Folks,
We have an issue:
Thanks to Kees Mol, I was made aware of three exceptionally interesting shots, hosted by Rick Hawkinson on his Flickr account. They do depict a serie of destroyed Bf 109 G-10 and G-14's:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/2809206...n/photostream/
Bf 109 G-10 W.Nr. 151 86. "Gelbe ?", 7./JG 51, Fels am Wagram, May 1945. Source: Veteran collection via Rick Hawkinson, Flickr.com. This plane is very interesting: it is one of the best shot of a low-visibility camouflage on an Erla built Bf 109 G-10. I know of only seventeen pictures illustrating this yet to be identified color wise very peculiar camouflage. Fifteen do show Bf 109 G-10's, five of them with their actual W.Nr. (151 503, 151 86x, 151 965, 152 016, 152 033). The last two do represent probable Bf 109 G-14's. They now can be all accessed via this set:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/2809206...7635677312595/
Another fascinating point is the tail band: the brightness of the two color bands surrounding the central white one, and the presence of a small II Gruppe horizontal bar which color is obviously yellow given its contrast with the white central band leaves us with two distinct possibilities, both never documented so far: JG 51 with it's foreseen Green-White-Green RV band or JG 52 with its foreseen Red-White-Red RV band. The skyline to be seen on the second picture below does clearly identify the location as Fels am Wagram (check here all referenced Fels am Wagram pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/2809206...7631641286641/). II./JG 51 was based there between March and 12 April 1945, II./JG 52 between 4 and 18 April 1945 (source:
www.ww2.dk). Until a color shot of those machines do surface, it's again a matter of guessing which is the color of the darker RV Bands flanking the central white one. In my honest opinion, given the huge amount of photos illustrating II./JG 52 machines none wearing their foreseen Red-White-Red RV Band, there is a bigger chance those machines are II./JG 51; this would be then the first documented picture known to me showing late war machines from this unit, and the first documenting the actual implementation of the foreseen Green-White-Green RV Band.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/2809206...57631641286641
Bf 109 G-10 W.Nr. 61. ... "Schwarze 6", 6./JG 51, Fels am Wagram, May 1945. Source: Veteran collection via Rick Hawkinson, Flickr.com. This second picture gives us a clear view of the Fels am Wagram skyline and depicts a WNF built Bf 109 G-10 in quite a dramatic pose. Again, the RV Band is prominent, possibly pointing to II./JG 51. There are at least six other wrecked or abandoned Bf 109's to be seen in the background; among them is "Gelbe 9", another Erla low-visibility camouflaged 109 I've which close-up can be seen here (
http://www.flickr.com/photos/2809206...7631641286641/).
The third shot is less evocative:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28092068@N03/9689875076/
Bf 109 G-14 W.Nr. 78. ..., II./JG 51, Fels am Wagram, late April 1945. Source: Rick Hawkinson, Flickr.com. Not much can be added except it was taken at the same location, Fels am Wagram.
There are times when a single photo ignites a lot of new interrogations: I feel this is the case here. I would appreciate your comments about those strikingly new RV Band colors combination, knowing also that so far only JG 2, JG 4, JG 6 and JG 300 are documented as having used three colored tail bands.
Cheers
Marc