Roland C.II strange camouflage?

[Dan_San_Abbott]

Gentlemen:
As Gregorze related the Schusta were used for escort of the F.Fl.Abt. later Fl.Abt. aircraft. It was the Schusta job in protecting the Reconnaissance or Artillery Spotters from attack by French or British aircraft. This was the role of the Schusta aircraft from Jaunuary-February 1917 to March 1918when the mission was redefined as two seat fighters in air to ground suport to the Infantry and Armored units in the offense or defense role.
In the start of a battle the Schlachtstaffel with 6 to nine aircraft would fly low over the advancing Infantry and attack any strong points or machine gun nests. Later in the battle, they would be directed by telephone at their forward labnding field, by Infantry Commander to attack specific targets were their advancing Infantry were bogged down. The Infantry front line units would layout white cloth panels to indicated the oppostion strong point or machine gun to be attacked. These points would be attacked by the attacking aircraft in line, one after another, using hand grenades, 12.5 kg P.u.W. bombs and their machine guns. These attacks would be at low level at 100 to 200 feet altitude. I would say these guys were "PrettyGutsy"
During most of 1918 The Schachtstaffeln were based opposite the British. After August 1918, The The Schlachtstaffeln and Gruppen were divided between the British and American Fronts.
Blue skies,
Dan-San

[Old Man]

I have been looking at these pictures for a while, and would like to make a suggestion on the finish.

It seems to me that this machine has had a field-applied camouflage in the past, that included a light smearing of paint over the white fields of the crosses on the upper wing. There are fields of different shades on the upper fuselage and vertical rudder that look very like the patterns of such a finish, and these are echoed on the tips of the upper wing. I think it would be unusual for the demarkation on the fuselage to be so precise in such a case, but perhaps someone was just very careful, or had been a professional sign-painter in civil life.

If such a finish, applied long ago, had weathered badly, or perhaps even been knocked off as it began to peel, this might allow the graining of the wooden fuselage to show through, accentuated by the residual paint. That there is pretty clearly new fabric applied to the wings and horizontal tail-piece suggests the machine had a thorough over-haul recently. The new fabric could have been very recently painted over with the pale grey or pale blue paints that I understand were sometimes employed on reconnaisance machines, and might be on hand in a feldfliegerabteilung. The national markings on the fuselage and tail could have been freshly applied in such an over-haul.