A Balkenkreuz question

[klemchen]

Hello,

in Ferdinando D'Amico's and Gabriele Valentini's book "The Messerschmitt 109 in Italian Service 1943-1945" on p. 77 there is a photo of a Me 109 G-14 with a fuselage cross consisting of four black angles, which is extremely rare on a 109. The lower surface of the left wing is fairly light, and the cross on it is clearly visible. It appears to be in the original standard form of a black cross with four wide white angles, each of which is bounded by a narrow black angle, except there seems to be no white between the beams of the cross and the outer black angles. Since the fuselage cross did not have any white and the wing underside appears quite clear, I believed that there was no white paint available when that particular aircraft was finished and thought that its underwing crosses were of still another simplified form hitherto unnoticed. To me omitting just the white in the old standard form of cross would seem a more "natural" way of simplifying than omitting everything but the inner black beams (although it would depend on the kind of stencil at hand which simplification you choose).
Unfortunately my belief got shattered by recently running across a few photos with underwing crosses clearly visible but very low contrast or none at all between the white angles and the light lower surface color, and in these cases there was no reason to think that no white paint had been available. So my question to the experts is whether anyone has ever come across Balkenkreuze of the kind I thought to have discovered in the mentioned book.

Best regards,
klemchen

[veltro]

Since it all started from a photo we have published (and that we own), I guess I may have a few comments.

Just to add a bit more of uncertainty to the whole matter, I would like to note that such was the lighting (cloudy and hazy late winter day) and the position of the underwing Balkenkreuze, that I would prefer to have at least a second shot before confirming that such marking is in reality devoid of the interior white, and that this is not one of the many visual illusions we have all found sooner or later during our researches...

Unfortunately there isn't a "second shot", of course, so I guess that we should remain with the doubt.

At any rate, here is a detail of what is visible in the photo and Klemchen refers to...



It would also be nice to know - if possible - the precise reference of the photographs which Klemchen affirms are supplying even better examples of the absence of the white in the underwing Balkenkreuzen (I suppose on other Bf 109s...).

TIA

[klemchen]

Hello Veltro,

thank you for your answer. I went through a number of my Me 109 and Luftwaffe color books and found again some examples of underwing crosses with white angles hardly or not at all recognizable although certainly present:
1) Fw 190 A-4 on p. 80 of Luftwaffe Colors vol. 3 by J.R. Smith & J.D. Gallaspy,
2) Me 109 G-6 on p. 121 of the same volume.
These examples are over snow in sunshine.
3) Ju 87 B-1 on p. 122 in vol. 1 of the same book.
Here the sun is shining directly on the lower wing surface bcause the aircraft broke one undercarriage leg and has its nose down.
4) Me 109 C-1 on p. 66 of the same volume.
This time over grass. The crosses are of the old form with narrow white angles, and the photo is of poor quality.
5) Me 109 E on p. 144 of Luftwaffe Camouflage and Markings vol. 1 by Ken Merrick.
Here in one place the border between the white and the underside color seems to be visible, although this might also be the result of a lighter spot in the color. -
Of course I agree with you that for claiming another kind of simplified cross one certainly needs more evidence than just one photo. That is why I asked my question.
Just speculating on the other hand, it would seem quite plausible that the RLM simply allowed to omit the white angles when white paint was not available. Since the most frequent form of underwing cross on Me 109s during the last half of the war consisted of a black cross with white angles without a black rim, this would result in a cross consisting just of black beams, as it was found on many fighter aircraft towards the end of the war. But since also the original form with white and outer black angles remained in use to a much lesser extent on 109s until the end, that permission sometimes would lead to crosses of the form in question. Which form of cross would appear then would depend on the kind of stencil the particular manufacturer was using.

Best wishes,
klemchen