If you faced the survival odds of WWII bombing raids, you’d use everything at your disposal to increase those odds. Painting a pin-up beauty on the nose of your bomber couldn’t hurt. Fear and homesickness, a lethal blow for moral. And so it began. Lady Luck and a tribute to that girl you wished you were with, instead of fighting a grisly war—rogue nose art, as unique an underground art form as anything you’ll ever find.

Aircraft Nose Art of WWII

Early on, Command looked the other way. However, it was destined not to last, its lack of restraint offending the sense of decorum of the Powers that Be. Here’s a collection of pin-up art that graced the noses of several warplanes.

Some of the more famous artists that contributed to the nose art of WWII:

  • Alberto Vargas
  • Earl Mac Pherson
  • Rolf Armstrong

Okay guys, no drooling.

Flying Naked Into War

Take off—take it all off—for the wild blue yonder. Scantily clad beauties—they will forever fly on in our collective memory. Here’s some of those memories from the WWII Aircraft Graveyard in Kingman.

Have an underground art form or a memory you’d care to share? By all means, enlighten me.

(Warning. Here comes the blatant plug.) Yes, it’s true, I write mystery stories, not history books. More on my murder mystery books can be found at https://michaelallanscott.com/

Creative Commons Attribution: Permission is granted to repost this article in its entirety with credit to Michael Allan Scott and a clickable link back to this page.