D Day Stripes

[breadneck]

Anyone know exactly when allied aircraft started using D day stripes? Was it months before june 6th -44 or on june 6th itself?

 

Just something i always wondered about..

[Cat Barf]

Orders to paint the stripes were issued to troop carrier units on June 3rd and issued to fighter and bomber units on June 4th. 

[Curt B]

I know this wasn't part of the OP's question, but because of the extremely limited amount of time given to implement these stripes, it's amazing that some of the stripes appear to have been masked off and spray painted (on the real aircraft).   I don't know how many good, close-up photos of these stripes exist on the huge number of planes involved, but there are some that clearly show that the stripes were hand painted, and thus pretty ragged on the edges.   While I'm a HUGE fan of the aircraft with these invasion stripes in place, I never know whether I should paint them perfectly, or with some imperfection.  I usually default to a perfect edge, unless I have a picture that definitely shows different.

[Chuck1945]

42 minutes ago, Curt B said:

… I never know whether I should paint them perfectly, or with some imperfection.  I usually default to a perfect edge, unless I have a picture that definitely shows different.

At least in my preferred scale of 1/72, trying to make the stripes appear less than perfectly masked and/or painted is quite hard. My default is to attempt perfect and it usually turns out ‘not quite’, so I figure it’s a win with either result😝

Edited June 7 by Chuck1945

[Curt B]

7 hours ago, Chuck1945 said:

At least in my preferred scale of 1/72, trying to make the stripes appear less than perfectly masked and/or painted is quite hard. My default is to attempt perfect and it usually turns out ‘not quite’, so I figure it’s a win with either result😝

Excellent point!   😊

[southwestforests]

On 6/5/2024 at 6:58 PM, breadneck said:

Anyone know exactly when ... Was it months before

 

As is not uncommon with vehicle markings for special operations, you don't want your opponent to have enough time to mimic them in order to increase their survivability by confusing your personnel,

 

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For fear of the Luftwaffe getting wind of the scheme and confusing the issue by painting their own stripes, the plan was a closely guarded secret.  

 

https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/stripes-d-day

 

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 On the first of June, a small flight bearing the invasion stripes overflew the Allied fleet to familiarize the crews with the markings. The orders to paint the stripes were finally issued - on June 3 for troop carrier units, and on June 4 to the fighter and bomber squadrons. The harried ground crewmen scrambled for paint and brushes while they prepared their aircraft for their missions. 

 

[southwestforests]

Also note:

 

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The idea had been approved by Chief Marshall Sir Trafford Leigh-Mallory, commander of the Allied Expeditionary Air Force, on 17th May 1944. Even aircraft in secondary roles like air-sea rescue required the stripes, as they may operate over Allied air defences.

 

https://www.ilovewwiiplanes.com/2021/02/04/invasion-stripes/

 

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Four engine bombers didn’t need the stripes, as no German bombers used 4 engines, accept the relatively rare Fw 200 Condor, so there was little chance of confusion.

 

 

[cruiz]

This is an interesting topic. Just yesterday, I saw a profile of a Short Stirling with invasion stripes. I didn't know they were used as glider tugs.

[John Tapsell]

7 hours ago, cruiz said:

This is an interesting topic. Just yesterday, I saw a profile of a Short Stirling with invasion stripes. I didn't know they were used as glider tugs.

By the time of D-Day, the Stirling had been largely (completely?) replaced by Lancasters and Halifaxes as a frontline bomber so they were used as glider tugs and also as paratroop and transport aircraft for much of the late-war period.

 

[82Whitey51]

It seems a memorandum went out in mid April of 1944, so, units would have the time to prepare for the "go" order.

 

Attached is a copy of the memorandum with instructions on how the stripes were to be painted.

For single engine aircraft (fighters), the instructions call for 18 inch wide stripes...following these guidelines while building a 1/48 L-4 some time back, I realized that would not work on such a small airframe. A little further research showed that on liason aircraft such as the L-4, L-5, they divided the requirement by half.

INVASION STRIPE GOUGE SHEET.pdf