british bombers/swastikas

[barnetboy]

during the second world war, british bombers had loads of decoration on the planes, one i have noticed is a swastika above the bomb-capacity signs...why did british bombers have the symbol of everything they were fighting aginst, plastered all over their own planes???

[rekstout]

I'm not sure what you mean by "bomb capacity signs" capacity would vary according to bomb type, the little bomb-shaped decals are usually indicative of a successful bombing run, quite often if a bomber had a confirmed kill of a specific target the crew chief would paint on an additional decal to indicate their success - as swastika would indicate it was a German target as opposed to an Italian or Japanese "kill".

It was also common practice during the war to make crude attempts to disguise aircraft in order to confuse attacking fighters, causing them to hesitate.

[firefly]

I think most people would agree that British bombers were not fighting against the swastika. The swastika is a type of cross which the Nazis took as their own symbol.

[JoePine]

A Swastika was also added to the side fuselage of many aircraft to indicate an enemy kill. The Flying Fortresses were heavily defended and the row of Swastika symbols served as a running tally of enemy fighter planes downed by each one.

[pumpkin]

During WW2 it was common for bomber crews to paint bomb symbol on the side of their aircraft to signify a successful bombing raid over Germany. Italian targets were recorded by painting a small ice cream cone instead. If the aircraft was lucky enough to down a Nazi aircraft then a swastika symbol was added to the tally.