New picture of a Me262 with Karoband

[David E. Brown]

Hi Jim,

No, you are not confused. These are two different aircraft but similarly coded and were from different Gruppen and found in different locatios, i.e. "Yellow 3 +" (München-Riem) and "Yellow 3 + I" (Moosburg).

Dan’s post (#5) does indeed refer to the photo in post #1, but was based on what Jim Crow had written on the back of another photo of the machine based on the vet’s recollections. Jim did not believe this was the correct location but the original caption stuck.

This “Yellow 3’ was found near Moosburg and was a I. Gruppe machine wearing the small style KG(J) blue/white karoband with its white portions partially overpainted. The dark and medium shades of the squares suggested to some that they were black and red respectively, and hence representing a KG(J) 6 aircraft. Its unit wappen was overpainted as well and the style points to the I. Gruppe as well. Based on my study, this aircraft comes from the late 1105xx to early 1106xx werknummner series. Jim’s photo appears in my post #15,

The “Yellow 3” machine found at München-Riem was a III. Gruppe aircraft as evidenced by the vertical bar aft of the balkenkreuz. Its karoband was blue and white and was the large four panel size typical of all aircraft from this unit. As well, its unit wappen clearly shows that it was a KG(J) 54 aircraft, and its style diagnostic for this unit. As well, these is a painted out diagonal line from the windscreen to the wing training edge on the fuselage side. Though overpained, this latter marking is seen on III. Gruppe Me 262s over the late 1944-early 1945 period, and then disappear. Interestingly, this marking can be traced back to the Battle of Britain in 1940, with KG 2 and KG 76 having a similar marking on their aircraft:

• KG 2 = Diagonal encircling nose band ahead of the cockpit
• KG 54 = Diagonal fuselage band behind the wing trailing edge
• KG 76 = Vertical fuselage band behind the wing trailing edge

Jim, take a look at what I have written about these units’ markings in post #1 as there is a lot more information therein. In addition, a great deal of information on the aircraft from the KG(J) units is presented in a book I co-authored with colleagues from JaPo:

David E. Brown, Aleš Janda & Tomáš Poruba & Jan Vladař, 2012
Messerschmitt Me 262s of KG & KG(J) Units – Luftwaffe over Czech Territory 1945 - Volume III.
JaPo Publishing, Prague, 180 p.

Cheers,

David