This grainy still is one of several frames from an Italian newsreel of September 1941 that show T6+AN in flight. So striking was the image that it appeared in print the very next year.
The five-second clip itself was shown in the British documentary The World at War: The Desert—North Africa 1940–1943 (Season 1, Episode 8), which aired on December 19, 1973. Here, two frames have been stitched together to show the snake motif to better effect, the white Mediterranean theater band adopted from the Italian Regia Aeronautica barely visible.
Subsequent frames progressively reveal the plane's identifying markings, from "T" to "T6" to a hint of "A" and finally to "N." "T6" indicates that the plane was from St.G 2, the "N" that it was assigned to 5 Staffel, II Gruppe—and so, 5./St.G 2. The "A" is the individual aircraft letter (outlined in white to make it more visible) in the color of its Staffel (red).
This image, published by Creek in 2012, shows a second (often overlooked) "Snake," a Ju 87B-2 designated (as indicated on the back of the photograph) T6+AP. Urbanke contends that such planes were flown by unit leaders, the elaborate decoration allowing for ready identification—and both T6+AN (5 Staffel, II Gruppe) and T6+AP (6 Staffel, II Gruppe) do have "A" as their individual identification letter, which was reserved for Staffelkapitäns and Gruppenkommandeurs. For example, T6+AC was flown by Major Walter Enneccerus, who severely damaged the British aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious in January 1941. Urbanke also assumes that, if the snake were to provide such immediate recognition, it must have appeared on both sides of the aircraft—although this seems does not seem practical.
T6+DP is from 6./St.G 2 as well, which Held and Obermaier contend was flown by Leutnant Hubert Pölz, who had participated in the sinking of HMS Auckland off Tobruk in June 1941 (and later was awarded the Knight's Cross and Oak Leaves). Urbanke tentatively agrees, suggesting that the plane of an experienced pilot such as Pölz might have been decorated in a similar fashion. Curiously, although T6+AP and T6+DP both are from 6 Staffel, the unit color differs on the two planes: "AP" is red and "DP," yellow. (When the Geschwader expanded to four or five Gruppen, the unit color of 6./St.G 2 was red, but that was later in the war.)
In this screenshot, the pattern of T6+DP is repeated. (Unless there is an official diagram, it is difficult to duplicate a plane's camouflage, as virtually none is shown from all the angles necessary to provide a correct template for every surface.) Notice that the propeller spinner is in the color of the Staffel (red) and banded in white, duplicating the white outline surrounding the red "A" that identified the plane.
It seems likely that the snake motif was used only during the summer and autumn of 1941 (here, T6+AN is imagined attacking shipping at Malta) and not retained after II./St.G 2 was redesignated III./St.G 3 at the beginning of the next year. Although the emblem on the Ju 87 is the most striking, similar but much less elaborate snake markings extended the length of the fuselage on several Ju 82 transports and at least one Fw 190.
Captured in late 1941, this Ju 87B-2 is being inspected by British or Commonwealth troops in the Libyan desert. (Notice that the rear machine gun has been removed.) Operational codes could be reused and this plane, too, is designated T6+AN, T6 signifying that it was assigned to St.G 2 ("Immelmann," after Germany's first ace in World War I and the first to receive the "Blue Max"). Had the plane displayed a snake motif, one would have thought that the port side would have presented a more compelling perspective for the photographer.
Smith identifies it as a Ju 87R-2 and the standard European splinter scheme RLM 70/71 oversprayed with "random tan stripes" for desert warfare. He no doubt uses the word advisedly, as there is some uncertainty whether it was painted in Italian Giallo Mimetico or RLM 79. Creek says simply "sand yellow." The undersurface is RLM 65. Merrick identifies the plane as a Ju 87B-2 Trop (presumably because there are no external fuel tanks) and the upper colors to be RLM 79/80 in a pattern "particular to this unit," positing that a distinctive style of camouflage was specific to each Gruppe—in the case of II./St.G 2, "a very open application of 80-coloured green segments over the sand base colour."
References: Stuka: Luftwaffe Ju 87 Dive Bomber Units, 1939-1945 (Vol. 2) (2006) by Peter C. Smith (p. 116); Luftwaffe Camouflage and Markings 1935-1945 (Vol. 2) (2005) by K. A. Merrick and Jürgen Kiroff (p. 324); "Die 'Schlangen'—Stukas des Sturzkampf Geschwader 2: The 'Snake' Stukas of Sturzkampf Geschwader 2 (2005) by Axel Urbanke, Luftwaffe im Focus, Edition 7, 24-27; The Luftwaffe in the North African Campaign 1941-1943 (1992) by Werner Held and Ernst Obermaier (a translation of Die Deutsche Luftwaffe im Afrika-Feldzug 1941–1943, published in 1979);World War II in Pictures (Vol. 1) (1942) edited by Herman C. Morris and Harry B. Henderson (p. 228); Junkers Ju 87 Stuka (2000) by Alan W. Hall (Warpaint Series No. 3, p. 29); Junkers Ju 87 Stukageschwader of North Africa and the Mediterranean (1998) by John Weal (Osprey Combat Aircraft 6, p. 58); The Junkers Ju 87A & B (1966) by J. Richard Smith (Profile Publications, No. 76, p. 5); Junkers Ju 87: From Dive-Bomber to Tank-Buster 1935–1945 (2012) by Eddie J. Creek (pp. 168, 174).
