For those interested this seems to be the official memorandum
Also note the markings were to be washed off with hot water in July, 4-5 weeks later so quite short lived.
61. In 0rder to facilitate the identification of friendly aircraft by Ground, Assault and Naval forces and other friendly aircraft, certain types 0f American and British aircraft during 'Operation Neptune' as enumerated below, are to be painted with special and distinctive markings.
62. Types of British and American aircraft which are to carry the special and distinctive markings
i) Fighters and fighter Bombers
ii) Tactical and Photographic Reconnaissance aircraft
iii) Aircraft employed in spotting for naval gunfire and field artillery
iv) Light and medium Bombers
v) Troop carrier aircraft including four-engine types
vi) Glider tugs including four engine types
vii) Gliders
viii) Liaison aircraft and Air Observati0n aircraft employed in forward areas for fire spotting
and adjustment, or for advanced aircraft control
ix) Coastal Command aircraft, Air Sea Rescue and disembarked Fleet Air Arm aircraft except seaplanes and four-engined aircraft which need not be marked
63. Types 0f British and American aircraft which are not required to carry the special and distinctive markings
i) Four-engined bombers
ii) Air Transports
iii) Night Fighters
iv) Seaplanes
64. Details of the special and distinctive markings to be painted on the types of aircraft enumerated at para 62 above have already been distributed to all concerned under separate cover.
65. The date and time when these special and distinctive markings are to be painted on the appropriate types of aircraft will be communicated at a later date. They are not, repeat not, to be painted on aircraft prior to the receipt of the executive order for this action to be taken.
Note that when this document is compared to the original SHAEF Operational Memorandum No 23 that Gliders have now been added to the list of aircraft types which are to carry the distinctive markings.
Much the same information was passed to units operating in the Middle East by HQ Mediterranean Allied Air Forces Office of the Director of Operations Operation Memorandum 43. Dated 26th May 1944, this memo stated that aircraft with these distinctive markings might be seen in the Mediterranean Theatre, and any, aircraft from the Mediterranean which entered the area of operations was to be so marked.
The materials with which the distinctive markings were to be applied were detailed in 11 Groups Administrative Instructions for' Operation Overlord which were issued on 27th May 1944. Appendix 'C' of this document dealt with Equipment whilst Paragraph 8 of appendix 'C' was entitled 'Distemper' and stated the following, 'All servicing echelons and Wing Headquarters of 2 TAF and No 85 Group should hold siteen distemper brushes per Day Squadron served. Air Sea Rescue Squadrons should hold one brush per IE aircraft. Equipment sections of Stations and 2 TAF and No 85 Group Wings should hold distemper ready for immediate issue on the basis of 'two and a half gallons of Night Distemper and three and a half gallons of White Distemper for each Day Fighter type aircraft and three and a half gallons of Night Distemper and five gallons of White Distemper for each Walrus or 'Warwick Air Sea Rescue aircraft.
Note: A proportion of te issue will be an oil based distemper which will require a longer period to dry but must nevertheless be used wherever practicable. Issue of the necessary distemper for all units is being arranged".
The Material Specification for water-based Matt Finish Distemper, DTD 441, was issued in August 1940. The material was to consist of a smooth distemper suitable for application to doped fabric or painted metal surfaces by brush or spray, or it could be supplied in the form of a paste or powder which, when mixed with water in amounts to be stated by the supplier, would produce a distemper. One coat of the distemper when applied to fabric or metal surfaces was to match the standard in colour, finish and opacity and be 'hard' dry in an hour.
After being allowed to dry at room temperature for two weeks, the distemper was to be capable of being removed by the application of hot water leaving the original painted or doped surface undamaged.
The mention made above of an oil-based distemper may go some way towards accounting for the difficulty which many units experienced in removing the distinctive markings when instructed to do so in July 1944. So far a material specification for an oil-based distemper of some kind is not known. One further explanation of the difficulty experienced in removing the markings may be that if insufficient supplies of distemper were available. paint such as that to DTD 314 for permanent synthetic finishes might have been used instead.
The Executive Order to apply the distinctive markings to the aircraft is thought to have been passed to the squadrons in 2 TAF by ASIO No 19 on 3rd June 1944, which directed that the distinctive markings be applied to the aircraft after the last sortie of the day. Comparatively few squadrons found the order to apply the black and white markings worth recording.
Those squadrons which do mention the application of the markings confirm 3rd June 1944 as the date of application, although work on some squadrons seems to have been carried over into the evening of D-Day itself.
The application of the distinctive markings to No 488 Squadron’s Mosquitoes is interesting since it predates the instruction to apply the markings to Night Fighters by 24 hours. Whether this was because of imperfectly understood orders or that 488 Sqn was usually employed in the Intruder role and was therefore considered to be a 'Fighter/Bomber' rather than 'Night Fighter'' squadron is unclear.
As is usual with markings applied by the squadrons themselves, as opposed to on the production line, there was some variation in the location and size of the markings. The ORB entry for No 313 Squadron states "In the evening the aircraft were marked with 15 inch (sic) black and white stripes on the wings and fuselage”. That the stripes applied to their aircraft were actually 15 inch rather than the 18 inch laid down is not known, but it suggests that there might have been some variations in size. Photographs provide ample evidence of variations in the location of the markings. For example, Mustangs from the Polish squadrons typically have the last White band on the fuselage painted over the Sky band, perhaps so thet the aircraft’s individual letter would lie on a black stripe and so be more visible.
One unusual anomaly is the practice by some Fleet Air Arm and Coastal Command units of applying a thin black line to the borders of the outermost white stripes which are visible on photographs of some Swordfish and Avengers. How widespread this practice was, and whether it had official blessing is currently unknown. Its purpose would appear to be to better delineate the distinctive markings on aircraft which were largely finished in White for their anti-submarine role.
Codes and serials
The application of the distinctive markings had some side effects on the other markings, usually the squadron codes and serial numbers carried by the aircraft concerned. Whilst SHAEF Operational Memorandum No 23 specifically stated that national markings must not be obscured, no mention was made of the codes and serials. Different units dealt with this problem in different ways. For example, Coastal Command's Strike squadrons, equippe with Beaufighter: and Mosquitoes moved their codes to the top of the fuselage in front of the national markings and grouped them together with the two-letter Squadron code separated from the individual aircraft letter by a hyphen, Serial numbers were often rearranged especially on Mosquitoes with the two letters being placed above the three numbers which remained in the usual place on the rear fuselage,
Some units painted around the serial number, some units painted over the serial number and others reapplied the painted-out serial numbers in smaller characters, of between 2 and 4 inches high, on the fin above the flash.
Night Fighters
The concession that Night fighters were to be exempt from carrying the distinctive markings was revoked on 7th June by' message A-104 from HQ AEAE, to all concerned.The message stated that with effect from 8th June 1944, all AEAF Night Fighter and Intruder aircraft operating over or near the shipping lanes or assault area including the hours of daylight were to carry the distinctive markings laid down in SHAEF Operational Memorandum No 23. It is thought that these instructions were authorised by SHAEF in Amendment No. 1 to Operational Memorandum No 23.
