As noted in my first document the main origin Ive found for the fictional creature of the Gremlin comes from the myth created by pilots during world war one and world war two. In this document I want to research further some areas I didnt get to cover and how I could possibly use this research moving forward.
Gremlins Superstion among pilots
It cant fully be pinpointed which pilot started using the term gremlin, but it is thought the term started being used in 1920s from RAF pilots operating in Malta, the middle east and India. Though the popularity of the term could have come from the use in a British magazine in 1917, the spectator a British magazine printed in one of its issues “the old Royal Naval Air Service in 1917 and the newly constituted Royal Air Force in 1918 have detected the existence of a horde of mysterious and malicious spirits whose purpose in life was…to bring about as many as possible of the inexplicable mishaps which, in those days as now, trouble an airman’s life.”.
I found this paragraph from the website https://www.historynet.com/gremlins.htm which doesn't actually back up this paragraph with any sort of source or reference but I just love the narrative it presents.
"With the advent of the Industrial Revolution, gremlin ancestors began to acquire and hone skills as craftsmen, benevolently helping Robert Fulton perfect his steamboat, Benjamin Franklin in his kite-flying electrical experiments, and so forth. But with the dawn of the air age in the early 20th century, gremlins metamorphosed into something more sinister. When World War I broke out, inexplicable events began to occur in and around the new flying machines, a sure sign that this particular strain of medieval gnome had quite literally spread its wings and flown into the latest technology."
The myth of these small mischievous creatures began to go international during World war 2 especially after the events of the battle of Britain, which saw American and Canadian air pilots join the ranks of the RAF. It is believed this is where pilots would exchange stories of mischievous gremlins dismantling their planes.
Gremlins Nose Art on Planes
During world war 2 many pilot teams of bombers and fighter planes used Gremlin imagery and names for their planes. This is due to the popularity of the term Gremlin used in the air force. The imagery would be incorporated in nose art on the plane. Nose art was common thing of the time in which piloting teams would personalise their plane with a name and a logo on by the front of the plane. Typically this would be a scantily clad women but in some cases like seen below they can be creatures or animals. Walt Disney studios actually designed one of these, with one American plane a 388BG Fortress using an a character called Gremlin Gus from an unfinished animated film. They also designed a Fifnella emblem for WASPs, 91BG Fort and some B24 Liberators.
Full list of planes that use Gremlins in name and nose art -
Big Gremlin 43-35420 UC-64A Norseman 387th Bomb Squadron
Gerty the Gremlin 42-7649 B-24H-1-FO 446th Bomb Group, 707th Bomb Squadron
The Gremlin 41-24110 B-24D-20 11th Bomb Group, 42nd Bomb Squadron
The Gremlin 42-5145 B-17F-35-BO 301st Bomb Group, 32nd Bomb Squadron
The Gremlin 42-104200 P-38J-15-LO 367th Fighter Group
Gremlin 41-24035 B-24D-15-CO 376th Bomb Group. 514th Bomb Squadron
Gremlin Castle B-17 99th Bomb Group
Gremlin Garage B-25 12th Bomb Group
Gremlin Gus 42-5904 B-17F-30-VE 388th Group, 560th Squadron
Gremlin Gus II 42-30595 B-17F-110-BO 388th Group, 560th Squadron
Gremlin's Castle C-87
Gremlin's Haven 42-40653 B-24D-85-CO 5th Bomb Group, 394th Bomb Squadron
Gremlin's Holiday 41-30041 B-25D-5 345th Bomb Group
Gremlin's Roost 41-29601 B-24H-1-CF 486th Bomb Group, 832nd Bomb Squadron
Gremlin's Roost 44-49577 B-24L-10-FO 392nd Bomb Group, 579th Bomb Squadron
Gremlins 391st Bomb Group
Gremlins' Castle 41-18264 B-26B-10-MA 17th Bomb Group, 37th Bomb Squadron
Grisley Gus Gremlin B-25 12th Bomb Group, 83rd Bomb Squadron
Jersey The Gremlin B-24
Red Gremlin (The) 41-24444 B-17F-10-BO 97th Bomb Group
Unknown Gremlins unknown B-17F
Roald Dahl's Gremlins
One of the first pieces of media to be published to use this new idea of Gremlins as this small creature that terrorises pilots came from the mind of Roald Dahl. During the second world war Roald Dahl enlisted into the Royal Air Force where he would pilot a Hawker Hurricane fighter. In 1940 his plane would crash in Libya's western desert, he suffered several injuries due to this crash including severe injuries to his head, back and nose. He would spend six months in hospital until he recovered though he would still experience debilitating headaches due to the crash and was deemed unfit to continue flying in the air force. In April 1942 he was posted at the Washington DC and joined the British embassy as an air attaché. He would continue on to become a spy working for a division in the MI6. It is here where he would even meet Ian Fleming who would later go on to write the books that gave birth to James Bond. While working in the US Dahl met the novelist CS Forester who persuaded him to write about his experience in Libya during the war, starting his writing career.
Dahl would then go on to write stories featuring gremlins (that he would mostly hear stories of during his time serving in the RAF) that would be published in short magazine until it would be picked up by Disney and would be published into a short children book. In the book the gremlins are little creatures responsible for mechanical failures on aeroplanes. The story would see the main character of Gus discover the existence of these creatures, he would later go on to tame the small creatures and persuade them to help him fly his aeroplane.
Moving Forward with this
Moving forward I would love to explore an idea that would use elements of the whole myth and story of small mischievous creatures that cause problems on aeroplanes during the World wars. I think you could easily build a world off of it and not even be stuck to the time frame of the world wars this easily could be built into a game that's set on a commercial modern day flight where passengers would have to deal with creatures terrorising the flight. Possibly go even one step further and set the game in distant future where gremlins terrorise a space flight. Either way personally I feel this area could be a great area to explore and concept game ideas out of.