Page 72 - History of War - Issue 18-15

OPERATOR’S HANDBOOK

EMBLEMS AND DESIGN brown to grey as the new colour blended in
with the dark sea.
With its origins in World War I, the RAF This colour scheme was employed
roundel was used to identify British planes from then on with the odd variation.
from the ground and in the heat of a dogfi ght. These included pink or dark blue for
The Union Flag was initially put forward but reconnaissance missions at low and high
due to its likeness to the German cross, the levels respectively and light brown for
roundel was incorporated. Middle East missions. Even the roundel was
The fi rst Spitfi res were painted brown and dropped, as in operations over Japan it was
dark green while the underside fuselage was deemed too similar to the red disk Hinomaru
white to allow for easy identifi cation by anti- emblem of the Japanese Zeros.
aircraft guns and reduce friendly fi re. As the
fi ght against the Luftwaffe began to spread to
the Channel, the paint scheme changed from

On the SM520, part of
the engine has been
moved to make way
for the second cockpit
in a modern redesign

Above: After the Battle of Britain, the Spitfi re took
on more of a reconnaissance role and was even
occasionally painted pink to add to its camoufl age

© John M. Dibbs

Prince Harry is fl own in the back of
Boultbee’s Spitfi re SM520 over the
Needles in the Isle of Wight

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