Late-war Bf 109 question

[John Beaman]

Originally Posted by Skyraider3D

Thanks for the replies, guys!

Is it safe to say he was battling a K-4? Or did G-10/14s also get equipped with gunpods? I don't think I've ever seen any pictures of late-war 109s with gunpods, but I do know JG 26 extensively used them on their K-4s (20 mm gondolas to be precise) but not on their G-10s.

Well, let’s see: First, there’s no documented evidence that the K-4 ever flew with wing gun pods. The K-6 was supposed to have built-in wing guns (not pods), but there’s no evidence they flew operationally.

Skyraider: As for JG 26 what evidence do you have they flew with the K-4 with gunpods in February 1945? III./JG 26 flew K-4s in Dec. ’44 to mid-January ’45, but then in mid-January reequipped with the D-9. That means that all JG 26 units flew the D-9 in mid-Jan ’45 onward. If there were any K-4s in JG 26 from mid-January ’45 onward, they did not lose any—something hard to believe. The last K-4 loss for III./JG 26 (the only 109-equipped JG 26 unit at this point) is 14-Jan-45. In fact, their losses on 9-Feb-45 are none, either 109s or 190s. The first III./JG 26 loss (the previously 109 equipped unit) is 28-Jan-45 indicating this previously 109 unit was now operational with the D-9. While our records for late 1944 and 1945 are not complete, they are not THAT inaccurate.

As for the color photo on page 43 of Monogram’s C &M classic, this is not totally reliable. The KZ of this wreck were likely red, as stated, but they are very dark red/brown in the photo, indicating the colors in the photo might be off. Ergo, there’s brownish looking stuff in the C & M pattern where there really not might be any. WWII color photos, reproduced now are notoriously fickle. You just cannot rely on them for accuracy, especially in subtle browns, greens or grays. Some are accurate, most are not.