Invasion stripes on Lancasters

Interesting background about US ships and pilots here: http://www.hampshireairfields.co.uk/airfields/los2.html

The battleships were there to bombard targets on land. Aircraft were used as artillery spotters but I don’t think they used their own Kingfishers, instead the USN borrowed some Spitfires for the invasion period.

Edit

Model Aircraft Monthly Feb 2007

‘Spotting for Uncle Sam ‘The US Navy’s Spitfires at D-Day’ Andrew Thomas describes the little-known use of Spitfires in the US Navy!

“During the planning of ‘Operation Overlord’ it was intended that a major element of the initial fire support to the landing forces on the days immediately following D-Day would be provided by naval bombardment from Allied battleships and cruisers sitting off the Normandy coast. The gunfire support spotting was clearly seen as a Naval task, so several Fleet Air Arm squadrons, as well as a number of RAF units, were specially trained and formed the Air Spotting Pool’ This Pool also had another, somewhat unusual, squadron – a spotting unit of the US Navy. Most major US Navy warships embarked catapult seaplanes for spotting duties, but it was recognised that over Normandy the possibility of enemy fighter opposition meant the current embarked types, the Curtiss SOC Seagull and Vought OS2U Kingfisher floatplanes, would be highly vulnerable. lt was therefore agreed that Britain would loan the US Navy sufficient Spitfires for a spotting squadron and so Cruiser Scouting Squadron 7, (abbreviated as VCS-7), came to fly the only Spitfires ever operated by the USN, albeit in British markings.”

Thanks Consul & Antoni – very interesting!

The battleships were there to bombard targets on land. Aircraft were used as artillery spotters but I don’t think they used their own Kingfishers, instead the USN borrowed some Spitfires for the invasion period.

Edit

Model Aircraft Monthly Feb 2007

‘Spotting for Uncle Sam ‘The US Navy’s Spitfires at D-Day’ Andrew Thomas describes the little-known use of Spitfires in the US Navy!

“During the planning of ‘Operation Overlord’ it was intended that a major element of the initial fire support to the landing forces on the days immediately following D-Day would be provided by naval bombardment from Allied battleships and cruisers sitting off the Normandy coast. The gunfire support spotting was clearly seen as a Naval task, so several Fleet Air Arm squadrons, as well as a number of RAF units, were specially trained and formed the Air Spotting Pool’ This Pool also had another, somewhat unusual, squadron – a spotting unit of the US Navy. Most major US Navy warships embarked catapult seaplanes for spotting duties, but it was recognised that over Normandy the possibility of enemy fighter opposition meant the current embarked types, the Curtiss SOC Seagull and Vought OS2U Kingfisher floatplanes, would be highly vulnerable. lt was therefore agreed that Britain would loan the US Navy sufficient Spitfires for a spotting squadron and so Cruiser Scouting Squadron 7, (abbreviated as VCS-7), came to fly the only Spitfires ever operated by the USN, albeit in British markings.”

Interesting background about US ships and pilots here: http://www.hampshireairfields.co.uk/airfields/los2.html

I came across a photo of a Vought Kingfisher (purportedly taken on D-day – operating from a US Battleship and looking very incongruous in it’s deep blue Pacific plumage) – no stripes.

Firstly I was ignorant of the involvement of US battleships on 6th June and secondly I was struck that those floatplanes were in exactly the right place to need the reassurance of the stripes but didn’t have them… anyone know why?

USN marching to it’s own drum? Ignorance of the decree? It would be interesting to know more about what, if anything they did on D-Day.

Towards the end of the war Bomber Command started flying daylight operations. As a result they started to apply recognition markings on the tails in a similar fashion to the USAAF. Methinks those stripes have to do with that and not anything to do with D-Day.

Cool thanks chaps, that explains why Lancaster’s didn’t have invasion stripes. However I did change my Google search words and came up with this…

http://www.550squadronassociation.org.uk/original-site-archive/image094_small.jpg

Apparently its a Lanc belonging to 550 Squadron

Wiki provides this explanation but that doesn’t guarantee accuracy of course: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_stripes

Halifax yes (glider tugs). Lancaster… unlikely but you should never rule it out completely!