Hungarian Messerschmitt, Me or Bf

[ArtieBob]

Dear Franek,

Essentially all manuals, production records, loss records and Fb. use the Bf prefix for both the 109 and 110. In minutes of RLM meetings, the Bf and 8 are almost always used (I cannot remember an exception, but there are probably some). Where the Me designation was used was in propaganda releases and in some Messerschmitt internal documents. Pilots apparently refered to the 109s as "Emmees" but looking through Fb the Bf prefix was used. As Bf was the official prefix until the reorganization the late 1930s all designs recognized by the RLM until that time were identified using the Bf prefix, including the Bf 161, 162, 163. Since that was the original official prefix, there was no need for any RLM document to further confirm the designation. Such a document would probably be needed only if the designation were changed, which it was not. I have documents both RLM and LW up to the last weeks of the war showing the Bf prefix only, with the Me designation in the same documents being used for the 262, 410, etc.
If one is dealing with the war from the allied sde, most GB and USA documents use Me 109, so if you are writing or talking from that viewpoint, it is correct from the standpoint that was the common usage.

So, don't "expect an RLM document stating that Bf prefix should be used instead of Me" but in relation to the official documents of the RLM and LW, Bf is definitely the most common usage.

Best Regards,

Artie Bob