IL2

Messerschmitt Bf-109E JG27.3 (Y4+) Libya 1941 00

Messerschmitt Bf-109E.7 Trop of 3./JG27, late Summer of 1941 Although this machine had seen service in North Africa for some months, the heavy exhaust deposit on the fuselage side indicates it had accumulated a considerable number of flying hours. Nevertheless, its paint finish is still in remarkably good condition and indicates that the repainting of aircraft in Luftwaffe tropical colours was carried out to a high standard. Apart from the fuselage number and the segment on the spinner, this machine lacked any of the usual yellow recognition markings. It is believed that the main camouflage colours were Italian with the green mottles being in a particularly dark tone similar to the later RLM 80.

Messerschmitt Bf-109E JG27.3 (Y4+) Libya 1941 01-03

Photo’s 01-03: Bf-109E-7 Trop, Yellow 4 of 3,/JG27 in the late Summer of 1941. Later, following the Allied advance into Cyrenaica which began on 9 December 1941, the remains of this aircraft, without wings or engine, were discovered on an abandoned airfield by British troops.