Ju 88 squiggle camo/Mäandertarnung, Italy 1943-4 KG 54, KG 76, KG 77

Sunday, 14 June 2015

Ju 88 squiggle camo/Mäandertarnung, Italy 1943-4 KG 54, KG 76, KG 77

Junkers Ju 88, Italy 1943-4 Mäandertarnung (squiggle camo)

Aviano, Italy according to the seller. Colours 'expert' David E. Brown has suggested that this machine might be Ju 88 A-4 “B3+BR” of 7./KG 54 given the style of the aircraft’s code, camouflage, and very small size fuselage Balkenkreuz. The latter is apparently rare on Ju 88s.

Elements of at least five Ju 88 bomber units were stationed in Italy around the summer of 1943 as KG 76 pilot Joachim Siebers recalled in Smith and Gallaspy's " Luftwaffe Camouflage and Markings 1935-45" Vol.3 (Kookaburra, 1977). Some of their machines were also - now famously - supplied with aircraft dispatched from Munich direct to the front line, pre-painted in royal blue (RLM 24?) uppersurfaces with RLM 76 Wellenmuster pattern superimposed. Possible Geschwader codes could be "3Z", "F1" or "L1" or even "B3". However the white theatre band seems to have been a feature of KG 77 machines..

"F1+DP" of 6./KG 76, captioned " March 1944 - Italy"