DE HAVILAND MOSQUITO
Used
as a night fighter, fighter bomber, bomber and Photo-reconnaissance, with
a crew of two, Maximum speed was 425 mph, at 30,300 feet, 380mph at
17,000ft. and a ceiling of 36,000feet, maximum range 3,500 miles. the
Mosquito was armed with four 20mm Hospano cannon in belly and four
.303 inch browning machine guns in nose. Coastal strike aircraft had
eight 3-inch Rockets under the wings, and one 57mm shell gun in belly.
The
Mossie at it was known made its first flight on 25th November 1940, and
the mosquito made its first operational flight for the Royal Air Force as
a reconnaissance unit based at Benson. In early 1942, a modified
version (mark II) operated as a night fighter with 157 and 23
squadron's. In April 1943 the first De Haviland Mosquito saw service in
the Far east and in 1944 The Mosquito was used at Coastal Command in its
strike wings. Bomber Commands offensive against Germany saw many Mosquito's, used as photo Reconnaissance aircraft, Fighter Escorts, and
Path Finders. The Mosquito stayed in service with the Royal Air
Force until 1955. and a total of 7781 mosquito's were built.
Shining the Way (Mosquito) by Ivan Berryman
One of the artists most haunting paintings, a Mosquito B.IX of the
Light Night Striking Force, PFF, banks away from the target zone having
released a cluster of green "Christmas tree" marker flares
to light the way for the second wave of approaching bombers. Frought
with enormous difficulties and dangers, perhaps the most surprising
aspect of the PFF is that it was made up almost entirely of volunteers
and was widely regarded as the elite within Bomber Command. A fact made
even more staggering by the slim chances of any aircrew completing the
sixty sorties tour of operations that was asked of them. Nevertheless,
the PFF was never short of volunteers and their dedication and courage
is celebrated in this stunning print.
The Berlin Express by Stuart Brown During the climactic phases of WWII, the powerful De Haviland Mosquito,
allowed aircrews to fly up to three sorties in twenty-four hours. The
German capital was attacked with such regularity the inhabitants
christened the high-speed bomber 'The Berlin Express'. Signed by Air Marshal Sir Ivor Broom and Wing Commander Joe Singleton.
Prelude to Peace by Ronald Wong Pathfinder Mosquitoes precede a main force of Lancaster bombers to
mark out targets zones in the Netherlands fro supply drops during
Operation Manna, in the final week of the war In 1945 German Occupation forces flooded areas of Holland to slow down
the advance of the Allied forces. This had a catastrophic impact on the
food supplies for the civilian population. Faced with defeat, the German
forces extended an amnesty to the Allies to drop food supplies to the
Dutch.
