For Luftwaffe aircraft stationed in Italy and Sicily, the standard European camouflage pattern of RLM 71/02/65 (or a grayer RLM 74/75/76) was retained. But when squadrons of III./ZG 26 were transferred to North Africa, this splinter scheme of dark greens and grays over light blue was completely unsuitable in the Libyan desert. Eventually, these forest-favored colors were replaced by RLM 79 Sandgelb (Sand Yellow) over RLM 78 Himmelblau (Sky Blue). A white tactical band (which varied in size and placement) for the Mediterranean theater of operations, in imitation of Italy's Regia Aeronautica markings, provided more immediate recognition in the air. (Until paint stocks of RLM 79 were readily available, Italian Giallo Mimetico 3, which was similarly sand colored, may have been used in the interim.)
This plane is from 8./ZG 26 and crashed in September 1942. But there is no agreement as to the color scheme and even some uncertainty as to the variant. It has been described as a C type. But the pair of ETC 50 (110 lb) bomb racks barely visible under the wings just inboard of the Balkenkreuz suggest that it is an E, which was introduced in late summer 1940. That series, too, was the first to utilize a thick armored windscreen (which can be seen fitted in front of the pilot) and larger hubs for the main wheels, the dimpled rims of which can just be discerned in the grainy photograph. The trim tabs also were enlarged and so extended slightly beyond the rudders. If not distorted by the hard landing, they may be visible in the photograph. Had the cowling not been removed, the air intake between the machine guns would have made identification certain.
At least, the prominent sand filter over the supercharger air intake on the port wing shows the plane to have been tropicalized for desert use. (The clamshell doors of these intakes, which operated by wire from the cockpit, were closed when the plane was on the ground and opened in flight.) And this is how it is described by Vasco and Estanislau, who concluded that plane was an E-2 trop. A base color of RLM 79 extends over the whole of the fuselage with the underside in light blue RLM 78. The individual aircraft letter is red, the assigned color of its Staffel, as are the spinner tips and under-wing letter.
What is intriguing, however, is not so much the color scheme as that the same code was used by another Bf 110.
This plane has a wider theater band and been identified as a D-3, as characterized by its two large 900-liter auxiliary drop tanks, the longer range of which permitted convoy escort over the Mediterranean and air support for Ju 52 supply planes. The fuselage also was extended by almost two feet to house an inflatable dinghy and survival equipment in the event that the plane was forced to ditch into the sea. A darker mottle of RLM 80 (Olivgrün) also has been applied on the upper fuselage.
Here is a good view of the cable that extended from the cockpit to the tail which, when pulled by the rear gunner, released the dinghy. Notice that the letter "G" does not have the short descender of the plane in the first photograph and that the white tactical marking extends across both unit letters as far back as Panel 15 of the fuselage. The plane is said to have been shot down in mid-1942.
If the plane is the same one in the color photograph, it is a D-3. The E series had several identifying features, all of which seem to be missing here. They include the introduction of an air intake between the machine guns in the nose of the plane (again, the cowling is missing) as well as another air intake on the starboard side of the fuselage below the antenna attachment point, which is not visible. Nor is the extended pitot tube, which measured air speed, to be seen jutting beyond the leading edge of the starboard wing.
Presumably, this photograph and the one below were taken after the smoldering plane had stopped burning. A second hinged panel that allowed for the quick insertion of a full ammunition box (Vollgurtkästen) now is open. There were two such panels on either side of the plane, designated right and left and offset to allow all four MG 17 staggered machine guns to be fed from these thousand-round canisters. (The two starboard-side boxes fed the port-side guns and those on the port-side, the starboard guns. Such was the potential for confusion in a hurried replacement that a silhouette of a bullet pointing in the direction of fire was stenciled on each box.)
Another view, which shows a detached section lying next to the ruined twin tail (and which may have held the dinghy). The absence of auxiliary fuel tanks simply may mean that the plane was downed on a non-operational flight.
Finally, yet another Bf 110 coded 3U+GS but with the white theater band placed differently again. The slight bump just below the machine gun suggests that it is an E series, as does the flutter brake on the tail wheel, which can be recognized by the triangular scissors link fitted to the strut. But this compression linkage and extended pitot tube, as well as the armored windscreen, were retrofitted to earlier aircraft and their introduction in the E cannot necessarily be used to identify a particular variant.
A Geschwader (which was the approximate equivalent of a RAF Wing) typically comprised three Gruppen (Groups) which, in turn, were made up of three Staffeln (Squadrons) of nine to twelve aircraft each. There also were planes assigned to Stab (Staff or Headquarters). The Geschwader itself was defined by its operational role and complement of aircraft—in this example, Zerstörergeschwader (abbreviated ZG) comprised Bf 110 Zerstörer (“destroyer”) twin-engine heavy fighters.
The Geschwader was identified by an Arabic numeral and the Gruppen within it by a Roman one, here III./ZG 26, the third Gruppe of Zerstörergeschwader 26. Staffeln also were numbered: Staffeln 1–3 comprising Gruppe I; 4–6, Gruppe II; and 7–9, Gruppe III (later in the war, two more Gruppen were added). The Gruppe number is omitted as unnecessary, however, when the Staffel number is indicated. Because the eighth Staffel of ZG 26 already belongs to Gruppe III, it is identified simply as 8./ZG 26.
All this is conveyed by the plane's Verbandskennzeichen, a four-letter alphanumeric code displayed on either side of the black cross (Balkenkreuz) on the fuselage. In this example, 3U signifies that the plane was assigned to ZG 26, (Zerstörergeschwader 26, Horst Wessel). The second pair indicates the letter of the individual plane (G), usually painted in the color of its Staffel (red) and the identifying letter of the Staffel (S) within the Gruppe. So, 3U+GS designates the seventh plane in the eighth Staffel of the third Gruppe of Geschwader ZG 26.
After the Battle of Britain, III./ZG 26 was refitted and transferred to Sicily in December 1940. The Gruppe's first encounter with the British in North Africa (at Tobruk) was in February 1941 and continued until November 1942, when defeat at El Alamein forced the Gruppe to retire to Sicily, where it continued to support Ju 52s bringing supplies into Tunisia. In May 1943, the Germans withdrew from Tunisia and III./ZG 26 from Sicily in turn. In July, it was ordered back to Germany, having served in the Mediterranean for more than thirty months. Unlike Gruppen I and II, III./ZG 26 was the only one to retain its original Zerstörer designation and not be disbanded and subsumed into ground attack or night fighter roles.
Just as the air intake in the center of the machine gun cowling is characteristic of the E series, so is the boat tail for the D. And, even though Franks contends that "the extended rear fuselage for the dinghy was deleted in this series," the fitment did carry over to the early models of the E variant, production of which initially overlapped that of the D—although the extension eventually was discarded in favor of the standard rear fuselage.
References: Luftwaffe Codes, Markings & Units 1939-1945 (1995) by Barry C. Rosch (pp. 70, 378-379); Luftwaffe Colors 1940-42: Volume 2 (1976) by J. R. Smith and J. D. Gallaspy (pp. 50, 55); The Messerschmitt Bf 110 in Color Profile 1939-1945 (2005) by John Vasco and Fernando Estanislau (p. 101); Messerschmitt Bf 110/Me 210/Me 410: An Illustrated History (2003) by Heinz Mankau and Peter Petrick (p. 196); Messerschmitt's Twin-Engined Fighters from 1939 to 1945 (2009) by Dominique Breffort and André Jouineau (p. 12); The War Planes of the Third Reich (1972) by William Green pp. 584-585); Jagdwaffe: The Mediterranean, 1942–1943 (2004) by Jean-Louis Roba and Martin Pegg (pp.114, 116); Messerschmitt Bf 110 C, D and E: An Illustrated Study (2008) by John Vasco and Fernando Estanislau (p. 125); Luftwaffe Camouflage and Markings 1935-1945: Volume One: Pre-War Development, Paint Systems, Composition, Patterns, Applications, Day Fighters (2004) by K. A. Merrick and Jürgen Kiroff (pp. 138, 154-155); Messerschmitt Bf 110: The Luftwaffe's Fighter-Destroyer in World War II (2019) by Ron Mackay (pp. 50-77; Messerschmitt Bf 110 Zerstörer Aces of World War 2 (1999) by John Weal (pp. 66-74); Messerschmitt Bf 110 Units in the Battle of Britain–Part Two (2019) by John Vasco (p. 7); The Messerschmitt Bf 110: A Complete Guide to the Luftwaffe's Famous Zerstörer (2021) by Richard A. Franks (pp. 88, 216, 218, 242).
