Photos + 4-26-05

[Jochen Prien]

Gentlemen,


with regard to the crash landed Bf 109 E " red 12 " of 2./JG 27 I am still of the opinion that the colour of the numeral is red, not black, as is clearly documented in the photo on top of page 245 in Jagdfliegerverbände Vol. 2. The sun light and the broken fuselage do not change a thing especially as the angle of the sunlight is not significantly different on the Ballkenkreuz and the numeral. The difference in colours is just the same as in the photo on the bottom of page 245, which as I take is undisputedly red.

A look at the practice of the numerals in 2./JG 27 as it is outlined on page 244, may help - 2. Staffel originally used red numerals with a white trim which were replaced by black numerals with a red trim some time after the 40 style camouflage scheme was introduced. Consequently all the well known "Emils" with the former German Colony's names on the engine cowl carry red numerals with a white trim, as can be seen on pages 246 - 248. After that - on page 250 - there is the first black numeral, trimmed in red. There is - to the best of my knowledge - no a/c with a black numeral trimmed in white in 2./JG 27 during this period.

Therefore - pardon me, but I still hold valid what is written in JFV Vol. 2.

Regards

Jochen Prien