Re: Battle of Britain Bf109E found in India a few years ago?
Andy,
The "odd" inscription on this aircraft was one put on some aircraft back in 1939, before the war, giving a location and telephone number of the home base in case the aircraft was forced down somewhere. This makes me think that this plane was in the inventory a long time and was possibly damaged earlier in the war and repaired, before reissue to 2./JG53. This is further reinforced by the info on the red dot or solid circle, with a thin white outline. This was carried on a/c of 2./JG77 back before and during the days of the PC, IIR. You'll see examples of this in Prien's JFV#1 or 2 for that unit, again, indicating that this aircraft had a long operational history before being shot down.
There are no photos in either the full Prien (including photos not in his books) or the Cornwell collections of this aircraft for the period in which it what shot down.
Does the MU report give any markings or insignia details?
Regards,
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