Flieger Ergängzungs Gruppe (See)

[obdl3945]

Hi...

Would anyone be able to advise whether or not the individual aircraft letters on these two Arados would have been red? The image is from an expired e-bay auction of May, 2011.

Given that they are apparently from 4.Staffel, the usual I/D colour would have been white.

Barry Rosch's 'Luftwaffe Codes...' publication states that the gruppe used the last letters of B, H, K, L & M. Was there a colouring anomaly at work here in respect of the I/D colour?

Thanks,

Paul

[Seaplanes]

The unit code 6H+ was given to Fl.Erg.Gr. (See) Kamp on 05.06.1942
with the 1. Staffel (BV 138) 6H+ - H, 2.Staffel (He 115) 6H+ - K and
4. Staffel (Ar 196/He 114) 6H+ - M.
The 4. Staffel had been designated 3./Fl.Erg. Gr. (See) since 12.08.40
and issued the unit code of Kü.Fl.Gr. 706, 6I+ with Staffel letter L. In
June 1941 the 3. Staffel was again redesignated 4./Bordfl. Erg. Staffel but apparently continued to use the same unit code and Staffel letter.
Perhaps Ju55dk has some more info here.
The colour of the individual aircraft letters on your photo should be either
yellow or white.

[obdl3945]

Hi, Seaplanes...

Thanks for taking time to provide the information in your post.

I agree with you that the I/D letter of the aircraft in my first post above should be white or yellow. Personally, for me, if we're sticking to 'standard' Luftwaffe practice, it should be white.

Since my original post, I have found two images of the actual aircraft I'm interested in - 6H+LM. Another website shows a colour profile of this machine with the I/D letter of 'L' in red. From these two images (both of which are captioned as 'Norway, 1941') I can understand the possible confusion as it appears, looking at both photos, that the I/D letter could be any of the three Staffel colours of white, red or yellow! I'm hoping for some conclusive proof of white, but would accept a worthwhile explanation of why it should be either of the other colours.

Thanks again for your time. Much appreciated.

Kindest regards,

Paul

[obdl3945]

Hi,

I've resurrected this thread in light of an image I saw recently, appended below. Might I ask, is there a chance the I/D letter on the nearest aircraft could be either of the 'staff flight' colours - bright green or medium blue? It is clearly not white as we might expect with an end-letter of 'M'.

As previously noted, this unit had four Staffeln and I wondered if, for example, blue was used to identify the fourth Staffel in the same way as transport units or some late-war fighter units, where some Gruppen were equipped with four Staffeln instead of the standard three.

Image from ebay auction earlier this month.

Regards,

Paul

[ju55dk]

For some unknown reason the staffel used red as color.

Junker

[obdl3945]

Hi, Junker...

Thanks for your reply. Without meaning to doubt your comment, may I ask if that is a confirmed fact? The reason I ask is that I have seen colour profiles where red is used, but was never actually convinced.

Is there documentation or a photo to confirm the use of red? In which case I have to repaint the details on one of my models! I would be very grateful for your further input, and I do appreciate the information you have provided already.

Regards,

Paul

[ju55dk]

It's confirmed through FB entries and a inspection report from the unit.

Regards
Junker

[obdl3945]

Excellent!

Thanks very much for your time and effort, Junker... much appreciated.

Kindest regards,

Paul