Those are some interesting resources.
It does indeed say "23 Regimiento de Caza".
However, I'm looking at the part above that, the part titled: "Creación Ejército del Aire", and it says the only group to have 109s was:
-Región Aérea del Pirineo.
---25 Grupo. Me-109, Logroño.
So, could one deduce that all the 109Fs were in the same group as the other 109s? Would that place them in 23 regiment, 25 group? Regiment de Caza, regiment of chase, if I'm correct. That's basically another way of saying "Squadron." So it would be
"23 squadron/25 group" ("23 Sqn/25 Grp" for short)
Or have I got that totally wrong?
As for the code on the side, the image you showed does have a 23 before the roundel, but that is how they did it after they changed the numbering. In mordern Spanish numbering, the first number is the regiment (squadron), and this is explained with the example on that link, talking about the F-18s, if I'm right?
But before that, the number before the roundel was the aircraft type. You sparked a memory. I was in an online group build for scale models and we used a pretty nice page on the Spanish Civil War as a reference page.
It had a lot of info, including details into the codes. I looked up my old archives and had a bookmark.
http://www.zi.ku.dk/personal/drnash/model/spain/codes.htmlThe 6 wasn't the group, squadron, or location code. It was the type code. Numbers 1 through 9 were reserved for fighters. The 109 series happened to be assigned the number "6", and you will find this on almost all 109s in Spanish service. That's the problem, because it doesn't tell you what regiment it's in, if it just has a "6" -- because now you know it's the old code system.
He also wrote a secondary page about 109s in the Spanish Civil War. It seems the 109Es stopped at 6*131. Seeing that the photo we have is of 6*135, it stands to reason that the 109F photo is just a continuation of the 6*131 codes.
The Spanish picked up the 109Fs second hand. They were used. That means they had German markings. They flew them in and repainted it, because the photo definitely is
not of Luftwaffe camouflage.
Thus, I say they took it, painted it this way, coded it this way, and flew it this way (otherwise they would not have bothered to paint and number it!). I say they changed the code system and the camouflage at a later time. I say that this camouflage was used until the new system, whenever that was introduced. Unfortunately, the old codes do not help with figuring out where an aircraft is stationed. That's where the links you supplied come in handy!
With the links you've supplied, I'm willing to say this 109F was in "23 squadron, 25 group."
I would never have had any idea what to name it without your help.
I'll wait to hear your response, to see if you think this is logical, or it there was no "group" -- if it was just "23 squadron", or some variation. If we can arrive at some sort of logical agreement, I'll submit the skin!
I think that the logic supports this
