WOW!!!
This new decal
sheet from Cutting Edge
Modelworks includes markings for no fewer than 13....yes....13.....Bf-109's in
Swiss markings!!!
The 109's in the
Switzerland airforce had quite the interesting story and if you ever
look into this story you will be amused by some of the dealings that
made it possible for the Swiss to get 109's from Germany late in the
war.
Switzerland
purchased both Doras and Emils before the outbreak of war, and used
them in several furious dogfights with the Luftwaffe over incursions
during the invasion of France, with the Luftwaffe losing a handful
of He 111s and Bf 110s to the loss of a few Swiss Bf 109s.
Despite
these incidents, the Swiss obtained a number of Gustavs late in the
war. An Me 110 night fighter, carrying sophisticated electronics and
armament, strayed into Swiss airspace in late April, 1944, and
landed near Zurich due to engine trouble. The Germans bargained with
the Swiss to sell them twelve Bf 109Gs under the condition that they
burn the Me 110.
Later
in the war Swiss Bf 109s were to intercept Allied bombers that
strayed into their airspace, forcing them to land and be interned.
There were rarely problems, but while escorting a B-24, a USAAF
P-51D shot down one Swiss Bf 109 and damaged another. The Swiss
tried painting their Bf 109s with loud red and white stripes to
emphasize the Swiss cross markings, but this was discontinued
because then the Luftwaffe mistook them as Allied aircraft painted
in invasion stripes.
The
Swiss Bf 109s were to serve after the war, only being scrapped in
1949.
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