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Kiwi · 03-06-2005

In the years before the outbreak of war, the RAF had developed two major variations of the roundel. One was the B type, in which the red and blue of the A were moved equally towards each other until the white was closed out. This gave a red and blue roundel proportionally described as -/48. Used initially in all positions on night bombers, its use by 1937 had been generally restricted to use on wing upper surfaces only, and this usage continued until 1947. The other major variation was the A.1 roundel. This consisted of a standard A roundel with a yellow surround of the same width as the other colours. It can be proportionally described as 168/120/72/24 (the 120 being the blue diameter of course). The A.1 generally became the standard roundel for fuselage sides of camouflaged aircraft up until 1942, when it was replaced by the C type.
In 1942 the C roundel was introduced. This was derived from the A in much the same manner as had been the b except that the white was not completely closed out. The proportional description is 60/45. The C roundel generally superseded all other RAF roundels except for the upper wing Bs, and continued in use until after the war. On fuselage sides it was normally in the C.1 form, the addition being a narrow border of yellow in the same manner as the A.2.
In general terms, RNZAF wartime policy was to use standard RAF roundels for all types initially, but from 1942 onwards forward area operational types came under different rules. Probably the first RNZAF departure from plain A roundels was the Wellington scheme when these aircraft were obtained from the UK in 1939. Fuselage sides were marked with A.1 and upper wings with B. There were no underwing roundels. During the opening months of the war Vincents were given a camouflage finish and B roundels were applied to fuselage sides and both upper and lower wing surfaces.
Kittyhawks and Hudsons were delivered with A.1 fuselage roundels and B upper wing , with the fighters also having plain A roundels under wing. This RAF practice of having under wing roundels only on day fighters was generally followed by the RNZAF until April 1942 when instructions were issued to apply A roundels to all under wing positions. This instruction was issued at a time when enemy raider were much in the minds of the embryonic New Zealand air defences, and the underwing marking was seen as necessary to avoid any unfortunate incidents.
Training aircraft and other aircraft used only within New Zealand continued to follow RAF roundel styles throughout the war, although it seems that adherence to the policy was not very strict. For example, although Dominies, Avengers and Sunderlands were delivered marked with C roundels, and many New Zealand based Hudsons and Harvards were repainted with C roundels, it seems rather more rare to find examples of Tiger moths or Oxfords so marked. Many impressed light aircraft, after being camouflaged, saw the war out marked with the A, A1, B combination.
Before leaving the RAF roundel usage in the RNZAF and moving on to the unique RNZAF roundels, there is one other peculiar roundel that must be noted. In a photograph taken in New Zealand in 1941, two Tiger Moths are shown wearing what can only be described as D type roundels . The D roundel, however, was not introduced until 1947, and it is uncertain whether these markings were coincidental, a case of foresight or
as forebears. It can be stated only that these aircraft arrived from the UK with the D roundels already applied.
Also of interest on these Tiger Moths of No 3 EFTS at Harewood (now Christchurch International Airport) are the blind flying hoods , the type B roundel of the fuselage of the third aircraft, the lack of fin flashes, serials on both rudders and fuselage and the artistic licence used by the painters of the code letters. There doesn't seem to be two of the same style! The code group presentation (in black) was an unusual and short-lived form.