\ said:
Mates: It has been written that the spirals on Luftwaffe aircraft were to throw antiaircraft fire off its aim, or to signal friendly AA to refrain. Any RLM or other official documentation for this? Seems like the spiral would compromise the concealment effects of camo.
There is quite a bit of RLM/Luftwaffe documentation on this marking and it confirms that it was a tactical identification marking, just like a yellow rudder or coloured fuselage band.
An ULTRA intercept of 12th February .
"All fighter aircraft of Luftflotte 3 and Luftflotte Reich to have black and white spirals turning in same direction as spinner width one fifth of diameter of spinner."
This caused the typical confusion and various units sought clarification. This, another ULTRA intercept was a clarification.
" Now known that all aircraft markings instructions in KV9270 [above]
apply to all Luftflotte 3 aircraft. Spiral on spinner to be black and white. Additional identification markings to be retained exclusively for fighters, ground attack, heavy fighters and recce aircraft."
Now the marking has been expressly grouped with other identification markings.
On 20th July 1944 a more extensive document was issued to clarify exactly which units and where should apply the new marking.
"With effect from today, the recognition markings of our own aircraft in the Western Area (Germany, France and Italy) will be changed as follows.
1 (a) Fighters, including twin engine fighters, ground attack and reconnaissance aircraft are to have a black and white spiral painted on their spinners.
1 (b) All other operational aircraft, no special recognition markings.
2 (a) Captured aircraft flown, if operationally, to be marked as per 1 (a) above" [A reference to Italian aircraft used on the Italian front]
Now people today come up with all sorts of theories as to why the spirals were applied, but at the time the Luftwaffe applied them as a recognition marking and nothing else. Some units had been applying spirals to spinners long before the adoption of this marking. There are pictures of Bf 109 G-6s of JG 1 sporting a version of the spiral that can be positively dated to May 1943.
The recognition spirals developed from an older Gruppe/Staffel spinner marking when the spinner would be painted in the Gruppe colour and a spiral applied in the Staffel colour.
As for throwing of an air gunners aim, one US gunner claimed that the highly visible spiral gave a good aiming point !
Cheers
Steve