Requesting help/info. re. Ju88 AI werk no. 7188 FL+BT 11/KG 76 (I think?)

[Mysticpuma]

Hello experts! I wonder if one of you can help solve or supply more details regarding the above aircraft?

The JU88 was flown from Chateaudun Aerodrome, South of Paris, on the night of the 12th of March 1941, to attack the docks at Birkenhead, Liverpool.

The Pilot was Feldwebel Guenther Unger.

The aircraft caught fire and was abandoned shortly after dropping it's bombs, and later crashed.

Firstly, I need to confirm the details of the aircraft if possible?

Would it be FL+BT or F1+BT as I am under the impression that KG 76 was prefixed with F1 ?

The next detail I am looking for is more details about 11/KG 76. So-far I have only found Do-17's being flown by KG 76 so was the JU88 new for the group or was it far more prevalent?

Lastly, can anyone help me with the colours of the lettering please?

I have one image of the aircraft but it only shows the unit badge (although partially obscured by shadow) so no idea of the lettering. There is an aircraft behind the aircraft in question which may help with colouring.

edit: Now the details have been supplied below, I have removed the picture which I uploaded to help identification.

I know there are some great historians here, so any help would be much appreciated.

Cheers, MP

[Chris Goss]

It was F1+BT from 9/KG 76 not 11. The B would have been yellow. Unger's story is in my book The Luftwaffes Blitz. The photo is Unger's & given by him to Alfred Price. I have an original from Alfred's collection.

[obdl3945]

MP...

Your Ju88 is not from 11.Staffel, but 9th. The unit emblem is for 9./KG76 and your aircraft would have been coded F1+?T, where the ? is the individual aircraft letter and T is the 9.Staffel identifier. 9.Staffel's own I/D colour was yellow, so the ?, whatever it was, would also have been yellow, or possibly black outlined in yellow. In theory, the propellor spinners usually confirmed the Staffel status and therefore, part (even a very small part on the tip) or possibly all of the spinner should also have been yellow, although this appears not to be the case from the photo.

The aircraft in the background, with the light coloured letter 'A', if from the same Staffel and unit, would have been F1+AT, with the 'A' in yellow.

From 'Bomber Units of the Luftwaffe 1933-1945 - Vol.2' (Classic) by de Zeng and Stankey, it appears that III.Gruppe, KG76 - comprising 7., 8. & 9.Staffel - used the Dornier Do17Z until around December 1940, when personnel removed to Illesheim, Germany, on leave and then spent the next three months until March 1941 converting to the Ju88. After conversion on the Ju88A-5 was complete, III./KG76 relocated to Châteaudun during the first half of March, 1941.

If you don't already have, but would like an idea of the basic colour/coding structure for Luftwaffe units during the war, you could try www.Luftarchiv.de. When you get to the front page, tick 'Agree' (or 'Ich Stimme zu' if you've got the German language version), and from the left-hand menu, select the following: Luftfahrtindustrie, then under the heading 'Kennzeichen', select '1939-1945'. You will see the grid and be able to follow the last letter indicators for Geschwaderstab, Gruppenstab and Staffeln and their respective colours. As ever, there were many anomalies with the Luftwaffe coding system as you might already know, but then, that's part of the fun and interest in the subject....

Hope this helps... .

Regards,

Paul

[Mysticpuma]

Thank you both Chris and Paul, I knew I came to the correct place.

Chris, I copied the picture from the book by Glyn Warren called "The Forgotten Heroes The Air War over Worcestershire and the Clee Hills" as I hoped it could be useful for you more knowledgeable chaps to see the aircraft I was talking about. I have now deleted the image as it has served it's purpose.

I will be tracking your book down at my local library, so thanks for the help, it is very much appreciated.

Similarly Paul, the advice and detail you have offered is most appreciated and helps me with a private project I am working on regarding the incident as it was only a mile from where I live.

Thanks again, your help is very much appreciated.

Cheers, MP

[obdl3945]

MP...

You're welcome. One small note... if you're looking at the Luftarchiv website, Tab.2 with the unit codes/colour breakdown appears to have an error, and that is in the Gruppe headers, where V. & VI. Gruppe are given a last letter of F and G respectively. I believe this should read E and F respectively; 'G' was not, as far as I can determine, used as a last letter in standard coding, although there are possibly some instances in irregular coding.

Paul