Markings for Bf 110D 1/48
COL A
Bf 110D-0, W.Nr. 3170, Lt. Felix-Maria Brandis & Uffz. Guntram Weigl, 1.(Z)/JG 77, Petsamo, Finland, September 1941
Felix-Maria Brandis was born on September 9, 1919, in Ahaus. He joined the Luftwaffe on September 14, 1939. On September 1, 1941, he was forced to land in Sweden with a Bf 110E-1 (W.Nr. 4114) when he got lost on return to the base and run out of fuel. He returned from internment in Sweden on September 7, 1941. On September 16, 1941, Lt. Felix-Maria Brandis and Uffz. Guntram Weigl flew the LN+HR (usually flown by Ofw. Karl Munding, the two kill marks on the rudder were his own) on combat mission over Murmansk. Returning to Petsamo base, they were hit by anti-aircraft fire in the left engine over the Kola Peninsula. During the subsequent emergency landing, LN+HR was destroyed but its crew escaped uninjured. On the nose of the aircraft was painted the emblem of the Zerstörerstaffel in the form of a dachshund with a Rata (Polikarpov I-16) in its mouth. Felix-Maria Brandis scored a total of fourteen victories during his time on the Eastern Front, comprising five British opponents (including two Fairey Albacores) and nine Soviet aircraft. The 1.(Z)/JG 77 was deployed in northern Europe to fight against both British and Soviet forces. Lt. Brandis was killed on February 2, 1942, with a Bf 110E-2 (W.Nr. 2546) LN+AR when his aircraft crashed in bad weather while returning from a combat flight near Olanga.
COL B
Bf 110D-0, W.Nr. 3181, 4./ZG 2, Gyancourt, France, July 1940
This is so far the only known example of a Bf 110D belonging to II./ZG 2 equipped with the additional fuel tank under fuselage, so called Dackelbauch. The II./ZG 2 was created in July 1940 from I./ZG 52 and kept its original emblem, a white dragon in black shield. The unit also kept its original fuselage codes of I./ZG 52. Camouflage consisted of RLM 71, 02 and 65. Unit lost its Gruppenkommandeur, Major Harry Carl, on August 16 after combat with RAF fighters over the Channel. He got killed together with his gunner Uffz. W. Maier in a crash landing near Beauzeville, France. The commander of the 4. Staffel was Hptm. Hans Peter Külbel, former policeman and pre-war commander of military flying school. On August 11, 1940, he was appointed temporary commander of I./ZG 2. However, on next day he was shot down and killed alongwith his gunner Uffz. F. Budig by RAF fighters off Portsmouth. His body was washed ashore on September 18 near Boulogne. Due to heavy losses the II./ZG 2 was disbanded in September 1940, including 4./ZG 2.
COL C
Bf 110D-2, W.Nr. 3406, 9./ZG 26, Trapani, Sicily, Spring 1941
During MTO operations in the summer of 1941, Luftwaffe aircraft received recognition markings consisting of white fuselage bands and, in some cases, also a white tail. A rooster emblem adorned the nose of aircraft serving with 9. Staffel. Besides that, the III./ZG 26 emblem consisting of a ladybug in a white square was also carried. As a carryover of previous service, the nose was in yellow, as was the yellow horizontal stripe on rudder. Aircraft of this Gruppe were the first fighters of the Luftwaffe employed over Africa. They happened to become the longest serving aircraft in the MTO theatre of operations, as they were used up to mid-1943.
COL D
Bf 110D-0, W.Nr. 3156, Hptm. Werner Restemeyer, Stab/ZG 76, Stavanger-Sola, Norway, May-June 1940
The first unit equipped with Bf 110Ds during the Norwegian campaign was I./ZG 76. The aircraft carried an older variant of the camouflage with sharply bordered areas of RLM 70/71 on the upper surfaces and RLM 65 on the lower ones. The aircraft shown used an under-fuselage external tank, after which the aircraft were nicknamed Dackelbauch (dachshund belly). On August 15, 1940, the M8+AB, flown by Hptm. Werner Restemeyer, Uffz. Werner Eichert and radio specialist Hptm. Hartwich, escorted He 111 in a raid on Dishforth and Linton-Upon-Ouse. At 12.30pm it was intercepted and shot down by Spitfires from No. 72 Squadron. The Bf 110D M8+AB crashed in flames into the sea off the coast of Durham, killing the crew.