Colour of KG 26 shield?

[jim norton]

hi,
you are both right: the kg 26 carried all types of colors: red shield with black or white lion or white shield with red lion - it depends on the time when the machine was photographed...
regards
jim

[Primoz]

What about the black shield with a white lion - was it just a variation of the I./KG 26 badge or was it the badge of Stab/I./KG 26 ?

[atckyrre]

Guys,

I'm very pleased with my query generating so much discussion and without drawing any conclusions I understand I'm pretty much on my own interpreting the actual picture in question. Well... I've scanned a few pictures just to show what I'm talking about.

Here's the Heinkel at Sitas. It appears to me the German crewmembers have retrieved the dinghy and also removed all guns before trying to get back to German forces (They ended up in Polish hands in Norway actually) Without being certain it doesn't look like the Swedes have used orthochromatic film when taking this picture so as far as I can tell the Lion is black.



Here's a pic I found in the AJ-press Camouflage and Markings 5, showing another KG26 machine in 1941 according to the caption. It appears parts of the spinner could be same colour as the lion, which doesn't seem like it's black.



Finally I stumbled across this picture in the same publication. As the caption says it's a 5./KG 26 Heinkel and to me all of the letters seem very similar in colour, ie black.



Thanks for all your feedback folks

Kyrre

[Primoz]

It's pity the Germans didn't use yellow-tipped prop blades. That would make color determination a little bit easier for us ...

I believe the lion in the second pic is red. The individual letter in the last photo doesn't look any different than the others (so black is the most plausible explanation - though it could have been red). The individual letter 'D' of the first Heinkel certainly looks black but as (IMO) this letter was meant for crew members (so that they could find their a/c in a hurry) black is not a good choice. But not everything was logical in the war ...