9./ZG26 Historical Images

[jojovtx]

Does anybody know of a book or website that I can find 110 paint schemes specifically 9./ZG26 during BoF/BoB and beyond? Google has not been kind to me thus far. I would like to have a set of 4 skins made for my squad but want them to be historically accurate. I thought it would be 3U AR 3U BR 3U CR and 3U DR with yellow markings but I've also seen green. Also during the med and nord afrika I've seen plenty of images with the 2 chevrons and the cockerel on the nose but havnt seen that with reference to BoB.

Anyone who could help me with this research and skins I would much appreciate it.

[csThor]

There's not much and all pics I've found do not show the two chevrons during BoB - this seems to be a feature of 1941 for all of III./ZG 26.

[aelius]

Here are two pictures from Vasco and Estanislau showing the 9./ZG26 in 1941

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and another of 7./ZG26 in 1940 to give you an idea of how 3U + AR might have looked.

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It's a reminder of how satisfying it would be for a model D to be configured in Cliffs of Dover.

[jojovtx]

So why is the 9./ZG26 110 showing 3U LT? I see that it is in yellow. Man this stuff is so confusing. As organised as the Germans were in WW2 they sure didn't seem to have much in the way of standard for aircraft markings.

[aelius]

My own understanding is tenuous at best, but "3U" designates the unit code (ZG26); "L" the letter of the aircraft in the color of the Staffel, which is yellow; and "T" 9 Staffel.

As Ilya and company say in the Pilot's Notes to Cliffs of Dover: "The tactical markings system for the Luftwaffe in WWII must have been designed by a mad genius."

[csThor]

And if you think there was order in the german system ... forget it. While researching the units, markings and emblems for CloD I stumbled across numerous exceptions to the standard rules ... for example I./KG 1 continued to use the tactical codes of a IV. Gruppe (it had been IV./KG 255 before). Same goes for a number of Stuka units and even some destroyers. The BoB, in that respect, was pretty wild and chaotic since a lot of units had been amalgamated into new units right before the battle.

[SNAFU]

That seem to reflect the amateurish organization of the LW and its aristrocratic affectation quite well, or not? (At least compared to Dowdings staff.)

[csThor]

No really. In fact it's simply a sign of restructuring. The peace-time unit designation system was based on the static Luftgaue (or Luftflotten) - which was simply too inflexible for a war. The Battle of France had shown that unified Geschwader structures were better than individual Gruppen assigned to "foreign" Stäbe ... a unified Geschwader identity did not only promise better morale and cohesion but also simplified supply and operational details.