African vehicles

[motto]

That's what was needed Lang, more information and it all comes into focus.
The red, white and blue flash represents the tricolour not an RAF connection. I did wonder about the narrow white bar.
There is a goodly chance that the aircraft in the photo would be some of the 75 P40Ls flown in off the carrier/s.
I'd have thought the USAAC would have been more resistant to the use of a foreign power plant especially as it barely enhanced the aircrafts performance.

David

[Lang]

Dave,

They had no worries using the Merlin on 15,000 Mustangs.

Lang

[motto]

There is no doubt that the Merlin turned the P51 from an ok aircraft into an outright success that nobody could deny. That magic didn't happen with the P40.
The Curtis airframe being an older design apparently made the Merlin of little or no advantage in which case it would have been an unnecessary supply chain complication even if the P40 Merlin was compatible with the P51 which it probably wasn't and so my surprise at its adoption.
Often we know what was done but are left wondering why?

David

Good stuff Tony, keep it coming . The aircraft being a P40F would presumably predate the Torch operation and it begs the question as to how long prior to this DAF aircraft were operated in American markings?

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by motto

The aircraft being a P40F would presumably predate the Torch operation and it begs the question as to how long prior to this DAF aircraft were operated in American markings?

Not very long Dave, perhaps two or three months at most. The USAAF squadrons arrived with DAF in Egypt a few weeks before Alamein, which was late October, and Torch was early November.

There were about half a dozen USAAF squadrons with DAF, comprised of P40 Fighter and B25 Bombardment Squadrons. They all carried the RAF fin flash in addition to their USAAF markings, and I believe they were delivered in a plain pinkish colour scheme intended specifically for desert use (unlike USAAF a/c intended for Torch operations which all arrived in camo scheme).

[Lang]

Here are 2 photos of DAF P40's. Wide and Narrow white stripe.

This is an interesting link.

http://raf-112-squadron.org/79th_fg.html

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Lang

Here are 2 photos of DAF P40's. Wide and Narrow white stripe.

I'm guessing the wide stripe was officially superceded by the narrow stripe, possibly to reduce visibility to enemy a/c. Perhaps this was initiated in the desert where the problem became evident in the much brighter light. Whatever the case, the wide stripe is seen on early model P40s and becomes increasingly rare on later models. Will need to check more photos of course.

[Lang]

If you can follow the same squadrons through a period you might see if it was a widespread instruction or just what the squadron signwriter decided.

[Tony Wheeler]

Originally Posted by motto

That's what was needed Lang, more information and it all comes into focus. The red, white and blue flash represents the tricolour not an RAF connection. I did wonder about the narrow white bar.

Not so fast David! The narrow white bar is what makes it RAF. The French tricolor has equal width colour bands. Also it was painted along the full length of the rudder, not as a miniature on the fin.

I agree the RAF fin flash on this 57 FG P40 is unusual, in that the top corner isn't cropped by the leading edge of the fin, however I put that down to Americans trying to paint British insignia!

[Lang]

Tony,

Good info.

I just had a look at about 100 photos of British aircraft. 90% had equal colour stripes ie wide white bar. The narrow white bar appears on only 10% of the aircraft I looked at and was found in all theatres.

The fatal error many historians make (not saying there is anything wrong with your conclusions) is believing regulations and standardisation in paint schemes and markings are slavishly adhered to in the field. Many is the misidentified vehicle or aircraft because it does not have or does have particular markings - even in the same unit or squadron.

Your research on these ones looks pretty impressive.

Lang

[Tony Wheeler]

Very interesting Lang, you've now got me scratching my head about the white bar width! If it varies in all theatres as you say, then perhaps it was officially changed at some point during the war....? Or perhaps there were simply two different versions floating around in the numerous official directives on a/c markings. I agree it's a mistake to assume these were slavishly followed, however I've found them much more reliable on a/c than vehicles. Anyway I shall take notice of the RAF fin flash in future and see if I can detect any rhyme or reason behind it!

As an Aussie my knowledge of USAAF markings is very limited, and my interest even less! I just happen to be familiar with these USAAF P40 squadrons attached to DAF, for the sole reason that my father also flew P40s in DAF! Thereafter they followed the same campaign trail through Sicily and Italy, occasionally sharing airfields and flying joint ops, so there's a further connection as well.