This Bf 109E-3, 'White 13' of I./JG2 is seen as it would have appeared in May 1940 wearing a very high demarcation 02/71 upper surface scheme. The small proportions of the fuselage cross and the position of the Hakenkreuz across the fin/rudder hinge line indicate that this is probably one of the earliest applications of the revised camouflage scheme. On the nose is the 'Bonzo dog' Staffel emblem designed by Otto Bertram while the white '13' has a thin black border.
'White 13', a Bf-109E-4 of 7./JG26 flown by Lt. Walter Blume undergoes an engine maintenance
Messerschmitt Bf-109E-1 of 5./JG27 flown by Oblt. Erwin Daig. On 9 September, Daig - not carrying the bomb rack on this occasion - took off on a fighter escort mission to accompany bombers to London. At 20,000 feet, his aircraft was attacked by fighters which damaged his fuel and engine cooling systems and Daig made a forced landing at Charity Farm near Parham, Sussex, where he was subsequently taken prisoner. His aircraft was later displayed in Birmingham, and is seen here in Dudley where the Henry Hall band is entertaining war-workers. For a while during the 1930s Henry Hall directed the BBC dance orchestra and was the most popular radio star in Britain.
Unlucky Thirteen. On the afternoon of 30 September, Fw. Walter Scholz of 3./JG53 took off on a bomber escort mission. The bombers were joined between 18,000 and 19,000ft near the English coast but, according to Scholz, this aircraft ran out of fuel and forced landed at Langley, near Eastbourne in Sussex. The aircraft, a Bf-109E-4, 'Yellow 13', W.Nr.1325, had a yellow-orange nose and tail and, although not visible in the photographs, was reported to have had a yellow horizontal bar behind the cross. Another anomaly is that although the pilot stated on interrogation that there had been no combat, the RAF crash report mentions a few .303 strikes in the engine and cooling system. Note the four Abschussbalken on the fin and, for an E-4, the unusual position of the Hakenkreuz. Needless to say, the contemporary press made the most of the fuselage number thirteen.
Uffz. Arno Zimmermann of 7./JG54 took off from Guines with the whole of III.Gruppe at 08.35 hrs on 27 October on a fighter sweep over London. On the return flight, the Hurricanes of 605Sqn. were seen below and some of the Bf-109s dived down to attack. As Uffz. Zimmermann was climbing again, a Hurricane, believed to have been flown by Sgt. Eric Wright (who had shot down Viktor Molders on 7 October), fastened onto Zimmermann's tail and fired a burst which hit his engine and wounded the pilot. Despite a cockpit filled with smoke and a badly faltering engine, Zimmermann made for the coast but was obliged to make a forced landing on the beach near Lydd. The winged clog emblem of 7./JG54 was inspired by the time the III.Gruppe spent in Holland refitting after the French campaign.