ROILere) TU) — Bag DE HAVILLAND Mosquito Martin W. BowmanTUS ME Met em ae) legendary aeroplane. Conceived in Rees Cass UNO CET cls acs iets Ce Oe ome ESSE Ls high speed courier, target marker, Pes Mn eer ae Pear tree Ti aio wood, using the experience gained during the manufacture Re Ur eres eS Mosquito was a masterpiece. eee Cocco Co Cee Su ac yet was easily repaired, and its low loss rate confirmed Rm ie oR Teo eC RCSL STC IV ROIS CSM ECS e ce) Le eerie PRT cena eRe nV Re Cel CC eo Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Appendices list the many variants, PRE MSS mS RCo PTUs RRO EAE CL mAb e unpublished photographs, Mosquito is a fine record of a superb aeroplane.The de Havilland aircraft Company's proposal, in 1938, of an unarmed bomber built in wood was not exactly received with enthusiasm at the Air Ministry. Official thinking had always been that bombers had to be heavily armed for their own defence, and the suggestion that speed alone was sufficient was not accepted. Undeterred, de Havilland continued with their D198 project as a private venture and events were to prove them correct. The aeroplane, named Mosquito, was built as a wooden monococque and was powered by two Rolls Royce Merlins The first prototype flew from Hatfield in November 1940. It was soon clear that de Havilland’s faith in their idea was well founded. The prototype easily out-ran a Spitfire in test, and the Mosquito was ordered into production: The first to enter service were photo- reconnaissance versions, but these were soon followed by the first bombers and nightfighters. Its high speed also made it ideal for precision hit-and-run raids, such as that against the prison at Amiens, and for precision marking of targets for the heavy bombers of RAF Bombe The Mosquito was also used to Gack shipping using rockets orthe Bpifim, Molins anti-shipping gun, a Righ speed courier aircraft for BOAC 5 aymeans of delivering thediighball BBolincing anti-shipping baimbland as Bh intreasingly sophisticated dai ‘Bulded nightighter “Martin W. Bowman's book charts “The extraordinary history. of this fine aeroplane, its development and Introduction into service, and'its "varied uses. Compretiensive appendices list performance and ifications, production totals, a list of nightfighter kills and a full fisting of Mosquito squadrons. £25.00 Martin W. Bowman is freelance aviation researcher, author and photographer whose interest in aviation was fired by the proliferation of RAF and US air bases in his native East Anglia. He has written over twenty-five aviation books all of which have benefited from painstaking research and interviews with American, RAF and Commonwealth aircrew. His researches have also taken him to some of the world’s war zones, including Bosnia and Somalia. He is a frequent contributor of photographs and articles to magazines such as Aeroplane ‘Monthly, Flight International and Wingspan in Britain, and Alr Classics, Air Combat, and Air Progress in the United States. He lives in Norwich, Norfolk. Cover design by Annette Findlay Print in Great Britainde HAVILLAND MOSQUITO Martin W. BowmanFin published in 1997 by ‘The Cromood Press Led Ranssbuy, Maiborough Wilshire SNS 2HR (© Martin W. Bowman 1997 Ta Allghts reserved. No patof this publication may he repouced or transmitted in any form or by any means electoni or mechanical, incloding Phonocopy recording, or any information storage ‘nd tesievl system, without permission in wing {om the publishers, British Library Cataloguing in-Publcaion Daca A catalogue record fo this book is avallabe from the Brith Library. I IN 1 86126 005 X “The cover painting “Eyes ofthe Eighth” is reproduced by kind permission ofthe ri, Gil ‘Cohen ASAA. Limited edition pene ean be ‘obtained from Aeropit, PO Box 154, Spf, NH 03462 USA. Phonograph previous page: In memoriams om 21 Jaly 1996, RR299 cashed at Great Barton, Mane chester: killing ple, Kevin Moorhouse, and light cenaineer, Steve Watton. BAe Line drawings by Simon Petes, “Typefaces ed: Goudy (ier), (Cheltenham (headings) “Typeset nd designed by D&N Publishing “embry Business Pak, Lambourn Woodlands Hungerford, Berkshire Prnted and hound by Butler & Tanner, Frome Acknowledgements A great many people world-wide, all of them very special, have contributed their time, expertise and above all, generosity and a large selection of rare and previous: ly unpublished photos, mainly from. per sonal collections, to make this one of the ‘most comprehensive books on the Mos- quito yet. I would especialy like to thank Bric Atkins fc kw*, RAF Retd, Chair- rman, Mosquito Aircrew Association, for writing the foreword and for his kindness and help throughout. Graham M. Simons of GMS Enterprises, author of Mosquito, the Original Mudi-role Arraft, loaned many photos, all of which he gave freely for all the right reasons. Andrew D. Bird provided much expertise on Banff Strike Wing Mosquitoes, while Derek Carter in Copenhagen was’ especially helpful with valuable information and photos on the Shellhaus raid Tam equally grateful to the following: Steve Adams; David Backhouse; Mike Bailey; Ron Bartley RAF (Reed); Frank Baylis arM RAF Retd; John B. Beeching; Tally Bellis; Serge Blandin; Barry Blunt BA Hons; Dr. Theo Boiten; Dennis Bolesworth; S/L Lewis Brandon DSO D&C RAF Retd; Sil. T]. Broom pe: RAF Ret Lt Cmdr Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown one Sci WAW. Burke; Alan Carter; Bob Collis Hank Cooper ps0 RAF Red; Alfred J Cork tM Fs: Four) RAF Reud Vie Cramer; G/C John Cunningham pso** pect RAF Retd; Des Curtis pic RAF Retd; Tom Cushing; Joyce Dann, Hon. Sec. 613 Squadron; S/L Ian R. Dick RAF Retd; Richart Doleman RAF Revd; Grenville Eaton RAF Retdk Roy Edwcnds RAF Revd: John D.S. Garrare bx RAF Rew: Ken Golfey, Ted Gomersill RAF Rex Grp Capt JR. “Benny” Goodman bfe® arc AE RAF Reta; Charles Harrold re? RAF Retd; Ron’ Mackays, Stuart Howe; A. ‘Baron’ Humphrey RAF Retd Roy House RAF Reta Leslie Duteh’ Hol land RAF Rerd; Vic Hester RAF Retd Ken Hyde, archivist, Shuttleworth Col- lection; Chris Jefferson; Ted Johnson; Res Jones; George Lord RAF Ret; Allan Lup. ton RAeS; Ron Mackay; H. Meats RAF Reed; Basil McRae RAF Retds Alan Mor gan RAF Retd; John R. Myles br RCAF Reta; Grp Cape G.WEE. ‘Bill’ Newby RAF Reud JA. Padilla: Vic Parker RAF Retd: WIC DAG. Pary ps0 1: RAF Retd Simon Parry, Air Research Publications; S/L- Charles Patterson 0s0 oF RAF Retd: Edwin R. Perry RAF Retd; Air Com: modore G.Pitchfork; Ronnie Plunket RAF Rexc; Mike Ramsden: Harry Ran- dall-Cutler RAF Rew John Sampson RAF Retd; Alan Sanderson; George ler: E:T. Scheyers Jerry. Scutts; Jim Shortland; Alan V. Shufilehottom RAF Ret the late W/C Joe Singleton PSO Dee AFCRAF Ret; Kelvin Sloper, City of Nor wich Aviation Museum; Dave: Smith; Margaret Taplin; lan_Thitsk; F/L Andy Thomas RAF; Geoff Thomas; Perer Ver ey RAF Retd; Maj-Gen Karel Vervoort ian Ait Force; WIC CM. Wight Boy: cott so RAF Ret Alan B. Webb RAF Reta; Dyson Webb RCAF Ret the late Ralph Wood orc ch RCAF Retd Grey & ‘Wooll RCAF Retd.Contents Acknowledgements Glossary Foreword: Eric Atkins, Chairman, Mosquito Aircrew Association Chronology 1 WOOD AGAINST STEEL. Birth and Production of the Wooden Wonder 9 2. PHOTO-RECCE Reconnaissance in Europe and the Far East 7 3 BOMBS ON TARGET The Pioneers of 2 Group 33 4 NIGHT FIGHTING ‘Nocturnal Defensive and Offensive Operations 39 5 FIND, MARK AND STRIKE 8 Group PFF Operations 55 6 THE GESTAPO HUNTERS 2Group, 2nd Tactical Air Force B 7 STAR AND BAR USAAF PR and Spying Operations a1 8 DIVE! DIVE! DIVE! The Banff Strike Wing 103 9 WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO FLY? by Leslie ‘Dutch’ Holland 121 10 SWAN SONG The Mosquito Post-war, in RAR RN and Foreign Service 127 Appendix 1 World-wide Production of Mosquito Variants 160 Appendix I Mosquito Variants 164 Appendix II] RAF/BOAC Mosquito Leuchars to Sweden Service 1943-45 167 Appendix IV Mosquito Squadrons and Codes 169 Appendix V_— Mosquito Air-to-air Vietories 1942—April 1945 1B Index 190AM ASH AVM BSDU cet Day Ranger Diver Diippel Firebash FIU Flensburg Flower FL HO FiSet Freelance anti-aircraft Airborne Interception (radar) Air Marshal ATM XV radar Air Vice Marshal Bomber Support Development Unit “athode Ray Tube rion to engage air and targets within a wide bur specified area by day (Code-name for V-1 flying bomb operation. German code name for Window Fire-hombing raids by Mosquitoes of 100 Group, 1945, using Napalm (Napthaline, Palm Oil and White Phosphorus), in 100-gallon drop tanks Fighter Interception Unit German device to enable their night ‘onto Monica Bricish low-level night intruder patrol of German aligfields Flight Lieutenant Flying Officer Flight Sera Parzol with the object of sto home Glossary picking up a chance con: tact or visual of the e failed to return Group Captain British navigational device involving a special aircraft radio receiver working on. signals tansmitted by two round stations. Was limited range of about 400, es (640km). By late 1942 Gee had been rendered almost ineffective by German jamming and was replaced by Oboe. G-H was a evelopment of Gee uiving more precise fixes HDs British 10em navigational radar LFF Identification Friend or Foe Instep Air patrol over the Bay of Biscay and Atlantic Incruder Offensive night operation to fixed point or specified target LAC Lealing Aircraftman Lidhensein First form of German Al Malmoul High level, bomber support Mandrel airborne radar jamming Monica tail-mounted warning radar device MTU Mosuito Training Unie Night Ranger Noall Obve Op oTu Oustep PIO, PRE PR Rhubarb RIT Serre sil Tubinlighe wic wo Operation to engage air and ground targets within a wide but specified area by night British code-name for Flying bomb (V-1) or rocket (V-2) Ground-controlled radar system of blind bombing in which one station indicated track to be followed and another the bomb release point Operation Operational Training Unie Patrol secking enemy air activity off Norway Pilot Officer Pathfinder Force Photo reconnaissance Low-level daylight fighter Radio Telephony British equipment designed to home in on Lichtenstein radar Squadron Leader struck off charge An aireraft-mou searchlight syste night-fighting Wing C Warra pmmander OfficerLatin fora fly is ‘Musca’, hence Mos: p, but this is about a different kind of Wy’ and mosquito! I don’t know how far ‘Musca’ type of mosquito can travel, fone had a range of some 1,560 (2,510km)! It was the most success iltirole combat aircraft of WWI; 7,700 built, flown by more than )RAF squadrons in all commands, and 45 different marks. Truly a fly’ in the sense of a noun or verb, of ficent proportions. Civilian air travel was still in its infaney WWII began. The majority viewed nity to fly with some trepida an. Most ofthe RAFVR had never flown fore volunteering for the RAF. The most idone was to ride a bicycle. In a Tiger we were as one with the elements ground flew past at a speed slow t0 make it feel possible ro build up n.with it In contrast, the Mosqui- dalong over the ground at really low ke bullet from a gun, calling for ich more professional map reading and ion well ahead of position, Ac its ieseemed to be ‘master ofall it sur ‘afly on the ceiling one moment, dy and able to turn and dive at a sment ofthe contol stick, in its jement regardless of its relation to Even at ground level it seemed in its open void, splendidly dent, and both pilot and navigator run 20 keep up with it’! Is it possi- to build a close relationship with an = a mass of wood, instruments, 2 Yes, more so with a Mosquito! fand navigator were so often in their separate duties, some- wwe hardly spoke to one another fan operation, except to give instructions. There was a clos- hore equal relationship hough tin the bomber crews of heavier Foreword aircraft. Few Mosquito pilots were called tain’ or ‘Skipper’ ‘The third member of the crew was the aircraft ieself and it had an almest human ionship. Crews felt warm inside and friendly towards it, especially iit was o they had flown many times before, If they hhad co change from their usual Mosquito, they were sorry but it was still a Mosquito and worthy of the legend and the squadron. It was the same with good ground crew. You knew a strange one would be up to squadron efficiency, but you missed the last ‘hand-shake’ of yout usual ground crew. Night flying could be a battle of wits and experience between you and your mind. Your eyes could take everything in on the panel and yer you were flying blind in a black void around you. Clouds, and the base of moonlight, provided a chiaroscuro of shadows and light and down below there was grey misty mantle of night over the ground with an occasional winkle or beam quickly passing undemeath. Being small, and light, the Mosquito could fall foul ‘of adverse conditions but whet ‘caught in flak, searchlights or in an attack by enemy airctaf, it could be flung around the sky in almost impossible Ie responded to the controls like a thor: oughbred racehorse ~ with speed, preci sion and a sixth sense of judgement linked to that ofthe pilot. In daylight, and ar low level, the Mos- quito excelled. [t was ideal for operations like the Amiens prison raid, oF on the Gestapo HQs at roof top height. Attacks fon Vel sites proved that the Mosquito could pur them out of action more effec tively and with less tonnage than any other aircraft, These sites and the type of ‘operation were affectionately known as Noball some say because you stood a good chance of losing your testicles, but the probable reason was the concrete pill hox which shielded the ball bearing and may. netic link with the V-1 which enabled itt nd itstarget, Bomb this and thessite could put out of action. These were some of the most exacting and exciting operations T flew! Over back gardens with washing hanging out, up and down as various pylons, hills and spires got in the way, peo- ple waving down below, hugging the side of hills and down the valleys. (Map rea {ng at this level had to be of « high order) Then, up to 1,000ft (300m), nove down, target ahead, bomb doors open. With litle time to take notice of the flak coming up, you threw the aircraft at the target. Borns sone (bombing had to be visual and done by the pilot in a pre-emptive manner), steep, drastic climb up to 800ft (240m), wing down tosee the damage, down on the deck again and away before the other air craft threw their bombs at you! ‘The Mosquito inspired confidence i its crew. Despite its wooden construction, the “Mosquito had strength and endurance and was easy to repair — you simply spliced another wing on when you landed with half a wing missing! It excelled at every thing ~ army suppor, jamming and intr ing, pathfinding and PR, weather finding, SAS parachute drops ‘and_anti-U-boat patrols. Mosquitoes even delivered news. papers, collected ball bearings from, and flew VIPs in and out of, Sweden, in the bomb bay! Had more Mosquitoes been available earlier the war might have been shortened! I'm proud of having had a Mos- quito under the ‘seat of my pants! and despite the Noball operations, glad to have come through itall intact! Eric Atkins prc* Kw? 464 & 305 Squatrons, Chairman, ‘Mosquito Airerew Association25 November 1940, W4050, the proto- type; flies for the firs time. 16 January 1941, W4050 outpaces a Spit- fire at 6,008 (1,830m). 10 June 1941, W4051, the PR prototype, flies forthe frst time. 13 December 1941, 157 Squadron, first Mosquito fighter Squadron. in Fighter ‘Command 15 May 1941, W4052, the night fighter prototype; flies forthe firs time. 17 September 1941, W4055, a PR. I, makes the first operational Mosquito ‘light, a daylight photo reconnaissance of Brest, La Pallice and Bordeaux. 19-19 july 1941, W4050, ateains 433mph (697kph) at 28,500%t (8,690m). 16 November 1941, W4066 becomes frst Mosquito bomber to enter RAF service, at 105 Squadron, Swanton Morley, Norfolk. 27/28 April 1942, 157 Squadron flies first ‘Al Mk V radar equipped NE II patrol. 31 May 1942, 105 Squadron fly. fist ‘operation. 13 June 1942, 264 Squadron becomes first ‘operational Mosquito intruder squadro 2 July 1942, six B. IVs of 139 Squadron bomb the U-boat yards at Flensburg inthe first mas low level strikes by the arcraf. 4 August 1942, first diplomatic fight to Sweden, by a 105 Squadron Mosquito, in fa prelude to regular BOAC service between Scotland and Sweden. 19 September 1942, 105 Squadron makes first daylight Mosquito raid_on Berlin 25 Sepiember 1942, four 105 Squadron ‘crews bomb Gestapo HG at Oslo. {6 December 1942, ten B. IVs of 105 and 139 Squadrons take part in ‘Operation Oyster, the 2 Group daylight raid on the Philips works at Eindhoven. 20/21 December 1942, Oboe used for frst time when six B. IVs of 109 Squaalron are dispatched to bomb Lutterade power station, Holland. Chronology 31 December 1942/1 January 1943, on a raid on Diisseldorf, sky-marking using (Obve tried for the first time, by two Mos- uitoes of 109 Squadron, § Group, (PFF). 27 January 1943, nine Mk IVs of 105 and 139 Squadrons make a daring low-level raid on the Burmeister and Wain Diesel engine works at Copenhagen. 30 January 1943, Mosquitoes bomb Berlin and disrupt live enemy broadcasts. 27 May 1943, final large-scale dali Mk. IV raid in 2 Group, an attack on the Zeiss Optical factory, and the Schott Glass Works, at Jena 24/25 July-2 Auguse 1943, during nine days of Operation Gomorrah, the ‘Battle ‘of Hamburg, Mosquitoes fly 4.472 sorties, with the lost of just thirteen Mosquitoes. 4 December 1943, 141 Squadron first NE Tl squadron to join 100 Group. 3 October 1943, first operation by FB. Vis of Ind TAR, 15 October 1943, 138 Wing at Lasham re- ‘equips with FB. VI 18 February 1944, Operation Jericho, Amiens prison bombed by FB. Vis of 140 Wing. 23/24 February 1944, first Cookie to be dropped by a Mosquito is released by a Mk IV (modified) of 692 Squadron, dur- ing a raid on Disseldort 25 March 1944, Cmdr Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown, lands and takes off from a carrier ina Mosquito, the first twincengined air- craft to do so. 25. March 1944, Tsetse Mosquitoes become first Mosquitoes to sink U-boat 25/26 March 1944, the Lyons engine fac- tory marked by 8 Group Mosquitoes 11 April 1944, Gestapo HQ in The Hague destroyed by 613 Squadron FB. Vis. 18/19 April 1944, Juvisy railway mar shalling yards, Pars, marked at each end by seven Mosquitoes of Nos 5 and 8 Groups are bombed so effectively that the yards are not brought back into service until 1947, 14 July 1944, Bonneuil Matours barracks destroyed by FB. Vis of 140 Wing. 6 August 1944, 604 Squadron first Mos quito fighter squadron to move to France. 19 August 1944, fifteen FB. Vis of 613 Squadron destroyed Eyletons SS_bar- racks 17 Seprember 1944, 138 Wing FB. Vis attack barracks at Armhem and Nijmegen ahead of the ‘Market-ganden’ airborne 26 October 1944, Banff Strike Wing Mos- {uitoes use RPs forthe frst time. 31 December 1944, twelve Mosquitoes of 627, Squadron dive bomb the Oslo Gestapo HQ. 31 October 1944, ewenty-five FB. Vis of 140 Wing 2nd TAF destroy the Gestapo HQ at Aarhus University, Denmark 22 Febmuary 1945, twenty-one Mosquitoes lost and forty damaged during all out attacks on enemy transport system in Operation Clarion. 21 March 1945, Operation ‘Carthage’, Gestapo HQ Shellhaus. building in Copenhagen bombed in daylight preci- sion raid by eighteen FB. Vis of 140 Wing. 9 Apa 1945, Banff Wing Mosquitoes ink three U-boat. 17 April 1945, six FB. Vis of 140 Wing destroy the Gestapo HQ at Odense, Den- mark 2/3 May 1945, final Bomber Command raids are made and involve 179 Mosqui- toes from Nos. 8 and 100 Groups. 15 November 1950, VX916, a NF. 38 built at Chester is the 7,781st and final Mosquito. 15. December 1955, PR.34A of 81 ‘Squadron at Seletar makes the final oper- ational flight of a Mosquito in the RAR, a ‘Firedog’ sortie over Malaya,X-1944 pin-point bombing by high Mosquitoes, hedge-hopping their foyer enemy-occupied Europe in daylight, had become a common Often, the sheer speed of the: i the élan of their crews got them fain through flak and fighters. the previous three years more often ot this speed was their only escape Luftwaffe interceptors and flak. ely its erews, loathed, yet respect fits enemies, the Mosquito eventual- ed such a deserved reputation for the impossible that at one stage ‘press claimed that when one down the Luftwaffe crew could fas two victories. Apocryphal this but during four years of war the wonder’ was to prove the scourge ‘Axis throughout Europe, the jan and the Far East. Such was eisve contribution made by this kable aircraft, built largely of beech, and ply, and the shattering effect it p the Germans as a whole, that its ee eventually caused ‘Moski- * throughout the Reich territory. 500 years earlier, at Agincourt, archers using longbows honed and firing fusillades of arrows Jong distance, had panicked, then another enemy. Equally, in WWIL, proved that they too could m long range, with minimal loss ly accuracy, as once again, wood hed decisively over steel de Havilland Mosquito’ birth and development was a difficult in the precarious days of 1930s World War (1914-18) had ended for Great Britain and her but at great cost. As the market for stagnated, Britain’ aircraft indus- ately reverted to the proxluc al airliners and the modi ‘of bomber types for civilian use dland wite construction was the order CHAPTER ONE, of the day and for some, like the famous de company, it remained so well 930s. Geoffrey de Havilland, one ofth ‘most famous aviation pioneers, was bom. the son of a clergyman in 1883. "DH" as he ‘was affectionately known, had built his first ieraft, with Frank Hearle, in 1908, I crashed, but DH taught himself to fly and he and Hearle built another. Both men were offered Government posts inthe embryonic Royal Airerat Factory at Farm- borough, where Geoffrey de Havilland designed the BE. (Blériot Experimental) No.l. In 1912 he was the prime mover in the development of the BS.1, the first British single-seat scout of any note. Two years later DH joined the Aircraft M: facturing Co. at Hendon as designer and test pilot. When war broke out in 1914 he was commissioned in. the REC Tieutenanr, although he was too valuable be sent to the front. DH spent the war designing aircraft, his best being the DH4 biplane day bomber, the finest ofits kind. ‘On 25 September 1920 DH formed hisown, eompany, de Havilland Aireraft Co. Ltd, and rented a large field at Stag Lane in Edge ware, North London. Frank Hearle became his general manager: They decided mainly to build commercial aircraft but were grate ful for the odd RAF contract, such as that for the refurbishment of 150 DH.9As, 10 keep the money coming in, De Havilland owed its initial success to the use of simp fied structures ~ the eabins of aireraft such as the DH.18, 29, 34 and 50 were literally plywood boxes spacious, withour any inter nal bracing. By 1925 the frst of the DH.60 Moth series appeared, which led to one of the most successful light aeroplane families in the history of aviation. But the future was by no means secure, asthe civil marker ult mately was to suffer an inevitable downturn, in line with the economy Ever the innovative designer, DH tumedt his attentions to the military market, but second Wood Against Steel Birth and Production of the Wooden Wonder hhis ambitions were restricted by the rigid adherence by the military mandarins to designs not far removed from those of WWI, Stag Lane was needed for redevelop ment, so in 1930 de Havilland moved his operation to the green fields of Hatfield in Hertfordshire, but not before three DH.88 Comet racets had been built amid great secrecy, before final assembly and testing at the new factory at Hatfield. Just as the Supermarine SOB influenced the design of the Spitfire after the seaplane’s success in the Schneider Trophy races, the DH.88 ultimately was to play a significant role in the development of the Mosquito, The Comet was a streamlined low-wing mono- plane design witha small frontal area, all of which compensated for the low power ofits two 230hp (171kW) de Havilland Gipsy Six R (Racing) engines. The airraft hal a span of 44ft (134m), was 29f (8.8m) long, and loaded, weighed 5,3201b (2,413kg). Wooden construction and stressed skin covering not only saved weight but also speeded up production. Later, these tech- niques were successfully applied in the late 1930s to the highly successful four-engined de Havilland DH91 Albatross airlines ‘capable of erusing at 210mph (338kph) at 11,000f 3,350m), ‘The first onder for a Comet Racer was plead by Mr AO. Edwards, Managing Director of the Grosvenor House Hotel, London. In. 1934 this aircraft, now rex tered G-ACSS, and named Grosvenor House, together with G-ACSP Black Magi, and the third Comet, which was owned hy racing driver, Bemard Rubin, were entered in the London-Melbourne Centenary Ait Race, which took place in October. Grosvenor House was crewed by Tom Camp: bell Black and C.W.A. Scott, Black Magic, by Amy (neé Johnson) and Jim Mollinson, and the third, No.18, was flown by O. Cathcart Jones and” Kenneth Walle: The Mollinsons retired from the race at Allahabad with piston trouble caused byWOOD AGAINST STEEL unsuitable fuel. Score and Black pressed fon and completed the 11,300- miles (18,180km) to the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne with an elapsed time of 70hr 54min and 18sec to win the race. In 1935 ‘avo more DH.88 Comet Racers were built. A year later, on 8 September 1936, de Hav illand took an interest in Air Ministry Spec: ification P.13/36 which was issued by Air ‘Commodlore RLH. Verney on behalf of the RAF Directorate of Technical Develop- mene (DTD) and called for a‘ewin-engined medium bomber for world-wide use’. Britain was at last emerging, albeit slowly, from its pos WWI complacency. Politicians, no doubt stirred by news of German rearma- ment, and upbraided in Parliament by Win- ston Churchill MP, brought new found urgency which culminated in a long over- clue expansion of the RAE The DTD now wanted an aircraft that could exploit the altemativesBeowce the kang range and very heavy bomber load which are made posible by extaputt launching in heavily necesary to rede time spent teary wa minima. Theefoe the highest pos ue crn speed is necessary, I appa that there is + posublity of combining median omber, general resommasance ant gener purpore clases into one asi design, wich pow sihly wo 18 inc torpedoes arid In addition, DTD wanted two forward- and two rearwanbfiring Browning machine ‘guns, horizontal bomb stowage, in tiers if necessary, suitability for outside mainte nance at home or abroad, consid ation of remotely controlled gunsand a top speed of not ess than 275mph (442kph) at 15,000 (4,570m) on two-thinks engine power and ange of 3,000 miles (4,530km) with a ,000Ib (1,810kz) bomb load, ‘Ac this time de Havilland was pinning his commercial hopes on the DH.9T Alba: tross commercial monoplane, Its manuf ttre was of mainly wood and stressed skin construction, with laminations of cedar ply with a thick balsa sandwich between. The layers were cemented under pressure on a retractable jig which permitted the whole fuselage shell to be lifted off in one piece. The 105ft (32m) one-piece cantilever wing, was built, like that of the Comet, around a stress-bearing box spar with a thick plank: ing of spruce applied diagonally in two lay ets. The Albatross flew for the first time on 20 May 1937 at Hatfield. Altogether, seven of these beautifl aircraft were built De Havilland iad bad memories of sub- imitting designs to the military in the 1920s, when all of his ideas had been considered too revolutionary: DH therefore proposed a 10 nami ‘DH8 Comet Racer Grosvenor House which won he ro Ai Race in 1834, its streanined design with 9 sal fonts imetly, the DMB nt cole in the development ‘othe Mosquito, whose Sth Zin (16 Sn) one-piece antilver wing was bul ike the Comet, sor Nin Booman ‘Bolow) The intial OH.® design was bast HSI Albatross €-2 commercial mono hor i its inital frm with inset insta registred G-AEVV. The Albatross flew fr time on 20 May 1857 at Hatfield ts manuactare ‘was of mainly wood and stressed skin construction ‘ith laminations of cedar ply witha thick bass ‘Sandwich between. Grahom Sore modified miniature version of the Albatros airliner design to meet the DTD specific tion. Ir could certainly carry a. 6.00075 (2,720kg) bomb load to Berlin and ack a 11,0004 (3,350m). Pacifist in Parkament vwere appalled and certainly: Captain de Havilland’s doubts were well founded, but hee persevered with the Albatross proposal In April 1938 studies were conducted fora twoRolls Royce. Metlin-powered. version of the airliner. There was nothing radial ahout dhs bat what would the [YTD make of awooden desig being submitted to cary tombs 3,000 miles (4,830km) in wat? On July Geofrey de Havilland sent a leer, detailing the design to Air Marshal Sir Wi fred Freeman, an old friend of de Hail land’ from WWI, now the Air Council member for Research and Development DH (eventually Sir Geofiey) was 0 real Jater in his autobiography, Sky Fever thas ie only needed one meeting with ths wie and farsighted man to discus cups sa pt his fall appsovalstudies showed that the Merlin- Albatross would need at least a ancrew and the aircraft should have six and. eight forwarcefring guns plus one, pethaps two, man- ed guns, with provision for a et Allthis would produce an all-up of 19,000Ib (8,616kg). Top speed ‘be 300mph (483kph) and cruise, (43thph) ac 22,5004 (6,860m). aly therefore, the de Havilland! yy considered. that Specification 6, which itself embraced a horch- hard to meet, would produce a satisfactory aircraft. [na way they The two winning designs ~ the este, and the Handley Page both to be powered by two Rolls- Vulture engines — were failures ps forthe Vulture-engined HI56 were din 1937 while the unsuccessful ester only redeemed itself later when was converted into the very sic- four-engined Lancaster. dical Proposal ght restrictions prompted de Hav- Dope fora very radical approach to ign ofa twin-engine bomber. They didelering the gun armament alto- as doing so would save about one ofthe total weight ofthe aircraft. As production would be easier faster with service delivery excess of any other bomber or fight fthe period. Equally importantly, if ‘no armament (although Chief Ronald E. Bishop, looking ade provision under the lor for m cannon), the crew coukl be dl to-a pilot and a navigator only authors of Specification P.13/36 this isnot hard to fathom. At this RAF was considering specifica- eight gun single-engine fighters ith heavily armed bombers Havillane’s proposals were not eonsidered radical enough, on 27 ey ditanced themselves still further fing DTD that Specification P13) not be met by using just two Mer of course the Air Ministry want nly half the anticipated bomb they stuck to the 4,0001h (1,810kg) ead, then a much larger and conse- bomber would be needed. In gstde Havilland came up with a com promise, butto proceed would have been an admission of defeat in design principles, and the company soon rejected it ‘The Munich Crisis of 1938 concentrat- ced ministerial minds wonderfully and de Havillands went for broke. Their submis: sion would no longer be a modified Alba tross but a brand new design, with two crew, a pair of Rolls-Royce Merlins and no sgun armament whatsoever, Speed, th reasoned, would be the new bomber’ only defence. After all, the question of the unarmed bomber had been answered by Geoffrey de Havilland’s experience in ‘World War I, where the DH.4 bomber w able to outstrip the fighters of the day. An with war looming, a whole year normally taken up by the prototype stage could be by building the new bomber almost centirely of wool. Geoffrey de Havilland anal C.C, Walker, Chief Engineet, went to London in October with the intention of convincing the Air Ministry of their radi- I proposal. Not surprisingly perhaps, their proposal was unceremoniously reject ced; the Air Ministry wanted only conve tionally buile all-metal bombers bristling with arn ment 10 defend themselves against enemy fighters By December 1938 the company’s all metal DH.95 Flamingo four-engined a liner, had flown. ‘The Flamingo was designed by Ronald E. Bishop, who had succeeded A.E. Hae as Chief Designer in 1938. Bur even with conversion to a bomber and using Bristol Taurus engines in place of the Perseus powerplants, the Flamingo was never a serious contender ‘owing to its lack of high-speed perfor- mance. That December another new bomber specification, B.18/38, was issued, bur it was of no interest to de Havillands, who persevered well into 1939 with the ‘dea of a fast unarmed bomber. War with Germany was declared on Sunday 3 September 1939 and three days later de Havilland went to lobby the Air Ministry again. Still sceptical, but slightly less s0, the Air Ministry could tll find no reason to agree with de Havilland’ pro- posal that their unarmed high. speed homber would get through. OF this, de Havilland had no doubrs. He wrote t0 Sir Wilfred Freeman again: The existence ofa ype of homer having the highest performance pose and cape wth inv yor of gone int psbctin forme Red the enemy’ design resources. If a prototype " \WOOD AGAINST STEEL - BIRTH AND PRODUCTION OF THE WOODEN WONDER were undergoing tials, in say, nine: months, vrithout detecting fom praduction plans it ‘would bea platform for tue plans the value oF which can hardly be exaggerated At Hatfield other powerplants were con- sidered. So too was the retrograde step of reintroducing armament, even to the fextent of siting a two gun turet in the fuselage, but de Havillands would not compromise their design principles or their long-held beliefs. In a letter to Si Wilfred Freeman, dated 20 Septemb 1939, Geofitey de Havilland wrote: We belive we ean proce twin-engine ober which would havea petomance out standing tha ile defensive uipment woul eneeded, This would employ the wel ie ou method of constuction sed inthe Comet and Albatros and being sirtion woud not encroch word composite cn the abu and ‘material wed in expanding the RAE It pe cially sited to relly high speds bec al su faces ate smooth ice fom vets, verappet late and uralations and it also Ie ive In November various long-range and escort fighter developments, as well bomber, fighter and reconnaissance ver sions, were looked at and a conference was called with Sir Wilfred Freeman to consid- cerall the proposals, Richard Clarkson was ‘of the opinion that the turret would spoil the design, since fighter speed could be achieved without it and almost all inter: ceptions by the enemy could therefore be avoided. Sir Wilfred was in favour of hav- ing no armament at all but doubted de Havilland’s performance estimates which claimed that the two-crewed unaemed wooden bomber powered by to Merlins could carry a 1,0001h (450kg) bombload for 1,500 miles (2,410km) and ata speed faster than that ofthe Spitfite. It could; by skilful design which obtained every ounce of power by cleverly using ducted radiators ‘and faired propeller roots which produced ‘more thrust than drag. While the Air Ministry conceded that ‘ovo-man crew in any reconnaissance ver sion put forward by de Havillands was acceptable (although the Ministry wanted them in tandem seating) there was still strong opposition to the wo-crew comple: ment in any bomber version. A third crew member aft of the wing was favoured because it was believed that he could relieve the other two of the high workloadcon operations. The pilot, it was work! have no relief at the controls and the added burden of navigator would have th ‘operating the radio, looking out for enemy fighters and aiming and dropping the bombs, De Havillands came down in favour of side-by-side seating in a two-man cockpit and were still adamantly opposed to a three- ‘man crew under any circumstances. Mat ters came to a head on 12 December at a conference attended by the Assistant Chief of the Air Staff, the Director-General of Research and Development, the Air Off: cer Commanding-in-Chiel, Bomber Com mand and other high ranking officers While the AOC-in-C could find no room in his heart for the unarmed bomber, he conceded that there was a need for a fast, Unarmed reconnaissance aircraft equipped with three F24 cameras. More talks were held before Cheistinas and on 29 December the project received official backing when the Air Ministry asked for a basic requirement for a bomber capable of carrying a 1,000Ih (450kg) bomb load and with a range of 1,500. miles (2,410km). Finally, on 1 January 1940 a far ther meeting, chaired by Air Marshal S Wilfred Freeman, took place atthe Air Min- istry with Geofirey de Havilland, John Buchanan, Deputy General of Aiscraft Pro duction and John Connolly, Buchanan's chief staff officer, present. DH placed his ‘on the table and is reported slesign drawing to have simply said ; ‘This is the fastest bomber in the work it must he useful’ Ie was. Sir Wilfred backed de Havilland and condered a single prototype of the unarmed bomber variant to specification B.1/40/dh and powered by two Merlin engines. The aircraft was to have a level speed of 397 mph, (639kph) at 23,7008 (7,220m), a cruising speed of 327mph (526kph) ae_26,600%t (8,110m) with a 1,450 mile (2,380km) range at 24,900ft (8,500m) on full tanks. 1004 (9,780m). Project Go-ahead The specification was approved by Roder fick Hill on behalf of DTD on 1 March 1940 and a contract for fifty DH.98 Mos. guito aircraft placed. This was jeopardized following the Dunkirk debacle of May 1940, when fears that Britain could be overrun prompted the Ministry of Aircraft Prexluction to concentrate on established aircraft such as the Spitfire, Hurricane Wellington and Blenheim. There was no E020 ne surplus capacity available for aircraft like the DH.9S, which could not be expected tw be in service by early 1941. Precious Mer when the Mosquito was deleted from the in engines were in short supply, and priority list altogether there were none allocated to the project at all. The Mos quito was only reinstared in July. 1940, after de Havillands promised Lord Beaver brook (the Minister of Aircraft Produc tion) the fifty Mosquitoes by December 1941. They knew this was impossible in reality, and in fact only twenty machines were built that year York began on three prototypes. One of the first problems 10 confront de Havil lands was the lack of much needed materi als. Their argument that the Mosquito would not need much in the way of special materials and would make little demand on labour now worked against them. Besides the company had other important work Air required urgently by the hard-press Ministry. De Havilland ha producing much needed bomb racks for ‘Tiger Moths for low level attacks on beach: cesshould the Germans invade, then during that summer and autumn the company repaired Hurricanes and Merlin eng! and modified over 1,000 Spitfires and Hur ricanes to take constant speed propeller W4050, the Mosquito prototype, mean: while, was buile in strict secrecy ina small han field where a team of nine designers led by Chief Designer, Ronald E. Bishop, wrestled ae at Salishuty Hall, not far from Hat with the problems of the DH.98 design, ion at Salisbury Hall, October 1840, Yscuta Musou vin The Bishop,’ recalls Ralph Hare, who was responsible for aircraft overall loads ancl for stresing the wing, ‘was nor a hierarchy man, and the hours he personally put in were staggering.’ Bishop had been raised in the de Havilland tradition of wooden structures, and under A.E. Hagy he had seen how the Comet Racer had made we of innovative diagonal planking to achieve a chin wing of high aspect ratio without external bracing. This form of construction hhad also been adopted for the very much, larger 1937 DH.91 Albatross airliner for Imperial Airways. It was also looked at for the DH.98, but it became obvious that this prake the loads. Mike Ramsden explains (from The Mosquito Fifty Years on: A Report on the 50th Anniversary Symposium Held at BAe Hasfeld, 24.11.90. GMS Enterprises for Harfield RAeS): form of construction was not The bottom skin ws no the prblems the tp skin would take the compres Io without cling ar faiing ews oud that dbl rlywood sich wich checked by toting. The top of the sin pried thee doubleakin panels. Many panesfig wel 1 obtain ses ditnbutions for speed upgluescting, were heated: lectrc wats Optimising these properties forthe w ep the temperitte ofthe w the most eniy sed ar the struct the ulinate tes of de Havill ce, Two spars with tptoip op fooms ofthe laminated space, Foxes wood webs, mere finaly chosen. Cas ace wae lected for construction ofthe {152 spr, ale met the eid tc ‘Sheecation DTD 368, bering thar sone ofthe inal beams right fist mein, a ail-boed adhesive with w Hall and oer In India in November 1944 erations were abruptly halt ances of wings collapsing in light suspected as the cause of er extreme heat had causes H1942,malebyDIN.A, the glue to erack and the upper surfaces to life from the spar. An investigating team led bby Major Hereward de Havilland blames! the structural failures on climatic cond tions and all parts made with casein glue rsh compu at Dn Reproduced fom 6 May 1943Construction Detis ofthe Mosquitowere ordered to be destroyed, Further inves tigation however, concluded that the stand of gluing leaves sch 0 he The failures were definitely duc to faulty manufacture. Early in 1944 a series of fatal cits among Mosquitoes of var- flying acci jous marks was attributed to failure of the wing structure. Defects were found in Mk Vi aircraft built by Standard Motors, and in Mosquitoes built at Hatfield, Ata meet ingat the Aie Ministry on 1 January 1945 Maj. de Havilland still maintained that the wing failures in India were a result of the conditions there. It seems that the Air Ministry went along with this assertion to prevent any loss of confidence in the Mes. {quito squadrons. Modification 63 wood strip to be inserted along the ‘he wing to seal che whole length of the skin joint along the main spar, was later applied to all Mosquitoes being proxluced 1 Australia but in India most Mosquitoes found to have skin defects were simply broken up. (In late 1945, during opera tions against Indonesian separ faulty wing-structures were discovered in 3-built fuselage shel is removed from the production line at Dvn some Mk Vis and they were again briefly rounded for inspection.) Mike Ramsden again: Le Haviland ds DH his You never 304 ina Mosse’ wing, and nw nor ry arithmetic is isht hen thats 400 lin teas resin $,000 Mosauitoes ~ 0 the aie se metal! (Not f une th age, Meslins, DEL wasmaecofthre plies lidar 45 degrees tocach ther so that when a shear baa was appli was redistributed in 1 dang one sain and a compeesion bial alone the +r the whole wel taking ig Ia The low ywood panel titled wih rm The wer spor the tank door sso birch) to deal with th Wank dove holt of the tank does were (ceil corp hh The bole bearing iw for mating with the The shells inthe wing centre section wil background stil have straps weapped around thom while the vertical glue jens et. vi Gr M Simons 16 tout ew thins ofthe sa. Compared with a tp boo of five sce laminations with a ton Be woh Ribs Thee and sec ns of birch pyar over co struction, The plywood ~ thee 1.5mm LO6inl nL.08n] 45 degree diagonal plies = we sretched cold over the concrete moulin hich the bullied a other struc hk een skated Sie pn sin fil ice for filling materia, oi hs worked well in he Alot th able stress of iThe completed fuselage was covered with a fabric called Mandapolam. Th skin was supported by seven bulkheads in the fuselage each made up of two plywood skins separated by spruce blocks. At the points where the hulkheads were attached the balsa skin cc ring. The fuse: sccommodate the wing, which was pick-up points, the tached to four b Tower portion of the cutout section being teplaced after the wing was in position Walnut, a strong hardwood, was used where the stecl fuselage-to-wing attach tment bolt loads had to be distributed. The walnut carried bearing loads from the bolts And these loads were transmitted to the Supporting structure by the glued joints The steel wing attachment fittings, like those carrying the engines and undlercar iage, were remarkably economical of material and therefore weight The wings consisted of a one-piece two- spar mid-wing of Piercy Modified RAF 34 terofoil section and contained ten fuel tanks of 539 Imp. gal. (2,450 litres) total fapacity. The box. spars had laminated Spruce flanges and plywood webs, and there were spruce and plywood sionribs between the spats. Later, No 8 rib Ineach wing was reinforced to carry drop Tanks or underwing bombs. A false leading ilge, buile up of nose rib formers and a D- hin, as attached to the front spar. Span Se ieroce stringers supported the ply wood wing skin, which, on the upper Surface, was screwed, glued and pinned land given an overall fabric cover Wooden slored flaps, slotted ailero High allo frame anu skin, with trim tabs, ompleted the wing structure. The centre Portion of the wing carried welded steel the lea being extended forward By 22in (56cm) to accommodate the lat Het. Flap-controlled radiator outlets were Bite ahead of the front spar on the wing liners. Each r He pars an oil cooler section outhoar, Bike middle section forming, the coolant Fadator and the inboard section che cabin ester. The low drag nacelles for the H250hp (930kW) Merlin 21 engines hosed the retractable unvderearriage Mosquitoes being assembled at Downsview, Toronto, De Havilland Canada turned ‘uta total of 1.076 Mosquitoes. vio Ganam M Simaoswhich had the de Havilland system of rub: ber blocks in compression shock absorbers in place of the mote usual oleo-pneumatic shock-absorbers, to which end light alloy castings were used instead of forgings. Bombs fell within a mile of the Hatfield factory one day in every five, but the only direct hit was on 3 October 1940 when a Tow flying Ju 88 of KG77 dropped four bombs on the old 94 shop (named after the production of the DH.94 Moth Minor), tused as a busy sheet metal shop. Twenty people killed wounded. Among the bomb wreckage was f the Mosquito work in progress. As a result, Mosquito production 80 per cent was widely dispersed to prevent any fur- ther major distuption by enemy action. Subcontractors included many — well ach as Harris Gomme Lid known furniture companies, Lebus at Tottenham, and E .023 is propared for an early 1940, Most Museum vi an Tsk and Dancer and Heame Lad in High Wycombe, who were making spars and wings, and Vanden Plas in Hendon, who were making wing coverings, as well as members of the exhibition’ stand and Detail parts were being manufactured by numerous other small companies, including bicycle ‘manufacturers and a firm of craftsmen used. coach building industries, scclesiatical ironwork, while in and church halls the to making homes, Tength and breath of the country, women from ‘duchesses. to charladies made everything from simple parts to small components. The London bus refut: bishment facility at Aldenham became a major Mosquito subcontractor, ESA in Stevenage produced complete wings and the smallest contractor was located in a garden shed in Welwyn! The prototype, referred to originally as‘E. 02347, the Company B-Condition marking, had a slightly smaller tailplane than the pro- duction Mosquitoes that followed. The fixed tail surfaces were all wood and ply wood-covered while the ruckler and eleva tors fabric-covered. (Later, in 1943, metal skinning of the elevators was inttoduced t0 give better performance in high speed dlives). E-0234 was completed at Salisbury Hall and moved by road on two Queen Mary trailers to Hatfield on 3 November. In a hangar there it was assembled and the ist, on 25 November two Merlin 21s engines with ewo-speed xs installed. The ait fovemnber for engine ioekearagnapereal craft emerged on 19 taainer yellow with black spinners and de Havilland Hydromatic constant speed three-bladed aircrews. On the afternoon of Monday, 24 November, E: 0234 began taxiing trials in the hands of Captain Geoffrey dle Havilland Jr, who as (Chief Test Pilot was to be responsible for the initial light testing. Everything went well nade a short ‘hop’ in Next day, just four days short of I] months from the start of detailed design work, at 3.45pm, Geoffrey de Havilland Jr, with John E. Walker, Chief Engine Installation Designer, made the maiden flight. Take-off, cde Havilland was to recall, was ‘straightfor ward and easy’, The undercarriage was not retracted until considerable height had heen gained and this was observed by John. ‘Walker through the n craft reached a speed of 2 windows. The aie ‘mph (354kph) and the only real problem encountered was the inability of the undercarriage doors to fully close, and their opening, by some 12in Gem), as speed was increased (a problem which would reoccur for a long time). Another difficulty that persisted for a long time was the inability of the tailwheel ceastor properly — a problem which was t cause the fuselage to fracture when the wheel jammed in a rut at Boscombe during testing in 1941. (The castoring problem was finally cured in June-July 1941 by the fitting of a Dowty unit, evaluated at Ben som). As E-0234 had flown a little lft wing low a rigging adjustment also had to be ear tied out before the next two flights, on 29 November. On the third flight the under carriage would not come down and had to bbe pumped down by hand, ‘These short-term irritations are sympto- matic of the problems that prototype49,10 December 1940, ith filet affixed to the ool ats ont tireraft often encounter, but on 5 Decem: ber E-0234, now officially serialled W'4050, ced tail buffeting at_speeds of mph (386-410kph). The wide spread shaking was particularly noticeable nthe control column. Detailed investiga tions revealed that a stall was taking place famay from the rear section of the engine facellesand also on the undersurface ofthe Wing, This disturbed airflow was striking thetalplane, thereby giving rise to the but fetng and general ‘shake’ thro Bireaft. Extensive ground and ‘Wandin at Hattld onthe at Ite. orto Meson vi ln Tish, alow behaviour Wos4sto| ection ofthe nacelle plus testing, and experiments with aerodynam ic ‘slots’ in an attempt to smooth out the disturbed ait failed to cure the problem. I 1941 was not until February h after the engine nacelles were redesigned and final ly extended beyond the trailing edge of the wing (although as a consequence, the fa hhad to be split) that tually eliminated Cunn ul buffeting was vir On 9 February John wham flew W4050 and was now neatly impressed by the lightness of the controls and "generally pleasant handling characteristics’. Equally, it was clear to him oon of 10 January 1941 dating one of he fo that when the Mosquito was fitted with radar ‘it would be a splendid replacement for the Beaufighter (On 16 January 1941, W'4050 — a bombe a mnaissance aircraft, do not forget ‘outpaced a Spitfire in tests at 6,000 (1,830m)! Over a period of a few days in carly February, W4050 made a numbe level speed trials, during which it reached a maximum speed of 390mph (627kph) at 22,0008 (6,700m). Official trials, which an at the ASAEE Boscombe Down on 19 February 1941, confirmed de Havillanl’s faith in the design and on 20 April 1941 the prototype demonstrated to Beaverbrook, Minister of Aircraft P tion, and Major General Hap Arnold, Chief of the USAAR and other senior officer 'W4050, in the hands of Geoffrey de Havil: land Jr ave a dazsling performance, mak ing rolling climbs on one engine. Major Elwood Queseda, General Amol’ aide and later to control IX Fighter Coramanal in England, told of his i bythe sppearen io westfctl lane that looks fest Monit Interest had already been growing duting the official trials, turning the original bla tant disinterest in the The oficial visit to Ha ly confirmed this, but gave the right enthusiasm field not npportunity for setting up production in Canada and Australia, however, gor no further, General Amoldasked for photos of the Mosquito, and engineers and received, plans data from Curtiss-Wright spent neatly a month visiting the de Havilland plant, but the Material Division of the AAC placed litle om the plane, and expected soon be avail mportance that P-38 Lightnings would able and capable of handling American photo-reconnaissance needs. Reports from Britain nal problems. Nevertheless, Amnold was of the about the Mosquito emphasized technical problems, or ‘teething’ looked, and directed that the matter nor be dropped. Ifthe Americans were not to use the Mosquito, he felt that there was much to Tearn from the design, Within weeks, a request was sent co Britain for one airframe oevaluate at Wright Field, but this request vas only three days old before the US dec aration of war: Events had caught up with the US photo-reconnaissance and the US entered WWIL without a sin tle combat worthy photo-plane W4051, the photo-reconnaissance pro totype, the second Mosquito completed at Salisbury Hall, was not the second to fy. The fuselage’ originally intended for W4051 was used to replace W4050's fuse lage, which had fractured at Boscombe ir pe tail wheel incident. W4051 received a production fuselage instead, a factor which enabled this prototype to fly later on oper ations. W4051 flew on 10 June 1941 to become the third N fly (4052, the night fighter prototype, fl on 15 May 1941). W051 of three PR versions (the other two W4054 and W4055) used by the PRU at Benson, Oxfordshire, although it W4055 which male the first operational Mosquito fl 4 Meanwhile her version ht, on 17 Seprembe what of the fi De Havillands had received a contract for 150 M 11 30 December 1940, although it was not specified how mani would be bombers; indeed, no firm figure was given fers anal how many would be oon the number required as photo-recon: haissance versions, This indecision would wings for the bomber and fighter versions were different (the fighter version needed 20 50 fied witha mock up fw ror turret Jmmediatly aft ofthe cockpit for dag tats uring Jy 194, Frtunately the tare idea ‘was not proceeded with by the Air Ministry. (Bolow) The fest version othe segmented Youngman til arbrake as ited to WED, the fighter prototype, when the acral was at Salsbury Hal. The ‘rll could be opened by tested in a number of sifferent forms between anuary-August 1942 butte idea was shold ‘wen it as found that lowering the undercariage in ight had the: manoeuvre load factors) and bomber noses not the as fighter noses since accommodation had to be provided in the fighters for four machine guns and four 20mm Hispano cannon. Fortunately, de Havillands recognized this and had arranged space under the floor to house these weapons ifand when required. Even s0, twenty-eight completed bomber fase lages later had to have the nose replaced While the Ministry deliberated, W4052, which was built to Specification F21/40 was also completed at Salisbury Hall. It ype in having uprated Merlin 21s, each capable of producing 1460hp (1,085kW), a fla bullet-proof win and the then secret AI Mk LV radar. Entry was by a door differed from the bomber proin the starboard side of the cockpit instead of the bomber version. To save a month of dis mantling, transport and reassembly igh a trapdoor in the floor ason the W4052 was flown out of afield adjacent to the assembly hangar on 15 May 1941 by Geoffrey de Havilland Je. W4050 tohelp eliminate problems on W4052, not Teast of which concerned armament and exhaust systems. (Flash eliminators later hhad to be fitted to the machine guns on the NEIL to prevent the crew being dazsled when they were fired at night.) The ce ing intake shrouds for ype exhausts tended to overheat and even aiter prolonged use, Flame dampers prevented the giveaway exhaust slow at night but they inhibited perfor \e “Saxophone ‘mance. The problems became so great that Frank B. Halford, head of de Havilland Ws PRL prototype which Mow on 10 June 194. The fuselage o Engine Division, felt moved to say that feris aerah wa 2 WDA fuselage, which had tal wea cident, and so WANS received production hich enable his prototype toy operational sorties with the PR, ; so nme. vi Pip Stes ple ejector, open-ended exhaust stubs solved the problem and were fitted to PR.VII, BAX and BXVI models with a resulting quantum leap in. performance, the BV, for instance, gaining an add tional 10-13mph (16-21kph) as a result. ‘On 21 June 1941, the Air Ministry final Iy decided on the composition of the Mos- quitoes they had contracted de Havillands to build, Apar from “next time it would be better to design the aircraft around the exhaust system!” Mul c prototypes (one bomber, one PR and three fighter), nine- teen aircraft were to be PR models and fighters. At this time the further fity Mos quitoes ordered were unspecified. In July the Air Ministry finally confirmed that these would be unarmed bombers. The iromy was that in the same month the Mos- quito became the world’s fastest operational bonke patype in having two up sot (00), and ah windscreen, Cnsrvted at Salisbury Hal, tas Ahn ett eld adjacent tothe assembly hangar ‘0 15May 191 by Geoiry de Havilland dr. WADs2 ‘imple hnding Wins at Boscombe Down by the ‘del uy 198 and rom 182 onwards was wsed to ‘utaius medications, such as mm cannon, lndoing tomb racks and drop tanks, barrage inthe wing leading edges, tea ieron systems for steeper. fda leper ruder tab. W4052oined the FU at Ford ‘dws evenly cropped on 78 January 1386. (Bots was wedi along and varie testing “pane In ine 1982 was fied with two-stage Maris Standing on the Itt John de Havilland Mesto sz ian TskDe Havilland DHS8 Mosquito BIMKIW aircraft, a distinction it would enjoy forthe next 2! years, On 18-19 July during further speed trials, W405, fitted with Merlin 61 engines, reached 433mph (69Tkph) at 28,500 (8,690m)! Multiple ejector exhausts were a contributory factor, On 20 October W4050 achieved a speed of 43Tmph (703kph) in level flight! Using tu Merlin 77s, W4050 — which made its last flight around December 1943 shaded this with a maximum speed of 489mph (706kph) in level fl In addition to the construction total agreed on 21 June the Air Ministry further specified that the last ten aircraft (W4064-72) from the nineteen originally ordered in Contract 69990 on 1 March 1940 as PR versions, could he unarmed bombers also, These ten BE71, Canadian built BXXV ited with Merlin 258. vis Pip Biter came to be known as the BIV Ser averted to if72, the proton forthe first time on 8 Sepre The fifty BIV Series Ul bom! fom the Series I in having ar ay to increase the payload to four 50016 (030k) bombs instead of the Series Is four 250 pounders (115k). This was made possible by C Wilkins, RE Designer, who s ifthe 500Ib (2 these larger weapons could be carried. Twenty-seven BV Series II (W4066 was the only PRIV Series 1) were lat ened to PR.IV reconnaissance aircraft, With three additional fuel tanks in the Fomb bay, while ewenty B.LVs were modi Bed by DH, Vickers-Armstiong and Mae thas to carry a 4,0001b (1,810kg) bomb. Tim Bishop's Assistant Chief rtenied the tail stabilizer Prime Minister Winton Churchill anked by Sit Geatirey de Havilland to his right, and company chairman, Me Alan S. Butler tis let ours the Hatild factory on 18 April 1983, (ide) HXO56, «Mc Vb at Held in 1989, badly in the Far Est climate raft crashed afer shedding wings bocauso of structural failures. O 12 Se 1944, MPE86 of £2 Squadron crashed wi ummy attacks on another a ‘wore killed. Farther stuctur gain in 945. vi fon Macycan the 1076 Mosqui Fortunately, as plans for Mesquite pro- duction materialized at Hatfield, Tiger Moth production had moved out to Morris Motors at Covsley near Oxford, and Dominie production had moved to Brash at Loughborough. While Hatfield geared up 8.25 fresh off the production lines at Downsview. Altogether that were built inthe Dominion. O F8.26s wore built. the for mass production of Mosquito aircraft, a second Mosquito line was planned for a new factory at Leavesden. To take a leaf out of Henry Ford's book, i. May, Standard Motors had been approached with the idea of producing more Mosquitoes there. Their 24 _ ‘output would be badly needed because in July the Air Ministry confirmed that it wa looking to de Havillands to produce 150 Mosquitoes a month. Eighty would have to be built at Hatfield, while thirty would be buile by Second Aircraft Group (SAG), a widely dispersed shadow scheme first con ceived in 1940 (when de Havillands had considered building Armstrong Whitworth Albemarles), and forty in Canad By September 1941 it was anticipated that by 1942 Mosquitoes would be coming off the production lines at the rate of 200 (ninety fighters and, with Canadian production included, 110 bombers) a ‘month, Canadian production though, was to suffer as a result of the climate. The wooden jigs used to make the fuselage va ied considerably. Heating the glue used in the half shells of the fuselage to make it set fast, and the humidity of Toronto, which is ton the Great Lakes, caused the 40 (12m) Tong wooden moulds to vary so much that concrete moulds finally had to be used By the end of January 1942 contracts awarded to de Havillands totalled 1,378 Mosquitoes ofall variants, including twen- ty TIE trainer versions and 334 FB.VI bombers by the SAG at Leavesden. Addi tionally, 400 more were planned tobe built by de Havilland Canada, From now on, there was no looking back The Mosquito’: place in history was assured._Mesaita Speciiestons ' ‘Sen Length Heght Wing Atup Max Guse—nta)—_—Caag —firge Amaro ' fim) fim fein) ea Weight Spon Speed Cimber) les fim) Mat Bobo E 2 ____suitisom_ brig) mphiot)__ mph) __ fin rind bag WR Stan nein ah a8 19670 He 25 280 «BOO 100 6s) (123) at) yg) IS). 870) REY eae ¢ : 157m 28 3000 98000105 4x g/t 200m fam) 6) sh raga) 7A) thes ; 4 150008 280 2500 57501880 ese) 61) ta) r) THA) SIO) = aanain * 405 21a 300 285 20 = 3400 = 20002000 29 7m) Tuas) rz) am TY pes : 250 380 25 : 0001404. co) 235) sty) (826) oS “ sonsin ‘ 2 8 2 280 © 330001885 xg Om, 8 AP 29) gos yey) 869) 05a) 880) ee i 213858 28 2800 sam 2880 ‘am oy ats) 7) nS) 4100) - Mntin Ce e) 20 20 = 300028024000 138) (a6) (686) amc) 6m) ttngra) 9H) (0-120) eee i Hl 20 ae 20 20 sma 2480 fas) 8) te) (868) 1180) BHO) - wren * : 3m = 28 300 380001705 4x 2mm (123) (ao) 5) 1) 1) 1097) 7A) ee ‘ m0 =m 28 3000 3450018804 2mm om 8) 1) 1h 1020) 8) wnsn shen 5 mon 4 20 aso 0) xg vay 136) ase) am) (06) 13810). 880) wan 7 5 0008 25 200 37001485 4.000 65) 94m) 8) 055) hz) 30) 1.8 et * 2 5 2 200 © D280 10138) 6) 08.7) .982) + sonein 5 1920 7. 285 3000 00175 Ax n/t 123) (a7 55) frasro) 2740) * gngin * f aaa id i 4 : ‘ 1x 5t0 24 10588) + wa + : 190 a7 250 2880 = 00010 4x2 1136) 1970) fs) ma) 88) 58m) 2080) sorted et 25Taw “an 123) mast 200 2000 en) 2% 270 4000 E38 enna «404 42m FB.VIs on the production line ath ‘Mosquitoes, al of them FBI Motor Co. works at Coventry. Standard Mators bul 7.065On 10June 1941 Mosquito W405 flew for the fist time. The following month, on 13 July, W405 was handed over to No I Photographie Reconnaissance Unit (PRU) aBenson, Oxfordshire. W4054 and W4055 flowed, on 22 July, and 8 August respec- tively, and the thee aireraft hecame the first Mosquitoes to be taken on charge by the RAF These unarmed PR. Moxy tmale their operational debut on 17 Sep- tember 194] when W4055, crewed by S/L Rupere Clerke and Sge Sowwerbures, made a alight photo-reconnaisance (PR) of res, La Pallice and Bordeaux. They were fpunved by three BF 109s hur dhe PR.I easily ‘outpaced them at 23,000F (7,000m) and recumed safely A second photo-reconnais sance was made in W4055 three clays later, when FIL Taylor ne: and Sg Hostal flew 1p Sjlt-Heligoland. In October the three Mositoes carried out sixteen sucessful lof them te Norway Br spring 1942 the PRU at Benson was {inneed of aklitional PR.Is, only nine hav- ing heen built. During April co June 1942 NFlls — DD615, 620, 659, and 14089, all without long-range tanks ~ diverted to the PRU, and in Decem- two BIV bomber variants ~ DZ411 IDZ419 —arrived. Ground crew at Ben- insalled the three vertical and one ique cameras aboard each of the ines and they were pressed into ser On 7 May F/L Vietor Ricketts flew furthest flight over enemy territory $0 when he used DK284, a modified Mk fto photograph Dresden, Pilsen and bury, returning after six hours. On June a 7Y%-hour sortie was flown from coLa Spezia, Lyons and Marseilles ets was illed on 11 July when he and navigator, Boris Lukhmanoff, failed t0 from a sortie in W4089 0 Stras and Ingolstat. On 4 May, meanwhile, W/C Ring used 15, the first of the molified NFIIs, to wograph Aklerney. On 25 May E/L CHAPTER TWO. Photo-Recce Ricketts used it to photograph tangets in France and on the 27th, F/L Gerry R. Wooll RCAF used DD615 to successtlly photograph Saarbrucken and Ami ‘Wooll was not so fortunate on 24 August, when he and Sgt John Fielden were dis’ patched on a PR sortie in DK310 to con- firm a report that Italian warships were putting to sea. They were to obtain photos of Venice, Trieste, Fiume, and perhaps Pola if conditions were right. DK310 took off from Benson and stopped at Ford to top off its tanks before proceeding uneventful. ly to Venice. However, as Wooll departed. the area the glycol pump on the starboard engine began malfunctioning. The shaft hhad become slightly elliptical and fluid beyan escaping. Within a few seconds, the engine seized, Wooll found the aircralt roo heavy and unbalanced to attempt to eon- tinue on one engine and his problems were ‘compounded a few minutes later when the port engine began overheating, Wooll headed for Switzerland and managed 10 purdown safely at Belp airfield near Berne. After landing, Fielden tried unsuccessfully to set the aircraft on fire before the 10 en were marched off to a small village mpat Yen, After four months Wooll and Fielden were repatriated as part of an exchange deal which allowed imterned BF 109 pilots to leave for C (The Mosquito was retained by the Swis, who later used it as a turbine test bed aircraft). Wooll returned to flying, asa test pilot for de Havilland in Canada On 19 October 1942 ‘H’ and‘! Flights of the Photographic Reconnaissance Unit at Leuchars were merged to form 540 Squadoon, That same say formed at Benson, equipped with A\ Wellingron IVsand Spittite PR.IVs. Inthe main, 540 Squaalron were used to photo graph German capital ships in Baltic waters and North Germany, later the Mediterranean also. On 8 March 1943 the Commanding Officer (CO), WIC MJ.B. 27 Reconnaissance in Europe and the Far East Young n¥C; in Mk VILLDZ364, became the first Mosquito pilot to photograph Berlin 540 Squadron also carried out hattlexlam- age assessment and target reconnaissance at such places as the German racket research ste at Peenemine on the Baltic coast. It was on 12 June 1943, when F/L R.A. Lenton ina Mosquito took photos of V-2 rocket lying horontally on a trailer at Peenemiinde that the atention of RAF intelligence at Medimenham was arouse. On 23 June F/Set EPH. Peek brought hack such clear photos of rockets on road vehicles that news was relayed immediate Iy to Prime Minister Winston Churchill Inall six Mosquito pilots of 540 Squadron at Leuchars photographed. Pecneminde and in August 1943 Pecneminle was bombed bythe RAF and USAAF In November, 540 Squaalron became the fist co take photographs of V-l flying bornbs 544 Squadron, meanwhile, continued to use Ansons, Wellingtons and Spitfite PR.IVs in the PR and night photography roles over Europe, until in April 1043 Mosquito PRIVs replaced the Welling. tons. In Oetoer, PRLIXs completed 544 Scqalion’s re-equipment. One of the crews who joined 544 in November 1943, was P/O John R. Myles tf RCAF and his navigator, FJO Hugh R. Cavsker, a fellow Canadian. The RCAF had interrupted Myles tour with 541 Squadron and posted him tw 410 Squadron RCAF at Colby Grange whete the Canadians wanted him to form another PRU for then, but it fell through. He recall PRU wea very intresting jo, and we knew in vance of many occurences ach 8 the Dams rai, 2 rockets aa the ike. es alo one thes few fol weirs one dhe opp for Independent action. We operated sine, and athe wwe were nf for definite tet how and when we ‘We alo had authority to diver ts photuranhAX LRA2 in ght. Ninety PRIX models were built the fet two production arrat being delivered t S40 Squadron at Benson on 28 May 1983, With underving tanks the PRX could cover 2480 mils (3:80km) at cruising speed of 2mph (O0kph) ideal for photographing Nazi ockot esearch centres and test sites, vio RAF Mammon i) PRX LRAT in light. A small listron tho inroo was a standard feature ofthe Mk IX although this aircraft and UR2 (above) have not had them ited vis Steno Calecton from N Gitta, and inland asf Dansigand Vienna. On one trip we landed ata Jeachment San Severs jase orth of the — ey i Pil —— - a “sa o Javan 94 MND ine Tale ‘meni tre apeny Wen cake Tet bw eau casety an inthe yan hme eh td * el Wefintthawteping Tk ete ea of coming at thoughsth hl Rarp the back agin, 1 dal not know what our petrol consumpeon opted ou petrol consampion again and Grol be none engine addi not think we proved tobe les than the fine etme. IF ad enough to rach Gib hut we figured ha engine won holdout? After three hours tain Fe 14270 with a ne ct. We flew ever the rouumtsins fall of taney, and we pit-pointel ourselves om os at Malaga. Thee, showered aginst inking ht es Gilt W irl the Rock t 10,000 [3,050 descen est 2,000 [610m] over the away and fired ff the clears ofthe day then ae F/L Peter Fatlow and F/L EEG. ‘Dicky Boyd of 540 Squadron were not as fort: nate, on 15 May, during a similar opera tion (their twenty-fifth), to the south of part of the preparations for the invasion. Dicky Boyd explains Whilst ver the fourth get we were jmp Long ange ul tanks installed inthe bomb bay af Me’. We tured tl nd hes late vrson PR Mosquitoes permited hour in at out and although we were able 01 seen herewith four machine guns fited like the standard and vos used by 60 Squadron SAAF on tho Squadron’ fist sortie from Castel Bento ipl, ‘lack NF behind, was converted fom Mito February 183.0 ia Pig Gots rmotoreycle and sidecar while essing oa ted a wenk Iter we were in Sedag Lat In March 1944 544 Squadron received PR.XVIaircraft, while 540 had to wait until July 1944. G.WE. ‘Bill’ Newby, a navigator in 544 Squadron, flew in the prototype PR.XVI(MM258, a converted B.XVD), the first aircraft in the world (apart from the pre-war Bristol Type 138A) to be fitted with a pressurized cabin. He recalls ha the prise of yng om cabin tests ay sualon commander, WADI Severin nc, and Gooey de Havilland. We were having tbl wth winds wos the vigor on ee sp for short peo‘PRXVI NSBi2"M' which was delivered 1a 544 Squadron on 23 May 194 and operated over Europe util 2, February 195 when it crashed. After repair this niteraf so November 947 en Mackay an eye om ho fll they May 1945, ae honograping the aterdamage aa db cas cally, Our job in 544 Dans projet, kepin Sandon 3646 take photographs Foor and tier ic eras, by both RAF sight- and USAAF dayomkors (hight it back and werking the USAAF on he way horns) Wiener Ne afore the USAAF arived stake the Ze Vien then we to take the aferdamge shows. We abo wok rate pte of the mea defence ek the invasion of Europes Ucboat pons) pocket Iethhips bold up in: vio French ae CS each wed lage rmafsteringsitesin the Hort moreaine and fekb ete, which were tobe use for honping in Fence fr SOE agents, Forll of the Mojito was ideal ‘Meet PR fights cinemarogragh tee wer wih fone, Hhe uhing ta Copentigen mn Whit Sunday aero, 1944, case cre of r‘nkarmet, siting ov hile in Swale, ved with he Royal Navy at Fletiands trom 7 the North Seu. We did a squame 5 Kata and Skagerak but eu find race overthe Tl tna othe dockyaonly of tha the ship to ook like tank the Pale sr aly oe Alacco, cision taking potas cf Vs peli set of Bah 1 en tery dev tot and we could enlace te damage fom 30,000 [9,40 ht eal rl lowrleel 0 we could nat a up the chonce scream atin e-toc take el ine ‘ln ct aeons int rey opertined ie a Mowe came fom drug etn 18 july when we met rei nd we had to evac rn guick F/L Alan. Mor compleced forty-six successful PR. sorties in 544 Squadron, January-October 1944, Morgan recalls yan and Syt Frank Baylis toual lak and cecasonal puns b uate fying, concentating on the fp iowruents. Th ‘When we Frank woul ns ota fr this hu i Alehough the Monto al the ks of the I power and though tha oe InkPHOTO-RECCE - RECONNAISSANCE IN EURO ance wat imperative for the carly sighting of any purser. Te craft was ats mnt vale tle wher making photo-runs, especially on the “nly rece in which the na mined to remain inthe none cmp for ethaps 28 minutes at atime, The noel con fpenert mes two ramnire 36in [len! focal Tegth camer, ne 6 [15cm] focal length camera for verial photography at 60004 LU30m or Hows and forward and side-facing cameras for really low-level work. With al he fm mapcines an control ger, this was ea Iysigutieane load topple leds and ila put uta mayday call on VHE Manston gave me a course to steer an landed si. Bu afer a couple of hours ‘om oxygen a able vo back to Benson. All ‘ouroxygen masks were mofed the next dy 0 some goo eame oft We hal two futher outs with onygen! One season our seventh tip when 1 gant fel ‘woos aguin hile we were being ‘ake! whee honoring naval unis in Oslo Fd Sureenough. the supply indieator was in the red she task, we or. Havin hed away cut t sa and returned at fw level. The tind PRA NSTI in ight over England with its port aircrew foathored forthe (Our wor hacal are fom our ie presery ingyen suppl! It happened on our second tip. We mere climbing outhounad over the (Channel when, at about 25,000% [7,620m, 1 pase cr. ater discover tha the oxen ssl had come daconnecte fom the ace ice of my mak. Fank tol melee tat he [ sxcd we were yng ertically and he tne hunging inthe suas! as he pu i. He pushed thestik forwardandheld the oxygen tube ory tmakind rahallycameto, Wevwereat 600% [1630n} in thick hae. The compass was sing ing wily. the engine temperatures wer ‘of the cock’ and he gy fying instruments had (an thankfilly se) encounter came when Belin. Law Frank had med cut. The eponet iting ofthe cronsng the Noh Se en route tube which ran fom hs harness to the oxygen supply pin had come ait. Loy ha wo get owe from my seat and connect the pips: He soon ptked up an we completed the trip ‘One eur most ‘dey encounters ocurred fon our tenth tip, We had just finshed a long ruin the Lyons area with Frank i the nose when we spot gigle of fighters being down, on us. We were at about [7.620m) with drop tanks sill atached. te seetned longtime to shed these impediments 3 and wind yp tomasianu power Meantime, our unuers were diving ous and ning rapidly and opening fre. [put the nose hand down wth full power andere to fnk istch hee am wile we made for some scanty cloud em strata, hut we reached the cloud unscathed Afr some hieand-aek our pursues gave up and we sneaked off howe, dhly chastened! 1 hhave since thought these were US fighters as there was a bombing raid the area a about this time, I believe that & Mosito of 540 ‘Squadron went ising in his arena the time In 1944 540 Squadron went over toally t0 reconnaissance of the German rail trans portation system in preparation for D-Da Mosquitoes in 4, 140 and 400 Squadrons in 2nd TAF were also used to carry out reconnaissance over the continent for a limited period. ‘B’ Flight in 4 Squadron and ‘A’ Flight in 400 Squadeon (their ‘other flights were equipped with Spitfires) operated Mosquitoes from January until mid-May 1944 when both converted to the Spitfire XI. 140 Squadron, at Northolt, however, continued to operate its Mosq to PRAXs on long-range photo reconnais. sance from France after the invasion, and in 1945 PR.XVIs equipped with Gee and Rebecca were used on blind night photo: raphy operations. ‘Overseas, PR Mosquitoes were based in the Middle and Far East. The only Mosquito PR squadron in the Middle East theatre in 1943 was 683 Squadron, which, formed at Luga, Malta on 8 February. It was equipped initially with Spitfires before adding Mosquito Ils and Vis in May 1943 for a month of operations over Italy and Sicily. In early February 1944 680 Squadron at Matariya added Mk IXs and XVIs to its strength for photo-reconnais- sance operations inthe Mediterranean, Eventually, the Mosquitoes and Spithire Xis became the standard equipment, and in August 1944 680 Squadron moved to San Severo to range over the Balkans and Hungary, finishing the war mapping Italy Mosquitoes in the Far East In the Far Eastin 1943 the aerial recon. naissance of Burma and Malaya from bases “eylon and India proved one ofthe mest dificult asks facing South East Asin Com mana! (SEAC). The succes ofthe Mosq toiin the PR role in Europe was viewed with envy in India where strike: photographswere taken from obsolescent Bl hb hers and the only two cameraftted Be ‘of 681 Squadron at Dum Dum, Cale vutta, These were the only aircraft that pos- sessed the range and! speed for long-range PR over the Bay of Bengal and the Rangoon area, At the beginning of Apal 1943 three Mosquito Ell Series Is, and three FBVIs, alloted «0 27 Squadron at Agartala, -were for performance tests and famil ion and three were to be used in weathering trials during the coming season under the supervision of Mr FG. Myers, de Havilland technical representa tive. However, late in the month, it was decided that the aircraft should supplement the unit’ ‘initial equipment’ of Beaufight- cers for intruder operations Ie is reported that Major Hereward de Havilland, visting 27 Squadron, was hor- rified to find that the Mk Ils were put «0 ‘operational use and attempted. to have them grounded because he considered that the casein glue with which they. were bonded was unlikely to withstand insect attack and the tropical weather (the FB.VIs, still awaited, were supposedly bonded with “waterproof” formaldehyde adhesive), It was rumoured that Major de Havilland arrempred to damage the wing fof one Mk Il to ensure that it could not be flown, In the event, 27 Squadron flew the first Mosquito operation nce cover Burma on 14 May, Mk Ils again on only one occasion; one crashed and the other was damaged by round fire on 5 June. In August, when the aircraft situation in 631 Squid came so had, (the eo hal been in use for over 12 months) the Air Minizry gre thar Mowutoes could be eonverted to PR aircraft at No. CMU (Central Maintenance Unit), Kanchrapara. Two Mosquitoes and their fight crews were transfered to the twin- ‘engined Flight of 681 Squadron, andl these were followed by three newly arrived Mk Vis All five haad been fitted with a camera, hut nor the four cameras of che ‘PRU type’, nor did they ave aalditional fuel tanks, oF in the case of the Mk Is, provision for ft- ting underwing fuel tanks. During S her 681 Squadron flew eight PR sorties over vast areas of Burma. On 29 September 1943 (684 Squadron formed at Dam Dum from the twin-engined Flights of 681 Squaciton with Mk Ils, Visand IXs and afew Mitchell Usand continued operations with the early airerat until they were replaced with nine presurized PR.XVIs in February 1944, J then used the oration of adhesive did sn despite the aircraft being con- tinually exposed to high temperature and humidity and so effective was 684 Squadron's use of the PR Mosquitoes, that the Air Ministry decided, in January 1944, to equip twenty-two bomber and strike squadrons with FBVIs to. replace Vengeances and some Beaufighters. De Havilland were to produce replacement airframe components at Karachi. (At Yela hhanka, near Bangalore, 1672 MCU was established to begin a conversion pro- gramme to FB.VIs, beginning with 45 Squadron in March 1944. 82 Squadron began conversion at Kolar in July and were followed by 47 and 110 Squadrons). It seemed likely that 681 Squadron's efforts would produce record photographic cover- age in November bur all Mosquito opera- tionscame toan abrupt endon 12 Novem: ber, when, following a series of accidents, a signal to all units required Mosquito air- craft to be grounded pending inspection. ‘The effects of all of this were far reaching. The intended manufacture of components at Karachi was. abandoned and the re-equippingof squadrons delayed. ly in 1945, 45, 82, 47 and 110 Squadrons received new replacement aie- craft and ‘operations. 84 continued Squadron received FB.VIs in February 1945 and 89 were given NEXIXs in May, lange but the scale re-equipping of Uh “These TPR UK sa x 50 UK 8 Mate ou rs 30 ux BF 2nd TAF ca tnd sat lniBurma 10 2nd TAF sao Rear 2nd TAF 0 ide ast saa USAAF cre) _ 5th USAAF UK Pace nee Tag Un PFN) Prati Deemer Unt (sew 9948 Ftrmed 11247 2a Bare Go ao ecaedT6EB ese atu 32 squadrons never took place (211 and 176 Squadrons never saw action with FBVIs before the end of hostilities). 684 Squadron operated long-range PR sorties during the Burma campaign, re larly going to the Andaman Islands, Ran- goon and the Burma-Thailand railway Survey flying using Mk IXs and XVIs rom Caleutta took place before the squadeon moved to Alipoe forthe remainder of the war. In June 1945 the PR.34, 0 VLR (Very Long Range) version of the Mk XVI, entered sevice, and based on the recently completed airfield at Cocos Island, made reconnaissance missions to Kuala Lamput and Port Swettenham. By the end of July some twenty five sorties had heen carcied out by PR.34s from Cocos, and thirteen more by V}-Day In Europe, meanwhile, 540 Squadron had ended the war making a complete Photo reconnaissance of the whole of France, starting in March 1945 and finish ing in November that year, when the squadron returned ro Benson, dishing there on 30 September 1946. After VE Day 400 Squadron remained in Germany with BAFO until ic ishanded at Luneberg 5. In February 1945, 689 Squadron's PRXVIs at San Severo fi ished the mapping of Italy and flew 0 Exypt to work solely asa survey squadron. They then moved to Palestine to survey that country: Fered Tipe 17941-1082 Paw aers1343 Paw 19 1082-358 Privioxwyanr4Mn 3-88 Pa sas1045, Prvenwysars 5108 PRIN eaiing aasae Pax ane eR ra90-91 946 eR waaay 43-1145 PROV 1240-7845, Pax 16244-31865 Pangan 1H-545 Pra 1545 “PaxCHAPTER THREE, Bombs on Target The Pioneers of 2 Group By November 1941, 105. Blenh Squadron had decamped to the 2 (Li Bomber) Group airfield at Santon Mor- ley, Norfolk, to lick its wounds after suff ing high losses on low-level anti-shipping © operations from Malea. WAC Peter Sim- mons DFC and his bartered crews badly needed a morale-boost ~ the squadron had been decimated like almost everyone else in2 Group in the Battle of France in 1940. Ie came, on 15 November 1941, when Hatfield. Chicf Test Pilot, Geoffrey de Havilland Jr, treated them to a quite breathtaking. performance in W4064 — "Mk IV bomber conversion ty reilied that the new Mosquito bomber yas something special when Geoffrey de Havilland whipped it across the geass ‘expanse at little more than 500ft (150m) ataspeed approaching 300mph (480kph) He then put W4064 into a vertical bank at about 3,000Ft (900m), before tuminga cit- eso tight and a such a speed that vapour trails streamed from his wing tips. Geoffrey de Havilland Je flew the new bomber back to Hatfield the next day, but W4066, the first Mosquito bomber 0 "enter RAF service arrived on 17 over: fer watched by the AOC 2 Group, AVM, Albin, and his staf. Three more Mk IVs ~ W4064, W4068 and W407] ~ were delivered at intervals to Swanton Morley by Geoffrey de Havilland and Pac Filling hhan. In December the squadron moved to Horsham St Faith, near Norwich. Deliver- ies were held back by the need ro develop the shortened-vane 500Ib (230ks) bomb so thatthe new bomber could carry four of them instead of four 250 pounders (115k), and by mid-May 1942 only eight Mk IVs had heen taken on charge by 105 Seuadeon. One of the aircraft was fitted with Lorenz eam approach equipment, hile DK286 was fitted with the new Mk bomb sight for testing No 2 Group was anxious to despatch its ‘new wonder aircraft on the first operation as soon as possible. At dawn on 31. May 1942, only a few hours after the 1,000 homer raid on Cologne, four of the’ Mk IN, armed with 5001h (230kx) bombs and cameras, harassed and photographed the devastated city, S/L_A.R. Oakeshott DFC, followed later by PIO W.D. Kennard, took off from Horsham before the heavies hiad retumed and were followed, shortly before nehtime the following day, by PIO Costello-Bowen with W/O Tommy Broom, and FIL LE. Houlton with F/Sgt J.L Armitage. Oakeshott flew at 24,000f (7,310m) over the hattered and blasted city and added his four bombs to the devasta tion, but with smoke reaching to 14,000 (4.270m), his F24 camera was rendered use- les. Kennard failed to return, his aircraft being hie by anti-aircraft fire. Costello Bowen and Houlston added their bombs the conflagration from high-level 0 proe long the night of misery forthe inhabitants and bomb disposal teams. In the lat noon S/l-P.Channer took off in thick cloud to within 60 miles (97km) of, Cologne before diving down at almost 380mph (610kph) to low level tot tographs of the damage. Channer q realised that this highly successful approach would be particularly effective for furure Mosquito bombing operations. (On the evening of 1 June two Mk IVs returned to Cologne to bomb and recon- noitre the city. One failed to return. Then, just before dawn on 2 June, 18 hours after the 1,000 bomber raid on Essen, F/L. D.AG. Parry and F/O Vietor Robson flew alone 2hr5 minute round tip to Cologne med with four 500Ib (230kx) bombs andl samera to stoke up the fires and observe the damaye. However, thick smoke made the latter task impossible. On 8 June, 139 Squadron was formed at Horsham St Faith by using crews and some Mk IVs from 105 Squadron, W/C: Peter Shand DFC assumed command and 139 Squadron flew its fist operation on 25/26 June with a low level 33 raid on the airfield at Stade near Wil- helmshaven. S/L Jack Houston returned after dark just as the RAF heavies were heading for Bremen, in the third of the 1,000 bomber raids. Two of 105 Squadron's Mk IVs flew reconnaissance over the city after the raid and four more went to recon: noitre other German cities to assess dam- age and bring back photographs. ‘On 2 July, 139 Squadron sent six Mk IVs to bomb the U-boat yards at Flensburg in the first mass low level strikes hy the air craft. Two aircraft were shot down by Ger rman fighters. G/C J.C. MacDonald was made PoW while WIC AR. Oakeshott bic and FiO VRE. Treheme bins, were killed. S/L Houlston came off the target pursued by three Fw 190s, and F/L GP. Hughes was chased by two more fighters after he had been hit by flak. Both pilots le their escape hugging the wave tops, and, applying extra boost, they easily out! paced their pursuers. (A perspex blister was later added to the canopy roof to permit the navigator to kneel on his seat facing. aft to obtain a clearer view of pursuing fighters.) (On 1 July it was the tum of 105 Squadron fo bomb the yards at Flensburg, the low-level raid serving as one of two diversions for forty-four Lancasters attack ing Danzig. P/O Laston returned with part of his fin blown away by flak while Fi. Hughes and FJO TA. Gabe were killed when their Mosquito crashed, possibly asa result of flying too low. Sgr Peter WR. Rowland flew so low that he hit a roof and returned to Horsham with pieces of chim- ney pot lodged in the nose, July was significant for a number of day- light cloud-cover raids to Germany and, whenever clear skies dawne flew high level ‘Siten Raids’ over Geri at night to cause maximum disruption ‘war workers and their families. The sorties however, were nor without their own casu alties. On 16 July, a B.LV failed to return from a bombing sortie to Wilhelmshaven,and another was lest, on 28 July, Four BL were lost in August, the last filing to return on the 27th when four were ds patched to targets in Germany. One of the Mk IVs dropped three bombs on Bremen and scored a direet hit on part of the Vulkan shipyard which stopped produc: sion for several days. On 3 August 1042 WIC Hughie L Euwards Ve ofc, who had won the VC for his courageous leadership of 105 Squadron. fon a taid on Bremen on 4 July 1941, returned from Malta to take command of 105 Squadeon again. From the outset the ‘IV 02313 of 105 Squadron i Hanover. F/Sg¢ 4, Deeth uncompromising Australian led the Mos- gquitoes in the same courageous manner which had characterized his Blenheim fperations. On 29 August, when two Mk INs of 105 Squadron were dispatched to Pont-’-Vendin power station, Edwards and his navigator, F/O HLH. ‘Bladder’ Cairns bie, were returning when they were attacked! by about a dozen Fw 190s 40 miles (G4km) inside enemy territory, The fight- cers approached from head-on before turn~ itu to give stern chase. Edward easly out paced them but not before his port engine hhad been hit by enemy fie. Edwards belly Tanded at Lympne while the second Mk IV also bellied in, at Oakington. ‘On 19 September six erews from 105 Squadeon flew the first daylight Mosquito raid to Belin. Two returned early with mechanical problems, while two more ight. This aircraft filed to return on 20 Oct W/O FEM. Hicks were Killed, a Shuteworh olicton [BOMBS ON TARGET — THE PIONEERS OF 2 GROUP bombed the Berlin area through thick cloud. George Parry dropped down through the layers hut did not have enough height with which to homb. He finally turned for home and headed back across the north coast of Ger- many and into Holland. At 1,000f GB00!), just off the Dutch coast, two 1095 attacked Parry’s Mk TV but although one put some shells into the Mosquito, Parry dropped down to sea level and soon ouran, them. Another Mk IV was not so fortunate and failed to return, believed shot down by enemy fighters bombed Hamburg and on idon 192 following » On four 105 Squadron crews, George Parry and ‘Robbie’ Robson, Pete Rowland and Dick Reilly, F/O Bris tow and P/O Bernard Marshall, and F/Sgt GK. Carterand See WS. Young, flew from Horsham St Faith co Leuchars, Seotkand and refuelled and bombed up with four Il- second delayed action 500Ib (230kg) bombs for a strike on the Gestapo Head- quarters in Oslo. The raid had been requested by the Norwegian Government in Exile in London in response to reports received from the Norwegian Underground thar morale in Norway needed a boost. A rally of Hirdsmen (Norwegian Fascists) and Quislings taking place in Oslo, between 25-27 September provided an extra impe tus. The operation, led by Parry, meant a round tip of 1,100 miles (1,770km), and an air time of 4hr 45 minutes; the longest 34 Mosquito operation so far. To avoid inter- ception the Mosquitoes flew across the North Sea at heights of just 50-100 (15-30m), using dead reckoning all the way: Near the target two Fw 199s of 3/JG5 intercepted the Mk [Vs and one shot down Carters aircraft in flames. Rowland and Reilly were chased by the second Fw 190 until their attacker struck a tree and was forced to return to base. At least four bombs entered the roof of the Gestapo HQ, one hhad remained inside and failed to detonate and the three others crashed through the opposite wall before exploding. On the night of 26 Septermber listeners to the BBC Home Service heard that a new acral the Mosquito, had been revealed officially fr the fis ime by the RAF and that four had made a daring rooftop taid on Oslo. Next day, when the frst photo of a Mosquito was published, she caption sid that ‘armament ‘may consist of four 20mm cannon and! four 303in machine guns” Increase in Daylight Raids On 29 September 1942 105 and 139 Squadrons began moving to Marham nearby. Matham had just been transferred from 3 Group to 2 Group and was destined to play a major role in Mosquito opera- tions right up until March 1944. The fist such operation from Marham was flown on1942. Tho large white building (up et ithe university Middle right isthe central cupola on which the pilots saw th a ging MV Series i K2% was oven on the Oslo Gestapo raid ot 25 September 182 by SUDAG. ‘George Parry: and F/0 Victor Robson of 105 Squadron. "G-George passed {eSILBIl Blessing 1 RAAF who crash-landod DKZ86 at Marham and broke it ack The sirerat was repaired and on 24 August 1943 was placed into store with 10 MU sHallovngton. in September 1943 it was issued vo 305 Ferry Training Unit at rel, Sealand were itwas given Rustin markings and trained Russian crews who wore ‘rein to Abomaces. On 20 Ape Soviet Union by 3 Rusia crew, being ofically accepted thereon 31 August 1948 and subsequently going tn serve with the Red Ai Force Garam M. Sinan 1 October 1942 when three Mk IVs were dispatched. Two attacked a chemical works at Sluiskil and an oil depot at Ghent while the third returned from a sortie to Entvelde still carrying its bombs after they failed to release. Nuisance raiding over Germany and the Low Countries remained the order of the day for the crews of 105 and 139 Squadrons, although, on 29/30 November six Mk IVS of 10 Mosquito night operation ofthe war when ‘Squadron flew the first five rail targets in Belgium were bombe without loss In December, another mile J, when, on the 6th the one was reache first all-out daylight raid’ was made by roup, which dispatched ¢ hombers to the Philips Steyp Group main works and the Emmasingel valve and lamp factory in Eindhoven, Holland. Ten Mos: suitoes took pat in ‘Operation Oyster, as it was code-named, W/C Hughie Edwards sc iC, leading eight Mk IVs of 105 Squadron and two of 139 Squadron to the Stryp works, while S/L J.E. Houlston ar DFC of 139’ Squadron carr bomb damage assessment. The much faster M i with the Bos squitoes should have rendezve ins and Venturas at the tar get but they caught up with them at the Scheldt Estuary. Edwards had to slow the Mosquitoes to just 150mph (240kph) and fly at 50ft (15m) in order to stay behind them when they should have been flying to the Stryp Works at 270mph (435kph), 0 1,500 (4601), diving and releasing their bombs from 500f (150m). F/O LE. O'Grady and Sgt G.W Lewis’ Mosquito in 139 Squadron was hit before climbin flames, crashed into the sea 30- miles (48km) off Den Helder. Both crew per ished. Two other Mk IVs were f abort. In all, more than 60 tons of bombs hit the factories, which were very badly damaged, but fourteen aircraft were lost On 27 January 1943 Hughie Edwards led niine Mk IVs of 105 and 139 Squadrons in another daring low-level raid, this ime on the Burmeister and Wain Diesel engine orks at Copenhagen, Light flak from near the coast bracketed the formation on the way in. FIL J. Gondon rc and FO RG. Hayes DRC abor ddon thought their aircraft had beer edge ng became enveloped in blue smoke ( J the operation when Go When the trail the starboard don decided to carry out evasive action, but «doing, he hitatelegraph line and head: ced back 10 Norfolk with a damaged poreee ese) Lees oraileron. (Both men were killed on 5 Novem ber, returning from a raid on Leverkusen on, In the circuit ar Hardwick u the tanger Sgt |G. Dawson's Mos: quito was seen to explode on the ground. He and Sgt RH. Cox, navigator, died instantly ‘Three days later, on 30 January, Mosqui- toes bombed Berlin for the first time. Two attacks, one in the morning by three Mk IVs ‘of 105 Squadron, led by S/l ‘Reggie’ W. cone engine, USAAF hase they were reportedly refused clearance to land hecause of a truck on the runway. The aircraft struck the top of an oak tree and cartwheeled across a field before IvOz of 105 Sa {up [PF ad failed to return fram a ea onthe marshaling yards at Rennes on 8 June 1988. F/ Bil Shere n and FO Windy Gale ofc RAAF were killed. 02367 failed vo return rom when it was ewe by S/ DFW. Darling 0 and F/O W. Wright (bath KIA). RAF Mahan OER. and by three Mosquitoes of Reynolds and Tat’ Sismore cone in the ater 139 Saud, speeches inthe main brouleasting station in Berlin by Hermann Goring and De. Joseph Goebbels, respectively 105 Squadron arrived over Berlin at exactly 1100 hours Inti into flames.) Edwards and Cairns found the tanger only at the last moment and Bree on the point of retuming, bur made their attack then broke for the sea and home. Light flak at the target was intense fand Edwards’ Mosquito received two holes Inthe starboard nacelle. Five minutes after were timed to disrupt 37 and theirhombs rained down, disrupting the Reichsmarschall’s speech for over an. hou. The afternoon raid was not as successful and fone Mosquito was shot down. S/L DEW Darling ¥¢ was killed. In February Hughie Edwards left to take up a post at HQ Bomber Command, but his successor, WIC GP Longfield remained only a short time, being killed in 1 mid-air collision, WIC John de Lacy ‘Wooldridge DFC DFM assumed command of 105 Squadron in March. (Wooldridge who added a 0s0 and a bar to his DF tone of the leading low-level MosquiteBV DK3a8 of 105 Squadeon in ight On 1 May 1943 ‘Thompson orc RNZAF and F/0 Wl (Rh) B.1V 02464"C-Chatli’ of 138 Squadron, the only one of fouro escape unharmed ater a chase by tw Fw 190s fllowing an attack on Matines on 1 Apel 1943. This areal ater filed to return on 21 May 198 daring ano tthe lacomative sheds a Orleans, ts 17th SILVA. Harcourt bc the CO, and W/O J. Friendly se, both Canadians, wer illod, RAF Msrham raiders and in 1944 he wrote a superh Schott Works. Eleven. machines bombed F/L WS. ‘Jock’ Sutherland and PJO GE account of these raids called Low Attack). the two targets with great accuracy, but the Dean of 139 Squadron were also killed when The final large-scale daylight Mk IV raicl operation cost five aircraft. En route, wo they crashed after hitting power ak co land at C 1.27 May 1943, when four- Mk IVsof 139 Squadron, crewed by F/LSut- while try Group wa teen Mosquitoes led by WIC Reggie ton and FIO Mortis,and FO Openshaw and Morale in some bomber squadrons in 2 Reynolds (0 DRC, and FIL Ted Sismore, set Set Stonestreet, collided west of Kassel and Group was low and it was certainly not ‘out toattack the Zeiss Optical Factory, and crashed. DZ467 P" of 105 Squadron waslost helped by the news that 105 and 139 the Schott Glass Works, at Jena. Eight Mk in the attack while F}ODixon and P/O Bush Squadrons were now to be transferred t08 Vs of 105 Squadron were to hit the Zeiss died when they crashed at Marham on the Group (Pathfinder). Bomber Command Works, while six of 139 would bomb the retum while trying to land on one engine. — for a complete change of roleCHAPTER FOUR Night Fighting Nocturnal Defensive and Offensive Operations On 13 December 1941, 157, Squadron, commanded by WIC Gordon Slade, became the frst Mosquito fighter squadron in Fighter Command when it reformed at Debden, Essex. It took delivery ofits ftse TIL on 17 January 1942 when the Squadron had moved to Castle Camps to begin work up on the new fighter. Unfor- tunately, deliveries of the NBII were slow to artive and only fourteen were on strength by the end of March. Six others arived during mid-April but three were minus complete Al (Airborne Intercep- tion) radar sets andl only seven crews we tmined to fly che aircraft. A similar situa- tion persisted at Wittering where 151 Squadron, commanded by WIC Irving Saanley Smith Dec RNZAF awaited NEUIs to replace its Defiants. ‘A’ Flight received issfist Mosquito (DD608) on 6 April bur B Flight would have to wait. Radar equipped night-fighters were desperately needed at this time because the Luftwaffe had launched a series of terror (Known 3s Baedeker) raids against British cities of hi toric or aesthetic importance, as retribu- tion for an attack by RAF Bomber Com: and on the historic city of Libeck on 2829 March. (The phrase originated from apres briefing given in Berlin on 24 April 1942by Baron Gustav von Stumm, Deputy of the German Foreign Office Press Department who announced, ‘We shall go all out to bomb every building in Britain tnarked with three stars in the Buedeker Guide) Exeter and Bath were the fist to safer Backer rad, with resultant heavy Ios fife. 157 Squadron flew its first patrol on the night of 27/28 April when three NEIIs (equipped with ALMk V radar) joined just nineteen Beaulighters and Spitlires in ‘opposing the twenty-six Luftwaffe aircraft that made the first Baedeker raid on Nor- wich. Although radar contacts were made, none of the attackers were intercepted, fand cannon flash, exhaust manifold, and covling burning problems were manifest (Worse, on 19 May; in the frst of dhree NBII crashes that month, a 157 Squadron aircraft suffered an engine failure and crashed at Castle Camps, killing both «rew).On28/29 April the Luftwaffe struck at York, killing cighty-three people F/L Pennington flew the first 151 Squadron Mosquito operation, in DD613, 290 April, when about seventy-five German raiders operated over Britain. A Do 217 was chased by a 157 Squadron NEI, but the fighter was spotted in the moonlight and contact was lost. On 3/4 May Exeter was again bombed, and on 4/5, May a tworwave attack on Cowes on the Isle of Wight resulted inthe deaths of sixey- six people, with seventy more injured. On 8/9 May Norwich was again bombed, and although thirty-seven night-fighters tone to meet the raiders, they were powerless t0 stop them. Hull, and Poole were bombed and then, on the night of 2930, it was dhe f Grimsby. But now the Mosquitoes to bite back. FJL Pennington of 151 Sauadhon intercepted 1 damaged Heinkel TIIH-6 and put several cannon shells into it from 400yd_ 370m). As Pennington closed for a secondd attack from SOyd (73m) the enemy returned fre, hitting the Mosquito in the starboard wing, tail and the port engine. Pennington’ quarry was seen to be hit inthe port wing and engine Ir dived away on fire into che haze above the sea and contact was lost. Pennington flew 140 miles (225km) home on one engine. Well out over the North Sea P]O John Wain and FiSet Thomas SG. Grieve ity DD6QS closed in on a Do 217E-4 of KG2, Wain opened fire and the enemy machine immediately burst into flames and started 10 fall towards. the sea, “They claimed it as a ‘probable’. Another Do ZITE-4 was probably destroyed south of Doverby S/L-G. Ashfield of 157 Squadron, On 2425 June, when the Lufwatte mounted an unsuccessful raid 39 Nuneaton, five bombers were claimed destroyed by British defences. W/C Smith and his navigator F/L Kemon-Sheppaed, scored 151 Squadeon's fist NBII victories after intercepting three enemy airerae within 30 minutes. At 23.30 an He 111 was intercepted at 8,000f _(2,440m). Smith closed to 300yd (275m) before ‘pening fire, but the Heinkel dived away trailing fuel irom its pore tanks asa second approach was made. (That night an He T1H-6 of Exprpau.Lehe, Kdo 17 was badly damaged by a Mosquito when flares on. board exploded. Radio-operator Ofw Paul ‘Wilhelm Krause, baled out, prematurely as it tumed out, because the Heinkel imped back to Holland and landed safely. Krause’ body was washed ashore at Pake~ field on 5 July.) Ten minutes later, Smith was vectored on to Do 217E-4 F8+AC of I/KG40. This time he approached unseen, to 100yd (90m) before opening fire. The Dornier dived abruptly into the sea and exploded. At 23.48 radar contact was made with another Do 2178-4 (U5+ABof 1KG2, flown by Lt Karl Von Manowarda). ith closed andl opened fire from 200yel (185m). Both the Domier’s wing tanks ‘exploded and the aircraft was engulfed in flames. The New Zealander closed stil ur ther and fired a shore burst co finish it of. U5+AB fell into the Wash, The following night, 25/26 June, PIO John Wain and F/Sge Tom Grieve of 151 ‘Squadron shot down an He FTTEC6 in the North Sea and on 26/27 F/l. Moody and P]O.Marsh destroyed a Do 217E-4 of 3/KG2 flown by Fw Hans Schrodel, when He 111 pathfinders and Ju 88s of KGr 506 and Do 217s of LI, and HVKG2 raided Norwich. 151 Squadron went on the ram page in July shooting down four Dornies, Wain and Grieve failed to return in D623 on 10/11 August. Despite the need for more Mosquito night-fighters over Britain, moves were set afoot to use the NEIIS in offensivenight the continent. RAF bombers had begun to suffer increasing losses from Lufewaffe night-fighters and it was decided that hting, ot intruder operations, on RAF inteuder aircraft rovi airfields in France and the Low Countries, could reduce the attacks on bomber streams, The first major support of bombers by night-fighter squadrons was 31 May durin raid on Co the 1,000 bomber ne when Hurricane ICs, on 30 Havocs and Bostons intruded over the No radarequipped aircraft were used as its operation over enemy te ritory was still banned, The much faster Mosquito was ideal for intruder opera- tions, and converted NElIls, stripped of their Mk IV radar, and with increased fuel capacity, were used for intruding until 1943 when the FBVI could be made available in numbers. [MPa, the prototype NFXV, a Hat bomber configuration and was: 16 Septomber 1942, This ater was converted fom = hig! for use agains high-altitude u 86 reconnaissance bombers, but the 'NE1L02230 YP-A of 23 Squadron lown by the CO, WIC Pe orc over Valet in January 194. The Squadron oper December 1942 September 1943, Ac RaresrchPbscnione thveat evaporated before the NFXVs, equipped with AI Mk Vl radar, could be usd. vi Granarm Sins First of the Mosquito intruder units wa: 264 Squadron at Colene, which, since carly 1942, had operated Defiant night fighters. On 3 May it received its first Mos: quito, a THI, and on 13 June, the Sctuadron flew its first operational sorties using NEIls. On 2 claimed as ‘damaged’ FIO Hodgkinson forced down Uff: Rudol Blankenburg over Creil home in a KG2 Do27 Weston-Super Mare vietory occurred on 30/31 July when a Ju B8A-4 was destroyed. Late in 1942 Night 28 June a Do 217 was ws he made for 2 after a raid on 40 ind on the 28/29th, Rangers were Rangers to airfields in France were fl low level operations on moonlight nights, mainly against railway ling stock and road transport, although 1e could shoot down enemy aircraft if hey were encountered 3 Squadron at Ford meanwhile, had ceived a TIll for taining on 7 June 1942.Eventually, twenty-five of the modified NElls would be issued to the squadron (which was destined for Malta before the end of the year) but for atime the only one available for intruding was 'S-Suyar’. The fis intruder sortie was flown in this aircraft on 6/7 July by WIC Bertie Rex ‘Samm OfBryen Hoare, one of the leading intrud pilots of his generation, and W/O J.E Por ter Sammy’ first successful ineruder kill was ina Havoc, on 3/4 May, when he got an He 111 for certain and a Ju 88 as a probable. The 6/7 July sortie proved uneventful but the following night Sammy dispatched a Do 217 16 miles (26km) east of Chartres with three short bursts of cannon fire. On 9 July S/L KH. Salisbury-Hlughes, in again, destroyed a Do 217 over Erampes and an He 111 at Evreux. In August, 85 Squadron ar Hunsdon started intruder pattols with the NEIL Britain, as well as launch scale night raids. On wg several small: 3 August, 157 squadron scored its first vietory when the CO, WIC Gordon Slade, and P/O BV Truscott, shot down a Do 217E-4 of 61K, old ex- 2, flown by twenty-nine-ye Lufthansa pilot Oblt Hans Walter Wolf, 20 miles (32km) from Castle Camps. In September, 151 Squadron destroyed two more Dornier Do 217E-4s. On 30 Septem: her 157 scored its frst day combat victory, when W/C R.EH. Clerke shot down a Ju 884-4, 30 miles (48km) off the Dutch. coast, “By October 157 Squadron had added three more victories to its rising total. One of them, 3E+CM, a Ju 88A-4 of KG6, flown by Lt De Willy Blackert, was broughe down near Southwold and’ was credited to FiSgt N. Munto and W/O A. Eastwood without a shot being. fired Munro closed to about 600yd_ (350m), NEIDOGI, which W/C RH. Clrke used to shoot down Ju 88 on 30 Septomber 192. Gahan Sons However, they had to wait until October that year before getting their first scent of akil, Ju 88 damaged and a Do 217 prob- aly destroyed. (In December 1942 Squadron transferred to Malta. They would nor return until kate June 1944, when they joined 100 Group.) Mosquito fighters were meanwhile still needed to epulse attacks at home. During August 1942, I/KG2 sent single aircraft on daylight low level or cloud cover ‘pirate’ sorties against selected targets in sighted the enemy aircraft and cried, Tally Ho’, when the enemy aircraft turned on its back and dived straight down. AA tite and ships in Lowestofe harbour had succeeded inbringing down the bomber. 307 Polish Squadron began re-equip ping with NEUIs in December 1942 and flew is ist patrol on 14 Janwary 1943. On 15/16 Janwary 151 Squadron scored the first Mosquito kill of the New Year when F[Set E.A. Knight RCAF and See WILL. Roberts shot down Do 217E-4 US+KR of 7/KG2 piloted by Le Gunther Wolf, dur araid on Lincoln. On 17/18 January the 85 Squadron CO, W/C G.L. Raphael Dé with W/O Addison Dem, shot down a Ju 88A-14 of I/KG6. On 22 January a Mos. quito of 410 Squadron, the third RCAF ht fighter squadron to be formed, and which had fully converted from Beaufight ers to NEIls in January 1943, claimed a ‘probable’ Do 217E. In February all of 25 Squadron's Beaufighters finally phased out (25 Squadron had received its first NEI on 21 October 1942); 605 Squadron at Ford began equipping with NBs andl on 16 February 151 Squadron at Wittering began night intruder opera tions over France using NBlls fitted with the Monica tail-mounted radar. ‘The squadron continued to fly Night Ranger operations over the continent, attacking all kinds of targets, They also carried out high level patrols at night defending the bomber stream. Also during February 1943, 410 Squadron moved south from Acklington for moonlight Night Ranger ‘operations from Coleby Grange. The first 410 Squadron intruder operation w flown on 26 February 1943. In June detachment was sene to Predannack (for (Coastal Command operations) and anoth: er intruder detachment was temporarily established at Hunsdon, Night Defences In March, 85 Squadron, which a month, earlier had tested the Tinbinlight Mosquito (an aircraft-mounted searchlight system for night-fighting), went over to night intrud: cer patrols with five NEXVs (each capable of reaching altitudes of 43,000f/13,100m and NEXIs. On 23 March 1943, 157 Squadron carried out its first Night Ranger ions over enemy aiefields and in Feb. nary-March, 456 RAAF Squadron, which was largely equipped with Beaufighter VIS, hhad begun to include some Mosquit Ranger operations in addition to their day fighting role, frst from Middle Wallop and then from Coleme. From late May they oper were successfully employed on sorties over France attacking railway rolling. stock and intruling on French aitfields. Also in May, 418 ‘City of Edmonton’ Squadron. RCAF teceived its first Mosquito, its frst such sorties being dispatched on the night of the 7/8¢h. At home, the danger from German riders persisted. After a lull in nightfighting Kills, on 18/19 March 1943 the Luftwaffe’ IX Flicgerkorps directed its entire strength of fifty-four aircraft in an attack on Nonwich. F/O G. Deakin and P/O de Costa ‘of 157 Squadron at Bradwell Bay shot down. Ju 88 which fell into the sea about 4 miles (6.4km) off Southwod, (Thar same month 157 Squadron began training for intruder ‘operations and the first Night Ranger was flown on 23 March). Over Norfolk, F/O D. Williams and P/O. P. Dalton of 410 Squadron RCAF from Coleby Grange stalked Dornier 2176-4 5523 U5+AH of UUKG2, flown by Ufs Horst Titel. Toife, it seems, aware that a fighter was looming up ‘on him, carried out a too violent manoeu- vvre, and hit the ground before Williams could open fire. The Dornier crashed near Terrington St Clements. (On 28/29 March 1943, forty-seven bombers of IX Fliegerkomps bombed Nor- wich again. An NEIL of 157 Squadron flown by F/O John R. Beckett RAAF and F/Sge Phillips took off from Bradwell Bay at 1940 hours and patrolled some 30 miles (48km) off Orfordness before they were vectored by HCI Trimley Heath on to an ‘enemy aircraft approaching Lowestoft Beckett had gor contacts before on two of his previous twelve patrols, but so far had made no kills. After two momentary con- tacts, on a fighter crossing rapidly from starboard t© port, another contact was ‘obtained dead ahead on an airerat fyi west at 12,000ft (3,660m). It was changing course and height as it approached the coast. With some difficulty the NEIL closed in to 1,000Ft (300m), where a visu al sighting was obtained. Evasive tactics became more violent which made the tar- get difficult to identify, but from its exhaust system, which glowed orange-red, it appeared to be a Dornier 217 (it was Do 217E-4 U5 +NM 4375 of IV/KG? flown by Fw Paul Huth). Beckett wrote: The searchlights an ack ack made dentifi tion dificult as we were alo it few tes After clove upto our fring potion ie: ti he plane positively enemy one thei rear gunner frat us, Bat mised, fring too Trend the feat once with rw busts «cannons fie at 300-4006 [90-1200] range listing about two second cach, After tat Ia Ihe and sparks on the rear heard sre, the enemy fie stopped andthe plane Alive int the choad a few hundred feet blow ts Visual contact was fn, but Al contact a held by Pillip frm 1.000% [3,050] down co 5.0004 [1,520] with she Dorie uring hed to port, During that ine we were constantly turing in lef ices. Contact was lot when the enemy plane turned hard to port an lef ‘The Do 217 crashed a few minutes later in the sea off Horsey, just north of Yarmo All the crew were killed. The victory was shated with a 68 Squadron Czech Beau: fighter crew: “April and May provided rich pickings for the Mosquito night fighters, both over England and the continent. On 13 May 85 Squadron moved from Hunson to West Malling in Kent to help counter the new ‘menace of Focke Wulf I90A-4/U8 fighter bombers of Schnelles Kampfgeschwader (I/LOSKG/10) hased in France. John Cun- rhingham recalls: To our great joy and sat- ‘sfaction we found thar using max. conti tuous power from the Merlin throughout the whole climb ~ from take-off to inter- ception, and with skilful use of the radar by ‘one’ radar operator —it wats ust posible «© intercept and close in, identify, and then shoot down a Focke-Wulf 190 carrying a bomb. It really was quite remarkable how the Merlin stood up to such harsh treat ment.’ 85 Squadron shot down seven Fw ghter-bombers in May, plus on 29/30 May, the first Ju 885-1 to fall over England. ‘Also in May, 60 OTU (Operational ‘Training Unit) at High Ercall was expand ced and made responsible for all intruder Meanwhile, on 7/8 May 418 RCAF Squadeon, still mainly equipped with Bostons and Havoes, flew its first FB.VI sortie, when P/O Tony Croft claimed a Ju 88. destroyed in the Melun-Britigny area. On 27/28 June S/L CC. Moran and F/Sgt Rogers claimed a Ju 88 and an He ILL destroyed at Avord. Moran also blasted a train and hombed a radio mast. By the end of the summer Moran had eamed something of a dleserved reputation as a trainbuster, his technique usually consisting of a strafing run to stop the locomotive and then fin- ishing off the halted. crain with bombs. Rogers was killed on 22 September when both men baled out into the sea while try- ing to reach Manston,followingan intrud- cer mission to Hopsten airfield J 29 Squindeon's Beaufighters were by NEXIIs in June 1943, the first 29 Squadron Mosquito victory occurring ‘on 5 June when a 88-14 was shot down, ‘off Ostend. In June-July four NEIIs of 410 Squadron began Instep anti-air and anti shipping patrols from Predannack. 307 42 NIGITT FIGHTING ~ NOCTURNAL DEFENSIVE AND OFFENSIVE OPERATIONS Polish Squadron also used Predannack for Night Rangers with NElIs while the station, was used also bya flight of six 25 Squadron, NFlls detached to 264 Squadron. (25 Squadron had received Mk Ils in October 1942 and had started freelance Ranger sweeps over the continent). On 11 June 25 Squadron scored its first NEI victory when, six Mosquitoes took off from Predannack at 1430 hours for an Instep patrol in the Bay of Biscay. ‘Blue’ Section was led by F/L Joe Single- ton whose navigator was FO. WG. Haslam, while ‘Green’ Section was led by FIL G. Panitz. At about 1617 hours FiO. Wootton reported sighting a formation of five enemy aircraft identified as Ju 88s fly ing at about 6,000¥t (1,830m). Singleton ‘ondered the formation to close (one Mos- ‘quito. had retumed to hase with engine trouble), and t© commence climbing in ‘onder to position themselves between the sun and the enemy. The three Ells soared to a gap in the cloud, climbing at 2,000ft (610m) per minute, keeping the Ju 88s in sight. The enemy aircraft saw them and altered course, commencing a climb: ing orbit to port in loose line astern ‘Blue! Section broke and went into the attack Singleton’s aircraft. was bracketed by 3 series of two second bursts fired simultane: ‘ously from three ot four of the Ju 88 dor- sal turrets. The tracer passed well above the Mosquito. Singleton selected the rearmost Ju 88 in, the formation, which was nearest to him, performed a climbing turn to port inside the enemy aircraft at about 170mph (270kph), and closed to about 200ft (60m) below him. From about 800yd (730m) range he opened fire with a full deflection shot of 70 degrees, giving a short burst of less than one second with cannon onl his machine guns failed to fire because of wn electrical fault. The Ju 88 port engine mitted considerable volumes of thick black smoke, and the aircraft peeled off to starboard in a dive. Singleton followed on his tail and gave him another one second Durst from dead astern and slightly above, with cannon only, from about 300yd 275m) range. Sheets of flame were emit ted from the port engine. The dorsal gun- ner continued to fire at the oncoming Mosquito but his tracer failed to find its target. The Ju 88 pulled out of its dive and the dogged Singleton followed. He gained ‘on the Ju 88nd closed to within 25yd (m) before giving his vietim a 3 second burst from dead astern whilst closing right in.Wiliams wth 70D. Moore. Two ore Do 217H-1S wore shot down by NEI of 65 on 1/14 and 25726 ly 1983 wo Machy Flames appeared inboard of the port engine, followed by black smoke from the starboard engine. Singleton and Haslam's windscreen became covered in oil from. the Ju 88, making sighting difficult, and Singleton was compelled to peel of denly ro starboard to avoid a callision, sleton overtook the Ju 88, which was now Inasteep dive, and turned into the attack caking the agin, following and then over burning aircraft, before administer toup de grace. From slightly above the enemy aircraft ata range of 500K (150m) an from che starboard quarter, he gave the J488 a one second burst of cannon. Pieces nd the tf cowling from the starboard engine, Pieces ofthe Ju 888 mainplane flew off as the cannon shells hit home. Immediately aftervands, as Singleton and Haslam used above and behind the Ju 88, two of the crew were seen to bale out. One made his exit through the top hatch and was suck a glancing blow by the tailplane of the Ju 88, which the (verand in a vertical dive, and entered the sei. Singleton orbited at about 2,000 (610m), then climbed through a zap inthe loud to search for more ‘game’ hut none were seen and he called the section to retum to Predannack. They landed just after 1800 hours port turned (On the night of 14/15 March 1944 FL Joe Singleton DFC and FIO Geoff Haslam ‘of 25 Squadron at Coltishall destroyed a fu 188, which crashed in the sea 5 miles (8km) east of Southwold. On 19/20 March they shot down three Ju 188s in the space of just 13 minutes. Singleton finished the war with seven aircraft kills.) In June 1943 NElls of 456 and 605 Squadron so began successful, albeit small scale, Bomber Support Flower attacks on German nightlighter aisficlds during raids by Main Force bombers, Flowers supported bombersby diseupring the enemy flying con: ‘tol organizations. Long range intruder air- craft fitted with limited radar equipment were used, and these proceeded to the target at high altitude, divingdown whenever they saw airfields illuminated. This type of oper ation if correctly timed, prevented the enemy night-fighters, often alteady short of fuel, from landing at theit ba During June-July 1943 there occurred some notable victories. by 85 Squadron crews. On 13/14 June WIC John Cunning: ham pso* prc, the squadron CO (who hhad shot down sixteen enemy aircraft fly ing Beaufighters), and F/L CE Rawnsley DRC DeM*, shot down Fw 190-5 CO+LT. of 3)SKG 10 over West Malling. Ie was Cunningham's seventeenth victory and his 43 first on the Mosquito. A month later, on 13/14 July FL Ealward Nigel Bunting and Freddie French in an 85 Squadron NEXIL dlowned the frst Me 410 “Hornisse’ (Hor net) to be shot down over Britain when they destroyed US+KG crewed by Fw Franz Zwissler and Ofw Leo Raida of 16KG2 The Me 410 burst into flames and f the sea off Felixstowe. One ofthe worst dis, asters o befall the Luftwaffe raiders of KG2 in 1948 occurred on the night of 15/16 August, when it lost ten aireraft; six of them to Mosquitoes of 256 and 410 Squadrons na raid on Portsmouth, Meanwhile, in July 1943, 456 and 605 Squadrons had re-equippesl with the FBVI for intruding while 418 Squadron gave up its Bostons to fly Flower operations using the Mk VI By September 605 were flyin intruder sorties over Denmark and Ger many. That same month WC: Sammy Hoare 080 DF assumed command of 605 Squadron, having lft 23 Squadeon peo its departure oversea, to set up a special ized Intruder training ‘school at No. 51 OTU at Cranfield, Bedfordshire, Sammy Hoare returned to combat operations on 8 September and with W/O JE Porter hus radar navigator, promply dispatched 1 Do 217 at Dedelsdor his seventh com firmed aitSammy Hoare was to write later intruder pilots: [boul lke ol youn he vale he fighter work over Geran a mired. This i considerable, but our mere presence over the enemy's buses his cneted the less of German bombers without shot bei fired at them. Night-ighter plots chosen. fr this work ate generally of diferent rype othe cinay fig They must lke nigh fihring wo ain wit, which snot evry reat. They mat alo have the technique for wk for ene fecling 2659/6, a modified NF, ofthe world, And when the s Fighter ing quite the same, Oneshort hurt rom Mahmoud was the code-name for a special rss usulysullicent. The hombersglide kind of operation which was devised after elas the Hun orm nl hough aks J thatthe Luftwaffe were oper ight-fighters against of Bomber Command. In him he fe- ating radar equipped quently ples up onthe gn the ‘heavies ts Ladin August 1943, this had led to a decision to release some Beaufighters with Al Mk IV Included in the non-radar Flower force for radar over enemy territory as bait for a short time during August-September enemy nightfighters in their known 943 were 264 Squadron, which had taken assembly The British fighters flew delivery of FB.VIsin August, 410 CAFat _ individually over the continent to try and Coleby Grange, and 25 ‘Squadron ac induce German night fighters o intercept Church Fenton, which was equipped with them. (Mosquito night fighters also flew NElls (although °C” Flight had FB.VIs) ‘On 20 October, 410 Squadron moved to West Malling 10 fly fighter patrols in 11 Group, destroying a BF 110 on 5 Novem: ber. In Seprember-October also, the Mos: jitoes fitted with AI Mk LV, and Monica Mahmoud operations, but were less success ful at pretending to be bombers, as the Ger mans. soon recognized AL Mk IV had an all round scan, he speed differ: observer to Tube) an detect on his CRT (Cathode Ra snemy night-fighter trying. te switched to Mahmoud sorties ted with two Merin 215 and AL Mk X (US SCR720729Elesora radar inthethem from astern. The British pilot would fill then carry out a 360 degree turn to try and geton the tal of the enemy and shoot him down. With the more powerful centimetric Al being used in Mosquitoes it was neces sary to ak! Monica tail warning devices, 2s these later Mks of Al did not scan to the reat (Later in the war when the RAF received details of the Luftwaffe night- fighter asembly point beacons from the Resistance, Mahmoud sorties by single ar craft were also made against them.) ‘On 15 October 1943 WICCM. Wight Boycott 10 replaced WiC SIN.L. Maude 1a CO of 25 Squadron at Church Fen ton, (Wight-Boycott had shot down an He UIT on 20/21 September 1941 in 219 Squadron flying Beaufighter If- Then, ested 0.29 Squadron, on one remarkable night, 17/18 January 1943, he had destroyed two Do 217s and a Ju 88 and thmaged three other Dornier, The fol lowing night the WIC shot down «wo more Domier 217s, and a Ju 88.) Wight Boycott recalls 28 Squaom had heen given the role of Intra eroperatonsver Western Bure wing bomb or hich cows tuned focnight defenceofthe Uk sing AE MLN ha prev eperence, Morte was noth fmm of cuales ‘AF SILBrind RNZAF had ben intercepted return ing fo ow level oti and ditched. He aad token psonss, Js: bine | Wlfo, Below the cockpit it small run bt commander and hs ct te come. Dah ln leno eter had been killed, A few dys ater ether fight commander, Sf Matthews and (Comes aul aor Later, the mnt expen ad to take some pretty drastic evasion tts ember steam and were lucky not 10 be shot ‘ced suo pl FL Bailie and FOSinp to avoid being shot dwn myself Our intel down by unfiey “nly ear gunner soon ther sth fre go fence were quite unawate of the very ficknt si effort avoid the trea, we became ae fad to rear fom a nightie. Ie wean sot Gan rind contol inthe Lone Cauti snd more st an could never have ge close suprising thar nore among alttew is et My next sortie was fy pinpoint near ou target shan 50 miles [BOkm, We decided ich, especialy as ineligence could noe give Banh at 20,004 (6,100) where 1 was whl 1 srimisially to asume we were rssh foto tonble whic dene sould be Gran nih fi tele recogni’ that we The Mah wirol al eachedthe North Se foes month fore 25 Squad moved to Ack ito a hey bomber steam, Nok explain ost We seemed ty or haus lngton to reveguip with NEXVIs which were Iowa defensive niht-fiphtr ctew cn os couldatunderstand why we direc the fredwith MX A. During that ine Mew My find the vertical beam raving by es there was 2 90m [45kp head Be ia, Chath ftw reckoning, no means of checking wind speed wind. We eventually had to break RUT silence efoto fy ver the Lowe Countries an wait aa dct, aa sal get ater from Caltishall which showed be Geman nightighter to gt on our tail, Morea the crew hal only exp that we were w fr south we were fying west and then turn 360 degrees to get cuselves in thang by ground comtl ~ the navigator wes poston to get Bohn the Geman night fhe NNavigitor Rada on bo ust to work a ralar——— tostartatran-Atlant Ahough [i hace tines nal, the Ger the briefing on cur own berber routes and fn nghtfihter remained on my tail and eights and weasnved inthe mkt ufcurown tions Behind 45Fighter Command Mosquito Squadron Movements Wa EE 2 a 100 Group 54 a Fight Cd 1985 B 2 “148 Wing, 85 (80 Group, 28 TE, 1.5.4; 10147 Wing, 6.4; 0 ADS manus cy ® To 10 Group, 15.4; 10 ght Cn 1985, % 10 Mediteranaan 15 ta To 100Group, 11.48 181 167 To 100Group, 1.544 169 To100Group, 7.1243 219 T0147 Wing. 5 (Bose Grup, 27AF, maAdt-7545 229 1000p. Deconter 1949, m5 ay 58 Meditaranaan 24 To 141 Wing, 5 Base) Group 2nd TA, 191248 Administered as such rom 1044; to 148 Wing 26.84; 0 UK on res, 894; 148 Wir, 8145-7545. 0 08 409 To 148 Wing, 65 (ase io, 2 TH; sna 810141 Wing. 65 Group, 2nd TA 125.4; 147 Wing, 85 Group, Beat-7545 81810136 Wing. 2n TA, 21.11.44-75.45 496 10Grup/t1 Grup 438 To 147 Wing, 85 (ase) Group, 2 TA, 125.4; disband, 25.445 518 To 100Grop. 15.1208, tay S04 To 141 Wing Zn TA, 25444-2544 0 147 Wing, 8 (Basel Grou, 2nd TA nt 2344; to UK forrest 0148 Wing, 8 Gu, 31.1248 ran operationa rom 15445, (clsbaned 18.445) 605 To 196 Wing, and TAF 21144-7545, In November 1943, a 307 Squadron detachment at Sumburgh, Scotland, car- ried out Rhubasbs over Norway, destroying, two He 177s and a Ju 88. When they retumed south they continued intruding, and also flew Bomber Support operations until March 1945. On 19 December 1943 264 Squadron joined 141 Wing, 85 (Base) Group 2nd TAR November-December 1943 in fact brought many more changes for the Mosquito fighter squadrons. Bs lating bomber losses over Germany had made it necessary for. a command to be formed to integrate all forms of counter measures operations and offensive night: fighter operations with those of the Bomber force. 100 Group (Special Duties, later Bomber Support) was therefore formed in Bomber Command on 23 November 1943, under Air Commodore (later AVM) EB. Addison. Addison's Mosquito squadrons were to be used on loose escort duties for the Main Force as well as on night intruder operations, while his heavy bomber squadrons were to be used on radio countermeasures (RCM) and ‘spoofing’ Bomber Command ighters ‘The first NEIL squadron to join 100 Group, on 4 December, was 141 Squadron. In June they had been the first in Fighter Command to use Beaufighter Vis fitted with the Serrate airborne homer. In the hands of a good operator, Sermate could track enemy night-fighter Lichtenstein (FuG202/212) Al radar emissions. Serate had an effective range of up to 50 miles (8Okm), or 10 miles (16km) when the enemy tadar was facing away from the receiver, It could not give range or alt tude, merely direction, so it was only used until final closure, when Al Mk IV radar took over. (AT Mk IV was also needed to obtain contacts on enemy night-fighters that were not using their radar). In Sep- ember Serrate was installed in 14L Squadron’ first Mosquito NElls and early in December, 39 and 169 Squadrons were similarly equipped. Meanwhile, 192 Squadron, which was equipped with Mos quito IV, Halifax and Wellington X air was destined for an ELINT (Elec tronic Intelligence) role, monitoring German rao and radar frequencies and jamming enemy VHF transmissions, Crews selected for Masquito operations in 100 Group were all volunteers from Jhe-fighter squadrons with at least one our of operations plus experience of inteud- ing into enemy territory on Ranger sorties. ‘The frst 100 Group operation was lown on, 16/17 December 1945 when two Beaufight- ers and two NFlls of 141 Squadron sup- ported the Main Force raiding Berlin. The 46 first vietories occurred on the night of 28/29 January. FO Harry White bk and FIO Mike Allen D& of 141 Squadron shor down 4 BY 109 and F/O N. Munro and FiO AR. Hurley of 239 Squadron destroyed a B10. (On the night ofthe 30/31st, S/L Joe Coop: er and F/L Ralph Connolly scored 169 Squadron's first’ Mosquito vietory_ when they shot down a BF 110. In February 1944, three more enemy night-fghters were shot down by 141, 169, and 239 Squadrons Most of the Mk Ils supplied 10.100 Group were war-weary, whose wellused Merlin 21 engines often proved unreliable, while maintenance and. radar problems were all 100 frequent. The FB.VI would have been an ideal solution but not enough were available until late in 1944, and 141, 239 and 169 Squadrons would have to retain their NFIls until then! Beginning on 29 February 1944, 515 Squadron's Beaufighters and. Blenheims were replaced by NElls for training on the type, but the squadron’s role was intruding, and when they began operations in March, it was equipped with FB.VIs. At fist, 515 Squadron's Mosquitoes operated on detachment with 605 Squadron's Mosqui toes at Bradwell Bay. An He 177 was destroyed by a 515 Squadron NBII flown by the CO, W/C Freddie Lambert with F/L EE. Morgan, in the fist squadeon sortie, on 5 March, 1943 had ended with the Luftwaffe des perately trying to wage war over the British mainland. With RAF fighter pilos and radar-navigators determined ase stop them, the technological war literally reached new heights in 1944, In April the Special Duty Radar Development Unit was formed in. 100 Group for trials and development work on radar and other equipment carried by the group's aircraft ‘On I May it became the Bomber Support Development Unit (BSDU). Apart fom the B1V and B.XVI, the BSDU operated imix of aircraft, mcluding the Beaufighter, Stirling, and Halifax. Following the diss trous raid on Nimberg on 30/31 March 1944, when Bomber Command lost nine- tyes aircraf, it was decided to release the latest AL Mk X centimetrie radar over Germany. In April-May, 85 and. 157 night-fighter squadrons, equipped. with and XIX, respectively were transferred from Fighter Command to 100 Group. AI Mk X, unlike Mk IV, save no backward coverage, so Monica IE tail warning equipment had to be fitted before operations could commence.100 Group Mosquito Unis HO 8yaugh Hall Noro NOK a7. 1243, ms on 2ovena 515 wt aaa @ Nowe 123 8 wax e114 9 KA 5B xu weoat 2 h 7.44 West Rayon Lite noi Swanringon Li ts rat equipped 157 Squadron on 13 December 134. DOD, which served with 157, 25,29 nd 264 Squadrons is fitod with AL Ml.V ‘arrowhead, and wing mounted azimuth aerials. The matt all-black Schume could sow the aircraft by up to mph [ipl When NEls began equipping 100 Group in Dacenber 19, the extended operational service adbeguntotel andthe Merlin 2s were well tse, All four machine guns were deleted to make room or Serte apparatus. vis Pig Se (gh NEi!0Z716UP-Lof 60s Squadron ready fora tsk sontie at Castle Camps, May 1942 This acral ld and crashed at Castle Camps, 7 July 1983,In June 1944 the FB.VI intruder Squadron joined 100 Gro £23 p following a stint in the Mediterranean, ‘operations in July. Meanwhile, on the eve of D-Day, 5/6 June, 8: lew their first 100 G Squadron dispatched twelve aircraft over the Normandy. invasion beaches. NEXIXs of 157 (and ten. from Squadron) made intruder raids on ene airfields while twenty-one Semrate Mos toes were dispatched to northern France During July, 85 and 157 squadrons trans. ferred to West Malling fora month of ant Diver operations against V-1 flying bombs 41157 Squadrons over southern England, Serate's effectiveness had been rendered almost useless from May 1944 onwards by the German introduction of SN-2 radar, because the homer was still calibrated the frequencies of the old Lichtenstein Al sets. Eventually, the Servate squadrons began to receive Al Mk X equipped Mos- quitoes but these too were of doubtful vin tage, as John Beeching explains: Mosquit night ight Europe. ReharsDseran at sunset aviting the start ofan operation over aceupiod D1 January 1945 myself and my navigator Se Fred Heber, lew over to Swann to ick up the fist of the Mlk XIX ay 85 (Other squadrons in 100 Group had to sol dice on with old equipment. Pilot, F John B, Beeching RNZAR of 169 Squad which in June moved to Great Massingham, with Mk Vis, recounts: dons) he ground. They we to unstick ph By now nigh fihner Mosguiraes hal reached the stage of dkvelopment where they were like racehorses filled wih ead le panier has a, lus Senate equipment, G By ns [5,255 leo fuel (100 gallon/45 ie op tak). There was space fo the ne anything, inching the chest eype para chute Tice, Fred Herbert sy navigator man sft get his heel hooked up inthe Dn Nis and XI of 157 Squadron at Swannington, Norfolk. Fr lft is NFI HIST, hich /L G.I. Rice and F706. Rogerson of 161 Squadron used to destroy au 88 At Cambrai on the night of 2728 June 1988 and a BI 1106-4 which ex Chievres, Belgium, thought tobe Wek Mr 70006 D5e of2/NIG3, The pl his hsm ike bringing in she wishin in ® lear Ril who was wounded, bath baled out safely but Ogetr Edmund Hojduck yon a wet day, [sup was killed. She 48‘Sualron had js stared to eeeive Mk. XXX Bath ofthese marks were cpp with Mk. rade, hased in a nowe these of W.C. Fields which made taking offal tiring, copilot right, something of an adventure unl one gor toed tothe arangement. One ofthese which | flew had about five V-ls painted om the nox an est have spt hal es working ie wth the throes th Te had shou as oh ages were not confined to 100 Group. me fifty NEXIIls in Fighter Command had earlier had their Merlins modified to use nitrous oxide (hetter known as laugh ing gas’), injection with pertol for added performance at altitude. W/C John Cun ringham, CO, 85 Squadron, for instance, had used Mk XII HK374 on 2/3 January toshoor down an Me 410 off Le Touquet. Over Britain RAF night-fighters were by ‘now encountering all manner of enemy types, even the occasional Fw 190 and He 171A-3 Greif. These, and Do 217s and Me 410s, were used in a series of revenge raids on British cities, code-named, Operation Steinbock. The Baby Blitz, as Britons calles it, bad begun on 21/22 January against London when nine aircraft, including the fire He 177 to be destroyed over the British Isles (by a NEXIL flown by W/O. HK. Kemp and F/Sge J.R. Maidment of 151 Squadron) were shot down by Mos. quitoes, Future raids were to prove equally costly. During 20-30 April alone, Mosq toes claimed 16 raiders during attacks on Hull, Bristol, Portsmouth and Plymouth, In February 125 Squadron had begun replacing its Beaufighters with NEXVIIs and in June they began flying patrols over 49 [NEXXX NTSES of 157 Squadron rom Swannington, [NFXIEs Bogan to equip 157 in February 985, (Lom P2315, 23 Squadron FBI at Ltle Snoring, Uwhich was own by Kit Cotter arm on eselage), Tom Cushing the French invasion coast. Other Mosgut to squadrons kept up the pressure on Ger man shipping and aircraft targets over France and the Western Approaches. One of the Mosquito fighter squadrons in rhved ‘on Rangers and Instep sweeps, in Februar1944, was 157 Squadron, at Predannack. An example of this type of operation took place on §)9 February 1944, when two NElls flew a Night Ranger to Lake Bis carosse in a search for Blohm und Voss By Wiking’ (‘Viking’) six-engined flying boats of 1.(FY129. (On 21/22 June 1943 a By 3 and Bv 3 had been strafed their moorings by four of 264 Squadron's marauding Mosquitoes). S/L Herbert Tap. pin bic and F/O LH, Thomas were accom: panied by F/L RJ. Smyth and F/L J. MeAL lister but the latter w snd sunk at forced to return almost immediately after take off because of B/ set. At 2116 hours the fighter “flicked over' by four searchlights from the NNW comer of the lake, Two minutes later, navigation lights were seen for a few seconds at 1,000F¢ (305m), and at 1,000yd (910!) distant, flys tion. Before the navigation lights were They closed in.on the aircraft, which was now fh south. At 500yd (450m) it was identi fied as a By doused the crew obeained a visual The Mosquito was then illuminated by searchlights. Undaunted, Tappin gave a shore butst from aster, but no strikes were seen, and another two shoet 300yd (275m) bursts were given closing to [PISO a Mk VI operated on Ranger sorties by 157 Squadron, 194-48, vis Pil Bes appin and Thomas set course at ‘zero for Biscarosse at 1905 hours and they soon crossed the French coast. They se at 2108 hours and start reached Biseat ced to patrol north and south on the west side of the lake. No activity was seen except for two motor launches, although. bars of lights were burning. north-south of the western shore of the lake and on the lake inset. There were also numbers of red lights around the northern part of the lake. The Mosquito did not go unnoticed for much range from dead astern. The centre section of the huge flying and the inboard engines caught fire. Grad: ually losing height, the By 222 chen went into a diving turn to starboard and crashed (off the SW point ofthe lake before blow up. Thomas set course for Predannack at 2122 and they landed there at 2345 hours. During March, 409 Squadeon began replacing its Beaufighters with NEXIL fon the 30th it transferred to 2nd TAR ADGB (Air Defence of Great Britain) lost boat burst into flames four more Mosquito night-ighter squadrons to 2nd TAF that spring; 604 Squadron join ing on 26 April, 29 Squadron transferring fon 1 May 1944, and 410 and 488 Squadeon joining on the 12th. In April 406 ‘Lyna’ Squadron RCA, which had been formed fon 10 May 1941 asthe first Canadian fighter squadron, and which had begun night intruding over France with Beaufighe cer Vis, began re-equipping with the NEXIIL Based ar Winkleigh, Devon, from April 1944, the squadron helped provide fighter defence for the build up of invasi along the south coast Its fist Mosuito vie tory occurred on the night of 29/30 April (0 89 February 194, an NI o 157 Squadron ‘rowed by S/ Herbert Tappin or and /0 18, ‘Thomas lew a Night Ranger rom Predannackto Lake Biscerosse and shot doen a Blohm und Voss {By 222 Viking sit-engined tying-boa of 14/129. when WIC D]. Williams prc:and F/O Kirk patrick shot down two Do 217s off Ply ‘mouth. On 14/15 May, 406 Squadron shot down one enemy aircraft while claiming three probables and one damaged. After a quiet lll, in August, 406 Squadron retured to the offensive equipped with the NEXXX before training for intruder operations again in September. The first intruder victory cccurred on 24 December 1944 when WIC Russ Bannock, the CO, shot down a German aircraftWIC MLN. Constable-Maxwell os or. se with his navigator, FL John Ouiton Commanded 94 Squadron at Souraba 1386, gained his est jn May-June 194, shooting down a Ju 188 on 15/6 May, Ju88 on July, and anothor Ju 8 on 22 ly. Ron Mackay (Roc) Me 6108-1 SKsKH of 1.XGS1 which was shot down by WIC .D. Crew ofc" and W/O WR Coysll, ina 96 Squadron Mosquito on 1/18 April 194. crashed at St Nicholas churchyard, Brighton Hp Pahl was killed and the body this radar aperator, Fw W. Schuberth, wes washed up at Fiston next day. (Geow/ On 13/4 Api 194, FL KD. Vaughan and FSqURD. MacKinnon of 85 Squdeon, in HEX NIEHS, destroyed an He 219 near Kil,Chasing the Doodlebug The enemy had intended to lunch V-Is, against Britain as part of the Steinbock offensive, but problems delayed the antici pated ‘rocket blitz’ until 13 June 1944, when ten V-ls were catapult launched at the capital from sites in north-eastern France. The Vergelamgswaffe 1 (Revenge ‘Weapon No. 1), or Fieseler 103 Kinschkern (Cherry Stone), was a small pilotless air craft with a 1,870Ib (850kg) high explosive which detonated on impact short Iy after the pulse-jet, as i was designed to do, had eut out over England. The first V- 1 destroyed by Mosquito was on 14/ June by F/O Rayne Dennis Schultz, ex of 410 Squadron and at the time an instructor with No 54 OTU, during a freelance sortie from Manston. Schult flew straight into the debris of the exploding flying-bomb, returning to Manston with little skin left con his aieraft From June-September Tempests, Mus: tangs, Spitfires and Mosquitoes chased the 300-420mph (480-675kph) pilotles bombs, or Doodlebugs, as they became to be known, NEXIIL crews in. 96 Squadron at Ford were particularly successful on anti- Diver patrols, as the V-1 patrols were code 157 Squadron night fighter Mosquitoes at dispersal 1945, at Swannington, Norfolk ath (Below) [NFXIX MVS29 bing pre itsaw service with 25 Squadron at Castle Car (On 2324 January 194, ered by SIL J. Arsly > ‘and F/L DM Red 0, MVS29 was destroyed in 3 wth MTAS4, low by FIL .L Ward FLED. Eyes, over Camps Hall, Cam- bwidgeshire daring an Al practice interception. {Be va Pip Bie.named. Their top scorer was S/L RN Chudleigh, who destroyed 152. V-Is, uling six in one night. Mosquito crews in 264, 456, 219, 605 and 418 Squadrons, destroyed hundreds more at night. (418 Squadron was transferred to 2nd TAF on 21 November 1944). By the end of June 1944, 05 Squadron had shot down thirty six Doodlebues, and in July, twenty-nine Vis were destroyed by the Squadron. (605 Squadron was also transferred to 2nd TAR, on 21 November 1944), On 25 June 1944, 85 and 157 Squadrons arrived ar West Malling from 100 Group in. Norfolk for anti-Diver patrols. More Mosquitoes were ‘maximized for anti-Diver operations with the injection of nitrous oxide with peteol to give the added power needed to catch the V-l. 85 and 157 Squadrons continued flying anti-Diver patrols until 20 August when they returned to Norfolk e approximately 50 miles (SOkm) off shore Only Al Mk X equipped Mosquitoes, and Tempest Vs, could intercept ther. The first Heinkel He 111-22 shot down by Mosquitoes was shared between a 409 ‘Squadron and a 25 Squadkon aircraft over the North Sea on 25 Sepeember. Two more were destroyed that month and in October three more fell to 25 and 123 Squadron, In November another four He L11H-22s were shot down, plus one ‘probable’, In Decem ber 125 Squadron at Coltishall damaged an He H11H-22 and shot down another, while 268 Squadron NEXVIL, destroyed a second cover the sea. On the night of 6 January 1945, a NEXVIL of 68 Squadron crewed by W/O. ‘A. Brooking and P/O Finn, who failed to retum, carried out the last shooting down of an He 111H-22. During the remaining months of the (68, 96, 125, 151, 307,406 and 456 ‘NeXX of 238 Squadron flown by W/O Graham ‘Chalky’ White over Hamburg a the end of the war ust after hostilities had ended. Gram Ynte 68 Squadron’ fist NEXVIL sortie took place on 9 July 1944 and the first XIX sor tie on 26 July. At the end of August, 219 Squadron transferred to 85 (Base) Group, Ind TAB By September the Allied advance had overrun launching sites in the Pas de Calais but the enemy mounted Anew terror blitz by air-launching Doodle bugs frors aircraft over the North Sea. By August 410 V-ls had heen air-launched against London, Southampton and Gloucester, and all of them were fired from modified Heinkel 111H-225 of IINKG3 tased in Holland, and kaer Germany, exch capable of carrying a single Fieseler Fi 103. Normally, the Heinkels took off ar North Sea to night, flew low over the evade radar and climbed to about {475% (450m) before firing their missiles from Squadrons, Fighter Command, and 141, 239, 515, 169, 157, 85 and 23 Squadrons in 100 Group, flew Bomber Support, ‘le’ and intruder openitions to pre-selected airfields on the other side of the ‘bomb line’. F/O Basil McRae, a 25 Squadron Mk XXX pilot, explains: eas to protect our Bombers from attack by ret ght Fn ick mljcent othe st area, By timing our arrival some 1 mits rive to the coloued Ths (Tungsten ers and the sh would obit allocate sifekh. Daring the ombing we woul continue to oi the des 1 HO Frank Sweet the AU Mk X rad rated fick mpm becpng watcl eye the for any activity from below. The time spent over the tage are, offen witht incident, could become rather tedious an I would bok tages of opportunity on the way home Roads anda fabs showed up well in onc light and vehicles cou from 5004 [150 nenny fighters should they be esgned to intercept throttling hack and lowering few degrees fap, we could simulate the bomber’ speed Equipped with rear fein Monica, it was my o watch for any ude yen drole, ase Maps, smart 180 desree turn, ake contact with our Mk X radar and teeerept, or perhaps [should ay, “investigate Somecines, they tuned ut 0 be a crippled Lane ora Hal stafe peelected aiicks. ance of the Allied aemic Sls for actack had (On 22 Apel 1945 Frank Sweet an 1 wo the pal weredisppointed to lear thatthe ail cated had not been ‘lean. The arith had were being visited at houty intervals 1 ont atack Neuer ssl half an our ate, when, hopefly the We lost Gee enroute to the target ana a 1,500 60m. We located what appeared to he 1 manhaling yard with many shite wap Tearing the ral ena. It was rumoured that having ctl the asa couple of times Ua tempted to have ag! Frank et nae ment, syingthat they mayhave ben legit At ure bye inthe cloulallowed Fright which we bad heen overlying whist ici Many puke sitet were plainly vse. The instant 1 pss the fing hut, intense ir tobe everywhere. I managed tsilence ne sition, he not befor ing hit, which wher, fortunately, che damage othe Mas having taken most ofthe mpc. Thisprove heCHAPTER FIVE, Find, Mark and Strike 8 Group PFF Operations When in June 1943, 105 and_ 159 Squadrons were transferred to 8 Group (PFF) they were joining a force unique in Bomber Command. Donald C.T. Bennett, the C-in-C, an Australian ex-Imperial Airways and Adantic Ferry pilot, was determined to get more Mosquitoes for pathfinding and tanget-marking duties. Formed originally from 3 Group, using wol- Uunteer crews, his organization had started as a specialist Pathfinder Force on 15 August 1942, until on 13 January 1943 ic became 8 Group (PFF). Don Bennett was promoted Air Commodore (later AVM) to command it. PFF task, simply, was 0 ‘find’ the target (using Gee, Obve, and later H2S), then ‘illuminate’ and ‘mark’ with coloured Tls (Target Indicators) for the Main Force Oboe was the code-name for a high- level blind bombing aid, which took its name from. a radartype pulse which sounded rather like the musical instru ment. (All non-Oboe equipped squadrons in 8 Group were termed ‘non-musical!) Mainly because of this device, Bennett's force was able to conduct eine Kline nacht rik almost every night over Germany, Pulses were transmitted by two Type 9000 ground stations, at Walmer, Kent, (cat), and Trimingham near Cromer, Norfolk (‘mouse’). They could be received by a high-flying Oboe-equipped aircraft up 10 280 miles (450km) distant. The ‘cat’ sta tion sent the pilot and navigator a steady sequence of signals describing an are pass- ing through the target, with dots to port and dashes to starboard. If inside the cor rect line, dots were heard; if outside the line, dashes. A steady note indicated that the aireraft was on track. The ‘mouse’ sta tion indicated distance from target, and vas monitored by the navigator only. Flying the beam made considerable demands on the Obve pilot, who for 15- sminutes had to maintain constan alritude and rate of change of h speed, wing. The navigator monitored the aireraft’s position along the are, and only he received the release signal, from che ‘mouse’ station, when the aircraft reached the computed homb-release point. Ten minutes away he received in Morse, four ‘As; four ‘B's at 8 minutes; four ‘Cs at 6 minutes, and four ‘D's at approximately 4 minutes. The bomb doors were then opened. Next as heard the release signal, which co of five dots and a 2/-second dash, tend of which the navigator released the amarkets or bombs. The jettison bars were ‘operated and the bomb doors closed. As the pilor could not hear the ‘mouse’ sig- nals, the navigator indicated to him the staye reached by tracing with his finger on the windscreen in front of him, the ‘A’, ‘BS and ‘Cs ete. When the release signal through, the navi in front of the pilor’s face, Permitted limits fete strict ~ up t0 200yd (183m) off aim ing point, and crews were expected to be adhe target within a 4-minute time span, from 2 minutes early to 2 minutes late Sixty seconds off time on release point were acceptable. Failure to meet these i and the crew were off che squadron! ‘Oboe was to become the most accurate form of blind bombing used in WWI and inpractice, an average error of only 30 see- conals was achieved. 105 became the second Oboe Mosquito squadron, after 109” Squadeon, which moved from Wyton to join 105 at Marham in July and Bennett used 139, which went in the opposite direction, wo Wyton, as a supporting squadron’ to go in with the smatkers, 109 Squadron had begun tvials using Wellington Vis in August 1942 but as the Mosquito BIV was able to reach 30,0004 (9,140m) or more, well above the altitude a ‘Wimpy’ could be expected Bennett knew that the Mosquito ‘would be ideal for marking duties. Oboe was first used on 20/21 December 1942 when six BAVs of 109 Squadron were dis 55 patched to bomb a power station at Lu terade in Holland, The first Obve-aimed bombs were dropped by the CO, S/L ELE. “Hal Bufton, and his navigator, F/L. EL Ifould, and ewo other crews, but the equip men in the three remaining aireraft mal- functioned and they dropped their bombs ‘on targets of opportunity (On 31 December 1942/1 January 1945, ‘on a raid on Dusseldorf, sky-marking using ‘Obve was tried for the first time. Sky mark cers’ were parachute flares to mark a spor in the sky ifte was too cloudy to see the target. “Tivo Mosquitoes of 109 Squadron provided the sky-markers for eight Lancasters of the Path Finder Force acting as bombers but a sale had blown down the mastat one of the ‘Oboe stations, and only one Mosquito was able to bomb. Later that night, two of the three Oboe Mosquitoes dispatched to the night-fighter control room at Florennes airfield, Belgium, dropped their HE canoes from 28,000ft (8,530m) through cloud Results were unobserved. All Mosquitoes returned safely Marking Techniques Three types of marking, using names selected by Bennett from the home towns of three of his staff, were ater employed Parramatia in New Zealand gave its name to the blind ground marking technique, which used only H25 in bad visibility o broken cloud. Newhaven was ground mark ing by visual methods when crews simply aimed at the Ts on the ground, and Wan- amu it Australia let its name to pure"sky marking’. The Tls themselves were made in various plain colours and used vivid stare bursts of the same or a different colour to J the enemy from copying them at majorities. 109 Squaalon joined 8 Group at Wyton 6on [June 1943. The only other operational Mosquito unit in 8 Group a that ime was1409 Met Flight, which was established at Wellingtons. While on ‘rest'at IS TU intr was guikly made clear wall the 1 Oakington on I April using Mk Is and 1942 he took part in the first thousand ar 1655 MTU that they wete not 1 crews from 521 Squadron, Coastal Com- bomber raids, flying training Wellingtons hempelves in what 105 al 109 mand at Bircham Newton. Theit Met to Cologne and Essen. By mid-1943 those rons were doing. A wal of secre (meteorological reconnaissance) flights in OTUs who had completed toursearlyin rund chee highevel prion mike were known as Pampas and usually they the war were due to return tosquadronsfor yun So secret at pn one wa were made in daylight to determine the a second tour. Most veteran aircrew lefefor allowed even to mention the eae in the Of type of weather likely to affect thar nights the heavy bomber squadrons, with a very Mess 39 at Wyton, which supported th bombing raid. They also helped determine small number of pilots and navigators Oh syns wis about we upped whether sky or ground Tls should be car- going to Mosquito squadrons, as ‘Benny’ hombing id called GA? aa later, th the ried by the marking pathfinders. In July Goodman recalls: Jor navigational kd, H28. When the Mi 43 109 Squadron provided five B.IX force in 8 Group ws expe in 1944, 13 (modified Mk IVs with Oboe) and crewsfor Two of my chet fend at 15 OTU hal Siuahon ed upto 150 ofthese supesaive i 105 to speed its conversion for Obe duties pad tothe Hashes of the 8 Gro caf in nightly attacks on Berlin This eas th 105 Squaadeon flew its first Ofve operation Bay Snatcher’ ~ as that pled character due Night String Force” of Borer 12 13 July when two B.IVs attempted to GIC Hamish Mahadlhe was known, He wat Command mark Cologne. In September 1943 the 1 touring around Boer Com Moxguitobombers ofthe PFFGroup hoy squadron began precision bombing of pin mand.attractng the ride type of are me navigational aid ~ Gee. This emp ‘int targets in western Germany int the Pathfinder Fre. Uw till ro the widelypaced ground ralartnsnte (O .R. ‘Benny’ Goodman arrived at satingomthe esses when at abrupt signal hich ated ru transmitted pu 1655 MTU Marham in mid-September arived at 15 OTU pest No 1655.5, conde. A receiver in the aircraft enabled th 1943, with 1,300 hours as pilot, having my mina was made wp forme [was to eam the difeence in time completed a tour of thirty-seven sorties on her ofthat elite force whether Fike tv he various pls FILAJLL ‘Bill Hickox oc later Captain, oFc*) and F/LIR. Bonny Goodman Squadron at Oakington, December 14, in ont of B1V DZ4B4 A2-G. They ew this i time there, late November 1943-June 184, ater which Goodman lew G-George’ back to 1655 MTU tw become a hing instructor. 02484 was honourably rated to an MU alter the war before being broken up GICAR. Gondnan G)C oe aca of 27 for most ol theirFIND, MARK AND STRIKE - ¥ GROUP PFF OPERATIONS by refering these 19 a special Goe map of Europe, covered with latice ines, the posto ofthe aicraf could be determi with eons ‘rable aceursey. Unfortunately, Ge cul ea- fy be jammed and the Germans di this wit sreat justo. This roel the effective rang af the tad t0 an are running along the Dac, ‘cunt, which meant that savigatos hal to work ‘veryquickly ocalculate an accurate wind speed an dieeion before heading into Geran On Feng trips, to Berlin andl Munich fr example, wwe sometimes hal the bons of ote marker ut dor for us a pot may tthe target anu posily another cloner o the eget. Such makers wote lid either by PFF Lancaster or 159 Squaron Mosquitoes equipped with the 12S airgun ada aid The only other alin A Mosguito at that time was VHF rcs set supetb piece of equipment. Many were the sxeasions on which [tha the Lond forthe sound of the gue, ficient voice ofthe WAAF rad operator giving m seach home. Boker Command Mosquitoes Jaa no defensive armament, they slid entie= non sped to get sem cat rue ‘My firs htm dal Mosquito tok place on 23 September; IO. Herbert being the testretor Foran hour we dl lal amiiaica tion, single engine yng and cnc and an ings Hews a flight U shall never forget. The Menquito ws sll, ower incrkby fast and instantly responsive tothe slightest move ‘mentofthecoatrols.Fyngthe Wellgo had een apush nd pull aa by conte the Me quo had eo he tickled. As the lish Com Imander so: Treat er like your best i end early My fie solo tip list $0 minutes anda shee oa 1,200 ees inthe Merlin ‘engine om each se neihing wth delight or ‘0 ie seemed to me. Could thete he snyehing more perfect tha this? All pilot posted to 8 Group on Mosiuites Jud to complete a lidlown syllabus of 30 ous dying at 1655 MTU = ten in the Daa Fgh and went inthe Bornher lights the ter complete with navigator. No pie was allowed to touch the contol of 8 Monga tui he had 1,000 hours as it pr de is belt and had een selected to fy Mentos. Having completed thei precio sme in the Dual Flight, the pilots of No [5 Course now smpoted tothe Bomber Flight and joined the vigor, Thess of crewing te wer all asembled in the Crew Roos and told to sot ourselves aut. This we di fly picky and Tsuna found nye talking to 0 tll eather quiet HO named John Hickox. He was known in the RAF aeBil! fcr Wald Bill Hickok of American West fame. He told me that he had done hie fist tour of ops on “Wimpy [Welingtons ad hate bad been shot down and walked ck thwgh the desert edd not rel the ids of { Mesuito and walking hack foes Geen xeshor down in ssared him that his thoughts accord cely With mine «0 we shook hands ard Became Mosguico ce ‘The nest thing weal ncrowsin the Bomber Flight was to gather round BAY for dell an shandoning icra The Chief Ground Inert, Sf Cais, explain th hi ae high Fevel we had about 45 seconds i which togetout. Wea to disconnect ar oxy seat felts, ste off engines if ne peste This seul sesghtorwand nd ined twas, hut hatch aa hale fettion the bor the Mesqutowas a very sal ier aa she pilot and navigator were meant to «limb in, Steap tm and tay pats When ill Hickow ana ‘wed to dit the fs time there was an unl rmicup and alter 45 seconds the “CU anewuneed,"You'e den The dicaly aboot geting onto s Mos wing parachutes wis thatthe navigator clip om his chest parachute and thes smanocuvte his way this the lor ofthe strat, This hatch was ace Iya Ifthe nagar go out safely the plo ws su sed follow hin wearing the plrtye ps enough tog theoagh without chute chute attached whiskacksde. Bilan [dec fol that we would say with the acral i humanly posible, rele mentally chat ial failed and we ha to get out in hurry woud vec uel Bll was learn thea goo theo the top hate (which was tan dil fr the pir seated in the ethan seat of cl M ‘quit, Fortunately, our aged plan ws never put to the rest ‘over Germany and di succes ether crews hal jap ut Flying the Mesut a plese, ha a zing twas empty erent Kee fish Most navigates a coe fom Wellingtons hut the Monit flew twice ftw the pce od ruvigatr a to work wry much mone quickly thanetore. However it seme coe ih in the era for everyone ad Tm se that hy the tie Bill Hickox an lat ssl the ls ime ou ado Monit he head becomealmost asl slo navigting to and from remote parts of the Thied and lst Rech No 15 Course ened during Octuber 1943, afterall the crews hal done fi con-cnties by ay and ro by night. We were then alloca txt squachons, stall number 105 and 109 Sauadeons andthe majority Won. Bil Hekos and H wore post 1 139 where the sguachon wy La 59 Suaon a sed the fights. We di not knw that we 57 the were 1 become putt of the expansion Mosquito Force i the Pathfinder Group fra thre aualns to eleven, My fre operational sete fm Woon tok pace on 3 November 1943, the tant being ‘Cologne Marking asthe et hy 105 ant 10) Suadons, wing Obe- Our bm a wis ur 500 [230k] HE Fes ante tack want be anal: Mosquito lle Our fi pera sffin DKS was only marginally loge than our ral take: take fs from Maha in Mops without hombs.Theecelertin was ipa next ro time we were atthe untick pdf ound 10k [155kph and climbinesmoothy way. We climbed rpidly 0280008 [5K lev elle ut and settle cuisine speed of around on 10 a econ 0 knows [63K (eruesipeod). Aswe neared Cologne the isto the Ofve-aimed tage ndcats begin to es cee down ahead of Bill ok his place at the tombing panel and began the time honoured veal drctioms ef ke..Steay.. an lt mately, Bobs pone! We then tan fr home, more aca and es and bed The pst ict Interrogation was much the same ason any ene avonal squat in Borner Cama wth the ‘importa exception that 139% ful ile was 139 (amie) ram om rtm rom every percha th the rum being provided by dhe goal poop of Jamaica, When Las on 139 we had with us a otf toe quan ad we wer Jamaican named Ubi Crs, ight leutenant to, hghly efficient and well ike. Liter Fhe became Lad Chie Jie of amin, The best Ofve crews could pce a fm Wide few yards of the aiming point 28,000k {8.530}. However, since they ha fy sraighean evel fr several nuts inthe final run to dhe tat they were vulnerable tv flak ana fighters. Monsover, they could apywoach given tags fom two dictions —in the ewe of Rue targets almost dve north or south ~ the Germans quickly realise this an st up serch ‘comes cver the aiming point whic they plastered with heavy lak, Anethet Irae rick wast potion Ju 88ereathe seach light cones, ata higher evel than the Menu toes. Thus, when coned, a Most mig fist be blasted wth heay ak and then the bara could suenly cease I the pilot wasnt in Psion to eat instantly, dhe next happening woul hea highly anplessant gut of cannon fire fom the night fighter The average tne or 2 tip to the Rohe was 2 hours while a ra 40 Berlin took abou 4% hours. Ti cary out such, sorties in a Wellington had taken something like 5% hours and 8 hours eesti Foe this reason alone, Mosguitoes wete reat to be ee fered to Wellingtons itis ete to be shot a fora short ie than fora longtime!Bennett wasable to carry out an expansion of his Mosquito force and in April 1943 it hogan ‘nuisance’ raiding. This does not adequately egin to describe these activi ies for the Mosquito could earry a 4,0001b (1,810kg) ‘Cookie’ or “Blockbuster Berlin; 5001b (230kg) more than the US four-engined Flying Fortress, (whose bomb bay was too small for a blockbuster, and which needed an eleven-man crew and a ‘much larger load of ammunition). By the become 0 summer ‘nuisance raiding’ by '81V 02379 of 105 Squadron at Marham.On 17 August 193 this arrat, now with 13 Square failed to return rom Berlin, the diversion fr the famous Peenominde rad. was shot down by American pilot, rom Wichita Falls, Texas, and his navigator, Sgt to crash at Berge, Germany, and F/O Cook DAM. Dixon, wor killed, RAF Manan effective tha ‘were now referred to as the Light Night Striking Force (« the Mosquitoes in 8 Group at Bennett's insistence the Fast Night Striking Force). One of their greatest achievements came during the nine days of Operation Gomarrah, the “Bartle of Hamburg’, 24/25 July-2 August 1943, when the PFF and LNSF flew 472 sorties, with the loss of just thirteen Mos quitoes. The first raid was led by H2S PFF aircraft and Mosquitoes using Parramatta which enabled 728 2,284 tons of HE and incendiaries in 50 minutes on the dockyards and city districts of Hamburg, creating afire-storm which rose toa height of 2s miles. RAF losses were light and this was mainly due to Window, which was being used for the first time. Window was the British code-name for strips of black ground marking bombers to rain dow paper with aluminium foil stuck to one side and cut co a length (12in/30em by $in/1.5em), equivalent to half the wave- length of the Wiirzburg ground, and Licht- enstein Al, radar. When dropped by air- craft in bundles of a thousand at a time at ‘one-minute intervals, Window reflected the radar waves and ‘snowed’ the tubes with thousands of spurious contacts, (On 18/19 November 1943 ‘spoof’ raid. ing was first tried by 139 Squadron and Window was one of the main ingredients used to give the impression of a lange homber force when in fact it was a mere handful of Mosquitoes. Meanwhile, the true raid by heavies was heading elsewhere 58 The bundles of Window proxtuced a‘clueter" ‘of blips on German radar sereens and Ger rman fighter controllers sent up theie night fighters so thar when the heavies dd arrive, the Nachtjagdgeschwaders were on the ground having to refuel. On 26 November three Mosquitoes of 139 Squadeon, flying ahead of the Main Force, scattered Window fon the approaches to Berlin and returned to drop bombs. They also made feint attacks on other targets to attract enemy night-fighters anything up 1050 miles (8Okm) away from the main stream during an attack, During the third week of November it announced in the 139 Squadron Crew Room at Wyton that a new Mosquito squadron, 627, was to be formed at Oakington, near Cambridge, and that ‘C’ Flight would become the rnucleus of the new squadron, (627 was was suddenly apparently needed for a secret operation, the details of which are secret until 2003, hut which never actually materialize). Bill’ Hickox and ‘Benny’ GoodmanFIND, MARK AND STRIKE ~ § GROUP PF OPERATIONS prepared to move to their new station on 24 November. ‘Weclinbed aboard BZ615 and ew her» Oak ington. le was aul in Bomber Command that every new un bs a: posible after ie wa formed, and when we avve, illand foun out tha we were on Bathe Onder or that night. The siden wjunlon a¢ Oakington was No 7a Lancaster squadron of the PEF tose the day of 627 ana he station was hive tedutry. A Bomber Command maximum eft was in preparation and Lancaster were being made realy for ops that night, To dhe Osking 627 Sa apparent from reports fiom the Station ee office thar operations that night bid become from dhe southwest mone quickly that had Fen cull now be ale six Menino oa. A the day wore omit became coable) x warm front was spewing In ‘expected Ata time the Lancanters merestood down, hut 627 remained om standby and alter tea we were brief for aval Mento attack or Belin i company with 139 Syuaron Ely thot evening Bilan I Kode DZ615 aa et off forthe Big Cty’ rp which turned cut be completely uneven excep that on returning to the aie we were flying in thick leu and pouring ain, We broke lua at 500 (050m), silin heey ain, and appached and lund very carefly On eparting o the Op tions Room fr deFieing, we were asin to be told that DZ615 hal been the only RAF ssertt over Germany chat night. Ops been canceled by Bosnker Command st very ate stage but ewo of ws were alreay athorne and wer lft to get on with # The ether plo had twable with is sitcaft and ure hack, whieh left me yon, “The winter of 1945-44 wn famous — or ink seus, depending on your point of view because tse the Boer Co spins Berlin. Our Cin-Csnid that if we eo bay waste the Bi City the C trough to their knees Sateen major attacks and ffersive rman wou be were mounted hut Belin was not destroyed ‘The truth thar the target wast vst andthe weather, which could fien he wore than ‘remy action, wo appalling Bll Hicks al took pur in seven of these ack gna he German capital an also based uselves with spoof raids aginst other tages, for example eland Leipig Welw only too well that we ere engaged ia hate of ation, wis the US Sth Air Force, and he outcome could be dkfeat othe bombers, Daringthe Bate of Brin west SIL ‘Dinsee Bal cur Flight Commander However, he an hi rvigaor managed thle xt and bee Pols. Arthistime, Bland I gan co won if the snd were ass running ct fr ws when. on ‘the way home fn the Bi City the ‘on the starboued engine ikke hea to dp and the oad coolant temperatures inten Eventually the rings rscl heit permite limits ana I htt Rack the engine nd ath cred the propeller. Now we mere inthe am with a vengeance, fr we fat oe height and were eventually fig along at height and sped that of cae eawy ber, but rsof feng ourselves fatacks compare with nom Moreover ste thecal generator onthe M thestawardengine wehad totum ‘or ieral lights, the Ge box ut VHF set So we dove on thio the darkness with ‘ur finges and tes lightly crn a feline very tense. Wout yn? Eventually oe ETA at the Dutch cous came and Bll switched on the Gee. We were in hick ‘worked, and Bil guickly ported a fix. Sif so gua. Next we ted he Ge how i ad the thickness A photographic stil taken from WIC Bob Iredale FB.UI, MMATZ 8-F during the precision atack on Amiens Prison, 18 February 194, one of he most famous operations a the war, when 12 FBVIs of {464 RAAF and 67 RNZAF breached the walls of the prison, which was holding 700 French prisoners. The aircraft following ie SB-A MMA flown by SL WRC Sugden and his navigatr, FO AM. Bridger. viJob Roarbing dropped tram east or north. Two pilots, P/O DR. Fowler of 487 Squadron RNZAF who lew EG-) HXS7, and Stan Meche, of 464 Squadron RAAF wo flew MMO4SB-T claim the same hole! SB-T was shot and the composition of the walls. Scien tists worked haed to deve 5005 (230g) be pa new type of nb, a mixture of incen: which was and high explosive designed to have the maximum effect on nd records In the early morning of 11 April WiC RN. Bateson pec led six FB.VIs from Lasham for Santon Morley where they ook off again at 1305 for Holland. Twen: ast the FB.VIs the mass of Gestapo files ty miles from the Dutch climbed to 4,000f (1 Overflakee level. The to Delft. Bateson and his navigator, FIO BJ. Standish, noticed there were no ree able landmarks, just a vast expanse o water, dotted with islands where no islands should have been, Unknown to the air oW but Sampson, his navigator, was Killed. vis Ph ies crews, the Germans had opened the sluice gates on the River Scheldt, inundating a large area of the flar Dutch countryside After flying on for a few more minuce crews finally got their bearings and con: track for The Hague the FBVIs split inline tinued 01 As th approached followin pairs, aster. sweeping actos the rooftops, the narrow streets shuddering to the din of theie cengines. The first two FB.VIs lined up 0 attack while th incled Lake ther four Gouda, allowing time for the 30.secor, ayed action bombs carried by aft to explexte. The third and fourth ait craft catried incendiaries and the fifth and HE horabs and appr first Mosquitoes, soldiers drill sixth aircraft each hadl twe ‘wo incendiaries, At the ich of the courtyard fled in all directions. Bateson streaked cowards the target, bomb doors ‘open, his port wing missing the tall spire on ace by inches. FIL Peter top of the Peace Cobley Dec, following Bateson, saw his leaders bombs drop. Cobley had a hazy impr of a German sentry throwis away his rifle and runing for his lif he saw Bateson’s bombs quite literally skip through the front door of the headquarter, ley deopped his bombs in turn, poll f of the Kleykamp. Two minutes later, with dense clouds of smoke already pouri up sharply over the rom the shattered building, the second pair, flown, by SJL Charles WM, Newman and FJ FG. ‘Trev and F/L R.W. Smith and F/O J. Hepworth, made their attacks, Then the third pair, F/L Vie Hester andNone ofthese a ‘prison raid earlier that month when six Vis from ‘7 patcipated. wa Gahan mt Sinons ‘.VIEG-T MMA on 29 February 196, 1 days ater the Amiens Prison raid. The row 70 MLN. Sparks /0 AC. Dunlop actualy lw EG-T HXSE2 on i. Tar Cushing 80FO R. Birkett, and F/O Roh Cohen, a Dutchman, with FiSet PG. Deave, sped in. (Cohen, a former student of the Delft Technical University, had escaped to Eng- land by paddling a canoe across the North ) Hester got his bombs away but they hit the old Alexander arracks. Although he made a number of attacks, Cohen's bombs hung up and he was un: release them, Instead he photo burning target. He was almost weeping ble to hed the with rage when he returned. (Cohen was Killed attacking a target in France in ‘August.) Spitfires escoeted the FB. home. The Gestapo building had been com- pletely destroyed, together with the major ity of the identity paper civilians, including van der Kamp, were killed, twenty-four seriously injured and forty-three slightly injured. Only Newman's and Trovers’ aircraft, which was hit in the ‘outer starboard tank unsion by ight flak, was damaged. Bareson was awanded the Oso. An Air Ministry bulletin later described the raid as ‘probably the most brilliant feat of low-level precision bombing of the war ‘a later raid on 30. Decema 1944 a dozen Mosquitoes of 627 Squadron flew from Woodhall Spa to Peterhead and dive hombed the Oslo Gestapo HQ the next day. Seven aircraft released their bombs from dives of 1,700f=1,300ft (520-400m). Supporting the Invasion In the spring of 1944, 29, 264, 409, 410, 488 RNZAF and 604 Squadrons (equipped with NEXIIs and XIIls) formed 85 (Base) Group for the purpose of providing fighter cover leading up to, and after, D-Day: On 5/6 June, the evening of D-Day, 2nd TAPS Mosquito fighter squadrons performed defensive operations (264 Squadron flew jammi forenemy Less than fifty plots on 5/6 June were made J only FIO. Pearce of 409 Squadron Kill. Then things horted up. 604 one destroyed ten aircraft on 7 456 Squadron destroyed four He 177s and three more on the Sth. (On 5 July, 456 claimed three ‘enemy aircraft to bring its score to thirty vietories since 1 March.) ratrols before they went looking ighters) over the invasion coast, claimed Squadron a and 8 June. On 7 June In night operations on 7/8 June 1944, seventy FBVIs of 107, 305 and 613 Squadrons operating to the west on ral tar ets at Argentan, Domfort and Lisieux, sealed approaches tw the Normandy bridgehead. On I June six FB.VIs of 464 and 487 Squadrons, led by WIC Bob Iredale and F/L McCaul, attacked petrol tankers in a railway marshalling yard at Chatellrault at the request of the Army, WIC Mike Pollard sand his six FB.VIs in 107 Squadron following, arrived at 2244 hours to find fires burning in an area 300 by ar ‘Bombs from six F8Vis of 13 Squadron destoy the Central Registry in The Hague, 11 April 1944, 200 yards (270 by 180m) with smoke rs to 4,000fe (1,220m). Attacks continu railway targets on the night of 11/12 June when fifty Mk Vis from 88, 98, 107, I 226 and 320 Squadrons bombed the rail: ‘way junction at Le Haye west of Carentan Two nights larer forty-two FB.VIs of 107, 305, 464 and 613 Squaalrons strafed and hhombed troop movements between Tours and Angers-Vire, Dreux and Falaise, and Evereux and Li With the breakout from the beach head, events moved very quickly and the Mosquitoes harried the German armies in retreat. Once suitable airstrips could be made teady, the heavier components of 2nd TAB, including wings, were expected to move to the con tinent. In the meantime, they flew from 2 Group's Mosquito sirfields such as Thorney Island on the south coast of England, and Lasham, Most ‘of 2 Group's flying, for the Mosquito any way, took the form of ‘night interdiction’ in other words bombing and strafing the enemy's communications by night. Some of the 2 Group squadrons also interfered with German night flying. These would join the circuit of Luftwaffe aiefields and shoot German aircraft down as they came into land or just as they took off In addition to these night expeditions, there were occasional daylight operations. These included spectacular pinpoint attacks on specific buildings. On 14 July