AIRCRAFT COLOURS AND MARKINGS OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR ERA

Royal Aircraft Factory BE12a


The BE12a used the fuselage and tail of the BE12 along with the wings from the BE2e. Two contracts for the BE12a were given, the first for 50 during May 1916 and the second, also for 50 aircraft, in August. The type found no favour in France and was just used by the Special Duty Flight and No.101 Sqn for night bombing. It found more use in Palestine and Macedonia with Nos. 17, 47 adn 150 Sqns, indeed most of the BE12/12a few aerial victories were scored in these far off theatres. Captain GW Murliss-Green downed at least five enemy aircraft while serving with No.47 Sqn in Macedonia.
Many BE12as were fitted with the wings of the BE12, so a check of serial numbers is often necessary to confirm the type
1st batch A562-A611
2nd batch A6301-A6350
A562 was later used in camouflage experiments as seen below



RAF BE12a A582

No.50(HD)Sqn RFC
June 1917
Source: Datafile No.66 (BE12)




RAF BE12a A562

Early 1918
Source: BE2e Datafile
updated 2013