Looking for 1939-40 Do17Z profile subjects for Stab/KG76 and the the Stab of I., II., and III Gruppen.

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

For me, the recent info about the evolution of the 5./KG76 insignia into
that of 9./KG76 for the BoB fills the last missing link for all nine of the
KG76 Staffel insignias during 1940. These are all now well documented.

The unit Stab elements are another problem. The Stab./KG76 insignia ("Owl" design apparently used during the WC/FC and probably the BoB), and the "Florian Geyer" bird claw insignia used on Stab I./KG76 Do17Zs during the BoB and probably earlier are also documented, although not with enough subjects for the profile series. We have only one possible profile for this unit, F1+CB, but that's all. The "Florian Geyer" emblem is usually identified in the literature as the insignia of Stab./KG76, but actually a version of this came into use as the insignia of the predecessor to I./KG76 pre-war, wasn't used during the Polish Campaign, then came back into use when the unit re-equipped with the Do17Z. It did not become the Geschwader insignia until May of 1941, on the unit's Ju88As. So any examples of it on Do17Zs, unlike erroneous info in various reference sources and photo captions, are on Stab I./KG76 aircraft. This info was recently confirmed to me by one of our German friends. We definitely need several further examples of both of these insignias in use on unit aircraft for the profile packages. However, I don't need any FG examples on Ju88s.

What I don't know is if there were any unique insignias used by Stab II
or III./KG76 during 1939-40, as I've got no photo evidence for these at all. I do have one poor quality photo of a FL Do17Z from Stab II./KG76, F1+BC from probably the WC/FC, but the front areas is entirely burned out and no unit emblems are visible. Were any unique insignias used by the II. and III. Gruppenstab elements of KG76 during the EoE research period?

I hope that other forum readers can help me locate images for these profile packages representing 1939-40.

Regards,

Larry Hickey
EoE Project Coordinator