D.H.2 with skull and bones

[Angiolillo]

Total fantasy? Or was there something like that? I found a picture of a model with PC10 finish, a white 3 on the upper wing, serial number 5964 (Hawker's last plane...) and a white skull with crossed bones on the nose. Just an invention of the modeller?
Anybody know any D.H.2 with some form of personal insigna?

Thanks so much,

Andrea

[Gregvan]

Angiolillo,

Sounds like someone's been drinking too much.

I've NEVER seen a DH 2 marked with a skull & crossbones (that doesn't mean there might not have been one, but it seems out of character with RFC marking practices on the Western Front at this time, and Hawker certainly never flew one).

There was a two-seat D.H.1A that served with No. 14 Squadron during its service in the Middle East. Possibly there was a little more leeway regarding personal markings in this out-of-the-way theater, and several photos exist showing this D.H.1A with a white skull & crossbones painted on a dark nose (nacelle). Our own Colin A Owers included this in his superb book "De Havilland Aircraft of WWI, Volume 1: D.H.1 - D.H.4," and Juanita Franzi did a super four view illustration of this D.H.,1A, number 4609. The nose was interpreted as painted red as a background for the white skull & crossbones, and the rest of the airframe was covered in clear-doped fabric.

To further confuse the issue, Cole Palen had a replica F.E.8 flying for a while. At first this was in an authentic standard finish of PC 10. Then, for some loony reason connected with his airshow routine (if I recall correctly), the aircraft was midified with a huge white skull painted on the nacelle with some sort of goofy cannon sticking out of the nose (later, this replica was turned over to the NASM and it was brought back to authentic form and the nacelle is there today, partially cutaway to provide an exhibit of a WWI aircraft cockpit, etc).

Perhaps your modeler took the DH 1A described above (or Palen's FE 8) and imaginatively applied it to some fictional DH 2 scheme.

Greg

[josef scott]

Didn't Barker fly in a pusher marked with a jolly roger on the nose during his 2-seater days in France? Can't remember the type and I don't have "Barker VC" at hand to check...

[Southside Bucky]

There's photographic evidence of RFC nightfighters with skull and crossbone motifs...Painted on the undersides of upperwings. Certainly not DH2's though.

Can't remember off the top of my head if they were BE2's or BE12's.

[Gregvan]

Josef Scott,

Actually, Bill Barker was photographed with an RE 8 marked with a white skull & crossbones on the nose in his days as a Flight Commander in 15 Squadron; not a pusher.

Bucky, Datafile No. 14 on the BE2e shows an aircraft of No. 50 Home Defense Squadron, crashed at Detling in 1917, which displayed an insignia of a white skull and crossbones painted on the dark underside of the top wing, just outboard of the interplane struts. It had a small white '50' painted just beneath the two crossing bones.

Greg

[josef scott]

Greg,

You are quite right. That revelation came to me shortly after I posted that. Memory is a funny thing...

[Angiolillo]

Thanks a lot Gregvan!

I was pretty sure that the D.H.2 model was a kind of "Dr. Frankenstein creature" done with parts and bits taken from somewhere else - the 5964 serial was a big clue about that. But I was very curious about where the parts were taken from... and your exaustive answer is very esaustive indeed. Thanks so much!

I am including the D.h.2 in my game, but with far more classical schemes... I just had a couple of white Italian wine yesterday evbening!

[1Mark66]

A Belgian Farman F60 had an elaborate skull design on the front of the nacelle. Maybe that is what got picked by the DH2 modeller?

Check out the link:
Farman f60 Skull

Mark66

[Angiolillo]

It was not this but... Great picture!

To the general history of skulls and bones in WWI aviaton, I can add that Fulco Riffo dfi Calabria had one as personal insigna, for example on his 91 Squadriglia SPAD XIII.