Army

Gregor Duncan was drafted into the Army Air Force (AAF) on July 9, 1942 and was sent to Atlantic City, New Jersey for basic training. Much of the training took place in old hotels commandeered by the military. During his time in Atlantic City, Duncan began doing cartoons and illustrations almost immediately, with work appearing in BEAM, a military newspaper. Duncan’s main work during this period appears to have been At Ease, a humorous panel cartoon aimed at the trials and tribulations of those in the Air Corps. It is interesting to note, by the signatures on the At Ease cartoons, that Duncan moved up rather quickly through the ranks, going from Private to Corporal, and again to Sergeant, in seemingly short order. He eventually wound up as an E-5 Staff Sergeant.

Duncan was next assigned to the USAAF Flight Control Command, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where he drew training manual illustrations and another cartoon feature. Duncan was next moved into public relations, working for the Technical Training Command (TTC) at Lowry Field, in Colorado. From there, Duncan was transferred to Tarpon Springs, Florida, where he helped document a survival training experiment for the AAF School of Applied Tactics. Duncan was finally sent to Chanute Field in Illinois, a training facility for those who worked on and flew planes. Duncan’s work was done for publicity and training, and showed his breadth as an artist. Soon after his time at Chanute Field, Duncan accepted a position for Stars and Stripes, and was shipped overseas.

Gregor Duncan joined the illustrious staff of Stars and Stripes on December 14, 1943, and contributed various assignments for the paper, from field studies and recreations of battle scenes, to maps and comic strips. Duncan was killed in action on May 29th, 1944, when he and Sgt. Jack Raymond were sent to Anzio to gather material for a new series of drawings on the former beachhead. While on the way to Anzio, the Jeep that Duncan and Raymond were driving was hit by an German 88 shell. Raymond survived, but Duncan was killed, due to shell fragment wounds.