Paul Lucas

That photo shows W5359 to be in the 'B' Scheme.

It looks like we have a winner. W5359 QT-B to 44 MU 4/11/40. To 142 Squadron 30/11/40. Of the others mentioned, W5377 QT-M to 12 MU 10/12/40. To 142 Squadron 9/1/41. W5461 EP-R to 33 MU 23/3/41. To 104 Squadron 17/7/41. SOC 1/9/41.

A bit more information now I have taken a bit more time to think about it. W5358 'B' was allocated to 37 MU on 29/10/40. It was allocated to 12 Squadron on 29/11/40. A better option would probably be W5361 'C' that was allocated to 51 MU on 15/11/40. It was then allocated to 12 Squadron on 7/12/40. This aircraft then remained on the Squadron until it failed to return from the first 1,000 Bomber Raid on Cologne during the night of 30/31 May 1942. There is a photo of W5361 coded 'PH-C' in 'Bomber Squadrons' and in general terms it looks to have the same general colour scheme as W5379 in the Warpaint with a 'B' Scheme and retaining the large National marking III on the fuselage in the standard identification colours. The only real problem is that we don't know for certain whether W5361 was coded 'P' in 1940. Unless somebody knows better, I think that this is as close as it will be possible to get to a Wellington Mk II in squadron service during 1940.

I specifically cited 12 and 142 Squadrons because they were the only Squadrons to receive the Wellington Mk II during 1940. If the period of interest were to be extended into 1941, then the range of possibilities increases somewhat. If a generic period scheme for 1940 is acceptable, then I suggest that W5358 PH-B would be the one to go for, basing the model on the photo of W5379 that appears on page 9 of the 'Warpaint', but applying the 'A' Scheme to the upper surfaces in place of the 'B' Scheme seen on W5379 in the photo. Note that the artwork on page 11 of the Warpaint that shows the 'A' and 'B' Schemes has them labelled the wrong way around. That labelled as the 'A' Scheme is actually the 'B' Scheme and vice versa. Dark Earth, Dark Green and Special Night camouflage with a Red serial number and Medium Sea Grey codes.

The Wellington Mk II entered service on 10 November 1940 when W5353 and W5354 were delivered to 12 Squadron and W5355 and W5356 were delivered to 142 Squadron. I couldn't find a photo of any of these aircraft when I wrote my 'Battle for Britain' book 25 years ago which is why there were no Wellington Mk.IIs illustrated within it. There are no code and serial tie-ups in the ORB of either Squadron for the period November 1940 to January 1941. The closest I could come in the time that I spent on this today is W5358 coded PH-B of 12 Squadron from 'Bomber Squadrons of the RAF' though no date is given and there is no photo. Given the proximity of W5358 to those known to have been delivered to the only two Squadrons to have received the type in 1940, it seems likely that W5358 was received by 12 Squadron not too long after the first two Wellingtons.

The colour used by the RAF called Dark Green was invented in 1933. Used throughout WW2 and the 1950's it was incorporated into BS 381C as No.641 in 1964. The number was changed in 1988 to No.241 but the colour itself did not change. Dark Green No.241remains in the current edition of BS 381C today. At no time since 1933 and the present day has the hue of Dark Green been changed as a matter of official policy. Any perceived difference is due to differing methods of manufacturing the Standards themselves over the years from the original RAE doped fabric Standards of the mid 1930's, through the Air Ministry printed ink Standards of 1938, sprayed out samples of actual paint during the 1940's and 1950's to whatever the manufacturing process used by the BSI was in 1964 that gave Standards with a gloss finish and the current edition whose Standards have a semi-matt finish.

AP 970 'Design Requirements of Service Aircraft' AL58 dated 1 June 1954 amended the text accompanying Chapter 108 'Camouflage and Identification Markings' Figure 5 'Boundary Pattern No.1' thus: "The top surfaces of wings and tail planes, and, for aeroplanes referred to in para 2.3 and 2.4, 6in. of the under surfaces, measured from the leading edge are treated as upper surfaces." Paragraph 2.3 referred to Fighters in the UK and Paragraph 2.4 Aircraft of Tactical Air Forces. The same idea was also implemented for Naval Aircraft finished to Pattern No.2 in the same AL. AP 2656A 'External and Internal Finish of Aircraft' was ammended in a similar manner by AL66 in October 1954. Thus by the end of 1954 both Industry and Service documentation were in agreement that the upper surface colours were to be wrapped around the leading edges and onto the undersurfaces for a distance of 6 inches measured from the leading edge. Since all Hunter Mk.6s were manufactured after this date, it would appear that for some reason, Hawkers didn't implement this policy on the production line. What the Service did when the aircraft were repainted as part of their routine servicing might have varied from one aircraft to another.

The upper surface colours were wrapped around the leading edges and on to the under surface of the wings for a distance of 6 inches on aircraft such as the Hunter from June 1954.

If the colour swatch given in Ken Merrick's 'Luftwaffe Camouflage and Markings 1933-1945' Volume 1 is accurate, White 67 would fit with the idea of a low visibility white that could be described colloquially as being 'grey'.

Yes.

It was High Temperature Paint 41, authorized for use on RAF Night Fighters from the end of November 1940. A two part mixture of French Chalk and Red Oxide of Iron and Sodium Silicate Solution, when freshly applied it was a pink colour that turned a dull brick red colour as the finish was baked by the heat of the engine. As far as I am aware, Bomber Command did not start to use it until April 1941 when it began to be applied to Wellingtons in 3 Group.

BS 381C No.639 Dark Camouflage Grey was the name and number given to FS 36173 when it was adopted for use on RAF Offensive Support aircraft from 1993.

According to 35 Squadron's ORB, L9486 was taken over by the Squadron on 13 November 1940. According to MJF Bowyer's 'Bombing Colours', L9486 was finished in the 'A' Scheme and was initially coded 'M', the codes being applied in what he describes as "a dark shade of grey". As to what this means, your guess is as good as mine, but he doesn't appear to mean Medium Sea Grey. To make an educated guess, I suggest something like Dark Sea Grey as there was a dark grey primer that was almost identical to this in colour that would probably have been readily available. The serial number was Red. The under surfaces were Special Night that only had Carbon Black as a pigment, so yes, the under surfaces would have been 'black' and not Night.

This might possibly be true, but it fails to explain how the high contrast scheme and something that looks more typical of how the TSS usually appears in black and white photographs can both be present upon the same aircraft in the same photo as can be seen here. The difference between the high and low contrast finish is perhaps easiest to see on 'X' in the first photo. Upper surfaces of the main planes, high contrast. Fuselage aft of the pilots cockpit low contrast, the sort of low contrast that suggests TSS.

From December 1941 the officially sanctioned camouflage scheme for the Hampden TB.I was the Temperate Sea Scheme on the upper surfaces and "matt black" i.e. Special Night on the under surfaces to Pattern No. 1. When Special Night was dispensed with from October 1942, Night was to be used instead. The problem is that the photographic record suggests that some Hampden TB.Is were finished in a highly contrasting disruptive camouflage pattern on the upper surfaces. This high contrast scheme can be seen to still be present on the main planes of both 'S' and 'X' in the photos posted above. I discussed this hight contrast scheme in the 'Colour Conundrum' article 'The Hampden TB.1 Conundrum 1942 - 1943' that was published in the December 2024 and January 2025 issues of SAM. Irrespective of what colours 'S' might have been finished in, it is interesting in that it has White formation keeping stripes on the upper surface of the main planes.