Kest 4b SSW DIIIs

[jamo]

A question for the learned:

In Peter Gray's Profile of the Siemens Schukert DIII & IV it shows Lt Fritz Beckhardt's DIII from Kest 4b with a white swastika over a green fuselage.

However in the Datafile for the DIII/IV Ray Rimmell notes the Kest 4b SSW DIIIs as having standard dark-stained and varnished fuselages.

Is there any factual basis for Kest 4b DIIIs having green fuselages? ???

Cheers
James

In Peter Gray's Profile of the Siemens Schukert DIII & IV it shows Lt Fritz Beckhardt's DIII from Kest 4b with a white swastika over a green fuselage.
Is there any factual basis for Kest 4b DIIIs having green fuselages? *???

James,

I think that´s only a misidentification in the Profile. Beckhardt (who actually was a Jew, making the swastika marking look extremely strange in retrospect) did not fly this aircraft with the Freiburg based Kest 4b, but with the Neubreisach based Kest 5 (Neubreisach, now Neuf Brisach, is actually just to the west of Freiburg across the Rhine river). There´s little doubt that Kest 4b never used green fuselages.

I don´t know where the green fuselage association for Beckhardt´s aircraft comes from, but it might be a description from the aircraft after it landed in Swiss captivity. At least three Kest 5 D III landed in Switzerland in what seems a concerted action after the armistice, and all three clearly had their fuselages overpainted, as the Balkenkreuz is no longer there. So it was Kest 5 which had a somehow colored fuselage - but whether it really was green?

As for Kest 4b, the typical individual marking were some geometrical black and white markings, as can for example be seen on Paul Leim´s D III...


Volker

[jamo]

Thanks Volker. I find the white/green colour scheme more attractive to model but only if it has some basis in fact. Does anyone else have info on Kest 5?

[StephenLawson]

Greetings Jamo:

Since you asked for Kest 4b I'll try to give you this unit first.

C&C Intl. Vol.13, #, Pp.74-83 1982. Prien Album
OtF Vol. 6 #3, Pp. 196-217. 1991. *Air War over Baden.
OtF Vol. 6, #3, Pp.269-271 GvW Profiles of Kest 4b a/c.

Photos that I have of Kest 4b show Albatros D.III & D.III (OAW) types with dark stained fuselages with Black & white (or white & black) fuselage bands either with numbers ('1,2,3,4,...or Res.') *

When they rec'd Fokker D.VII (Albatros) late production *models The unit empoloyed single broad coloured bands around the fuselages (no *large numbers anymore.) *

The Pfalz D.XII aircraft (specifically *1437/18 & 1442/18 *Had 5 colour Lozenge on the wings & rib tapes. *Fuselages were aluminum doped. *Horizontal tail planes were *a dark(black) with white fin (maybe this extended to the rudder. *1442/18 had two dark parallel bands wraping around the fuselage behind the fuselage cross with a white zig-zag lightening bolt running between the bands.

Like many other Kest units the equipment was divided between one flight of rotary aircraft and one flight of inlined engine aircraft. *The Albatros Pub. on the Datafile has some photos of the SSW D.III that you may find of interest.*

[StephenLawson]

Vzfw Beckhardt was known to be in Kest 2 after Apr. 1918 when he left Jasta 26. *How & when he went to Kest 5 (if at all) we don't know. *The SSW D.III of kest 5 all appeared to be dark painted (not stained) fuselages with individual devices. 'female Hakenkreuz', 'Skull & bones', 'Heraldic crest' using the letter R. *The standard employment of 5 colour Lozenge on the wings & etc. *My current project of modeling 8346/17 & 8356/17 has Lange's 8356/17 (of Kest 5) fuselage as black. *If you come up with anything different let me know. Thanks Stephen *