[Buffnut453]

There's some confusion here. I'll try to correct some of the incorrect comments.

The UK used 2 types of Buffalo, the B339B which were the ex-Belgian airframes and the B339E which were RAF-ordered. Both the B339B and B339E were based on the Brewster F2A-2 (it wasn't called a Buffalo - that was the RAF's name) as used by the US Navy but with the maritime equipment removed and some customer-specific modifications.

Three of the B339Es were used in the UK for testing, the remainder being sent to Singapore. The B339Bs were originally intended for 71 Sqn but were refused by the unit's CO and ended up being used primarily by the FAA. The Buffalos used on Crete were all ex-Belgian airframes. They were delivered to the RAF in the Belgian scheme which was dark brown and dark green on top with aluminium lacquer underneath. During the assembly process in the UK, the undersides were repainted with Sky. It's unclear whether the upper surfaces were repainted in MAP Dark Earth and Dark Green but photos of B339Bs assigned to test and evaluation duties show a low contrast scheme which may indicate that the Belgian upper-surface colours were retained.

The main front-line operator of the B339B was 805 Sqn which also flew Gladiators and Fulmars in North Africa and Crete. The wrecks on Crete show "codes" 'ZZ' and 'ZY' but they have an odd appearance, looking poorly applied. It's unknown when or where they were applied but similar codes are not seen on other pics of B339Bs in use with 805 Sqn.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Mark