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Re: Brewster Buffalo on Crete
Rick the Buffalos (B339s) supplied to Britain (with 28 ex-Belgian models) were delivered in the Temperate Land Scheme for land-based aircraft rather than the Naval Temperate Sea Scheme ie. Dark Earth-Dark Green above; undersides were a blue shade rather than the paler "Sky", confirmed by squadron members. Maybe Brewster's interpretation of the colour.
A good clear photo of AS417 shows the fuselage band (and spinner in this case) several shades lighter than the underneath. Buffalos sent to the Far East ( RAF, RAAF, RNZAF) also in these colours.
The 3 Buffalos from Egypt and sent to Crete had the band painted out, and a photo of a line-up in the Desert shows the 805 Sqn. badge under the cockpit. It's very unlikely that they were re-painted considering the situation , but the one in the E-Bay photo has the Naval symbols 7Y possibly applied on the carrier.
Most British Buffalos were F2A-2s , the Belgians were F2A-3s. The Crete ones didn't last long .
Regards
Nick
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