White 1 History

Most likely apperance of W. Nr. 931 862

In stark contrast to White 3 we believe that White 1 had a rather clean camouflage with light mottling on the tail and fuselage sides, probably with a light overspray around the Gruppe symbol. The more or less pristine finnish suggested by the two wreckage photographs shown above may be the result of environmental abrasion, although this cannot have been too severe as the markings, even the small W. Nr. numerals, are still intact.
Any reconstruction of the camouflage of White 1 should take into account the following facts and guessimates:

1. Markings - black swastika with white outline, black outlined fuselage cross with white centre, non-outlined black/white underwing cross and white outline-only upperwing crosses, all in standard positions.

2. W. Nr. - in black on both sides of fin, continous, thus 931862

3. ID numeral - White 1, in standard position with thin black outline. Style is based on that seen on e.g. White 10 (W. Nr. 732 197), White 11 (W. Nr. unknown) and Blue 1 (W. Nr. unknown). Of course we do not know if the same templates were used on these planes, but it is the best guess possible at the time.

Figure 22. Close-up of numerals of (left) White 11, a Fw 190A-8 of 9./JG 5 at Herdla in 1945 and Blue 1, a A-8 from 12./JG 5 at the time of its destruction at Herdla in summer 1945. Also note lack of dark colour suggesting repainting beneath numeral on 9. Staffel aircraft while this is present on the 12. Staffel machine. © Luftwaffe SIG Norway

4. Gruppe symbol - White circle with black outline in standard position.
5. Camouflage - standard RLM 74/75/76 pattern with relative light mottling on fuselage and tail sides, dark or light overspray around the Gruppe symbol more or less following the shape of the symbol. Snow camouflage highly likely, but probably considerably weathered by 9. February 1945.
6. Personal and unit insignia - small black 1 on both undercarriage doors (approx. 10 inches). No Eismeer inisignia carried as this was introduced a good month after White 1 was shot down. White oil cooler ring. No name carried.
7. Victory markings - unknown, overpainted by the time the machine was lost

The following profiles graphically illustrate the most likely sequence of changes experienced by White 1 during its service life, following the line of reasoning and arguments presented above.

Profile 1. Initial service markings. This is probably what White 1 looked like when in service with 13./JG 5 in August - November 1944. The makrrings consisted of an as yet unknown number (here depicted as White 1) and the wavy band of IV. Gruppe. Size and proportions of the latter is taken from one of the wreckage photographs mentioned in the text and was probably the same on all Focke-Wulfs in the Gruppe. Camouflage consist of the regular 74/75/76 with light mottling. The spinner spiral was probably present at this time. © Kjetil Aakra

Profile 2. Complete overpainting version. This profile depicts White 1 as it probably looked between early November 1944 to February 1945 while in service with 9./JG 5. A new Gruppe marking (the whoite disc of III./JG 5) has been added, necessitating the overpainting of the former symbol. As explained in the text this was probably done using RLM 75 as shown. If the numeral was changed this might have been overpainted using RLM 76 which would appear as lighter than the more weathered RLM 76 present elsewhere on the airframe. Other additions include a White rudder, a white cowling ring and a small numeral 1 on the undercarriage doors. The size of this numeral is based on that seen on other Focke-Wulfs from 9. Staffel. © Kjetil Aakra

Profile 3. Partial overpainting version. The same comments as as in profile 2 applies, except that in this case the individual numeral is assumed to have followed the aircraft from 13. Staffel and have thus not been overpainted. © Kjetil Aakra

Profile 4. Snow camouflage version. If White 1 received snow camouflage this probably happened in November/December 1944 which in service with 9./JG 5. The other comments in profile 2 applies. It is liekly that this white distemper would fade and weather rather quickly and due to White 1 frequent use in December and January it was probably more faded than shown in the profile above when it crashed on February 9th 1945. © Kjetil Aakra

Profile 5. Bubble canopy version. Basically the same as profile 5, except that it depict White 1 with the "bubble" canopy and the "W" and "G" on the undercarriage doors. As explained in the text we do not believe either of these features were present on White 1. © Kjetil Aakra