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Re: Unknown Emblem
Hello CCNCCN,
Sidney is correct. This is F1+KS "Kranich" (Crane in English) of 8./KG76, taken in 1939, about the time of the Polish Campaign. I have two other photos of this specific a/c, including one in flight with full codes and 1939-style underwing and fuselage crosses.
I have made a careful study of this unit, and currently have about 75 photos in the EoE Photo DB relating to its history during 1939-40, including may displaying this insignia. 8./KG76 apparently carried this on both sides of the nose from the beginning of the war and initially put the name of a bird in old German script below the Staffel insignia. My presumption is that this practice extended throughout the entire Staffel of some 12-14 aircraft. The first letter of the bird's name always corresponded with the a/c letter in the fuselage code: ie "Kranich" (Crane) = F1+KS, "Adler" (Eagle) = F1+AS, Elster (Magpie)= Fl+ES, "Geier" (Vulture) = F1+GS, "Falke" (Falcon) = F1+FS, "Marder" (Martin) = F1+MS, etc.
When a plane was lost, in at least one instance the name changed: ie F1+DS, initially "Dossel" (Blackbird?), became "Delphin" (Dolphin) as a replacement, and another unit Do17 with a non-bird word, "Leopard" (Leopard--same in English), is known to have broken its back during a 1940 forced-landing while carrying 1940-style national markings. This process of naming the aircraft apparently became more hap-hazzard as 1940 progressed, perhaps due to mounting losses and crew changes. During the Battle of Britain, the best known crash of an 8./KG76 Do17Z, F1+FS, carried the unit crest on both sides of the nose, but apparently no nickname beneath it when it force-landed in Kent on 30.09.40. However, this could have been a relatively new replacement a/c, that had not been in service long enough to have acquired its nickname.
If anyone can add to this list of named a/c for 8./KG76, and has photos to back them up, I would appreciate hearing about them. I would especially appreciate the nickname for F1+HS, which I believed crashed and partially burned out during the Western Campaign of May-June 1940, probably in either France or Belgium. However, this may have been the Do17Z flown by Lt Albrecht Hotz, who was killed on 12.06.40 when his plane crashed on landing at Cologne-Butzweilerhof Airfield, Germany, while returning from a mission to bomb the RR station at Dreux, France. If someone has an alternative identity for photos of this crash, I would appreciate hearing from them. I would also appreciate the nickname used on F1+HS, which presumably was the name of a common bird whose German name began with an "H." Whatever it was, I don't have a photo of it on an a/c.
Another bomber unit that also used this practice was 3./KG77. I note that Ju88A 3Z+EL, with the nickname "Eule" (Owl) next to the unit crest, FL in Britain on 27.09.40. Another example was 3Z+CL "Condor" (the English word for Condor, which should be "Kondor" in German although "Condor" also seems to have been commonly used), and 3Z+LL "Lerche" (Lark). Although I don't know how extensive this practice was throughout the Staffel, with at least three examples, it suggests that at one time all the a/c in the unit were so marked. This practice began on the unit's Do17s but apparently continued on the unit's replacement Ju88s during the Battle of Britain. A Ju88 which carried the name "Doble" but no unit crest when it FL may be related to this practice, although I can't relate that name to a specific German word. Or it may be totally unrelated to a 3./KG77 aircraft. Maybe someone here can help with that.
Hope this helps
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8th March 2015, 23:25
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