Confirmation of insignia of 9./KG76 during the FC

[Larry Hickey]

Hello,

A couple of posts regarding this issue have been posted on this board, including one by me. I have just received an important collection of photos relating to III./KG76, which further confirms the following.

1) The insignia in a white shield showing bombs falling on the Eiffel Tower, below which is an upside down rooster in distress, was, without question, the insignia of 9./KG76, notwithstanding reference works to the contrary. I now have photos showing this insignia on 4 different a/c, so it's a pretty safe bet that it appeared on all of the a/c of that Staffel during the Western Campaign of 1940. This collection shows photos of F1+CT, FT, LT and MT, the latter of which has a victory tab on the top of the fin.

2) The 9./KG76 insignia appeared only on the port side. This collection and other photos in our EOE Data Base show no examples of the insignia on the starboard nose, although there are photos showing the stbd nose of unit a/c during the WC period.


3) The special MG for strafing forward located in the lower part of the greenhouse nose reported on a/c of this staffel is present on all photos for which that is visible. I know that the StaKap a/c for 8./KG76 also carried this on his a/c. This may have been present on all a/c of III./KG76 during the period, although photos of 8 Staffel a/c exist when it was not there.

4) We now have one more new name under the 3xDo17 shield insignia for 8./KG76, making a total of at least six different ones that I know of.

This all raises an important question. Was the "Eiffel Tower" insignia removed immediately after the French Campaign on 9 Staffel Do17s? Obviously, it is highly topical to the campaign against France but rather irrelevant to the Battle of Britain, which followed. 9./KG76 participated in a famous low-level attack against Kenley Airfield on 18.8.40, for which many photos exist of F1+DT after being SD near the target, and at least one photo of F1+CT force-landed back in France. Since the front of DT was burned out, and the angle on CT doesn't show the nose, does anyone have any photographic evidence for what, if anything, was carried on the noses of 9 Staffel a/c during the BoB?

I thought this would be of interest to some of you. If anyone else has any photos or info relevant to this issue, I'd sure like to hear from you. I'm particularly interested in acquiring additional photography on aircraft of 7 Staffel, showing the dragon insignia, and photos of 6 Staffel Do17s with its nose insignia, believed to be a sunburst geometric design.

Regards,

[Larry]

This is the unit insignia you refer to for 9/KG76, in the attached photo but I haven't seen it on any post Battle of France Do 17Z aircraft (yet!).

[obdl3945]

Larry...

I think the 'sunburst' insignia was previously posted here by me, towards the bottom of page 3. Is this what you were looking for?

http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/showthread.php?t=18873

Regards...

Paul

[Larry Hickey]

Paul,

I already have this photo from you when it was originally posted on the TOCH Board 5/14/08. What I need is further examples of this on aircraft with known codes. This may have come of a FL Do17Z F1+LP, but I can't be sure. I have 3 photos of that a/c but can't specifically connect it with the insignia that you acquired from an eBay auction image some time ago. If I could, that would slam-dunk it as the 6 Staffel insignia. I have a distance photo of what I think are some 6 Staffel a/c with this insignia, but it is not 100% certain.

Larry, I'm familiar with that photo, as Alfred Price published it at least twice, attributed to the Unger Collection. What is your source for it? I have a similar photo of the same example I acquired off eBay. This is one of the four examples that I was referring to in my post.

Regards,

[steve sheridan]

Hi Larry, would you be willing to divulge the new name of the 8/KG76 a/c
you have recently found?
You may remember ive corresponded with you on this theme previously.
Did you win this recently on E-bay, i too saw this fabulous collection.

Best regs,
Steve.

[Larry Hickey]

Steve,

The "new" name is "Marder," the type of bird called a Martin in English. This further suggests that the planes in the Staffel all originally had bird names corresponding to their individual a/c letter. The exception is Delphin (dolphin), which I think was the second generation a/c with the code letter "D." I've recently acquired a number of photos from the ECPA taken by a war photographer visiting 8./KG76. These photos continue to support this idea, but not enough nicknames are matched with certainty to aircraft letters to confirm my theory. Photos do confirm that "Adler" (Eagle) is F1+AS, however. That's why I continue to seek photo examples of the unit's aircraft. I think that we have photos of six different names now.

Yes, I won the collection on eBay. I'll probably have to resell it soon, however, as it was quite expensive.

Regards,

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Larry Hickey

Steve,

The "new" name is "Marder," the type of bird called a Martin in English. This further suggests that the planes in the Staffel all originally had bird names corresponding to their individual a/c letter. The exception is Delphin (dolphin)

Regards,

«Marder» isn't a bird, it's a marten, so they may have been going for a wildlife theme for the Staffel. There was a German self-propelled anti-tank gun called the Marder, as well — a predator.

[steve sheridan]

Hi Larry thank you ever so much for sharing the new name " Marder " with us. Interesting theory regarding possible generations of nicknames being used to signify a/c names!

It would be sad to part with the e-bay collection you aquired, some great pictures there. Any idea of time frame on these pics?

Best regs,
Steve.

[Larry Hickey]

Steve,

They are Western Campaign circa May, 1940. Some may date as late as the BoB, as some were taken at different times.

Regards,

[steve sheridan]

Hi Larry, very many thanks for your reply.

Best regs,
Steve.