Several P-40Ns and P-39Qs operating from Gilbert Islands within the 15th FG were painted Desert Pink topsides and Azure Blue undersides. The reason for such a camo oddity is frequently explained, as the a/c were prepared for the North African campaign and then redirected to the PTO. Maybe...
But for me it still apeears strange that less than hundred of P-39Qs (of almost 5000 built) and P-40Ns (>5000 built) were painted especially in Pink//Azure, while other hundreds reached units in standard OD/NG finish. Moreover I have never seen neither the P-39Q nor the P-40N operating in the Mediterranean in Pink/Azure camo.
Some 40 years ago I've seen (in Scale Modeler IIRC) the Soviet P-39Q in these colours (white "13" on fin, red fin top and white "Za Rodinu" on port nose side), but nothing from the MTO.
Is this only my opinion or were there Pink/Azure P-40Ns and P-39Qs flying over the Med?
And if this was only the Pacific-applied "specialite de la maison" did this also apply to the 15th FG P-47s operating in the same period from other Pacific islands?
Cheers
Michael