| Sorry folks, but I had to do this in 2 parts as it was too long to be posted in 1
Part 2
The Central Powers differed entirely from the allies in the form of their national markings. They avoided the roundel entirely and based their markings on the square, or portions of it, as in the square Turkish symbol and the cross of the other powers, with their straight outer edges. The idea behind this was not initially to make the markings of the Central Powers radically different from those of the Allies, It was more of a fortunate accident, based on the fact that the most obvious symbol for the Germans, the leaders of the Central Powers, was the cross of the Hohenzollern family of Prussia. Thereafter, it was copied by the other Central Powers in form and colour, and became a marking very different and distinct from that of the Allies.
The German national marking, then, was the Cross Pattée, or Iron Cross, from the arms of the royal house of Prussia. This was in use from the start of the war until the spring of 1918. On March 20 1918 it was ordered that from April 15 of the same year the earlier type of cross should be replaced by the Greek Cross, known to the Germans as the Balkankreuze.
Unlike the Allies, the Germans used the same marking on the fin/rudder and the wings. Although the cross basically just that – a black cross - it soon proved necessary to add a contrasting white edge to let the cross stand out against the background colour of the wing.
The difference between the Cross Pattée and the Greek Cross is that the formers arms are wider at their ends than at the centre, where they join, and the latter has straight and parallel sides.
Austria-Hungary used the earlier German markings throughout the war, with the addition of three broad stripes of red and white (white in the middle) on the wingtips of naval aircraft, as a form of ensign. These markings were also carried on the tail occasionally.
Initially the Turks used an emblem based on their national flag, with a white crescent and star on a red square but in 1915 they changed this to black square edged in white. This was done to avoid confusion with red on Allied markings and and to bring the markings into conformity with the black and white markings of the other Central Powers.
Bulgaria’s markings, like Austria-Hungary’s were the same as Germany’s. The cross on the lower wing had no white edging. On the upper surfaces the Bulgarians used a strip of green paint along the trailing edge of the wing to differentiate their machines from German ones.
Hope all this has all been of help and has led to some understanding of what is a very complex subject.
cheers
Nev |