Why This Unique World War Two Aircraft Terrified the Germans
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- Опубликовано: 3 авг 2023
- This is the story of the Intruders, a group of airmen dubbed the `Bandits of the Air' by the Nazis during the Second World War thanks to its members' exploits in the skies above Europe's battlefields.
This episode focuses on the 'Mosquito' - a seemingly innocuous and cheap fighter plane that terrorised the German Air Force. Made entirely out of wood, the Mosquito was initially dismissed by the British government, yet due to its remarkable speed and exceptional manoeuvrability, the bomber soon became a crucial part of the Royal Air Force during World War Two.
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#historyhit #worldwartwo #mosquito #royalairforce
At 0.50 you state that the Allies developed the Mosquito. They didn't. The de Havilland company did it by themselves. It was hard work for them to make the stuffed shirts at the Air Ministry to take a new wooden aeroplane seriously.
You are right Phil, and also self funded by the De Havilland family, until it was approved, and much laughter and piss taking of the Aircraft made of Wood, was made, buy the Ministry, until the Ministry witnessed how good it was
Canadian timber products, US built Merlin engines
Exactly. I was going to say the same thing. And in response to &stuartpeacock8257, 'development' doesn't have anything to do with the sourcing of production materials.
@@kevelliott Balsa wood doesn't grow in North America....
@@philhawley1219 Yes, I think it grows in South America
Comment about this from an American, not an "allied" plane, this was a British plane utter genius give them credit
Actually, it was totally the genius and drive of Geoffrey De Havilland who carried on developing it, at his own company’s expense, in spite of a total lack of support from the Air Ministry.
You beat me to it.
The original prototype mozzie is at the deHaviland Heritage Centre in London Colney M25/St Albans area
This film was produced by Canadian company Breakthrough Entertainment and originally for TV there. The narrator is Canadian Norm Christie. He refers to 'Allies' in terms of a war fought between Allied and German forces. As well as History Hit, versions of it are also shown by Battlefield Mysteries and Time Line with a Dan Snow overdub.
To all, thank you My understanding is once they figured it out they had them built in Canada, Australia etc the mass nose firepower is epic
This reminds of the story about the late great Australian Cricketer (All-Rounder) Keith Miller, who was a RAAF Pilot, who flew Mosquito's during World War II. He was asked about pressure playing cricket, his response was, "Pressure is a Messerschmiitt up your arse, playing cricket is not."
Well said!
:-) lovely response and brings whining about modern life into perspective.
Yep the aussies made them good aswell as their fellow commonwealth brethrens?? A feckin nasty brute of a plane, the true auld skool street fighter from the auld world??, thank you my close ancestral commonwealth brothers and sisters, this englishman knew and so did my gramp to count on you, respect from the auld place🏴🏴🏴🇨🇮... Lest we never fakin forget FAMS.=🇨🇦/🇻🇬🇹🇨🇹🇦🇸🇭🇵🇳🇳🇿🇲🇸🇰🇾🇭🇲🇬🇸🇫🇯🇫🇰🇦🇺🇦🇨🇬🇧👍👍👍👍👍Love ya all?..
Understated Australian eloquence.
@@wor53lg50 15:53 15:53
My dad was an RCAF officer who flew almost the entire war with mixed "Commonwealth" RAF night fighter squadrons. He and his navigator/ AI (Radar) operator managed to stay paired throughout the war. They did not participate in any bombing so far as I can tell - just flew night fighter radar intercept missions night after night. My dad began the war flying the Bristol Beaufighter - an absolute beast of an aircraft - and said that the Mossie was a lot faster and "nippier" than the Beau. By that time they were starting to get really good radar sets (compared to the very early Marks of AI), and his navigator was a "real wizard." They flew at least 1800 hours on operations, apart from training, testing and so on. My dad died quite young, but his Navigator lived to 106, and I got to know him very well after my dad's death. I have a considerable file of logbooks, reports and correspondence, all relating to their night fighter squadron service. Some of it is amazing, some of it is jaw-dropping, and a few parts are just plain terrifying. Which they might well have been, after landing. They were never shot down, although the came home with numerous holes through the wings and fuselage more than once. My dad was an exceptional pilot, as I learned when I was young and flew with him, but he was just one of many young fliers who went out night after night to see what kind of trouble they could stir up.
As a Brit vet, I thank your farther for his service. The Mossie was arguably the best aircraft of the second world war.
thats nice, dear
Cool story - thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing. Wow
Thanks for sharing your Dad was very brave as was his navigator who both fought for our freedom.
My Dad was in the 416th Nightfighters in England. The only time my Dad cried seeing a plane was at a 416th convention in Dayton, Ohio. The museum had a Mosquito.
Omg, my Dad was also in 416.
@@alexhathcock1380 did he ever get to any of the reunions? My Dad didn't like to talk about the war, but really liked "fighting the war" all over again with the guys.
@@jeannietoler8929 yes he did, starting in the 80's.
A very touching, and not worthy but of information Jeannie.
I thank our Gracious God that brave men like your dad were made available by our Gracious God.😢
There was an old Flight Sergeant pilot at Topcliffe in the seventies when I was there. One night I asked him what his gold wings above his pilot wings were for. He was almost apologetic as he explained he was on pathfinders flying Mosquitoes. My respect for him immediately rose by two thousand percent. Never judge a book by it's cover.
A NCO with pilot wings would ruffle the feathers of Higher class subjects of the Empire. Even more so that he was a BAMF who was better than his "Betters".
At least they were not cowards.@@knoahbody69
My dad served at Topcliffe too! Would have been early sixties, a bit before my ability to remember.
I knew of these raids. Hitting the school is so sad. Huge respect for the pilots and resistance fighters
PFF were rediculously important. 617 aquired a couple of Mosquitoes for target marking. They had a P51 but that is a story for another day.
The manufacturing brilliance of the Mozzie was that it could be largely made in a piano factory, of which, there were a large number in Britain at that time.
Any body with an ounce of braincells or morals shouldn't be doubting this fact, those who do prooves what complete clueless lemons they are about history.
A lot of piano factories in Camden Town London in the early 20th Century
Anyone who refers to the best allied WW2 aircraft of the war, always refer to either the Spitfire or the P51 Mustang. But I've always said that the Mosquito was the best aircraft of the war because of its speed and versitility. It was an amazing aircraft for it's time.
Also it was incredibly cheap to build, and sturdy with all that fine Canadian wood.
Tiffie or the beau comes close second for me and im a proud englishman..
I wouldve been happy to be in a Beaufighter or a Mozzie ,myself
@@Rusty_Gold85 I love the Mozzie to bits and it could do everything, but the Beaufighter was a truely evil machine...
@@hairychris444Love the Beaufighter. Flew from my local RAF station at Davidstow. Used solid shot rockets against U-boats in the bay of Biscay.
De Havilland for their innovation, English cabinet makers for their craftsmanship, pilots and crew for their badassery all adds up to a war winning combination
James Solak; (badassery) my first time ever hearing that expression; very good one my friend 😂.😊
That story where Goring was supposed to deliver a radio address was one of the coolest things I've ever seen in a WW2 video. That pilot's little smirk at the end tells you everything you need to know.
The mozzie attack on Herman "Goring" Myer, was in the morning, another mozzie squadron flew in afternoon and attacked again while a different nazi leader (The former Chicken framer ) spoke on the radio. It was in 1943, 10 year anniversary of the rise to power for the Nazis. British Humour at its best.
@@jonmurphy4218 iT WASN'T HIMMLER THEY BOMBED IN THE AFTERNOON, IT WAS LITTLE NO BALLS GOEBALS ( HITLER'S R SLIKKA)
@@jonmurphy4218 farmer*
My Grandfather during WW2 as a skilled cabinet maker was made foreman of a converted factory in Shirley, Birmingham UK (previously a CWS furniture factory) overseeing the making of the wooden fuselages of the Mosquito. I presume to send on to the main factory. My Dad has photos of him and the workers with the fuselages. My Dad was a small boy at the time. They lived in Small Heath.
I love to hear stories like this from people who have a direct if not first-hand connection to such events. They're all interesting because they involve everyday people simply doing what they had to do to make great things possible. 😊
Your Dad did his duty just like any serviceman, and if it were not for people like your Dad our servicemen would not have had the tools to do their duty, what your Dad did was very important not only to this country but to the whole entire World and was every bit as important a role in the war effort as any role in the services, my respects his way.
My grandfather was a map reader on a RAF bomber in Africa during ww2 🇬🇧 💣
My grandfather worked on the prototype of the Mozzie. He was a wood-worker too. From what I was told he spoke shaved the leading edge of the wing.
Ha , I was born in Small Heath in 1953. . Don't think it exists as an area any more . There's a Small Heath Lane but that's about it
Mosquito is my favourite plane! Thank you to all service members for their heroics!
An intelligent construction ! My father had the Camera
The "Wooden Wonder", one of my favourite planes of the era. A Swiss-army knife in the air, they could do almost any mission you threw at them. The sound of those big, Merlin engines still sends shivers down my spine.
A ‘Jack of all trades’
@@stuartpeacock8257and some say a master of none for others???, that is the saying is it not??, what piss in the eye when others can back it but others cant?? Now that people are looking deeply into history??..
I like the allusion.
I have read the nazi's credited the pilot who shot one down with 2 kills. They must not have liked them much.
My father-in-law was RAF ground crew for the Mosquito. After the war he used the knowledge gained to work for de Havilland , and worked on the Trident prototype. He wasn't a man to talk about his time in the war, but on our honeymoon back to England (my husband-to-be had emigrated to Canada in the '60s), we took Dad to the Mosquito Museum at Salisbury Hall. My father-in-law enjoyed walking amongst the aircraft, and was pleased to meet a fellow RAF mate, now retired and working as a security guard at the museum. Dad introduced his son, and my husband was invited to try out the fit in the cockpit - needless to say, he was thrilled! (However, at 6'4", it was a pretty tight squeeze!). It was a visit I will never forget.
This film helped fill in many of the gaps in my understanding of the Mosquito, and I thank you for that.
Great story,one of the greatest generation.
@susanboon4605 Nice thought, to give him a great day out. I've also sat in the Mossie prototype cockpit, 20 years back. Don't think they let you do that now.
My grandfather died in a bomber defending the evacuation st Dunkirk. His whole crew died and his navigator was just 18 years old. I never met my grandfather , I had a step garndfather. His grave is in Normandy.
My favorite thing is that the Germans tried in vain to make their own mosquito and failed miserably. Much love from across the pond. The mosquito was badass and thank you very much for showing us Yanks how to land the Corsair on a carrier. 😎 and God bless Winkle Brown is all I can say. Quite the man
Britain operated Corsairs on carriers because they did not have anything better.
"Military and naval aviation in America has been developed to the full. What a relief that has been to the Australians and New Zealanders. The United States Naval Air Service has provided us with many types of naval machines that we lack."
below 820
Hansard FLEET AIR ARM HL Deb 27 January 1943 on line
My father in law (passed away in 2014) was FAA flying Wildcats (Martlets) and later, Corsairs. His view was that the receiving of US naval fighters saved the lives of countless service men. The British aircraft were seriously lacking with the Seafire being deficient in range and toughness.
He loved the Corsair which was a brute to land. He recalls on trip on the Russian convoy run back from Murmansk where they were bounced by 4 FW190s….a formidable aircraft. He recalls one latching on to hit tail. He knew he couldn’t out turn the FW so he just opened “the taps” went into a shallow dive and just pulled away.
The Germans initially were successful in making a copy of the De Havilland Mosquito, and
were successful in developing an adhesive to bond the wooden pieces together. The Germans used the same name, the Moskito. If memory serves me, I believe the adhesive
the Germans developed in Wuppertal for the Moskito was called "Tighar". Unfortunately for the Germans, an Allied raid on Wuppertal destroyed the Tighar factory, and the formulas for the adhesive as well. Thus, the Germans had to cancel the Moskito project, as they were unsuccessful in developing a suitable replacement of the original adhesive formulas. Hard to believe the Germans didn't have copies of the original formulas stored off-site in a secure location.
The Mozzie doesn't get nearly enough love. It was fast, versatile and innovative. It could carry as many bombs as a Flying Fortress but about twice as fast. It could also do anything, reconnaissance, precision bombing, ground attack.
Don't forget figther, figther bommer, night fighter, pathfinder.
And intruder op's
I wonder if USA CAN GO BACK IN TIME WITH A """ A 10 WORTHOG" I WONDER IF THE GERMANS WOULD BE SCARRD N I WONDER IF A WORT HOG WOULD DEFEAT ALL THE GERMAN JET FIGHTERS
??? are you nuts the mozzie could no where near carry the same amount of bombs a flying fortress could. that is like saying a cessna can carry the same amount of passengers a Boeing 777-300 can
@@kiwidemon8555, actually it could. A B-17G loaded for a long range mission (more than 400mi) into Germany could only carry 4500 lbs of bombs, a Mozzie could carry 4000 lbs of bombs. Don't forget that the Mosquito will be flying faster and only have 2 men on board to the 10 on the B-17. Statistically it was safer to fly a Mosquito than a Flying Fortress.
@enoughothis we were talking bomb loads not safety and if you were to send a mossie and a flying fortress from the same runway to bomb the same target (not at the extreme limit of aircraft) the flying fortress can carry more lb of bomb than the mossie u gotta make the flying distances the same for both aircraft to have a fair comparison on bomb load and have a fair balance e.g mossie was designed for long range flying fortress was designed more around carrying maximum amount of bombs at the sacrifice of operational range. E.g max bomb load for flying fortress b17 was roughly 8000 pounds or 3.6tonnes the mossie was roughly 4000pound or 1.8 tonne I commented on a comment that stated the mossie could carry more then a fortress. That statement on its own is factually incorrect that is what I'm getting at once you bring distances into the equation at long range the mossie is the clear winner but that was not the original comment
Here is another true tale... RAF Medmenham was the base of aerial photography, they used spitfires and mosquitoes... but... they only had one precision optical machine for preparing stereoscopic images. They needed at least one other...Only available from a Swiss optical company... One was duly ordered and... this is really funny...It was shipped using the German rail system from Switzerland to Sweden. In Sweden it was carefully unpacked and loaded into the bomb bays of a mosquito (maybe more than one; a while since I read the book) and flown from Sweden to Britain. German railways were in effect complicit in aiding the Allied war effort.
You can visit the stately home they used for the main "base" during the war at Mednemham - it's a National Trust place now...and was also the home of the Prime Minister during Queen Victorias reign. Well worth a visit..
@@benjy-adams I never knew that.... Sounds like a must visit place on par with Bletchely Park.
My late father flew Mosquito Recce missions during ww2 after transferring from an instructor role. He loved the 'plane and he and his navigator felt very safe in them. He talked a lot about their sorties and said it was very frustrating to find both primary and secondary targets covered with 10/10 cloud; they wished they had a least one bomb to drop or gun to fire. He also had as CO the dubious honour of being shot up by two mustang pilots from his own shared base when in Italy. They got a ticking off but he always thought of them as lads being allowed to fly rather than drive a fast sports car. He would be pleased today to see the interest in such a marvelous aeroplane.
Can you explain how your dad got attacked by our own guys? Seems to me that blue and red bullseye insignia would be hard to mistake for anything flown by the Germans (but in war, anything can happen after all).
"The RAF of 1940 was no match for the German Luftwaffe"
um, The Battle of Britain wants a word with you!
The Germans never stood a chance to win the Battle of Britain
Cause america likes to believe everyone was losing until they arrived. Same reason they say the mosquito was developed by the allies ... the allies of 1940-41 were the British empire.
Devils advocate: BoB was a long range action with the RAF on defense. It can be logically consistent to say that Force A was no match for Force BBoB shows only that the luftwaffe of 1940 was unable to manage the intelligence, production, logistics, and organization for a successful sustained cross channel offence. And to be fair, it took the allies some practice to get good at that bit, themselves.
To be fair in the context they were talking about British bombing raids into Europe. AFAIK they didn't fare to well.
They weren't talking about the BoB or German bombing raids on the UK.
@@hammondpickle Agreed, the problem is that they are not required to present accurate and fact based information, they present to get the highest rating, which means they can charge / make more revenue.
My grandfather was a navigator is Mozzies, he flew in the Pathfinder squadrons that would fly ahead of the heavy bomber raids and mark the targets. He would speak about releasing their "cookies" (4000lb) and incendiaries over the target. Can't remember if he said he ever got to Berlin but maybe.
How thrilling! The Nav was the brainy one. I have seen the text book they worked from.
I hated sines and cosines, etc.
Such discipline to keep track of everything, too!
I know a chap whose uncle was in The Pathfinders, He was the bombaimer in a Lanc. Shot down over Lake Havel, Berlin.
From the crew identified, it appears they only found one of his legs. It was put in with one of the other crewmember's bodies and was lost track of, so no grave.
To be a navigator in that role, he would have been the best of the best
My former Squadron (410 Sqn RCAF) was one of those that flew Mosquitos. We used the Cougar (or Mountain Lion) as a mascot and badge - they were well known for their deadly skill at Nocturnal hunting, and even now, there are VERY few photos of them. Our Motto - is Noctivaga - or Wandering by Night.
Being built of wood, they were invisible to German Radar, and the fact that it was as fast, if not faster than ANY German plane excepting the ME262, carried a heavier bomb load than a B-17, and had more firepower than ANYTHING else in the air, made it a NIGHTMARE for the Germans.
Were two Merlins (about 1/6 of wartime production were built with Lend Lease Packard Merlins), two props, three wheels, electric and control cables and 4 Browning MG's and 4 Hispano cannon OR 2,000 pounds of bombs invisible to radar?
"Typical" bombload for B17's was 6,000 pounds. 8th AF heavies shot down 6,000 German aircraft.
DH98 Mosquito FB. Mk VI 2,305 built. (about 1/3 of wartime production)
Fighter bomber / intruder variant using Merlin 22, 23 or 25. 4 (Browning) machine guns and 4 (Hispano) cannons, plus 2 x 250 lb bombs carried internally & underwing carriage of up to 2 x 500 lb bombs.
DH98 Mosquito B. Mk IX 54 built
1,680 hp Merlin 72 engines - otherwise as B. Mk IV. 54 built. Could carry 2,000 lb internally, plus one 500 lb bomb or a drop tank under each wing. Some modified with bulged bomb bay doors for 4,000 lb bomb (in 1944).
BAE Mosquito page
@@nickdanger3802
Wood ABSORBS Radio energy - Radar requires a REFLECTION back to the source to be spotted. The angle that the engine cowlings (one of the FEW metal parts that were in a place that COULD reflect the radio waves) would reflect those waves AWAY from the Radar set - Everything else was INTERNAL - and therefore protected from reflecting the Radar - similar to how modern "stealth" aircraft work - except with wood, rather than Carbon Fibers.
If you want to compare HEAVIES - the Lancaster's TYPICAL bombload was 14,000 lbs - more than DOUBLE what a B-17 could carry, and in special cases (particularly the Grand Slam) up to 22,000 lbs. TRIPLE what a B-17 was even CAPABLE of lifting - even with MINIMUM fuel. And even more than the B-29 could carry.
Did you know that the RAF was asked to carry the ATOMIC Bombs for Hiroshima and Nagasaki? The B-29 had to have EXTREME structural modifications to carry the Fat Man and Little Boy bombs that the Lanc could carry with no problem, and the USAAF was afraid that the modified B-29's wouldn't be ready in time. So the asked the RAF to be on standby to carry them.
And which COST more - the Atomic Bombs, or the Planes the carried them?
The B-29 ! The B-29 problem was a HUGE Money-pit, while the Manhattan project was actually VERY well-run with very little waste.
@@normmcrae1140 "469 Avro Lancasters, 234 Handley Page Halifaxes, 50 Short Stirlings and 11 DH Mosquitos (764 bombers in total) dropped 2,300 tons of bombs" 469 Lancs with 14,000 lb each equals 2,931.25 long tons.
Royal Air Force Memorial Flight Bomber Command Battle of Berlin
4,000 lb load, over 40% losses, almost 1/3 of bombs failed to explode.
Unleashing the Avro Lancaster: The Daring Mission to Destroy Augsburg's U-Boat
ruclips.net/video/KMETNhT74mk/видео.html
@@normmcrae1140
The Lancaster and Atomic Bombs, My Response to Mark Felton
ruclips.net/video/gKB-oqdoduw/видео.html
@@normmcrae1140 "Special cases" indeed.
Avro 683 Avro Lancaster B.1 Special 32 Aircraft were adapted to take first the super-heavy ‘Tallboy’ and then ‘Grand Slam’ bombs and included up-rated engines (with paddle-bladed propellers to give more power) and the removal of gun turrets to reduced weight and give smoother lines. For the Tallboy, the bomb bay doors were bulged slightly whilst for the Grand Slam, they were removed completely and the area faired over. For some Tallboy raids the mid-upper turret was also removed. This modification was retained for the Grand Slam aircraft and the nose turret was also later removed.
BAE Lancaster page
First use Grand Slam March 1945, Bielefeld Viaduct.
"The damage to Germany’s war effort of this raid was actually minimal as a bypass route on earth embankments had already been constructed."
Atlas Obscura Bielefeld Viaduct page
In a way you could say the design of the Mosquito is the progenitor of modern bombers, which rather than covered in anti-aircraft guns like bombers of world war two, has no turrets and are incredibly fast and agile, also being able to perform mutiple roles such as recon etc. Which is all just like the Mosquito.
The reason modern bombers are not speckled with turrets is because the tech on bombers, fighters and anti aircraft defenses are totally different
The Mosquito followed on from the Bristol F2 of WWI as a multirole aircraft.As a pure bomber one Mosquito put more bombs accurately on target than a squadron of heavies. Probably because they attacked from a lower level and could actually see the target.
@@mothmagic1 yep very brave boyz, in fact the beau was ment for torps?, now thats right down in the weeds getting dirty and in yer face wiv sum torpex?..
She was really the first MRCA (Multi Roll Combat Aircraft)
My Dad was a Aviation tech on A8 and A7's during the Vietnam was, but his favorite plane was the Mosquito.
I once watched a German TV documentary which featured the testimony of a former German flak gunner and he said the moment he realised the war was lost was when his flak battery was attacked by Mosquitoes. "Until then we had been the hunters. After the Mosquitoes attacked our battery in Berlin we became the hunted." The Mosquito was an amazing aircraft.
Amazing anecdote and never heard anything like it in the American/British documentaries either! Also you've no doubt heard the quote by Herman Goerring himself who famously said, "I realized the war was well and truly lost, the day I looked up and saw an American mustang fighter flying over Berlin."
@@robertmaybeth3434 I have. The P51 was/is a great fighter.
My uncle was from Texas, and in early 1940 went to Canada to unofficially join the RCAF. Training planes were so hard to come by, that he did all of his flight training in a twin engine airplane (Airspeed Oxford). He was sent to England and joined the RAF flying Spitfires in a Polish fighter squadron (that had almost few Poles, but was full of S. Africans, Czechs, and Americans). He was in the RAF from 1940-1943. When they found out he could fly twin-engine planes, he periodically flew the Mosquito. He loved it. [After leaving the RAF in 1943, he was immediately drafted into the USAAC and sent to the S. Pacific flying P-38s until the end of the war]
Whats his name and squadron??
@@wor53lg50 Richard Campbell. I will try and track down the squadron from my cousins.
My old mate and mentor Bill Ash, a Texan Spitfire ace flying out of Hornchurch had a similar entry path to your uncle. Went to Canada, joined the RCAF then joined a Polish Spitfire squadron in England. When the Americans found he was flying for the Allies they took away his passport and citizenship. Bill lived in England as a British citizen for the rest of his life. Look up William (Tex) Ash.
@@sirlimplystoke2382 wow?, that is some story, its a shame bill (Tex) didnt jot his experiences down on paper? so some sort of auto biography could be printed later on as in now?...funny how in merica its mainly always texas where these exceptional types who want to do and end up doing exceptional things tend to hail from ...
@@wor53lg50 ruclips.net/video/wcXs80FE718/видео.html&ab_channel=bfsr08
Thank God, that in our time of need, we had men of this calibre with a skill set and determination to pull off these astonishing acts of airmanship and courage. We owe them a never ending debt we can never repay. So many made the ultimate sacrifice. I salute you all.
...how did we in the West, go from the generation that flew B-17's into murderous flak day after day and stormed the beaches at Normandy under MG42 machine gun fire, to a generation of wimps raised by single mothers with multiple divorces, that doesn't even know which bathroom to use...
Much of what you say Harold's my response as well.
Thank you She ill
@@robertmaybeth3434Sadly our downfall began with the murder of the Kennedies, and the takeover by Johnson; his Great Society, and money hungry, and unloyal politicians.
Johnson's wife Ladybird owned 51% of Bell helicopter.
"Money for all"
I didn't know anything about the Mosquito planes, so this video was a great find. I am in awe of the raw courage the air crews had, flying thousands of missions in desperate conditions.
It was apparently quite terrifying at take-off, with the torque from two Merlins making it a bit flippy, like the Lightning. The missions were scary too, especially at low level. But more of the risks a Mozzie faced were things its crew could do something about, than the risks faced by the Commonwealth and American Heavy Bomber pilots, who mainly had to stay in formation, grit their teeth, and pray that the often heinous odds would not get them, that day or night. That took desparate courage.
During the 1970's I worked for a guy called Jim Warner who had been a movie cameraman before the war. In the RAF he was a natural as a military photographer. At some time, I believe in early 1944, he was asked to fly over Normandy in what was almost certainly a reconnaissance expedition in search of possible landing sites. His Mosquito was only armed with a camera. No guns and no bombs - so defenceless - but light enough to be incredibly fast. I remember him telling me that the only real airborne threat was the Focke Wulf 190.
He told me that the first time he returned from a photgraphic mission he was told that he had broken the World Speed Record( though I sadly can't remember the actual number). Over the weeks that followed, he broke it several more times.
Correction, developed by the British, because in 1941 the Americans were not in the war. They only began fighting in1942. WW2 started in 1939, 3 years earlier.
So, the P-51 was an Allied fighter, then;-) I bet the Americans will say no,...thats an American aircraft, although it became good when the British Rolls Royce Merlin engines powered them;-) The Mozzie is truly English (British;)
@@azzajames7661 The P51 was MORE allied. It was built in response to a British requirement spec submitted to the US when we had no capacity to build more planes. Even then it was an abysmal performer with the original Allison engine. A prototype was fitted with the Merlin in the U.K. and became the superb aircraft we all remember. Packard's ability to mass produce Merlins to close tolerances then became a serious contribution to the war effort.
Aussie Mosquito pilot in WW2 Col Griffin taught me to fly at Diggers Rest, Melbourne. He was a bit of fun that man! RIP Col.
I had the privilege of flying with Squadron Leader Ian McRitchie RAAF who was the pilot of one of the Mosquitoes in the Operation Jericho raid, he was shot down and wounded, and his Navigator killed, while egressing at low level from the Prison. He flew my Dad and I on the Anniversary of the Battle of Britain in the late 1990s, before he passed away. He had his own Beech Queen Air twin engined aircraft and he was an amazing pilot, even at that age. We flew around Port Philip Bay in Victoria at dawn, in formation with a number of historic WW2 aircraft. Was an amazing experience.
I've watched many WWll docus, and this is absolutely one of the best ever. Congratulations to the film makers!
My grandfather flew one mission over Berlin in the Mosquito and then the war ended. Previously he flew Wellington's and Halifax's.
I would applaud your grandfather, for all his missions, I would applaud all his missions in Wellington's and Halifax's as well as his missions in the Mossie. Regardless. Your grandfather probably has more balls than you and me put together and full respect and honour to him, as an ex veteran I bow in his shadow, and hope that if he is still with us that he can pass his knowledge on to others.
thats nice, dear
Kudos to your dad!
@@ashdobbs cretin!
The mosquito was also effective against submarines with the massive single cannon it carried. When fired, the plane nearly stopped .
That model was known as the 'tetsie'.
@@davidnelson7149 *tsetse . And yes, it was the Mk XVIII. 🙂
i just looked up the Canadian RCAF pilot Russ Bannock on Wiki. Wow. How he earned his 'Bar' on his DFC (Distinguished Flying Cross) was that he shot down and destroyed four V1 German flying bombs in one hour. Nerves of steel.
the Mosquito project was almost destroyed by the narrow-minded Air Force top brass who said that it didn't meet their requirements. When funding was withdrawn a remarkable donor stepped in to finance its development - a widowed Victorian actress lady (who had inherited a small fortune) whose name I've forgotten. But without her it would have never made it beyond the prototype.
I once spoke with a Mosquito Pilot from WW2 who said after take off for about the first 5 miles they were a 'pig' of a thing to keep straight but after they were up to speed the were a beautiful aircraft, you could do anything with them.
Those Merlin engines were superlative! What Genius to develop such a thing. Truly awe inspiring!
It had an initial problem rectified by an o ring - engines needed the part fitting to prevent engine flooding
You only have to look who designed and made them, pure quality.
De havilands were told not to pursue the mosquito but they did in secret and a magnificent aircraft was born !
Norm Christies war documentaries are the very best in all regards. His strolls through war cemeteries are poignant reminders of the total tragedy of war. The fact that he is a Canadian with a Canadian perspective makes him super interesting.
The Mosquito, a.k.a. the Wooden Wonder or the Timber Terror is still my favourite piston engined aeroplane.
One of the points about this was of course the fact joiners could make them.
My dad didn't BUT he knew people who did, and there was incredible pride and satisfaction.
My father was a bomber pilot but a friend of his was a Mossie navigator. I net thys man in about 1965, the praise he sttill had for the effliency, the handling & speed of the aircraft was tantamount to love. He believed if he had been on any other aircraft doing similar types of operations, he would not have survuved the war!
People call the air ministry "stuffed shirts" because they initially weren't enthusiastic about an unarmed bomber that relied on speed to evade enemy fighters.
This was actually a sensible attitude. It had been tried before and inevitably fighters got faster and the bombers became easy prey.
The reason the Mosquito was able to maintain an edge, or at least speed parity, was because these aircraft were now approaching the upper limits of speed possible by propeller driven aircraft. Of course nobody knew that at the time.
They should have restricted heavy bombers to special missions and used huge numbers of Mosquitos for the strategic night bombing effort instead. Almost impossible to intercept at night, only 2 men in each instead of 7, 2 engines instead of 4, very little steel and aluminium needed in construction, no guns needed, fast enough to raid some targets twice in one night. Thousands of aircrew would have been saved.
30-40,000 !! equal to a Marine Corps in the pacific . Wasted because they wanted to weigh down the frame with 10 machine guns
There is only 1 of a very few flyable Mossies around and it is owned by a gentleman in Kelowna, B.C. Canada. We had it at the Abbotsford International Air Show a few years back. It flew in between a P51D and Spitfire. The museum in Kelowna, only wants flyable aircraft, not static display.
We truly had the most beautiful Aircraft in the WW2. I'm not old enough to have seen these fly in formation but they all make me tingle when I see them today. Peace be with these folk who took the War to a conclusion and indeed the American's who took heavy losses. I am blessed to have a graveyard near me where I can remember many Canadians within it who gave their lives for us.
The mosquito was a great plane. It had some issues with the wet weather as it was built with wood, but proved amazing at evading radars because it was made of wood, only the engines produced an echo and it was too small for those radars. Also several came back with holes, because the bullets went through them without bursting apart.
Good to see that Ben Elton has a great knowledge of this RAF airfield.
Certainly the DH Mosquito deserves a better deal reputation wise, a fantastic aircraft with fabulously heroic crews. Great film! Nice one team. ⭐👍
I think you ll find that to Kill a Mosquito by the Luftwaffe was two brownie points
Equiped with the sadly obsolete Blenheim, used in daylight the RAF medium bombers were decimated early in the war.
British aircraft production was concentrated on fighters and heavy bombers so they bought med bombers from the USA.
Baltimores, Marylands, Bostons and A-20's were all used but once the Mozzie became available from nov 41 nothing else came even close.
That such a wonderful aircraft was available is completly due to the vision of Geofrey DeHaviland, who was ordered to scrap the aircraft.
Probably the most effective and certainly the most versatile weapons system of WW2. My mum was a Leading Aircraftwoman in the WAAFs who at 19 was signing off aircraft as fit to fly. The Mossie was her favourite. A first rate documentary about this aircraft's remarkable contribution to the defeat of the Na
Arguably the greatest aircraft of WW2 and in my opinion the most beautiful. The mozzie had it all, speed, grace, versatility and lethality . Other planes had combinations of these qualities but none matched the Mosquito
Concur it was excellent for its wooden construction, that saved tons of precious aluminum, AND for being the world's first accidental-stealth airplane. Probably the closest German equivalent craft would be the JU-88. Gunther Rall, the amiable luftwaffe ace who seems to have flown almost every plane in the luftwaffe at one time or another, said he loved the JU-88's handling which he described as something of a delight. But again, not even the Ju88 compares to the mosquito. There will never be another aircraft like it.
and in my opinion , you must be blind buddy !
Mosquito: Jack of all trades, master of everything
Presumably being wooden it also had a very small radar cross-section, which is why on the Berlin radio tower raid, the Germans had no idea they were there before the bombs landed.
They did fly low over the north sea and got limited visibility for the Copenhagen raid with terrible consequences- so I am not sure.,
As far as I understand, Mosquitoes did have a smaller radar cross-section than all-metal planes, although I’m not sure if the aircrews realised this. There are plenty of reports from Mosquito bomber crews commenting that if they were first on target at night, even when they were flying at high level, German flak defences often only reacted AFTER the Mosquitoes bombs started exploding down below. The crews attributed this to the mosquitoes speed, but the small radar return must have helped. Either way, they definitely had a habit of taking flak defences by surprise.
@@greva2904 why wouldnt they be first on target?? That was literally their job to find the path??, hence path finders...
@@wor53lg50 Most mosquitoes were not pathfinders, that’s why.
@@greva2904 yes im fully aware of that??, but (all) RAF pathfinders was mozzies though..
It was nicknamed Freeman’s folly because the air ministry weren’t interested, he gave the go ahead and it turned out to be one of the most farsighted decisions of the war, the prototype was only saved because someone disobeyed the instruction to burn it and moved it out of harm’s way and it exists today in the De Havilland Museum
Goering was said to be very envious, a beautiful aeroplane being produced by every piano maker in England
Even the USAAF turned it down . They had more important things to do , like lose 30,000 airmen in slow B17s
@@Rusty_Gold85 the Mosquito could make 2 trips to Berlin carrying a 4.000 lb cookie, Greg’s aeroplanes and cars tried to argue that the B17 was a more versatile aircraft than the Lancaster, the Lancaster had a huge unobstructed bomb bay which made it far more useful than the B17, he dropped the claim after I’d pulled him up over it
The B17 had a tiny bomb bay
Douglas Freeman gets so little credit for a number of decisions made at the beginning of ww2. Specialising on two aero engines. I believe he was involved in proposing the Merlin for the Mustang.
@@colinmaynard2879 the Merlin transformed the Mustang over the Allison V12 and gave the US airforce a fighter with the capability to escort the B17s to their targets
The Packard Merlin’s were built to much tighter tolerances, I’ve got a Packard Merlin reduction gear housing
No coverage of the Mosquito also known as the Tsetse with the 57mm six ponder cannon used against submarines and shipping. The RAF and air ministry did not want the Mosquito as they thought it was a crazy idea only when DE Haviland made it and demonstrated it did they come around.
My father and I visited the airfield he commanded in Norfolk, the owner was very enthusiastic about its history and in a field was a boggy area with some bits of metal. I noticed a plate with serial numbers which we unscrewed and my father researched it to find it had been one of the planes used in the Sweden ball bearing run !!
Apparently despite being neutral they would tell the Germans they were fresh out of ball bearings (for turrets etc.) whilst quietly selling them to the Allies who got them back by stripping Mosquitos of all guns and flying at wave level each way as quick as they could.
Ball-bearing Run was the nickname of the war-time Stockholmsruten flight between Stockholm and Leuchars, Scotland between 1939 and 1945. After 1942 the flight was run by the Royal Norwegian Air Force, but for political reasons[1] operated as an ordinary BOAC Flight, the unarmed aircraft having civilian registration and the Norwegian military crew wearing BOAC uniforms and carrying British passports.[2] The Stockholmsruten was set up by the Norwegian Government, exiled in UK with the aim of transporting Norwegians having escaped from Nazi-occupied Norway. Several types of aircraft were used, but the backbone of Stockholmsruten was the Lockheed Lodestar.
That's interesting, one of the darkest days for the 8th AF was a joint strike to take out a Messerschmitt factory in Regensburg and a ball bearing factory in Schweinfurt. The strikes were supposed to take place simultaneously in order to split German air defenses, but heavy fog at one of the bases kept half the mission planes grounded for several hours. This resulted in the strike forces taking off hours apart, giving the German defenders plenty of time to land, refuel, rearm, and take off to engage the second wave. The mission was a one way trip for a lot of Lib and Fort crews, and deep penetration missions were halted to regroup and figure out some new strategies.
@@nickdanger3802Nils Bohr, the Danish physicist escaped to Sweden to be flown to Britain in a Mosquito. He later travelled to Los Alamos to work on the Manhattan Project.
@@RoyCousins The escape of Niels Bohr
ruclips.net/video/qa50WhrGgU4/видео.html
de Havilland mosquito was my favorite plane growing up...airfix model and everything😊
Great job keeping the memories of these great innovations, and brave men alive!
There is so many interesting planes from this era Spitfire, Mustang, Typhoon, Thunderbolt and even the German's had a few but my favourite is the DH Mosquitos
This is a fantastic collection of footage and analysis, but a minor point from the beginning of the video... The Mosquito was not readily wanted but the Air Ministry. They initially turned it down twice as they were not interested in wooden aircraft, considering them 'old hat'. Sir Geoffrey De Havilland decided to develop a prototype himself, which was built in secret at a friends local country house, Salisbury Hall (just south of London Colney, Hertfordshire). Once complete it was taken to the nearby De Havilland factory at Hatfield and trielled. When it proved its capabilities, then the Air Ministry were convinced but it was not an easy birth.
Not so. Nothing was built until funding for a prototype was given for a special one off specification B.1/40/dh after a third meeting with the Air Ministry in London in December 1939. Plans were well advanced though with the design team having been ensconced at Salisbury Hall for some months. Second and third aircraft built were flown out from different fields adjacent to Salisbury Hall.
My dad began on Beaufighters in the Mediterranean (272 squadron) then he and his navigator moved to Mosquitos (239 Squadron ) and eventually each received 2 DFCs.
Thank God for those brave men and women who gave us our today.
This is just an absolutely unbelievable story of a unique plane that deserves much more recognition. Love this channel.
The came a point where they were afraid of every aircraft they heard because they knew it wasn’t one of theirs
As well as its immediate objective of freeing French resistance fighters, the raid on Amiens jail told the Germans that the RAF could drop a bomb anywhere they wanted to with great precision. It said "Be afraid".
The A10 of WWII, you knew it was there when the bullets hit the target. You have to admire these airmen who had to climb on most missions to bomb a target, flying in extremely dangerous areas so close to the ground.
Still hard to fathom how young these men were that flew these dangerous missions. Can you imagine a young man of today doing the same in such numbers? I don't think so.
In his dreams on a skate board
Of course they would, if they had to. The average age of an F16 pilot in Israel is 22. Do you think so little of the potential of young people today? that's really quite sad.
@@louisavondart9178 in most western countries, yes. Modern culture and the education standards have dropped dramatically. That is to say, not all countries are the same.
Today's young men have a low opinion of the bitter old farts who disparage them.
@@Watkinsstudio don't need to. You do that all by yourselves.
My uncle flew mosquito in WWII, loved the plane, but said it was murder in the clouds! I miss the talks we had!
Like many things the Germans supposedly said, "Bandits of the air" was invented in the minds of allied personnel and not used by the Germans in general if at all.
Like a lot of history all of the Allied aircraft reputation gets inflated. The German aircrew didn't fear the Mosquito, they feared getting shot down, just like everyone else,it's called a war. So sick of these inflated and propaganda "documentaries"when all they do is perpetrate confirmation bias for fanboy and feed the myth without giving any context.
How about include an interview with a German fighter pilot to see what they thought of the aircraft when they shot down multiple Mosquitos?
Nope can't do that, gotta push propaganda.
I absolutely agree and winced when I heard that cheap line .... whether it is true or not where is your fact checking - who claims they said that or are you just repeating a modern myth created by people for their own reputations.
We're you there?
Yep..like " Blitzkreig ". The Germans never used the term.
Yeah, like the myth about Germans calling the Russian IL2 "The Black Death" that turned out to be Soviet propaganda fabricated fable but nevertheless being repeated time and again in order to make it historical.
This was a real Commonwealth aircraft with commonwealth crews from e.g., Canada and New Zealand. A really great documentary. Thanks so much.
My late dad and grandfather both worked for British Industrial Plastics in Oldbury. It was the BIP urea-formaldehyde resin that was used to bond the ply laminates together of the Mossie.
Yeah, the Germans tried a wooden wonder and failed when it delaminated. So BIP was the unsung hero of DeHavilland's unsung heroic work!
Wooden hull with 2 RR Merlin engines. Incredible Canadian timber and many manufactured in Canada. The ultimate in piston engined Fighter Bomber and used on the Stockholm Express to get Nils Bohr and ballbearings out of Sweden.
Not timber but spruce? You got it boi, some of the best wood inde world, we even made the first mtb torpedo boat out of it??? =PT6 and landing craft and fairmile d's.. , 🇬🇧🤝🇨🇦..
@@wor53lg50 Timber is or was the generic term in Britain & Ireland for wood. You may call it ' lumber' in north America .My late Welsh maternal grandfather a self taught cabinet maker and carpenter always called all wood 'timber' , though he also worked in veneer , Formica , and sometimes aluminium edging. He worked in mid war on the construction on Mosquito hulls in a subcontractor in the Harrow Road NW London. He worked earlier in the war in Heavy Rescue digging out people and corpses on new bomb sites . This was most traumatic for these workers, that included artist Francis Bacon, and he perhaps reflected this horror in his paintings.
About 1/6 of wartime-built Mossies were fitted with Lend lease Packard Merlins.
Ball-bearing Run was the nickname of the war-time Stockholmsruten flight between Stockholm and Leuchars, Scotland between 1939 and 1945. After 1942 the flight was run by the Royal Norwegian Air Force, but for political reasons[1] operated as an ordinary BOAC Flight, the unarmed aircraft having civilian registration and the Norwegian military crew wearing BOAC uniforms and carrying British passports.[2] The Stockholmsruten was set up by the Norwegian Government, exiled in UK with the aim of transporting Norwegians having escaped from Nazi-occupied Norway. Several types of aircraft were used, but the backbone of Stockholmsruten was the Lockheed Lodestar.
@@nickdanger3802 if ya british invented and designed mozzie was made under license in canada then more than likely, but not always was fitted with packards due to proximity?. so give over with your BS will yer, dont your fingers get tired of literally having to type sheer BS in vast non existent supposed data, for no other reason than to BS, you need funny farming off mr dangler..word up nicky boi, theres alot more cleverer people out there than youll ever be...
@@willhovell9019 spruce bends and can be formed under steam?? timper dont it shatters or snaps under less bending pressures..the reason spruce favoured to make dramatic tight curves as in planes and torpedo boats...
Allies didn't invent the Mozzie, the British did
I wish my Dad was still here to see this video. ( He would be 101 years old this year.) He was US Air Force stationed with RAF. I think he was at this base.
Thats a shame jean?, sorry for your loss, was he a american that flew from a RAF base?? If so thankyou for his service jean, and i really do mean that..
@@wor53lg50 yes he was in the US Army Air Force before they split into just the Air Force. He reinlisted after the war and was Staff Sgt. in the US Air Force.
@@jeannietoler8929 oh wow can you remember what base he flew from jean?, im from northants so have a keen interest as RAF and USAF had many bases in my shire?, in fact i could get to 3 old ones by push bike in the radius of my town, also my great aunt married one of the base MP's (a yank) and moved to wisconson.. Thanks for your reply..
@@wor53lg50 I don’t remember what base he was stationed at. I’m on vacation right now, but when I get home I will check and see if I have that information. At one of the 416th reunions, he got a book of all the daily reports for the years during the war. I know he said that the English people were the nicest to him. One night when he had a pass, he went into town to see a movie. By the time it was over, he had missed the last bus back to the base. He was going to just sleep on the bench until the next day. A man saw him and invited him to stay at his home that night. The man’s wife fixed him eggs for breakfast, the first he had since he left the states. The lady also sent my Dad’s Mother a letter telling her that she had meet my Dad, and that he was doing ok. I still have the letter. (My Dad’s sister saved all the letters and pictures during the war.)
It's more than just it's flying ability... can't remember what top German said it but it was something like "how can we compete when they can make their aircraft in piano or furniture shops...?".
As a boy in South London I watched the mosquitos and many other types of aircraft flying over. And of course the V1 Doodlebug. But never the V2. You never saw that. Only the explosion and devastation when it struck. I watched a V1 fly over my house low enough to see the seams in the fuselage. When it struck, the air turned blue and knocked me down. A V2 landed in Panmure Rd. not far from my house and the debris came flying over where fortunately I was sheltering against a wall. Two near misses and I'm lucky to still be here at almost ninety.😉
No the feeling lived in Barnet only 6 then but still remember the buzz, then count to work out roughly where it landed.
Fantastic documentary wonderfully told and narrated .....for sure this aircraft, the De Havilland Mosquito, was one of the Allies most effective weapons that held the line from being overwhelmed from the Nazi Luftwaffe and was somewhat overshadowed by other aircraft like the Spitfires and Mustangs....I believe the Mosquito's versatility was really unmatched. It's a shame more haven't survived to this present day so many of us could marvel at what a magnificent aircraft this was and the brave men that flew her.
TH is the unit code of 418 City of Edmonton Squadron. They where the top scoring squadron in the RCAF. An aircraft marked as THZ, R. Bannock 's aircraft. is on display at the City of Edmonton's Aircraft Museum.
My father was radar tech o n Mosquito night fighters from 1942 to ‘46. Told me one ‘fortnight’ the squadron lost 14 planes -only one due to enemy fire.
First years of the war Britain was alone. The Mosquito was British designed and built. It was brilliant, what other aircraft carried a 6 lb gun as a submarine killer, as one of its variants.
The Mosquito is among the most brilliant aircraft designs ever to fly. It was the right plane at the right time, a plane with everything going for it, that was good at everything. The fact the wooden construction turned out to have a minimal radar profile (making it among the first stealth aircraft ever made) was a welcome if unintended added benefit.
But one of the most serious problems with the wooden wonder occurred when Mosquitos were eventually sent to fight in the Pacific war. The heat and humidity caused the wood in certain panels to shrink and warp, and the casin glue used in the Mossie turned out to be a tasty treat for some of the local bugs. This led to the Pacific Mosquitos to be grounded until Dehavilland came up with solutions.
1/2
2/2
Equally interesting to me, was the major German effort to produce a copy. Immediately the Germans first inspected a shot-down Mosquito, it really caused the Germans to sit up and take notice of what the British had done. Reichsmarshall Goering himself said "It makes me furious when I see the Mosquito," he raged."I turn green and yellow with envy. The British, who can afford aluminum better than we can, knock together a beautiful wooden aircraft that every piano factory over there is building, and they give it a speed which they have now increased yet again!"
And the Reichsmarshall immediately ordered the brilliant designer Kurt Tank to come up with a similar wooden aircraft, that became the TA-154. But the RAF somehow figured out where the wood glue was manufactured - and simply bombed the place to rubble. Since there was literally no other source for the glue, that was the end of that!
Actually, the British became aware of the V1 programme first through Enigma decrypts and then photo-reconnaissance, reports from slave workers (Luxemburgers) and finally the resistance. It was a long process, admirably narrated by Prof. R. V. Jones in "Reflections on Intelligence".
My father's friend Jim Thompson flew the armed versions of the Mosquito and Beaufighter both outstanding aircraft
Seeing as the wood to build the aircraft came from Canada, the name "Mosquito" seems more than appropriate! The joke is that the Mosquito should be our provincial bird in Ontario!😆
The wood didn't just come from Canada.
I used to volunteer at the museum that houses the first prototype. The same house where Gresley designed the A4 pacific (“Mallard”). Wish you’d visited Salisbury Hall. Incidentally, Pickard’s headstone is Commonwealth War Graves Commission, not German (I think all those headstones are CWGC).
Some of the first pre-Windows video games featured the Mozzies.
Me and my C-64 REMEMBER 😎
Respect to those gentlemen who flew for real.
‘In 1940 the RAF was no match for the Luftwaffe’. Er… b0llocks.
I said Get Bent! But I think it was deleted the first time.
The unique wood and glue (composite 👌construction) together with wooden propellers and nacelle covers The RAF,created the first Radar Stealth aircraft. This ability allowed it to pioneer 'Pathfinder' bombing tactics
Best well put together documentary. I’ve seen on this aeroplane kind of stitching together, pivotal part of the war…. Excellent production and detail. Thank you.
As a Canadian myself. Thank you for including a Norm Christie documentary. One of the best Canadian historians. Hope you show more of his work. 👍👍👍👍👍🍁🍁🍁
Norm Christie is one of MY favourite historians, too! LOTS of great info about both WW1 and 2!
"Night Fighter" is one of my favorite WWII books. Love the Mosquito!
Back when England was a wonderful country of brave patriots.
It continues to amaze me just how many things the RAF got right - it wasn't the RAF alone of course, I guess they just "picked the right mavericks" a fair bit of the time. It's an exhausting thing to do but if we can get back to doing that again (as a nation), taking some risks and seeing results like this aircraft... Not just military of course, I'm thinking in wider society particularly in technical and engineering fields.
The genius of this aircraft's design and execution in turn allowed the genius of her pilots to shine, just look at the results.
Interestingly the Mosquito was the first "low observable" modern plane. All the radar returns were absorbed by the timber except the props and the gun barrels.
nothing but respect for these men and women that served during this turblant time , we are not worthy of the sacrifice they made for us , all lost there youth some lost more
Well said ! Let's not forget the French Resistance.... Incredibly brave too ..
Having researched a lot about the Second World War i agree that this aircraft was the most versatile allied warplane of this war.
Little known fact "Winkle Brown" landed and flew a Mosquito from an Aircraft Carrier