RAF serials

[DavidJC]

Simple question.

 

Why did/do the RAF reverse the order of serial letters from one side of the fuselage to the other?

[David Jones1707820337]

 If you mean the squadron and aircraft code (JV-B) it was probably due to space available around a fixed point (the roundel on the fuselage which was presumably applied at the manufacturer or at an MU when the aircraft was accepted into service).

However if you look at some aircraft e.g 2 of the 3 variants on the new tool Spitfire Mk I, the letters WZ-H and LD-G are in that order on both sides, while the third has LV-N to port and N-LV to starboard.

The serial (e.g. L4711) always seems to read "normally"

[vimal_indrasoma]

 Perhaps to allow the unit code (usually two letters) to be clearly visible? The less important individual call-sign went on the pointy end with less space.

[DavidJC]

Sorry yeah I did mean the larger letters encompassing the roundel on the fuselage sides rather than the smaller serials under the tailplaine, so yeah, the KL-B and the RF-D etc. That was my lack of clarity.

 

I understand now if the roundel was fixed in relation to each side, thank you. That said, you'd have thought the roundel's position would have changed position asymmetrically so that the letters would have read correctly either side of the plane.

 

Couple of other intersting replies too; I hadn't even known the solo letter would have been the individual call-sign.

[David Jones1707820337]

 Remember the roundels would have been painted before the aircraft was assigned to a squadron and the position was probably laid down in some Air Ministry regulation (as were the camoflage patterns, for example) , so when the letters were introduced (not too long before WW2 if I remember) it would be a question of "where is space available" rather than "lets move the roundel to fit the code".    The variation between different and identical port and starboard sides (see my examples above) seems to indicate the codes were applied at the squadron and less rigorously controlled.    I know senior officers were allowed their own choice of codes, so Douglas Bader used D-B at some stage, whil Johnny Johnson used JE-J

 

[DavidJC]

Thank you again Ossian - that too is helpful and interesting :-)

 

Believe it or not it was only around 10 years ago I learned that WW2 aircraft camouflage was actually pre-set/laid down and not on the whim of the painter on that day.

[peebeep]

Camouflage patterns, national insignia, serial and code letter character colours, size and positioning were all laid out in the various Air Ministry Orders (AMO). Roundel and fin flash dimensions/positioning were quite precise, as were serial and codes, except that with the latter a degree of flexibility was permitted to cater for fuselage sizes. Squadron codes and aircraft ID were not always reversed, it depended on what space was available in consideration of the roundel, but the wording of the AMO was sufficiently imprecise as to give rise to various interpretations and variations. That was the case with a lot of the AMOs.

[Braille Dave]

As a bit of history- SQN codes were introduced in March 1939, A year after squadron markings were ordered to be removed.

 

 

The AMO ordering their introduction required them to be painted in mid-grey, as a colour this was not defined and led to some interesting interpretations, for example: Nearly Ocean grey at Duxford, and almost white at Kenley. The AMO required them to be applied with unit codes ahead of the roundel on the port side, and behind on the starboard.

 

On the outbreak of war these were all changed, although as is normal with the RAF, there were strange anomalies- 213sqn went to war with the same codes (AK), 1sqn weren't issued with codes, and therefore until the winter of 1940 only had aircraft letters (they were later allocated JX), 73sqn just didn't use theirs until they returned from France. 604sqn actually applied their war codes in August (They were the fighter sqn featured in Pathe News, feverishly camouflaging all their vehicles, again in August).

 

The radio callsign was not related to the aircraft, Each squadron was allocated a word- which was the unit call sign. Within the sqn the callsign would be dependent on the flight, 'A' would be 'Red', 'B' would be 'green' etc, So the lead of 'A' flight would be 'Red 1'.

 

Pilots weren't allocated particular aircraft, for all sorts of sensible reasons:- maintenance, repairs, modifications, flying hours, etc. Aircraft were allocated on a daily basis. So although senior officers (effectively Wing Commanders and above) were allowed to have their own aircraft, Sqn Ldrs and below certainly weren't. However, Douglas Bader had a history of disobeying authority when it suited him, leading to at least two tragedies (as well as being indulged by certain senior officers to pursue their own agenda).

 

'Johnny' Johnson only had a personal aircraft when he became a Wing Leader, until then he was allocated an aircraft, like all the other pilots on the sqn.

 

[DavidJC]

Brilliant post Braille Dave, there were things I learned in there.

[PhantomBigStu]

not quite true, often Sqn ldrs did have defacto personal aircraft, generally they pulled rank and favoured a particular plane, though of course possible other sqn pilots got to fly it when the ldr was grounded

[Braille Dave]

They certainly did favour particular aircraft, but that's not the same as having a particular aircraft allocated, in the same way as, say AVM Park's Hurricane 'OK-1'. 

 

The reality is that maintenance requirements, modification states and the repair process took precedence over aircrews preferences. Any engineering officer wirth his salt would not accept the problems that personal aircraft would cause to the servicability state of a sqn. There were AMOs forbidding such practices. Indeed ground crew had a hard enough time keeping up with the changes in airframes, let alone keeping a single airframe perpetually servicable.

 

There is on the T'internet a publication about RAF Henlow- During the BoB it was an MU for Hurricanes- long story short, by the end of the summer of 1940 the repair organisation was such, that a pilot could report damage to his aircraft and be ordered to fly to an MU, where he would either have his 'plane repaired while he waited, or be given a repaired aircraft to take away. I mention RAF Henlow because they achieved the astonishing feat of a main wing spar change on a hurricane in 1 1/2 hours (the pilot was called away from lunch in the mess to fly the aeroplane back). Truth be told, they were adept at repairing components, and they just swapped the wingset with a repaired unit in store.

 

Some examples: Douglas Bader CO of 242 sqn at the time was recorded as using Hurricane P3061 on 7 Sep 1940, but on the 15th he was using V7467; 'Sailor' Malan (74  sqn) was recorded as using K9953, R6773 & P9306 during June 1940.

[david_fleming]

If the topic interests you beyond a casual interest, I recommend Andy Thomas and Vic Flintham's 'Combat Codes' book, which is a comprehensive listing of all known codes used. (There are some that are not known, and some that have no confirmation as being applied - and also some that were allocated but never used. Beleive it or not, there does not appear to be an existing official copy of the 1939 outbreak of war codes)

[Jonathan Mock]

^^^ Seconded. Great book, I have a copy here.

[DavidJC]

Admittedly my interest is more casual than anything else, nontheless there have been some really useful and interesting posts here. Thank you :-)

[Ratch]

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