PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Secret Spitfires...
View Single Post
Old 6th Sep 2021, 06:01
  #49 (permalink)  
megan
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: N/A
Posts: 5,947
Received 394 Likes on 209 Posts
The invasion stripes were a last minute addition to avoid friendly fire and applied to all aircraft from C-47, P-38, P-47, Typhoon etc etc even applied to some captured German aircraft that were under test, Bomber Command and heavy bombers of the 8th Air Force were exempt. The scheme was approved on May 17, 1944, but the troop carriers were not given the order to paint until June 3rd while other aircraft got the order the following day, so only a day or two before the invasion. The late notice was so the Germans wouldn't be wondering what's up.
megan is offline