There may be other examples of classic aircraft nose art out there associated with Valentine’s Day, but the 98th Bomb Group’s 345th Bomb Squadron (later in the group’s 415th BS) had one, a B-24D Liberator heavy bomber, s/n 41-11836, which carried the name “Lil De-icer” with a large heart containing mission symbols depicted by little hearts.
It’s unclear which little heart on the ship represents Lil’s epic low-level mission to Ploesti, Romania, in Operation Tidal Wave on 1 August 1943, when she and her cohorts received a lot of unwanted attention. Fortunately, she brought her crew through that cauldron. Eventually the war-weary ship was sent back to the Zone of the Interior after completing more combat missions stretching into 1944.
Image source: https://www.americanairmuseum.com/aircraft/19352
For some scale model color views of “Lil De-icer,” her tawny desert camouflage and colorful Valentine heart nose art, see the article “Consolidated B-24D “Lil’ De-Icer” Veteran of the Ploesti Raid August 1943,” and the views like this one:
And as for “Lil’ De-icer,” depicted, she was a character in the longest running aviation-themed comic book series by Zack Mosely, “The Adventures of Smilin’ Jack,” which first ran in the Chicago Tribune newspaper on 1 October 1933 and lasted in print with Dell Comics until 1 April 1973. “De-icers” were romantic interests in the comic.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Smilin%27_Jack
According to correspondence in 2018 between daughter of Zack Mosley, Jill Mosley, and this web logger, the “Lil'” was short for “Little” and not for a particular woman’s name, like Lily. So the woman depicted on the B-24D could be any one of the “De-icers” in the comic series, or perhaps even a completely unrelated image. Reckon one would have to read through all the early Smilin’ Jack comics to find a match, if there is one.
Smilin’ Jack website at: http://www.smilinjackart.com/
Of note, during World War II a series of shorts films was produced, known as “The Adventures of Smilin’ Jack.” The series premiered on 5 January 1943 with this story line: “Just before World War II, the Chinese and American governments mount a joint operation to prevent the Germans and Japanese from taking over the strategic island of Mandon.”
Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0035611/?ref_=tt_mv_close
So, there’s a little bit of background on some Valentine-like nose art and the story behind the “Lil’ De-icer” name on B-24D 41-11836 which flew the tough mission over Ploesti, Romania, on that first Sunday in August, 1943.
Festung Ploesti: The American Air Campaign over Romania, 1942-1944 