Jagdbomber (Fighter-bomber) Messerschmitt Bf 109F of the Luftwaffe’s 10./JG53, equipped with the Bombenträger ETC 500 IXb and already loaded with a 250 kg bomb beneath the fuselage, likely for a strike over Malta, on a Sicilian airfield, perhaps Gela, March 1942. Note the propeller spinner painted in Green 70 color whit a white segment. Victor Sierra

The bomb is in place

Using a rudimental trolley, a German armorer loading a bomb beneath the fuselage of an Jabo (Jagdbomber/Fighter-bomber) Messerschmitt Bf 109F-4 of the 10.(Jabo) JG53, while other bombs are scattered on the ground, on a Sicilian airfield, perhaps Biscari-San Pietro, near Catania, March 1942. On the aircraft’s engine cowling the “Pik-As” (Ace of pikes), emblem of the Jagdgeschwader 53 (JG53). Victor Sierra

Loading the bomb

This Bf 109F Jabo of the 10./JG53 has experienced an undercarriage failure likely during the taxiing prior of the take-off for a strike mission (note the crushed propeller’s blades, sign of a contact with the ground on engine running). A sidecar is in background. Sicily 1942. Victor Sierra