Osborn-esque Cartoons from the Tarawa

In our third and last installment of Navy materials from the estate of Helldiver pilot Herman Olds, this week we feature a series of training cartoons. As we said last week, during World War II, renown satirical cartoonist and illustrator Robert C. Osborn drew thousands of cartoon for the U.S. Navy's training command, dealing with both technical issues, as well a personnel ones, as embodied in his cast of infamous characters led by the bumbling pilot "Dilbert". Osborn's style became a Navy institution, one that was copied on a local level by other Navy artists.

The Olds collection includes a group of 8x10 glossy photo prints of training illustrations done in the Osborn style by a Navy artist that signed his work only with the initials "R.E.H". All of these are back stamped from the USS Tarawa and dated November 3, 1946.