Personnel

Painted the nose art on the following Planes



Squawkin Hawk

Shalaylee

Lady Luck

Billy Boy

Reluctant Dragon

The Little Skipper

Bigassbird

Horny & Horny II



                                     Boosting morale one painting at a time

 

Lady Luck was painted on a 349th Bomb Squadron B-17 Flying Fortress by Ernest Lovato, a bomber mechanic from Albuquerque.

By Charles D. Brunt / Journal Staff Writer

Wednesday, November 11th, 2015 at 12:02am

Copyright © 2015 Albuquerque Journal



Barelas native Ernest M. Lovato still smiles when recalling the day he was sent to the chaplain’s office at Thorpe Abbotts airfield in England and asked if he could please put a little more clothing on the curvaceous young women he had been painting on the sides of the B-17 bombers in his squadron.





Staff Sgt. Ernest Lovato paints his name on the B-17 Squawkin’ Hawk at Thorpe Abbotts field in England in May 1944. The bomber, which completed 50 missions, was returning to the United States for retirement.

“I got into trouble for that one,” Lovato, 91, said at his Albuquerque home.



Although it was technically illegal to paint sexy women, cartoon characters and other popular icons on bombers during World War II, “nose art” became nearly ubiquitous by the war’s end. Seen as a morale booster and one of the few ways a bomber crew could stand out in the Army world of olive drab, nose art became popular with both the enlisted men who flew and maintained the bombers and the officers who turned a blind eye to the practice.



Lovato, who painted nose art on at least a dozen B-17s while stationed at Thorpe Abbotts during the war, had never taken formal art classes but was a much-sought-after young artist at the airfield.



Thorpe Abbotts, a former Royal Air Force base in southeastern England, was turned over to the U.S. Army Air Forces in 1943 as the 8th Air Force’s 100th Bomb Group began campaigns against airfields, naval facilities, transportation routes and industrial targets in occupied France and Nazi Germany. The 100th became known as the Bloody Hundredth for the heavy losses it suffered from June to October 1944. On several occasions, the 100th lost more than a dozen aircraft during bombing missions over Germany.



Lovato joined the Army Air Corps shortly after the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, said his youngest daughter, Lori Lovato.



After training as an aircraft mechanic at Sheppard Field near Wichita Falls, Texas, Lovato shipped out to England with the 349th Bomb Squadron, where he worked on B-17 Flying Fortresses. Bristling with 13 machine guns that could fire in just about any direction and carrying 4,500 pounds of bombs – and nearly double that weight on short runs – the B-17 was a feared adversary.



Between missions, Lovato painted nose art, working from drawings the various crews had designed to honor a sweetheart, scare the enemy, show their patriotism or remind them of home. Demand was so high for decent artists that nose-art painters could get $15 per job – or the equivalent in hard-to-come-by goods.



The works of many burgeoning young artists got their first public exposure as nose artists during the war, including Tony Starcer, who did the nose art on the Memphis Belle.



Albuquerque resident Ernest Lovato talks recently about the artwork he painted on the noses of B-17 bombers during World War II. (Dean Hanson/Albuquerque Journal)

Albuquerque resident Ernest Lovato talks recently about the artwork he painted on the noses of B-17 bombers during World War II. (Dean Hanson/Albuquerque Journal)

Among the first B-17s to come under Lovato’s brush was Shilaylee, the aircraft he was responsible for keeping in the air, regardless of the damage it sustained from anti-aircraft flak or German fighter planes. Shilaylee, an Americanized spelling of the Irish cudgel known as a shillelagh, was a nod to Lovato’s wife’s grandfather, Lawrence O’Bannon, according to his daughter.



As word of Lovato’s talent spread among the four bomber squadrons at Thorpe Abbotts, he was constantly asked to doll up other B-17s.



There was Lady Luck, featuring a cute Irish girl who, after Lovato’s discussion with the chaplain, suddenly had a bikini top. Billy Boy was named for a pilot’s son, who was born while his father was abroad. And “100 Proof” is self-explanatory.



Other B-17s painted by Lovato include The Reluctant Dragon, The Little Skipper, E-Z Going, Pride of the Century, Heaven Sent, Baby Blue, Horny II and Squawkin’ Hawk II. There are likely others, but the decades have erased their names from Lovato’s memory.



Staff Sgt. Ernest Lovato shows off the nose art he painted on the B-17 bomber Reluctant Dragon at Thorpe Abbotts airfield in southeastern England during World War II. Lovato grew up on Albuquerque's Barelas neighborhood.

Staff Sgt. Ernest Lovato shows off the nose art he painted on the B-17 bomber Reluctant Dragon at Thorpe Abbotts airfield in southeastern England during World War II. Lovato grew up on Albuquerque’s Barelas neighborhood.

After the war, Lovato and his bride, Crucita Jaramillo Lovato – whom he had met at Albuquerque High School – moved to California, where Lovato studied at Los Angeles’ Woodbury College in hopes of obtaining a degree in commercial art. But when his mother-in-law fell ill, the couple returned to Albuquerque. He worked for the Fedway department store Downtown for several years, eventually becoming its accounts manager.



Later on, he founded E.L. Collections and became a “repo man” for auto dealers and banks, his daughter said. E.L. Collections was a going concern for about 35 years, a period during which the Lovatos raised a son and three daughters in their Northeast Heights home. Now married more than 72 years, the couple still live in that house, along with daughter Lori.



“Dad doesn’t say much these days, but he still remembers the men he served with,” Lori Lovato said, adding that her father used to attend reunions of the 100th Bomb Group regularly, and helped organize one in Albuquerque in the 1970s.



Lovato continued drawing for years after the war and once painted a mural on a local restaurant. Regrettably, it was painted over years later. But odds are it didn’t include a topless Irish lass.





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________________________________________________________________



Ernest M. Lovato 



On July 20, 2018, Ernesto passed away surrounded by all his children. He is survived by his wife of 75 years, Crucita Jaramillo Lovato, one sister, four children, five grandchildren, 



three great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. 



A lifetime resident of Albuquerque, he served in the US Army Air Corp during WWII and was a member of the famous 8th Air Force's 100th Bomb Group, which was known as the Bloody Hundredth. During his military service he painted nose art on at least a dozen B-17s while stationed at Thorpe Abbotts, England during the war. One of his planes is on display in a Czech Republic Museum. 



Crucita was the love of his life, at home and at work. For over forty years, Ernie and Crucita owned and operated a collection agency in Albuquerque and had clients from across the United States. Ernesto was a cheerful man who always had a "dicho" and a big smile. He loved music, art, and his beloved chocolate labrador, Mia. He will be sadly missed by all whose lives he touched. 



The Lovato family would like to express deep gratitude to all the special people who cared for Ernesto and helped make the last years of his life joyful. 



Services will be held Tuesday, July 24, 2018 at Annunciation Catholic Church, 2532 Vermont St NE, Albuquerque, NM. Viewing will be at 7:30 am, Rosary at 8:00 am, and Mass at 8:30 am A military burial will take place at 11:15 am at the Santa Fe 

Asked and Answered: A World War II Veteran Writes the President



Galen Main

May 08, 2015 

09:45 AM EDT

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We periodically feature an exchange between the President and an American who wrote him. Check back soon for more — and if you'd like to write the President yourself, you can do so here.



I work in the Office of Presidential Correspondence, and one of the most rewarding parts of my job is helping process correspondence from our nation’s veterans.



On the 70th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day (V-E Day), I wanted to share with you one of the thousands of letters the President has received from WWII veterans and their families. The President was raised with the help of his grandparents — a veteran who served in the European Theater during WWII, and a Rosie the Riveter who worked on a bomber assembly line during the war. And I think partly for that reason, this mail always seems to really grab the President’s attention.



Below is one of these letters. World War II veteran Ernest Lovato of Albuquerque, New Mexico wrote the President to thank him for a visit to the Southwest, and shared photos of two of the B-17 Flying Fortresses he painted while serving in the Army Air Corps' 100th Bombardment Group. The President responded — and he included a photograph of his own.



Today, as we watch World War II-era planes fly over the White House in honor of the anniversary of V-E Day, we pay tribute to all those like Mr. Lovato and the President’s grandmother, who helped build and maintain these planes helping lead the Allied forces to victory. And we solemnly remember all those we lost, remaining deeply humbled by all those who served.



Take a look at Mr. Lovato's letter, and the amazing photos he enclosed — including the B-17s he painted during WWII and the charming photo from his wedding day 72 years ago: