JU 88 5J+ER Duggleby 1940

[The Devil's Bank]

I've always loved the nose art on the Luftwaffe Planes, and one in particular caught my eye.

It's from a crash landed Junkers 88 A-5 from 7./KG4 on the 27th October 1940.

It landed on farmland in Malton, Duggleby, Yorkshire Wolds.

One crew member lost his life, Uffz Oskar Piontek (Gunner).

Although the Pilot Oblt Friedrich Franz Podbielski might have died later, due to injuries sustained in the crash (??).

On the Pilots right hand side, there was a " Bat Over Moon" emblem on the side panel below the Cockpit window.

I loved this emblem as soon as I saw it, and just had to have one.. but??..

what were the colours considering the photo is in black & white?

Research showed what other enthusiasts made of of it it's certainly not the yellow and green picture

So a simple sketch was made.

[The Devil's Bank]

So, a genuine Ju88 panel was acquired and painted Luftwaffe dark green.

Another war time photo showed a British guard pointing to the emblem, on the now shot down '88.

Still no clues..

I've read that the Moon and the Bat were Silver..

Would the Luftwaffe have really painted a emblem Silver on a night flying aircraft?, erm?? reflective paint , certainly not.

We can also discount Yellow paint for the same reason and the Luftwaffe didn't have large stocks of Yellow.

No national markings/ codes or paint schemes were in yellow.

Green, Black and White yes... but Yellow was used.

A very small amount was used for some of the later fuel markings.

[The Devil's Bank]

The moon is not Yellow.. it is White and bats are Black/Grey Brown.

I think we can safely say the Moon was a dull Matt White, on the dark Green back ground.

It seems to me, that to highlight the Bat, it was painted in a slighter lighter colour

After a few attempts with Grey colours, nothing stood out until a little light Blue was added.

This was the result.. and I think it is stunning

[The Devil's Bank]

If you look at the original close up, you can see the sun is highlighting/reflecting on the side of the Aeroplane.

There is a very slight change of shade between the Moon and the Bat, very slight indeed. (In my opinion).

To me, I think the panel is a very close to the original as possible, when using the Black & White picture as a template.

I wanted the Bat to be highlighted, and I hope this version of it does it justice.

I love it!

I've had a few question (nicely) asking about the colours? quite a lot of interest to be honest, which is good

I think they could only use what they had at the time, and they (Luftwaffe) didn't have Silver paint for one

Yes, the panel is mine and it looks as though it could have come from the actual aircraft.

I love bringing things back to life, reopening memories that have been long forgotten in time.

JU88 5J+ER comes back to life once again..

The picture with the yellow moon is for the T/shirt I had made

[MAP]

Even in B&W it does not appear to have much if any tint to it. So I would assume both colors would be very light. A silver, white or grey.

I wouldn't worry so much about it being seen in the dark. Way to small to be noticed IMHO....

[The Devil's Bank]

I agree, but when it was first done, nice and fresh, I think this is how it would have looked.

Remember the flames from the inner engine exhaust would reflect any light colour, especially Silver.

British night fighter crews where on the look out for any thing in the deep black of night..

We tried every way to replicate the black & white picture, but nothing seemed correct, it just didn't look right.

So I think this is a fine example of what it would have looked like.

[Ubique]

It is interesting that the two B&W photographs show two distinctly different aircraft nose art.
Compare for example the 'hook' at the top of both crescents, also the widest part of the crescents in comparison to the distance from the crescent right-edge to the rear edge of the Perspex in both photos. One of the crescents is further forwards than the other. Also, the first is rotated clockwise a little in comparison to the second. Align points on the artwork in relation to panel edges.

Oz.

[The Devil's Bank]

Hi Oz, maybe it's just the different angles of the pictures?

[Walkwolf]

I agree - there are two artworks, as one is
slightly different from the other.

One way it could be from the same plane
is if the art was repainted/retouched.

[Ubique]

Yes, a repaint is possible. Also possible is the aircraft being replaced due to damage/upgrade.
Could this insignia be used by a whole squadron or just a single crew? (I don't know much about the Luftwaffe).

Oz.