KITS 02/2021

Do 17Z-2, 3./KG 2, Athens-Tatoi, Greece, May 1941

One of the bomber units taking part in the Balkans campaign under Operation Marita (the attack on Greece) was Kampfgeschwader 2. This

unit’s Stab, I. and III. Gruppe (the contribution of II.Gruppe was largely symbolic) attacked from the Bulgarian airfield at Plovdiv-Krumovo,

and after the occupation of Macedonia, KG 2 moved to Thessaloniki, and by the very end of the actions against Greece, the unit operated

from Tatoi airfield in Athens. Aircraft that took part in Operation Marita carried RLM 04 engine cowls and control surfaces in the tail. The unit

insignia was carried under the cockpit.

Do 17Z, 7./KG 3, Wjazma, Soviet Union, Winter 1941

Over the course of the winter months of the war against the Soviets, fighters and bombers alike received applications of temporary white

paint on their upper surfaces in an effort to better conceal them from the enemy when on the ground or in the air. These paints were

applied at unit level and with whatever method that was possible with no real preparation, and the paint tended to wear away very quickly

under the traffic of the groundcrews, and the adverse weather conditions played a role as well. It was the same with bombers of the 7.

Staffel KG 3, the last unit conducting operational flights with the by-then obsolete Do 17Z. Below the temporary, washable white paint, the

original camouflage scheme consisting of RLM 70/71 was visible on the upper surfaces, and the lower ones were sprayed RLM 65. Service

on the Eastern Front was signified by the yellow fuselage band ahead of the tail surfaces and the yellow lower wingtips.

INFO Eduard - February 2021

eduard

43