Seeking ID of strange "cheese grater" device on below cockpit window of some 1940 He111s

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

While preparing artwork for color profile packages I've encountered a very strange device on the side of three different He111s that force landed in 1940 during the French Campaign and the Battle of Britain. Two of these are from aircraft of known units: 3./KG1 and Stab I./KG55. Originally, I thought that it was some kind of mission scoreboard with 24 mission symbols. But it is now obvious that it is something else. Peter Cornwell suggests a cheese grater, but this seems an inconvenient location to store something to make your sandwiches with while you are flying a combat mission. I"ve shown two different examples here. Can't get the 3rd one to load. All three show the same pattern, but different color schemes.

So what the hell is this? Does anyone know of other examples in 1940 era photos. Does anyone have a clue on the color schemes of these devices? Did they also appear on the port side of the fuselages of some aircraft?

http://www.servimg.com/image_preview...=11&u=11993385
http://www.servimg.com/image_preview...=10&u=11993385

Thanks,