[Six Nifty .50s]

Originally Posted by Brian

Wow! Thanks a million Six Nifty - I wouldn't have found this information on my own! That's why I turned to the experts on this website (thanks Ruy) in the hope that such material would surface. I do appreciate the time and effort you and others have taken to help me - hopefully, OUR reward will be a comprehensive account of aerial friendly-fire incidents relating to WWII, to enable future historians and writers to understand the complexities and tragedies, not to mention the futility, of war.

I am sure there are more incidents to be uncovered.

Cheers
Brian

I don't know if you explored this yet, but I'll add some material regarding aircraft paint schemes that were specifically applied to discourage friendly fire accidents:

"...Ironically, it was at this time [August 28th, 1940] that the Luftwaffe's Jagdgeschwader were being issued with bright yellow paint and instructions to paint their cowlings, rudders and wingtips. The pilots were not told why, and speculated that they were special markings for the invasion. In fact it was an aid to aircraft recognition, to make sure that mistakes such as those that had cost Fighter Command two aircraft did not happen to them. Given the numbers of aircraft now in the sky, avoiding friendly fire now took precedence over camouflage. British pilots who saw the new colour-schemes quickly decided that they marked out elite units, which flattered not only their opponents but them too, as surely more honourable to be shot down by an elite pilot than by an ordinary one. It was convenient that all the enemy fighters belonged to elite units. Henceforth yellow-nose bastards' began to rival the more traditional 'snappers' as a sobriquet for Bf 109s..." See p.274, Bungay, Stephen. The Most Dangerous Enemy: A History of the Battle of Britain (London: Aurum Press, 2000. 2005).

There were further efforts at preventing misidentification of Luftwaffe planes by German pilots. Major Erich Rudorffer was quoted :

"...We tried out the airscrew hubs of the Bf 109E in all possible colours as early as the first attacks on England. In JG 2 "Richtofen" ... we flew for a long period with the so-called Burbelschnauze (curlicue nose), that is, the airscrew hubs of our Bf 109G aircraft had white spirals. The purpose of all this was to afford identification of an aircraft approaching from astern as "one of ours" or an enemy..." See p.127, Nowarra, Heinz. The Messerschmitt 109: A Famous German Fighter (Fallbrook, CA: Aero Publishers, 1966).

* * *

Heinz Nowarra summarized the RAF response to identification problems with the Typhoon and the Mustang that entered service a couple years later:

"...The R.A.F. knowing the shortcomings of the Spitfire Vs and Hurricane IIs had great hopes pinned on the Typhoon. Potentially, with its 2,000 h.p. Sabre engine, it would match the Fw 190 but it had a series of teething troubles affecting both the engine and airframe. Not only this, but its appearance was not unlike that of an Fw 190 as No. 56, the first Typhoon squadron, knew to their cost. Two of their aircraft were shot down by Spitfires on June 1st, 1942. During the Dieppe operations, Spitfires had shot down another Typhoon in mistake for an Fw 190, and when a formation caught a flight of Fw 190s at a disadvantage and descended out of the sun on to them, the Typhoons broke their tails off in pulling out of their dive ... A No. 609 Squadron Typhoon was hit by anti-aircraft fire on the last day of October. By that time two measures had been tried. First the whole nose of the Typhoon was painted white, but this could be confused with yellow noses of certain Fw 190s. Then it was decided to paint yellow bands around the wings in precisely the same way as the Mustangs, but pilots on sweeps reported that this compromised camouflage from above, when it was identification from below that was the most in question. As a result the black one-foot wide strips under the white fuselage centre-section at two-foot intervals, peculiar to Typhoons and later Tempests, were introduced from November 19th, 1942. Occasioned by bitter experience, mainly at Dieppe, these were often referred to as 'Dieppe markings'. At first the spinner was painted duck egg blue forward of the blades, but from January 21st, 1943, it was painted white in its entirety as a production expedient..." See p.159, Nowarra, Heinz. The Focke-Wulf 190: A Famous German Fighter (Fallbrook, CA: Aero Publishers, 1965).

* * *

After the USAAF deployed P-47 Thunderbolts to the U.K., they were also mistaken for Focke Wulfs. Some initial reactions were found in the diary of LeRoy Gover, who flew Spitfires with 66 & 133 Squadrons, RAF before he transferred to the 4th Fighter Group, USAAF:

February 21st 1943
"...My P-47 is being painted white on the nose and tail today, so those bastards won't shoot at us. About four of us have been shot at now by Spits, Typhoons and ground defenses because they think we look like FW-190s. I hope it works, because we have enough trouble with the Jerries having to worry about our own guys..."

March 9th, 1943
"...We were fired on by our own coast guns on way home. I guess the white stripes don't work very well...".

See p.155-159, Caine, Philip. Spitfires, Thunderbolts, and Warm Beer: An American Fighter Pilot over Europe (Washington, DC: Brassey's, 1995).

* * *

Although it may have been helpful to some extent, the white paint added to USAAF and RAF fighters to aid identification was a subtle change and certainly did not prevent mistakes. Colonel Hubert Zemke described the unfortunate results of the first bomber support mission carried out by his 56th Fighter Group, in May 1943:

"...On 4th May when Fortresses were sent to bomb a factory at Antwerp, the 56th was briefed to meet them as they left the target. My radio again failed, just before the Group reached the Dutch coast. Incensed, I handed over to McCollom and turned for home. This was my second forced turnback for equipment failure and I was concerned that some of the men might view this as the excuse of the faint-hearted. As I turned back for Horsham St. Faith to vent my wrath on the radio mechanics, I thought I saw a parachute far below. Only later did I connect this with what happened on this mission. The bombers were seen shortly after crossing the enemy coast and the group turned to cover them. Near Walcheren Island some FW 190s were reported making passes at the leading bombers as McCollom led his flight down to attack. Mac lined up behind one fighter and opened fire. As pieces flew off his victim and it spun down it was clearly seen to be a Spitfire! Back at Horsham St. Faith I listened to the debriefing and the confused and contradictory nature of individual pilots' reports. It was clear that some people were not only mistaking FW 190s for Spitfires but P-47s for FW 190s. Reports of Spitfires with 'solid yellow tails' could also be discounted. Excitement, speed of closure, sun glare and restricted vision through the cockpit canopy all contributed to mistaken observations; a situation confronting all fighter pilots but in this case exacerbated by inexperience. The RAF and 'Ajax' were, understandably, far from pleased with the 56th's performance, although our errant group could rightly plead that it had not been briefed for Spitfires in that area. For me this was particularly galling for as group commander I was ultimately responsible and had to meet General Hunter's summons to explain. For all our endeavors there was no hiding the fact that the 56th's bad score to date; two 'friendly' aircraft shot down and two P-47s lost, was certainly not a creditable showing..."

See p.76, Freeman, Roger. Zemke's Wolf Pack: The Story of Hub Zemke and the 56th Fighter Group in the skies over Europe (New York: Crown Publishers, 1989).