47th Air Depot Group insignia - part 2

This post features an image of the original finished and painted art created by artist Hank Porter for the 47th Air Depot Group. To see an example of how the art was used, click here to see a menu produced in-theater for men in the unit, which is posted elsewhere on my blog.

This image was emailed to me by Ray Liston who wrote:

"The original painting...was given to us by my wife's grandfather, Martin K. Brennan. [The art] was folded and placed in his leather map satchel for transport back to home after the war, which is why there are creases on the picture. He served in the...47th Air Depot Group, headquartered in Panagarh. His rank was T/Sgt. and I believe he served from roughly January '43 to December '45. He worked primarily on the P-38 Lightnings and P-51 Mustangs. [A] letter of commendation was sent to the 47th ADG from the 459th Fighter Squadron recognizing the engineers for their part in keeping the planes flying."

The commendation, which Ray also sent me a copy of, read in part:

"The superior performance of the Engineering Section of your organization for the past 8 months has been brought to my attention. During that period in which the 459th Fighter Squadron flew 179 missions and 1,318 sorties totaling 6,337 hours, an average eighty seven percent of aircraft in commission for flight was maintained.

Such an engineering record, achieved under combat conditions, is evidence of long hours of persistent endeavor and superior technical proficiency on the part of each member of your Engineering Section. Only by the greatest of team-work and devotion to duty could such have been accomplished.

I wish to commend the Engineering Section of the 459th Fighter Squadron for its splendid sustained effort in keeping its aircraft in the air."

The following image shows the preliminary design Porter created. The image was discarded and the concept was reworked. A more aggressive looking and "less cute" elephant graphic was created and used in the final design.