"No, I don't thank you for the fish at all" (notindetroit)
06/06/2015 at 13:36 • Filed to: None
17
4|
"No, I don't thank you for the fish at all" (notindetroit)
06/06/2015 at 13:36 • Filed to: None | 17
| 4 |
71 years ago today the Allied forces launched Operation Overlord, the invasion of Nazi-held Normandy. To avoid confusion and “blue-on-blue” incidents, Allied aircraft of all nations had “invasion stripes” painted with the idea that such a large, conspicuous identification marking would instantly identify Allied aircraft to other Allied forces (at that stage of the war and especially during a beach invasion friendly anti-aircraft fire was considered far more dangerous than the actual enemy).
That’s the quick and dirty explanation of invasion stripes and...really there’s not much more to tell about such a functional and utilitarian identification marking. Except....
On most displays today the invasion stripes look as if the plane came from the factory that way, and the exact markings and masking has been obsessed over by model-makers for decades.
Images from !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .
But what most people (even many people who dump a lot of time and personal money into researching this) don’t know is that often they were hastily painted on by ground crews or whoever happened to be around with a free hand, especially in the days leading up to the invasion. Towards the end of the war they may have been applied under more professional circumstances but the classic stripes associated with the invasion itself often had left much to be desired, from a pure QC standpoint.
More pictures and discussion !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!
ttyymmnn
> No, I don't thank you for the fish at all
06/07/2015 at 23:02 |
|
Back in 1980, Operation Eagle Claw was undertaken to rescue the American hostages held in Iran. US Navy fighters, like these A-7s, were painted with identification stripes since Iran flew some of the same aircraft as the US, which we sold to Iran while the Shah was still in power.
|
ttyymmnn
> No, I don't thank you for the fish at all
06/07/2015 at 23:03 |
|
Also this. When you don’t really have to worry about the Luftwaffe, you don’t have to worry about low visibility.
X37.9XXS
> ttyymmnn
06/08/2015 at 09:25 |
|
According to my father, who was there, the US air forces had three rings of fighter protection over the beaches.
Directly over the beach were P-38’s. The reason was that no other fighter aircraft looked like the Lightning
The next circle were P-47’s, and the last were P-51’s
My father was with the 82nd Fighter Squadron (P47’s) and was directed to stay the hell away from the beaches or he would be shot at. Well, he was a contrary SOB, and, on his way back to Duxford, flew over the invasion. He had to see it. He had been there for two years.
To make a long story short, he was fired on by a US cruiser. He said that he thought the ship blew up, it exploded with gunfire from bow to stern. Fortunately, he had far more experience dodging the best Triple-A in the world, so he was able to easily roll out of the target area. The cruiser’s lookouts were able to get his identification letters, so, when he landed, he got his butt reamed. He did say that it was worth it. It looked as if there was literally a bridge of ships from England to France
|
ttyymmnn
> X37.9XXS
06/08/2015 at 10:02 |
|
Great story. Thanks for sharing.