Death Patrol (Quality Universe)

{{DC Database:Team Template
 * Image                  =
 * OfficialName           = Death Patrol
 * Aliases                =


 * Status                 = Defunct
 * Identity               =
 * Alignment              = Good
 * Universe               = Quality Universe
 * BaseOfOperations       = an aerodrome in Britain


 * TeamLeaders            = Colonel Rider, Del van Dyne


 * Allies                 = Allied military forces
 * Enemies                = Nazi military forces


 * Origin                 =


 * Quotation              = What about all the WORKERS in the FACTORY ?!  They’re LOCKED IN !!  Our fight isn’t with the German people .. it’s with the NAZIS !!
 * Speaker                = Del van Dyne
 * QuoteSource            = Military Comics Vol 1 5


 * PlaceOfFormation       = an aerodrome near London
 * PlaceOfDefunction      =
 * Creators               = Jack Cole
 * First                  = Military Comics #1
 * Last                   =


 * HistoryText            = The Death Patrol was a ragtag group of volunteer pilots fighting Nazi oppression in Europe and across the European Theater of WWII.  Most of the founding members of the Patrol were escaped convicts, and their striped uniforms were designed to commemorate this.  The Death Patrol’s famous insignia was a skull wearing a hat.

Right after getting fired from his airline pilot job, Del Van Dyne, millionaire owner of his own Stratoliner, got hijacked by five escaping convicts, all of whom claimed to be ace pilots, and who ordered him to fly to Boston. He instead flew to England, and along the way persuaded these desperados to fight for the R.A.F., as “a foreign legion of the air.” They arrived in English airspace during a German bombing raid, and managed to destroy one German bomber by using an improbable tactic: dropping two oildrums onto it, in mid-air. Some R.A.F. officers saw this, and were very anxious to recruit all six of them.

Early on, there was friction between the British regular military, especially their commanding officer Colonel Rider, and the unruly convicts, but they accomplished several very difficult assignments, and eventually earned the grudging respect of the established military authorities.

This unit suffered severe attrition during its career, losing one member in nearly every adventure.

CurrentMembers

 * Del van Dyne, former airline pilot, founding member
 * Butch O’Keefe, ex-safe-cracker, founding member, apparently died in Military Comics Vol 1 4.
 * Gramps, ex-pickpocket, founding member
 * Hank, ex-rustler, founding member
 * Chief Chuckalug, ex-rodeo performer, joined in Military Comics Vol 1 4.
 * King Hotintot, exiled ruler, joined in Military Comics Vol 1 5.

FormerMembers

 * Peewee, ex-forger, founding member, died in Military Comics Vol 1 1.
 * Stoney Rock, ex-arsonist, joined in Military Comics Vol 1 2, died in Military Comics Vol 1 2.
 * Slick Ward, ex-con-man, founding member, died in Military Comics Vol 1 3.
 * Zazzy, kleptomaniac, joined in Military Comics Vol 1 3, died in Military Comics Vol 1 5.


 * Equipment              =
 * Transportation         =
 * , with RAF insignia, starting in Military Comics Vol 1 2
 * Six s, with RAF insignia, starting in Military Comics Vol 1 3
 * Six individualistically self-designed fighter planes, with the death’s-head insignias, starting in Military Comics Vol 1 4
 * Weapons                =
 * Weapons                =

}}
 * Notes                  =
 * Del Van Dyne learned German in college.
 * The “skull with hat” insignias were introduced in Military Comics Vol 1 4. Each member had an individualized logo, in which the skull’s hat resembled the member’s own hat.
 * Trivia                 =
 * Links                  =