Made in England, but...

[pampa14]

…during WW2, many types of aircraft of the Royal Air Force were captured and tested by the Luftwaffe. The following link shows a collection of photos, some well known and others rare, these aircraft with German markings. Hope you enjoy and I count on your visit.

 

 

http://aviacaoemfloripa.blogspot.com.br/2011/02/avioes-britanicos-com-marcas-alemaes.html

 

 

Cheers.

[Python]

Interesting... And weird to see.

[Rangi]

I had never seen that spitfire with a DB 605 or similar engine before. Bit like a reverse Buchon ..

[NeilWillis]

The first shot with the Gladiators isn't a German swastika, it is in Finnish markings.

 

Interesting stuff.

[Aginor]

Always nice to see the stuff you are posting! :)

[NineLine]

Nice collection of photos, thanks for sharing!

[Retu81]

The first shot with the Gladiators isn't a German swastika, it is in Finnish markings.

 

Interesting stuff.

 

Actually, in this case it is a German swastika.

 

Here's the Finnish one:

 

 

 

[willys]

Actually, in this case it is a German swastika.

 

Here's the Finnish one:

 

 

 

"Actually", in this case it is a Latvian one :)

 

Latvian swastika's, while in the same orientation as the German, (ie, diamond as opposed to Finnish square orientation), were red on a white circle.

 

Latvian Gladiator markings here : http://www.latvianaviation.com/en/?./content/airforce/LAF_Gladiator.ssi

Edited March 11, 2015 by willys

[Richard Rodgers]

Very interesting indeed. Both sides captured and tested each other's aircraft during WW2.

 

A German pilot virtually handed a FW190 to the RAF when he got lost whilst flying over the Bristol Channel and landed at RAF Pembrey, South Wales.

 

Luckily he was captured before he could set fire to it after he realised his mistake.

[NeilWillis]

Actually, in this case it is a German swastika.

 

Here's the Finnish one:

 

 

 

I stand corrected.

[Retu81]

"Actually", in this case it is a Latvian one :)

 

Latvian swastika's, while in the same orientation as the German, (ie, diamond as opposed to Finnish square orientation), were red on a white circle.

 

Latvian Gladiator markings here : http://www.latvianaviation.com/en/?./content/airforce/LAF_Gladiator.ssi

 

Thank you for correction. Though red is a bit hard to make out from a black and white photo. :)

[willys]

Thank you for correction. Though red is a bit hard to make out from a black and white photo. :)

No worries. like everything else, it's easy when you know how. At least that what my grandfather said about flying with the RFC :)

 

Black & white is often all you get, so at a glace your left with other clues to make an identification. Like I said it's a question of orientation between the Finnish & Latvian roundels, Finnish on the flat / Latvian on the point, like the German. However the German swastika was only ever placed on the tail and although it was initially applied in a white circle on a red band, this practice ended shortly after hostilities broke out in WW2, whereas the Fins and Latvians never placed them on the tail at all, just wings and fuse only.

 

After that the fins had a sensible habit of starting their aircraft serial numbers with letters that helped to identify the type of aircraft. Like GL-XXX for the Gladiator & MT-XXX, Messerschmitt, BL-XXX Bristol Blenheim, BW-XXX Brewster Buffalo, PE-XXX Petlyakov Pe-2, LG-XXX LaGG-3, MS-XXX Morane-Saulnier 406,407 & finaly "Mörkö-Morane" or "LaGG Morane" a local field mod running with the Klimov engine, and so on and on. It made sense as they had such a large variety of types.

 

So with all this in mind our Latvian Gladiator was never going to be Finnish :) But ironically enough it could have been German.

 

Some Latvian Gladiators changed hands twice, once from Latvia to the Russians then from the Russians to the Germans. Apparently ending up towing gliders in flying schools.

 

At the risk of sounding like a WW2 plane spotter I'm gonna hang up my parka now :)

[Retu81]

No worries. like everything else, it's easy when you know how. At least that what my grandfather said about flying with the RFC :)

 

Black & white is often all you get, so at a glace your left with other clues to make an identification. Like I said it's a question of orientation between the Finnish & Latvian roundels, Finnish on the flat / Latvian on the point, like the German. However the German swastika was only ever placed on the tail and although it was initially applied in a white circle on a red band, this practice ended shortly after hostilities broke out in WW2, whereas the Fins and Latvians never placed them on the tail at all, just wings and fuse only.

 

After that the fins had a sensible habit of starting their aircraft serial numbers with letters that helped to identify the type of aircraft. Like GL-XXX for the Gladiator & MT-XXX, Messerschmitt, BL-XXX Bristol Blenheim, BW-XXX Brewster Buffalo, PE-XXX Petlyakov Pe-2, LG-XXX LaGG-3, MS-XXX Morane-Saulnier 406,407 & finaly "Mörkö-Morane" or "LaGG Morane" a local field mod running with the Klimov engine, and so on and on. It made sense as they had such a large variety of types.

 

So with all this in mind our Latvian Gladiator was never going to be Finnish :) But ironically enough it could have been German.

 

Some Latvian Gladiators changed hands twice, once from Latvia to the Russians then from the Russians to the Germans. Apparently ending up towing gliders in flying schools.

 

At the risk of sounding like a WW2 plane spotter I'm gonna hang up my parka now :)

 

We still continue to use that convention to this date: Mig-21s were MGs, Drakens were DKs, Hawks are HWs and Hornets are HNs. :)