6:55 This is based on the „Preußische Farbfolge“ (Prussian Color Sequence) for the marking of units. It goes: I. = white, II. = red, III. = yellow, IV. = blue, V. = green, VI. = black (sometimes brown). It was introduced in 1818 and remained in effect until 1918, but was used casually after 1918 in the German army. Even during my time in the Bundeswehr equipment of the platoons was marked with colors according to the Prussian Color Sequence. Maybe that was, because white, red and yellow paint was readily available because these colors were coincidentally used for other tasks within the Bundeswehr.
Gotta commend you on the perfect pronunciation of Jagdgeschwader. Was a pleasant surprise to hear from an English speaker and definitely the best I have ever heard! Keep up the great work
@@SpruesNBrews This is a textbook example of how to turn 2-3 minutes of content into a quarter of an hour to milk those TH-cam analytics. Unfortunately when feeding the alg god you do so at a significant cost to your viewers. 104,000 views of 13.1m per viewer is 22,706 hours, wasting 17,333 hours of peoples lives just to please TH-cam and bilk some scammy advertising bucks they probably won't pay out on or demonetize you before paying up anyway. That's 722 days, just shy of TWO YEARS of wasted life. For what?
I've been fixing these aircraft models since I was 12. It has always irked me as to what all those numbers and chevrons mean. I think this is the first and only video delving into a difficult and obscure (but interesting to modellers) subject such as this.
Again my friend, Outstanding video!!!! It's good to know what these insignias all mean on these aircraft. You don't happen to have any information like this for armor vehicles? I'm just asking. You the man brother. Thank you so much for sharing. Kudos to you.
This is an awesome video. It gives information that I have never seen anywhere else. Kudos to you for your selection of topic and the research you did to present it.
Thank you for this video. When I was growing up in the late 1960's and into 1970's, I used to build models like crazy and laterI would buy books for which types of models to build. And I read every book that was released on the Luftwaffe and it's markings However I am now 66 and I'm going to begin building models again. Just as an aside, I bought a BF-109 F2. I wanted the Trop model, but it was out of my price range. I figure that somewhere out there, there is an aftermarket site out there that has the parts I need. Please keep putting out these videos. And since I am now a geezer, I have forgotten a good part of what I once knew. Horrido!
Bit late but im interested to hear about quality of the models now conpared to the 70s. Did it improve or change in any way? Or they look and feel the same as they did 50 years ago? Cheers
Outstanding video! I had a vague idea of what these markings meant but this explained alot. The Germans always had super organization and symbology for all of their military units. WW2 German Aircraft have always been my favorite to model.
Eastern und Scandinavian theatre had yellow fuselage bands. Not white ones. Chevrons etc. were later replaced by green numbers (Stabsstaffel). There were also brown used for third Staffeln und blue for fourth Staffeln.
So if I point out someone is wrong I get deleted? Classic. Sad that someone’s ego is that fragile, didn’t know, sorry. Jg300 used red bands, it’s a fact. Nothing personal.
@@TheJnewboy The Defence of the Reich bands were different from the theater of war bands. They were broader. They had a width of 900 mm. It had consisted of on or two colors. If two colors the stripes could be Color1/Color2 (45/45cm) or Color1/Color2/Color1 (30/30/30 cm). Exeption were the former KG (Kampfgeschwader= bomber units) that were transformed into JG (Jagdgeschwader = Fighter Groups). These had 2 Colors in chequered layout. for example, your mentioned green band was for JG 27. The red band was not for bomber duty but stands for JG 1.
@@SpruesNBrews sorry for answering late: A good resource for german markings are the books from Merrick "Luftwaffe camouflage and markins" or the book from Ullmann: "Luftwaffe Colours"
Hello Sir! Thank you for this very informative video. I have been wondering a long time how to read these markings. Thank you for solving this "mystery"!
Great video and super informative! Reading a book now about Luftwaffe operations in North Africa and this has gone a long way towards increasing my understanding!
Wow! That was cool! I always wondered what all the marking are on all the WW2 aircraft and this is the FIRST video that provided instruction! I hope you do more of these. Thank you!!
Very interesting and I learned something. Now, I think(?) I can interpret the various insignia as shown in the book "Luftwaffe Fighter Aircraft In Profile" by Sundin and Bergstrom (1997) which gives a brief history of the pilots and color illustratrations of the fighter aircraft they flew. Great video and thanks for the historical information.
Thank you for this vid, it explains so much of what confused me over the years regarding Luftwaffe staffel and unit markings, I just hope it doesnt cause early onset of OCDC lol.
Thank you for explaining these WW 2 German aircraft markings. I've built plenty of models of these planes before and never knew what all those markings were for. It makes me wonder who ever came up with the idea behind them.
It is challenging to denote white or yellow markings in black and white photos unless accompanied with captions. Google Luftwaffe WW2 markings. War birdsrescourcegroup has an extensive page covering unit markings through the course of the war.
@@SpruesNBrews You think it's tricky to differentiate between white and yellow markings in black and white photos? Wait until you meet red, brown and blue. Then there's orange which may have been rarely used or not at all.
Sometimes yes, but the Germans mostly used orthochromatiic film. On those photographic films, yellow and red show up much darker and thus can readily be differentiated from white.
That's just the default scheme now. It only got complicated when some groups were upgraded to four squadrons or the groups were spread over several theaters of war. Or generally groups and squadrons were re-formed. Some pilots kept their old markings when transferred or promoted. Pilots from the squadron staff also flew with anonymous machines, since the allies also knew the marking scheme and therefore did not want to give a special target or officially banned from flying. The bands on the fuselage of the machines were recognition marks for all machines and countries that flew on the German side. So if you see an Italian Macchi MC.202 with yellow stripes, you can find out the time and place of the recording relatively accurately. As fewer and fewer countries fought on the German side from mid-1944, these bands lost their original meaning and they were then used as squadron identification.
Not quite. Yes, they were identifiers for axis fighters, but still theatre based. Italian fighters in Russia showed yellow vands, while the ones flying at home, i.e. the Mediterranean theatre, wore white bands. Most nations in league with tge Germans wore yellow fuselage bands only because they were operating on the eastern front. Only the Italian aircraft taking part in the Battle of Britain wore yellow cowlings, but at that point of thime, there was no eastern nor Mediterranean theatres.
Excellent , always wonder the meaning of this symbols, ...more than 40 years in scale modeling aircraft , ( near 50 german aircrafts ) and never find this superb detailed information, great job ...¡¡¡¡¡
I find it interesting that the planes had signifiers indicating the rank of the person flying the plane. It seems like that would needlessly expose the higher ranked officer to enemy fire.
Yeah I hear ya - I think in practice, though, Allied fighters wouldn't really have time to pick & choose targets based on what markings they could pick out on enemy fighters... it would all be too fast!
Just found your channel (and subscribed) huge WW2 fighter plane fan and model builder (or collector, I'm not sure!) This is a very, very interesting topic and quite confusing!
An easy toi read primer on Luftwaffe markings of WW2 and the years leading up to it can be found in Volumes 16 to 18 of Wings of Fame. These markings were the 3rd or 4th system for aircraft markings adopted by fighter units. Initially, just after WW1 they used Luftfahrzeugrolle B which consisted of the letter D followed by a serial number with various dividers between the D and the numbers including dots and hyphens. This system lasted to around 1934 when an all letter code was introduced, similar to what we see on today's civil aircraft, with the first letter identifying the all up weight of the aircraft. 2 years later we have an alphanumeric system with the first 2 characters identifying the unit, for example JG132 (by WW2 this had become JG2) having 21 as the first 2 characters. The unit designation indicates a lot as well. JG indicates a fighter unit, 1 indicates that it is the most senior unit of its type in the region it is based in, 3 superfluously indicates it is a fighter unit and the 2 indicates it is from Luftreiskommando II (ie the Berlin-Bradenburg region). No sooner had this system come into place for all military aircraft that it was changed for the fighter squadrons to the markings familiar in WW2 but with colourful noses, JG132, for example had red noses. But hardly had the paint dried was the Bf.109 introduced into service and the painted noses became history and the colours being transferred to the aircraft identification number in white, red, or yellow depending on which staffed the aircraft was in. These numbers were originally only half the height of the cross but later became the same height. Care must also be taken as there were many anomalies in the German system of markings. For example the is a photograph of an FW.190 of I/JG51 that has 3 vertical bars in front of the fuselage cross for which no one now knows the reason. This unit also put the theatre banding behind the fuselage cross. The German bomber markings are also complicated.
Incredible! Amazed! U must be proud. Erick Hartmann had (2) daughters, as I know. Did he had a son? (If he didn't have one, then U must be some kind of a nephew to him. I myself am a Greek Revolution hero's nephew, descenting from a cousin of his, many generations ago.)
I tend to stick with any numbered "13", much like the Fw 190D from JV44 "Red 13", Heinz Bär and his Fw 190A, also "Red 13", then you have Günther Rall and his Bf 109G-2 "Black 13".... Helmut Tiedmann's Bf 109E-4 "Black 13" was a colourful machine....😎
At the 09:30 mark where the Center picture was stated to be Garlands 109, it’s hard to make out but it looks like it may have the Mickey Mouse on the side below the canopy that he always added to what ever aircraft he was assigned too.
This is great! Is there a similar scenario for aircraft with letters? Some of my late war Me-262s have a red X while another has a white J on the side.
Great question! Now I can't say with 100% certainty, but I believe that the alpha codes like this were in reference to these aircraft being used previously among either training or bombing squadrons, respectively. Luftwaffe bomber organizations used alphabetic markings rather than the symbolic markings of the fighter forces, and I believe the "x" denoted a training aircraft hope that helps!
The first two letters of the code, in front of the cross denoted the unit the aircraft was from, the third one was the individual aircraft "number", again in white, black, yellow or blue, and the fourth denoted the group it flew in.
Am I correct in assuming these graphics were used mostly to make it easier to form and reform units in the air? And were these designations continued late into the war when units were being decimated in combat, making shuffling among units a constant necessity?
Good questions! Yes - the general numbering/chevron system was designed to help with mid-air identification. And they did continue to use this system through to the end of the war, but to your point it quickly became a lot less uniform as losses grew & units shifted around. Generally speaking your veteran fliers still carried lower numbers (or chevrons for group leaders) through to the end, but you do start seeing much higher numbers (and sometimes no numbers at all) later in '44 & '45 👍
Yoe are totally correct. And yes, the system was retained right to the end. Aircraft were not shuffled around that much, only the pilots. But it happened, as many late war aircraft with crudely overpainted numbes show. The only thing tha changed was that the chevrons were no longer used and made way for green numerals.
fabulous content!!!! or USN during midway and corral seas ops. The tail code striping always puzzled me.(which is easy to do lol). I've seen two red stripes on a dauntless which i believe is a marine commander aircraft. not sure why the navy and marine's switch back and forth from white striping's to red. inner rivalries between USN and USMC maybe. both operated units from carriers in the pacific. Again thank you so much.
I’m in a kind of second or third phase of improving my modeling skills. When I first started I just slapped decals on wherever I thought they looked cool so I have a bf 109 I built when I was about 14-15 that has black double chevrons with a black horizontal bar but also has a white 12.silly me
As everything among Luftwaffe, there were so many exceptions, that this video can serve as a basic knowledge source. Nevertheless, it's a good quality video
My grandpa was a member of the 3rd SS Luftflotte Division "Gottlieb Wendehals". He said that the sign means "go there. There is enemy. Plz dont fly backwards"
Considering that "Ordnung", or "Order", is like a national characteristic of Germany, I was surprised how messy was apparently the marking system for the wing commander. The emblems I can get, since - if I understand correctly - they weren't exactly official markings, and when you have so many people marking their affiliation, it's unavoidable that some will prioritize the wing, while others will prefer to denote their squadron, but the fact that the wing commander markings were so all over the place genuinely surprised me. Especially since it's not just variations of the same symbol, like single chevron + horizontal bar / horizontal arrow, but the combination of single/double chevron, vertical/horizontal bars, as well as some having a second bar behind the cross, while others don't, where all these seem to be a mix of markings from almost all other ranks, as well as from different organizational levels, seems very... uncharacteristic of the Germans. I would expect them to use a more unified system, like Jg command uses double chevron, Gruppe command uses single chevron, and then other symbology denotes individual ranks, and individual aircraft just use the numbering + pretty much the system you've described. Instead, the command ranks markings are an absolute mess, and I wonder if there was any reason for it.
Some Jagdgeschwader became notorious so that they had also very notorious identifying markers. JG 26, Schlageter, were so famous for their prowess, they were dubbed by the allies as the "yellow-nosed bastards" due to the yellow paint on the aircraft nose. This identifiyer was unique to JG 26.
No, that's actually wrong. The Luftwaffe high command issued an order in August 1940 to ALL fighter wings to put on those identifying markings to reduce the amount of friendly fire. By no means were they only used by JG 26. Just look at any pictures of 109s from that timeframe and you'll see.
Question: why was Hans Joachim Marseille’s 109 “Yellow 14”, even after becoming Staffelkapitan of 3./JG27? Wouldn’t it have been repainted to be “Yellow 1” (or paint over the “4”)?
How strict was the "personal aircraft" practice in the Luftwaffe? Did all pilots always fly the same aircraft? In British squadrons I think you flew what was available on a given day, though wing commanders did have personal aircraft.
A great question! My understanding is that it was sort of an honor/seniority system within Jagdgeschwader & individual Staffel. Kommodore, Staffelkapitan & their staff would usually claim their own aircraft (and often decorate them with personal livery), and then within the pilot corps pilots would rotate between aircraft. I know in Adam Makos' novel "A Higher Call," there's reference to pilots sort of claiming "dibs" on certain aircraft but allowing other pilots to fly them when they were off-duty. Hope that helps
Normally pilots got assigned their personal aircraft, together with it's own ground crew. But it wasn't strict. And when a pilot was on leave ot sick etc., it might be flown by a newcomer instead.
Great question! I haven't heard of points specifically being awarded or denied for marking accuracy to this extent, but it's good practice to at least make your markings follow some logical & historical rules to be convincing on the showroom floor 👍
Putting a big black circle over the you know what symbol on the vertical stab, makes things a bit confusing for those who might not be super familiar with WWII luftwaffe markings. I don’t know why censoring aWWII marking is necessary at all
Really? I highly doubt there are many aviation people out there who do not know about the Hakenkreuz. Those who aren't interested in aviation - it does not matter. Same as it does not matter everyone should know Pearl Harbor Zeroes ain't painted white as seen in Tora! Tora! Tora!
Just a note: when speaking German or German terms, 'S' sounds use a 'shhhh' sound. Thus, in the case of Stabschwarm, it would be pronounsec 'SHHTab Shwarm'.
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6:55 This is based on the „Preußische Farbfolge“ (Prussian Color Sequence) for the marking of units. It goes: I. = white, II. = red, III. = yellow, IV. = blue, V. = green, VI. = black (sometimes brown). It was introduced in 1818 and remained in effect until 1918, but was used casually after 1918 in the German army. Even during my time in the Bundeswehr equipment of the platoons was marked with colors according to the Prussian Color Sequence. Maybe that was, because white, red and yellow paint was readily available because these colors were coincidentally used for other tasks within the Bundeswehr.
Well, I am more of the Panzer guru but this makes sense with my readings, The most recent reading was by Heinrich Ehrler,
Gotta commend you on the perfect pronunciation of Jagdgeschwader. Was a pleasant surprise to hear from an English speaker and definitely the best I have ever heard! Keep up the great work
Oh thank you! Trying my best... all the audiobooks are definitely helpful! 😅 And thank you for watching 👍
What? People don't know how to say this? Damn I'm surprised.
Yup, it's refreshing not hearing luftwaffle and the like 😂
@@SpruesNBrews This is a textbook example of how to turn 2-3 minutes of content into a quarter of an hour to milk those TH-cam analytics. Unfortunately when feeding the alg god you do so at a significant cost to your viewers. 104,000 views of 13.1m per viewer is 22,706 hours, wasting 17,333 hours of peoples lives just to please TH-cam and bilk some scammy advertising bucks they probably won't pay out on or demonetize you before paying up anyway. That's 722 days, just shy of TWO YEARS of wasted life. For what?
Not a fan when the secondary national emblem is left off of the tail.
The way you present info is pretty clear and really easy to follow
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed 👍
Yes, but he forgot to tell us wat the black circle on the tail fin stands for.
👍👍OUTSTANDING! Rarely have I come across a vid on ANY topic which is so clear and concise. 👍👍👍
Thank you!! I really appreciate it!!
I've been fixing these aircraft models since I was 12. It has always irked me as to what all those numbers and chevrons mean. I think this is the first and only video delving into a difficult and obscure (but interesting to modellers) subject such as this.
I'm glad to hear it - I felt the same way! Thank you 👍
Again my friend, Outstanding video!!!! It's good to know what these insignias all mean on these aircraft. You don't happen to have any information like this for armor vehicles? I'm just asking. You the man brother. Thank you so much for sharing. Kudos to you.
Thank you very much! Glad you enjoyed - and that's a great idea, I'd love to make one of these for armor. Good call! 👍
This is helpful for someone who hasn’t modeled much German aircraft, like me!
I'm glad to hear - thank you! Happy Building 👍
This is an awesome video. It gives information that I have never seen anywhere else. Kudos to you for your selection of topic and the research you did to present it.
Thank you very much - I really appreciate it! 👍
Thank you for this video. When I was growing up in the late 1960's and into 1970's, I used to build models like crazy and laterI would buy books for which types of models to build. And I read every book that was released on the Luftwaffe and it's markings However I am now 66 and I'm going to begin building models again. Just as an aside, I bought a BF-109 F2. I wanted the Trop model, but it was out of my price range. I figure that somewhere out there, there is an aftermarket site out there that has the parts I need. Please keep putting out these videos. And since I am now a geezer, I have forgotten a good part of what I once knew. Horrido!
Bit late but im interested to hear about quality of the models now conpared to the 70s. Did it improve or change in any way? Or they look and feel the same as they did 50 years ago? Cheers
German markings are extremely organized and show strandings and class. Great job, I always wondered about those markings.😎
Outstanding video! I had a vague idea of what these markings meant but this explained alot. The Germans always had super organization and symbology for all of their military units. WW2 German Aircraft have always been my favorite to model.
Thank you very much - I'm glad to hear it was helpful!
Being a BF109 / luft nerd, I’m extremely pleased to see this video. Great stuff Hank!.
I'm so glad to hear it - thank you!! I appreciate it 👍
Eastern und Scandinavian theatre had yellow fuselage bands. Not white ones.
Chevrons etc. were later replaced by green numbers (Stabsstaffel). There were also brown used for third Staffeln und blue for fourth Staffeln.
Thanks for the info! May I ask what reference material you found this in? I'd love to read more 👍
So if I point out someone is wrong I get deleted? Classic. Sad that someone’s ego is that fragile, didn’t know, sorry. Jg300 used red bands, it’s a fact. Nothing personal.
@@TheJnewboy The Defence of the Reich bands were different from the theater of war bands. They were broader. They had a width of 900 mm. It had consisted of on or two colors. If two colors the stripes could be Color1/Color2 (45/45cm) or Color1/Color2/Color1 (30/30/30 cm). Exeption were the former KG (Kampfgeschwader= bomber units) that were transformed into JG (Jagdgeschwader = Fighter Groups). These had 2 Colors in chequered layout. for example, your mentioned green band was for JG 27. The red band was not for bomber duty but stands for JG 1.
@@SpruesNBrews sorry for answering late: A good resource for german markings are the books from Merrick "Luftwaffe camouflage and markins" or the book from Ullmann: "Luftwaffe Colours"
@@TheJnewboy All over Germany? Which units? Have you any evidence? JG 300 was blue/white/blue
Hello Sir! Thank you for this very informative video. I have been wondering a long time how to read these markings. Thank you for solving this "mystery"!
I knew nothing about this subject until now. Very interesting and informative, subscribed, regards Lexi
Well researched and clearly explained. Those Germans sure had a complicated way of marking the aircraft.
Being a scale model builder, your info is priceless, and was presented well.
Awesome! I had no idea that there was so much organization behind the symbols, it's truly amazing!
Right? Pretty crazy!
Lest we forget. It's the Germans, everythings organised.
A whole series or videos on this topic would be epic.
Could be fun!
Thanks for this, as I’ve wondered for years what the fuselage markings on Luftwaffe meant.
Great! Glad to help!!
Great video and super informative! Reading a book now about Luftwaffe operations in North Africa and this has gone a long way towards increasing my understanding!
Ah great! I'm glad to hear it - enjoy your read!
I am saving this - that is an excellent description of markings!
Thank you! Glad to hear it!
A very instructive video, now I can correctly identify the German planes.
THANK YOU for posting this video. Learned quite a bit about the markings. So glad I found and subscribed to your channel!
Thank you for your support! Welcome aboard 👍
Wow! That was cool! I always wondered what all the marking are on all the WW2 aircraft and this is the FIRST video that provided instruction! I hope you do more of these.
Thank you!!
Thanks so much! I have a new episode that tanks about 8th Air Force markings if you'd like to check that out as well 👍
@@SpruesNBrewsYes! I found that after I subscribed! Thanks Again!
Very interesting and I learned something. Now, I think(?) I can interpret the various insignia as shown in the book "Luftwaffe Fighter Aircraft In Profile" by Sundin and Bergstrom (1997) which gives a brief history of the pilots and color illustratrations of the fighter aircraft they flew. Great video and thanks for the historical information.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed - there are always some exceptions, but this should be helpful in identifying most fighter symbols! 👍
Thank you for your description and explanations !
Very interesting !
Thank you for this vid, it explains so much of what confused me over the years regarding Luftwaffe staffel and unit markings, I just hope it doesnt cause early onset of OCDC lol.
Thank you for explaining these WW 2 German aircraft markings. I've built plenty of models of these planes before and never knew what all those markings were for.
It makes me wonder who ever came up with the idea behind them.
Good video. Clear explanation of a complicated subject. Keep posting more videos like this one.
Thanks very much! Glad you enjoyed - appreciate it! 👍
Man, I had no idea what any of that meant, would probably still fail a post video quiz.
Nice job.
Haha it's tricky! No worries
Good video, thanks! Won't remember any of it, so thank God I can save it for later!
Haha ain't that the truth!
It is challenging to denote white or yellow markings in black and white photos unless accompanied with captions.
Google Luftwaffe WW2 markings. War birdsrescourcegroup has an extensive page covering unit markings through the course of the war.
For sure! Definitely one of the tougher parts. Thanks for the recommendation - I'll check it out 👍
@@SpruesNBrews Your quite welcome. Your video was of top quality.
@@SpruesNBrews You think it's tricky to differentiate between white and yellow markings in black and white photos? Wait until you meet red, brown and blue. Then there's orange which may have been rarely used or not at all.
Sometimes yes, but the Germans mostly used orthochromatiic film. On those photographic films, yellow and red show up much darker and thus can readily be differentiated from white.
@@mimikurtz4061here's no orange colour specified in the RLM system, so probably not.
What sources did you used for your research?
Been looking for a book about the Luftwaffe structure, tactics etc.
Great job!!
Just what I was looking for. Thank you very much.
I'm really glad to hear it - thanks for watching!
That was amazing, thanks for this. Never put much thought into this before.
Glad you enjoyed! Thanks for watching 👍
I need a model when I was a kid of a 109 and I option for those decals brings back memories
Absolutely great video. Fascinating stuff.
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed - thanks for watching! 👍
That's just the default scheme now. It only got complicated when some groups were upgraded to four squadrons or the groups were spread over several theaters of war. Or generally groups and squadrons were re-formed. Some pilots kept their old markings when transferred or promoted. Pilots from the squadron staff also flew with anonymous machines, since the allies also knew the marking scheme and therefore did not want to give a special target or officially banned from flying.
The bands on the fuselage of the machines were recognition marks for all machines and countries that flew on the German side. So if you see an Italian Macchi MC.202 with yellow stripes, you can find out the time and place of the recording relatively accurately. As fewer and fewer countries fought on the German side from mid-1944, these bands lost their original meaning and they were then used as squadron identification.
Not quite. Yes, they were identifiers for axis fighters, but still theatre based. Italian fighters in Russia showed yellow vands, while the ones flying at home, i.e. the Mediterranean theatre, wore white bands. Most nations in league with tge Germans wore yellow fuselage bands only because they were operating on the eastern front.
Only the Italian aircraft taking part in the Battle of Britain wore yellow cowlings, but at that point of thime, there was no eastern nor Mediterranean theatres.
I think it would be harder to remember the symbols than flying the plane.
Thank you for explaining 😅
Haha might be close!
Excellent , always wonder the meaning of this symbols, ...more than 40 years in scale modeling aircraft , ( near 50 german aircrafts ) and never find this superb detailed information, great job ...¡¡¡¡¡
I find it interesting that the planes had signifiers indicating the rank of the person flying the plane. It seems like that would needlessly expose the higher ranked officer to enemy fire.
Yeah I hear ya - I think in practice, though, Allied fighters wouldn't really have time to pick & choose targets based on what markings they could pick out on enemy fighters... it would all be too fast!
@@SpruesNBrews I'm sure it wasn't that big an advantage to the Allies, but I know that in ground combat, that rank bars draw fire.
It was also easier to form up on the leader, though, so I guess the benefit outweighed the risk
Just found your channel (and subscribed) huge WW2 fighter plane fan and model builder (or collector, I'm not sure!) This is a very, very interesting topic and quite confusing!
Thanks very much! And welcome aboard 👍
I see the thumbnail, and already know the answer: the arrow symbolizes that the plane flies in that direction: it goes forwards instead of backwards.
🤣
An easy toi read primer on Luftwaffe markings of WW2 and the years leading up to it can be found in Volumes 16 to 18 of Wings of Fame.
These markings were the 3rd or 4th system for aircraft markings adopted by fighter units. Initially, just after WW1 they used Luftfahrzeugrolle B which consisted of the letter D followed by a serial number with various dividers between the D and the numbers including dots and hyphens. This system lasted to around 1934 when an all letter code was introduced, similar to what we see on today's civil aircraft, with the first letter identifying the all up weight of the aircraft. 2 years later we have an alphanumeric system with the first 2 characters identifying the unit, for example JG132 (by WW2 this had become JG2) having 21 as the first 2 characters. The unit designation indicates a lot as well. JG indicates a fighter unit, 1 indicates that it is the most senior unit of its type in the region it is based in, 3 superfluously indicates it is a fighter unit and the 2 indicates it is from Luftreiskommando II (ie the Berlin-Bradenburg region). No sooner had this system come into place for all military aircraft that it was changed for the fighter squadrons to the markings familiar in WW2 but with colourful noses, JG132, for example had red noses. But hardly had the paint dried was the Bf.109 introduced into service and the painted noses became history and the colours being transferred to the aircraft identification number in white, red, or yellow depending on which staffed the aircraft was in. These numbers were originally only half the height of the cross but later became the same height.
Care must also be taken as there were many anomalies in the German system of markings. For example the is a photograph of an FW.190 of I/JG51 that has 3 vertical bars in front of the fuselage cross for which no one now knows the reason. This unit also put the theatre banding behind the fuselage cross.
The German bomber markings are also complicated.
Your German is on point. We have a somewhat famous ace pilot in our family. It's very interesting.
I try my best! And if I can deduce anything from your username, I'm sure you have some incredible stories... wow!
Incredible! Amazed! U must be proud. Erick Hartmann had (2) daughters, as I know. Did he had a son?
(If he didn't have one, then U must be some kind of a nephew to him. I myself am a Greek Revolution hero's nephew, descenting from a cousin of his, many generations ago.)
I tend to stick with any numbered "13", much like the Fw 190D from JV44 "Red 13", Heinz Bär and his Fw 190A, also "Red 13", then you have Günther Rall and his Bf 109G-2 "Black 13"....
Helmut Tiedmann's Bf 109E-4 "Black 13" was a colourful machine....😎
Thanks, was super informative! 👍
I'm so glad! Thanks for watching! 👍
And if you spend waaay too long looking at this stuff you can often tell what JG later war aircraft belong to by the font they used.
Haha fair enough! Practice makes perfect 😁
Indeed. The fonts varied wildly. For a modeller, it's a nightmare.
This video makes me appreciate my books even more! (They aren't censored)
JG 27's Berlin Bear group had an actual bear as its mascot. Adam Makos's book _A Higher Call_ was one I read.
Interesting that the senior officers were so clearly identified - wouldn't it make it easier to "shoot for the epaulets"?
It would, yes, but it was also easier to form up on you lrader after take off or after a dogfight, so the benefits probably outweighed the risks
Would you be doing similar videos for other countries of ww2?
I'd like to! It just takes some time to research & pull it all together - but that's the plan 👍
At the 09:30 mark where the Center picture was stated to be Garlands 109, it’s hard to make out but it looks like it may have the Mickey Mouse on the side below the canopy that he always added to what ever aircraft he was assigned too.
Gallands 109
Yep! It's on there - good eye 👍
Gee... what's with the black circles on the tail? is it hiding a symbol we are supposed to "Not See"😈
why are the swastikdas censored? do you do the same with the copmmie star?
This is great! Is there a similar scenario for aircraft with letters? Some of my late war Me-262s have a red X while another has a white J on the side.
Great question! Now I can't say with 100% certainty, but I believe that the alpha codes like this were in reference to these aircraft being used previously among either training or bombing squadrons, respectively. Luftwaffe bomber organizations used alphabetic markings rather than the symbolic markings of the fighter forces, and I believe the "x" denoted a training aircraft hope that helps!
The first two letters of the code, in front of the cross denoted the unit the aircraft was from, the third one was the individual aircraft "number", again in white, black, yellow or blue, and the fourth denoted the group it flew in.
Am I correct in assuming these graphics were used mostly to make it easier to form and reform units in the air? And were these designations continued late into the war when units were being decimated in combat, making shuffling among units a constant necessity?
Good questions! Yes - the general numbering/chevron system was designed to help with mid-air identification. And they did continue to use this system through to the end of the war, but to your point it quickly became a lot less uniform as losses grew & units shifted around. Generally speaking your veteran fliers still carried lower numbers (or chevrons for group leaders) through to the end, but you do start seeing much higher numbers (and sometimes no numbers at all) later in '44 & '45 👍
Yoe are totally correct.
And yes, the system was retained right to the end. Aircraft were not shuffled around that much, only the pilots. But it happened, as many late war aircraft with crudely overpainted numbes show.
The only thing tha changed was that the chevrons were no longer used and made way for green numerals.
Very nice video! Is there a chance that you can make one about german plane/vehicle camos? That would be lit af.
I'd love to! I'll add it to the list - thank you!
Thanks. Very informative. Is there a publication that covers all of the unit insignia?
I haven't found one yet, but I'll be sure to share if I do!
That was very informative.
Good breakdown
Thank you!
fabulous content!!!! or USN during midway and corral seas ops. The tail code striping always puzzled me.(which is easy to do lol). I've seen two red stripes on a dauntless which i believe is a marine commander aircraft. not sure why the navy and marine's switch back and forth from white striping's to red. inner rivalries between USN and USMC maybe. both operated units from carriers in the pacific. Again thank you so much.
I'm really glad to hear you enjoyed! Thank you - and I'd love to get another video out like this on a similar subject... hopefully soon!
@@SpruesNBrews i'll be on the look out cheers!!
Very informative..very good presentation.
Thanks very much!
Awesome man. Great information!!
Cool and informative video.
Great info, thanks.
Thanks for watching!
I’m in a kind of second or third phase of improving my modeling skills. When I first started I just slapped decals on wherever I thought they looked cool so I have a bf 109 I built when I was about 14-15 that has black double chevrons with a black horizontal bar but also has a white 12.silly me
Super informative
As everything among Luftwaffe, there were so many exceptions, that this video can serve as a basic knowledge source. Nevertheless, it's a good quality video
For sure - there are always exceptions! I tried to distill the most basic structure for reference here 👍
Still, therewas a logic to all the madness... 😂
Love it. Helps to decal my whole squadron of 109s.
Also, got anymore of these lined up? I would kill for Japanese naval aircraft.
I don't recall the Lufwaffe having "black circles" on their tails ??
What's up with that bro?
I prefer to have the black circles in my video than the alternative - it doesn't affect the lesson at all
My grandpa was a member of the 3rd SS Luftflotte Division "Gottlieb Wendehals". He said that the sign means "go there. There is enemy. Plz dont fly backwards"
Considering that "Ordnung", or "Order", is like a national characteristic of Germany, I was surprised how messy was apparently the marking system for the wing commander. The emblems I can get, since - if I understand correctly - they weren't exactly official markings, and when you have so many people marking their affiliation, it's unavoidable that some will prioritize the wing, while others will prefer to denote their squadron, but the fact that the wing commander markings were so all over the place genuinely surprised me.
Especially since it's not just variations of the same symbol, like single chevron + horizontal bar / horizontal arrow, but the combination of single/double chevron, vertical/horizontal bars, as well as some having a second bar behind the cross, while others don't, where all these seem to be a mix of markings from almost all other ranks, as well as from different organizational levels, seems very... uncharacteristic of the Germans. I would expect them to use a more unified system, like Jg command uses double chevron, Gruppe command uses single chevron, and then other symbology denotes individual ranks, and individual aircraft just use the numbering + pretty much the system you've described. Instead, the command ranks markings are an absolute mess, and I wonder if there was any reason for it.
Some Jagdgeschwader became notorious so that they had also very notorious identifying markers. JG 26, Schlageter, were so famous for their prowess, they were dubbed by the allies as the "yellow-nosed bastards" due to the yellow paint on the aircraft nose. This identifiyer was unique to JG 26.
Very interesting!
You are correct. Although yellow nosed craft appear in alot of war movies where they didn't belong.
No, that's actually wrong. The Luftwaffe high command issued an order in August 1940 to ALL fighter wings to put on those identifying markings to reduce the amount of friendly fire.
By no means were they only used by JG 26.
Just look at any pictures of 109s from that timeframe and you'll see.
Outstanding
Great video!
Thank you! 😁
Question: why was Hans Joachim Marseille’s 109 “Yellow 14”, even after becoming Staffelkapitan of 3./JG27? Wouldn’t it have been repainted to be “Yellow 1” (or paint over the “4”)?
Great video, great info, but my head is spinning. I think I'll stick to AFVs & leave the Luftwaffe to you.
Thank you. SO very interesting
Thanks for watching!
Good stuff thank you for sharing 👍
that's great mate. well done
Very informative
Thank you - glad to hear it!
Very Helpful :)
Great! So glad to hear it - thanks for watching!
How strict was the "personal aircraft" practice in the Luftwaffe? Did all pilots always fly the same aircraft? In British squadrons I think you flew what was available on a given day, though wing commanders did have personal aircraft.
A great question! My understanding is that it was sort of an honor/seniority system within Jagdgeschwader & individual Staffel. Kommodore, Staffelkapitan & their staff would usually claim their own aircraft (and often decorate them with personal livery), and then within the pilot corps pilots would rotate between aircraft. I know in Adam Makos' novel "A Higher Call," there's reference to pilots sort of claiming "dibs" on certain aircraft but allowing other pilots to fly them when they were off-duty. Hope that helps
Normally pilots got assigned their personal aircraft, together with it's own ground crew.
But it wasn't strict. And when a pilot was on leave ot sick etc., it might be flown by a newcomer instead.
This video needs a double like button :)
Thank you!! I'm really glad to hear you enjoyed 👍
Are markings accuracy considered when awarding scale points at a contest?
Great question! I haven't heard of points specifically being awarded or denied for marking accuracy to this extent, but it's good practice to at least make your markings follow some logical & historical rules to be convincing on the showroom floor 👍
I guess it comes down to how knoledgable the judges are.
I would spot an error from five meters away, but other wouldn't.
Putting a big black circle over the you know what symbol on the vertical stab, makes things a bit confusing for those who might not be super familiar with WWII luftwaffe markings. I don’t know why censoring aWWII marking is necessary at all
Really? I highly doubt there are many aviation people out there who do not know about the Hakenkreuz. Those who aren't interested in aviation - it does not matter. Same as it does not matter everyone should know Pearl Harbor Zeroes ain't painted white as seen in Tora! Tora! Tora!
Im pissed they have blacked out the tail decals Theres worse things these days that havnt bin censored.
Very informative. Just Subscribed
Thank you! Welcome aboard 👍
Thanks!
.
Very interesting
Excellent ! But i was already cofused before the end.
It's a lot, I'll admit 😅
Fascinating
Glad to hear you think so!
Hi Hank, could you do a vlog on Luftwaffe Bomber markings as well please?
I'd love to! 👍
@@SpruesNBrews Cheers Hank, really learnt a lot from the fighter markings vlog.
Fabulous
Any reason why some of the tail markings were blanked out with a black circle?
Didn't want/need to include them in the video 👍
He didn’t want the video pulled down.
Great video, 4000 likes says it all.
Thank you very much 👍
It was obviously directions on which way to put in the batteries.
😅
Pretty cool
Just a note: when speaking German or German terms, 'S' sounds use a 'shhhh' sound. Thus, in the case of Stabschwarm, it would be pronounsec 'SHHTab Shwarm'.
"SHHTahhhb SHWARm