JG1 in Normandy - Friedrich Zanders Blue 22

 

 

During its time in Normandy after the invasion, the Gruppenstab of III./JG1changed its markings from white numerals to blue. There's photos of Blue 22 and Blue 23 that shows this practice which is also confirmed by the loss lists. 

The photos of Blue 22  shows the area below the cockpit up to and including the numerals and a part behind the Balkenkreuz. The camouflage and stencils proves that Blue 22 was built by Mtt Regensburg and the III./JG1 loss lists shows several aircraft in the 165.xxx W.Nr batch. 

Details in the paintwork seems to confirm this, pointing towards the tall tail version found within the 165.xxx batch. I've finished the profile accordingly. Although markings were simple during the Normandy campaign, most aircraft seems to have had spinner spirals applied as it was an important I.D. marking.

 

Bf109G-6/AS of JG11

 This Bf109G-6/AS from II./JG11 was found by allied troops at Bernay in France, abandoned more or less intact by the looks of if. The camouflage is heavily modified, something that one would expect from a former Reich defense unit going into the battle of Normandy. Interestingly though, II./JG11 seems to have been modifying their G-6/AS' camofalge long before the invasion. A similar scheme can be seen already in the spring of 1944 on another II./JG11 Bf109G-6/AS

Bf109G-14 of Jakob Vogel at the Battle of Britain pub, Gravesend.

Browsing through the LEMB section "Luftarchaeology & surviving parts" I discovered photos taken by member and moderator Clint Mitchell depicting a fin and rudder from a Bf109G, that is on display at the Battle of Britain pub in Gravesend outside London. The history of this relic was not completely clear as the W.Nr wasn't decipherable. Seeing that the detail in the photos proved this relic to be from a Bf109G-6 or G-14 in either the 412-413 or 460-462 range built by Erla, it was at least possible to narrow down the search somewhat. On a hunch I did some searching in Marc-André Haldimann photo archive and soon realized that there was an aircraft within that W.Nr range that had been brought to Farnborough, namely Black 7, W.Nr 413601, that Jakob Vogel of 8./JG1 bellylanded behind British lines in Normandy on July 22, 1944. 

Examining photos of this aircraft, both from the bellylanding and recovery as well as one photo taken in a hangar at Farnborugh it quickly became apparent that the mottle is identical with that on the fin and rudder displayed at the Battle of Britain pub. So, somehow, Jakob Vogels Bf109G-14 that came down in Normandy almost 70 years ago, ended up on a wall in Gravesend and is still there today. A wonderful relic.  

Picture courtesy of Clint Mitchell 

EDIT: I've changed the outline to the numeral from white to yellow as yellow outlines seems to have been standard in 8./JG1. One picture of Black 7 is overexposed, the other is slightly out of focus so it's hard to determine the actual outline color. Photos of both earlier and later 109's from the unit does clearly show a yellow outline though.

Info about the pub where the rudder is located can be found here: http://www.battle-of-britain.eu/

JG3 Bf109G-6s in Normandie with green tailbands

A JG3 shield combined with a green fuselageband seems like a strange combination! A B&W photograph of this aircraft shows the dark tailband to good effect and intelligence reports on captured enemy aircraft in Normandy shows that several aircraft were found wearing the JG3 shield and a green fuselageband.

The most likely explantion would seem to be that JG27 aircraft were transferred to other units in Normandie and given the hectic and chaotic situation, new individual markings were added while the bands remained in place.