Hermann Grafs JG11 Bf109G-5

 

Today I'm posting two versions of an aircraft flown by Hermann Graf while serving as a Geschwaderkommodore of JG11 in the winter of 1943 - 1944. W.Nr 15729 was delievered as a G-5 with pressurized cockpit but with the replacement of the canopy, the pressurization would no longer work so perhaps it should be called a G-6 then? Regardless, the camouflage is the most interesting point about this aircraft. 

Given the traces of mottle behind the swastika and W.Nr, it is likely that this G-5 was delievered in a regular Erla style 74/75/76 camouflage. When taken over by the Geshwaderstab of JG11 it was seemingly given an allround coat of RLM 76 that was then toned down with a medium blue-grey colour, darker than 76 but lighter than 75. That's a description that fits RLM 77 but if that was the actual colour used is not known. 

The spinner of Grafs aircraft is often depicted as being RLM 70 but I have not found any pictures supporting that. The only picture showing the spinner of a similarly painted JG11 aircraft shows it as I have depicted it, sprayed in RLM 76 while mounted on the aircraft so that 76 have gone onto the prop blades as well.

A photo in one of Priens "Jagdfliegerverbände" series shows an angle not normally seen of this aircraft. It shows a dark, narrow tailband like that used by II./JG11 in 1943, toned down just as the chevrons and Balkenkreuz as depicted in the first profile.

What must be a later photo shows a somewhat wider band that looks much cleaner, likely added at a later time. This would be the yellow fuselage band used by JG11 from early 1944. That is also how this aircraft is usually depicted. I've elected to keep the RLM 76 spinner but in theory, there's a chance that a black spinner with a spiral would have been added when the yellow tailband was added. 

This post was inspired by this Falke Eins blogpost containing an extract of Berthold Jochims biography of Herman Graf and his time with JG11. It includes a description of this aircraft. The idea that the camouflage was done like this to mimic a P-51 in natural metal finish is quite possibly a post war construction as I believe that P-51's were only seen in natural metal finishes later in the war.    

When writing about this aircraft it's hard to not mention the quality of the chevrons. It's quite amazing that the aircraft flown by one of Germanys top aces at the time has the sloppiest markings ever known to have been painted on a German fighter. Now, I have no evidence of this but I like this idea so much that I have to mention it. Graf was known for trying to attach as many prominent German football players to his units as possible in order to save them from front line service. They were put to work as mechanics instead so I can't help but wonder if these chevrons were painted on by a couple of guys who were as bad at painting as they were good at football!? 

If you want to know more I can really suggest you try and find a copy of "Graf and Grislawski - a pair of aces" by Christer Bergström. It's an excellent book and it's how I learned about Grafs passion for football.