Did the allies have a reporting name for German planes?

[Axelis-777*_*]

The allies used various names for Japanese planes, "Betty, Oscar, Nick, Zero, Judy," etc. However, as far as I know, they didn't give nicknames for German planes. I'm assuming because the Germans used mostly the same type of planes in the battle (109, 110, 190, Stuka) and they're distinguishable from one another hence the omission of nicknames. Still, I could be wrong, and maybe you guys know the real reason why? 

[Sandmarken]

All I've read about WWII. They are always called things like "Messerschmitt," "Heinkel," "Stuka," and so on. But I am no expert! 😄

[AndyJWest]

The allies (specifically the US) used codenames for Japanese aircraft because very few of them could could speak Japanese, because Japanese aircraft numbering systems were confusing (to be fair, no worse than the USN's), and because sometimes US intelligence didn't actually know the proper designation.

 

Even if they don't speak German, the average English speaker's attempt at 'Messerschmitt' is going to be close enough to be recognisable. Plus, by the time the US got into the war, they'd been reading enough about Heinkels in the newspapers to know what they were.

[MDzmitry]

German aircraft were quite easier to remember and recognize thanks to the use of factory names (or later on names of respective designers). What the Germans had was a couple of different Messerschmitts (109, 110, 210/410, 262), a couple of Junkers' (88, 87) and some Focke-Wulf 190s.

 

Here's an example of an actual action log book of a Malta ace Allan Scott (124 Sqn RAF). Beware, 3 swastikas in the frame.

Скрытый текст

 

[LukeFF]

For the Americans, you usually hear German planes referred to either by the type (109s, 190s, etc) or, arguably more commonly, "Krauts" or "Huns." If you were at 30,000 feet over the Reich and you saw a mass of planes coming towards you, you weren't really concerned about the exact make and model. 🙂

[BlitzPig_EL]

In some ways the Japanese were more like the US, a bewildering number of different aircraft types, from several different manufacturers.

[MDzmitry]

21 минуту назад, LukeFF сказал:

For the Americans, you usually hear German planes referred to either by the type (109s, 190s, etc) or, arguably more commonly, "Krauts" or "Huns." If you were at 30,000 feet over the Reich and you saw a mass of planes coming towards you, you weren't really concerned about the exact make and model. 🙂

Reminded me of an old joke:

 

An RAF veteran is giving a talk to a class of school children, and is trying to explain what a typical mission would be like.

"So there I was, escorting the bombers to their target, when out of the blue we were attacked by a bunch of Fokkers. There were about 20 of these Fokkers. One took out my buddy, but I managed to shoot the Fokker down. Then one was on my tail and I couldn't shake the Fokker, but my pal took care of him. Then I took out two more of the Fokkers..."

The teacher interrupts "Children I should explain, the Fokker was a type of fighter airplane used by the German Air Force to stop the RAF bombers and their escorts."

"Yes, but these Fokkers were flying Messerschmitts!"

Edited May 1 by MDzmitry

[sevenless]

They were all Fokkers, but some Fokkers were Messerschmitts...🤣