Girdle Gertie
Girdle Gertie and Wade Pratt
Girdle Gertie nose art photo w/ Lt Wade Pratt Without any context, I showed the enlarged image to my 98 year old mother. She responded “That’s Wade. He’s standing in snow.” (I think it’s construction debris associated with April ‘45 hardstand work, which moved 821-O to park on runway 04.) I would like more information on this photograph. I think it is Dad. His letter of April 16, 45 says “Still haven’t named our ship.” May 2, 45 is the first mention of Girdle Gertie. The officers went to Bournemouth and some crew to Ireland on Flak leave (ending April 30), so I think the name and paint job happened just before or after the flak leave. I’m also wondering if the bomb/girdle/duck cartoon came with the plane and Wade’s crew added the name after it became ‘their a/c’….Mike Pratt
Names: Girdle Gertie
Squadron: 418th | Squadron Marking: LD | Tail Marking: O
Pilot: N/A N/A
Notes
Crew Information
History
Use your thumb to scroll through the results box below.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| September 25, 1944 | Accepted into inventory (Exact date unknown) |
| September 25, 1944 | Lincoln |
| October 7, 1944 | Grenier |
| Unknown | Assigned to UK (Date unknown) |
| June 6, 1945 | Returned Zone of the Interior - Bradley |
| June 8, 1945 | South Plains |
| November 29, 1945 | Kingman, Arizona |
| November 29, 1945 | Kingman, Arizona |
Comments
Additional Photos
Girdle Gertie 338821
LD-O Girdle Gertie 338821
Ginger & Girdle Gertie
338821 LD-O Girdle Gertie and 339162 LD-U "Ginger" on short runway. Photo courtesy of Larry Darneille
