Luftwaffe unit emblems - "Battle of Britain" era

[Wim de Meester]

Hello,

I'm sending this "from the road" on my trip to Europe. After several days in Belgium and France, I'm back in Holland, and I've had a chance to catch up with this discussion. This emblem IS an eagle. Think an American bald eagle with a white head. The head is not in a conventional pose, but the white head is turned at an angle to the left and pointing downward at an oblique angle, like the eagle is looking at something below him and to the left from the viewer's point of view. I've seen another example of this in Germany that absolutely confirms for me that this is an eagle. I don't own this image, so I can't post it, even when I return to the US on the 15th. I also have several photos of the aircraft of 1./JG 26 during the spring-summer of 1940, and am very familiar with the dating of these photos by markings and camouflage patterns. I've been studying this subject for almost 50 years. There are at least three photos of 1./JG26 aircraft carrying this during the French Campaign. I probably have a half dozern photos now of Henrici's aircraft (White 13) during the May-August, 1940 period, including a good copy of Don Caldwell's photos (thanks Don!). Since Henrici is purported to be the designer of the image for use by the staffel, its use and appearance on his aircraft should be pretty definitive for the time period of its early use. This is a settled issue as far as I'm concerned.

Regards,

Larry Hickey