always, everywhere,
Along your future way."

The card was mailed in April 1943 to Private First Class Ralph F. Bupp, who was stationed with the Headquarters Detachment, 33rd Medical Ambulance Battalion.

Ralph F. Bupp

I've been unable to find any information on the 33rd Medical Ambulance Battalion, but a search of the internet for Pfc Bupp yielded the following: Ralph F. Bupp was born on February 2, 1921 and died March 7, 2007 at the age of 86. His obituary stated he had worked at the York Haven, Pennsylvania, Hydroelectric Plant. This has to be the same person the Easter card was mailed to as the return address on the envelope was also in Pennsylvania. The obit also stated Mr. Bupp was a veteran of WW II and was the recipient of the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal.

I really enjoy collecting WW II related Disneyana. Part of the joy is researching the history behind the items and I am very happy I was able to find out at least a little bit of info on this WW II veteran.

The Desert Battalion

In the spring of 1942, Gladys "Robbie" Robinson, wife of the great actor Edward G. Robinson, formed the "Desert Battalion," a service organization with the purpose of providing entertainment to U.S. military servicemen stationed in California.

Mrs. Gladys Lloyd "Robbie" Robinson poses with film and television producer Collier Young at a gala event in the Robinson home. The painting overtop the mantle is a Renoir, part of Edward G. Robinson's renowned art collection.

The "feminine battalion" of so-called "brigadears," was composed of women between the ages of 18 and 25. During the week these young women contributed to the war effort on the home front, where they worked in offices, factories and war plants. On weekends they paid their own bus fare and traveled to desolate military bases, where they danced non-stop for hours in the sweltering heat with lonesome G.I.'s.

Women volunteering for the battalion worked under strict guidelines: they had chaperones; were not allowed to drink alcoholic beverages; were not allowed to engage in any sexual activity including kissing; and they had to promise not to divulge military information. Over the course of the organization's two year existence, the 600 young women of the Desert Battalion covered some 350-thousand miles.


In 1944, Mrs. Robinson and Jack Preston published a soft-cover book titled, The Desert Battalion. Mrs. Robinson personally phoned Walt Disney asking if he would be willing to supply the illustrations. As with many dozens of other home front requests, Disney obliged. At least two Disney artists, (Roy Williams and Freddie Moore, as noted in a copy of a letter from Mrs. Robinson to Don Douglas), created 12 india ink illustrations for use in the book. The book's dust jacket and several other illustrations were created by famed newspaper strip artist Milt Gross.

Original Disney Studio illustration found in the book.

According to an inter-office communique, in order to avoid legal problems with their existing publisher, Disney agreed to have the drawings marked "c WDP." The acknowledgment in the front of the book also stated: "The Walt Disney drawings in this book were produced and contributed by the staff of Walt Disney Productions - supervised by Don Douglas."

Original Disney Studio illustration found in the book.

In a December 2, 1944 letter to Mrs. Robinson, Disney wrote:

"Dear Mrs. Robinson.

Many, many thanks for the very handsome cigarette case which you sent to me through Don Douglass.[sic] It is extremely elegant and I hardly know how to thank you for it.

Mrs. Disney and I regretted our inability to come to your party but we had some out-of-town guests with us that week which made it necessary for us to decline your invitation.

I want to thank you, too, for the generous supply of autographed copies of THE DESERT BATTALION. I am sending them out to friends and members of our staff who I know will enjoy them. I think the finished book turned out very well and the fellows who worked on it got quite a kick in doing the sketches.

Thank you again for the beautiful case, and my best wishes for your continued success in the splendid work you are doing. I am,

Sincerely,

Walt Disney"

Letter sent by Walt Disney to Mrs. Robinson regarding a gift and the book.

The Robinson's granddaughter recently decided to dispose of her collection of material related to the Desert Battalion, which was passed down to her through the family. The group includes 11 original Disney illustrations; two original Gross illustrations; an original letter from Walt Disney to Mrs. Robinson; two original copies of the book; a shadow box display of insignia of the units the Battalion entertained; 95 patches, pins ribbons and wings; six scrapbooks containing over 425 related photographs; over 350 letters from servicemen, press, parents and military officers (including one from Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight David Eisenhower); a Disney ad for the book; and numerous other pieces of ephemera.


The pre-auction estimate of lot number 334 in sale number 52 is $40,000 - $50,000. The auction will occur in the offices of Goldberg Coins in Beverly Hills, on April 25th, 2009. The start time of the auction, which also includes two other non-WW II Disney autographed items, is 10am. All items pictured in this post are courtesy goldbergcoins.com

It will be interesting to see where the bidding settles when the hammer drops on this lot.

68th Tank Battalion - insignia

From the collection of my friend Dennis Books, the original pencil art for the 68th Tank Battalion. This design was created by Hank Porter and features the Silly Symphonies character Toby Tortoise.

The 68th Tank Battalion arrived in England on February 24, 1944 and came ashore at Utah Beach on July 22, 1944. As part of the United States 6th Armored Division, (part of Patton's Third Army), the battalion participated in five major campaigns over the course of just 9 1/2 months.

The following statistics give some indication as to the battalion's participation in the war: 84 officers and enlisted men were killed in action; 212 were wounded; there were six battlefield commissions, while two Distinguished Service Crosses, 97 Silver Stars and 327 Bronze Stars were awarded. The 68th received 80 new light and medium tanks during their deployment and fired some 6,400 rounds of 76mm ammunition and 10,844 rounds of 105mm ammunition.

The next image shows 68th Tank Battalion T/4 Mickey Rue standing beside a Sherman nicknamed "Little Nell VII" that has been decorated with the battalion's Disney-designed insignia. One has to wonder what fate met the preceeding six "Little Nells."

To me, this photo shows the men in the unit thought highly enough of their Disney design to actually paint the emblem on a piece of their equipment. One has to wonder why the current crop of senior Disney Company managers is so afraid of this part of their corporate history when the servicemen who requested the designs showed them so proudly.

Dick Kelsey, Captain, United States Marine Corps

The first image in this post was provided by a fellow collector who happens to be in the Marine Corps. The item was on display at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island Museum, when he snapped this photo.


The caption accompanying the piece of art read:

"Early in World War II, Disney Studios Art Director Richmond 'Dick' Kelsey joined the Marines. In 1943 Capt. Kelsey was stationed with the 1st Marine Division at Mt. Martha, 30 miles from Melbourne, Australia. At the request of two friends he created a series of pastel artworks to decorate the Officer's Club. One of those friends saved this scene, poking fun at the 1st Marine Brigade's 1941 service in Iceland."

Kelsey had a long career at the Disney Studio - he worked as an Art Director on Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo and Bambi. Other films he contributed to included Make Mine Music, Melody Time, So Dear To My Heart, and Alice in Wonderland. He also worked as an Assistant Designer during Disneyland's formative years.

Kelsey was listed on the reverse of the 1943 Dispatch From Disney's pin-up as:


The 1st Marine Brigade was created in July 1941 to garrison Iceland. The Brigade was composed of the Sixth Marines, Fifth Defense Battalion, and the Second Battalion, Tenth Marine Regiment. The unit was disbanded in March 1942, only to be reformed temporarily again, this time for the invasion of Guam in July 1944.


The Disney-designed insignia for the 1st Marine Brigade was created by artist Hank Porter in December 1941. The whimsical emblem featured a penguin in an ice-laden boat. The star on the penguin's scarf was Porter's way of indicating the unit's designation.

The 1st Marine Division, to which Kelsey belonged, saw extensive action in the South Pacific. The Division participated in the Battle of Guadalcanal, Battle of Cape Gloucester, Battle of Peleliu, and the Battle of Okinawa.