VMD-154 started moving into the WWII area in October 1942 when the 1st Echelon departed from North Island Naval Air Station. The 1st Echelon consisted of two B-24s and two Flight Crews under the leadership of Colonel Elliott E. Bard, USMC. Within a short time another group of men departed as passengers on the USS Lurine. The code name for Espiritu Santos, New Hebrides was "Gusso Ebon." Ebon meaning Japanese and Gusso Ebon meaning: "give it to the Japs."
The main body of the Squadron departed 2 December 1942 aboard the Dutch motor ship Bloemfontein for a slow zigzag course crossing the Equator down into the Harbor of Noumea, New Caledonia. After spending Christmas Day in the Harbor of Noumea, the Bloemfontein departed north to Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, arriving on New Year's Eve 1942. By the next day, we unloaded our gear and said goodbye to the Bloemfontein, arriving at Camp Elrod to set up our tents and begin work.
Warren Swanson was the Squadron painter, who did the artwork and layout on the VMD-154 Squadron Patch. His "canvas" was a regular bed sheet. The original artwork is at the Flying Leatherneck Museum, Miramar MCAS San Diego, CA.
The Flying Leatherneck Museum
In the early months of WWII, the U.S. Army Corps was permitted to paint reproductions of gorgeous models on the nose of their airplanes. The Air Corps lads signed up an artist named "Vargas" who was with Esquire Magazine. Just imagine gorgeous models flying at 25,000 - 35,000 feet in a flimsy negligee--brrrrr!!
Now the Navy and Marine Corps upper brass said that "We cannot have that on our planes." Finally, the Navy adopted Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck characters for their nose art.
The U.S. Marine Corps had to fall back on the characters that they had at hand. The English Bulldog was the old standby. Thus, the VMD-154 Devil Dog was given his wings and handed an aerial photo camera - "The VMD-154 Patch was born."
There are two good reference books on nose art and Squadron patches:
U.S. Marine Corps Aviation Unit Insignia 1941-1946 by Jeff Millstein. Turner Publishing Company, 312 Broadway, and PO Box 3101, Paducah, KY 42002-3101. Library of Congress catalog number 95-60546; ISBN: 1-56311211-6. Hardcover. VMD-154 Patch is featured in the middle of the jacket cover and the cover of the book. Date of VMD-154 insignia 1943. Artist: S/Sgt. Warren Swanson.
Nose Art (a hard cover book) registered in the Library of Congress.
