AIRCRAFT COLOURS AND MARKINGS OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR ERA

No.56 Sqn RFC/RAF


The first squadron to use the superlative SE5/5a was No.56 Sqn. They arrived in France in April 1917 and were possibly the closest thing the RFC/RAF had to a 'Star' unit with many of its pilots becoming aces. As the only SE5 unit in France, they initially needed no unit marking and just had their wheel covers doped in the flight colours of red, blue/white and blue for A, B and C Flights respectively. They soon added the letter of the flight as well as individual flight number - ie B4, C2 etc. In the summer 1917, many of their aircraft had unique designs on them, but by the end of August an official marking of a dumbbell in the flight colour was authorized. This was soon changed to an 18" wide band on the rear fuselage which lasted until the spring of 1918 when it was changed to two inward sloping bands. The Flight letters also underwent a change when the flight prefix was dropped in favour of just using single letters.
The best account of their WW1 activities is to be found in the FMP book High in the Empty Blue by Alex Revell . I would recommend this volume to anyone wanting to learn more about this famous squadron. Recommended reading on individual pilots include Five Years in the RFC (McCudden's autobiography); Brief Glory - APF Rhys-Davids (Revell).

 


RAF SE5 A4855
Lt Cecil A Lewis
April 1917
Source: SE5a In Action
updated 2013


RAF SE5
B Flight
April 1917
Source: Datafile No.30 (SE5)

 

 


RAF SE5
C Flight
April 1917
Source: Datafile No.30 (SE5)

RAF SE5 A4850
Capt Albert Ball
OC, A Flight
May 1917
Source: FMP VC Research


RAF SE5 A8913
Lt KK Muspratt
B Flight
June 1917
Source: The SE5 File

 

 


RAF SE5 A8920
Lt Dickson
June 1917
Source: via L A Rogers
updated 2013



RAF SE5 A4563
Lt APF Rhys-Davids
June-July 1917
Source: Revell - HITEB


RAF SE5 A8918
Capt Edric Broadberry
No.56 Sqn RFC
July 1917
Source: Revell - HITEB

 


RAF SE5 A4563
Lt APF Rhys-Davids
July 1917
Source: Revell - HITEB
updated 2013

RAF SE5a B514
Lt Richard Leighton
August 1917
Source: Revell - HITEB
updated 2013

RAF SE5a

August/September 1917
Source: Revell - HITEB
Revised 2013


RAF SE5a A4862
Captain JTB McCudden
Late 1917
Source: FMP VC Book Research

 


RAF SE5a C5303
Lt Franklin
Winter 1917/18
Source: SE5a In Action

RAF SE5a B4891
Captain JTB McCudden
December 1917
Source:


RAF SE5a B502
Captain Gerald Maxwell
December 1917
Source: The SE5 File
updated 2013

 


RAF SE5a B4891
Captain JTB McCudden
Early 1918
Source: Aces & Aeroplanes #3

RAF SE5a B595
Lt Maurice E Mealing
March 1918
Source: SE5a in Action
updated 2013

RAF SE5a B35
Various Pilots
Spring 1918
Source: Revell - HITEB