Email this page to friends About the Author Born in Ohio and raised in Wisconsin, Steven Wilson has been fascinated by history since he was a child. One of his first books, a birthday present from his aunt, was THE CIVIL WAR by Bruce Catton. He was equally enthralled by motion pictures, working in his great-uncle's theater at the age of seven, hauling tins of un-popped popcorn to the concession counter. Buy Voyage of the Gray Wolves by Steven Wilson He's held a variety of jobs including tower clock repairman, factory worker, shoe salesman, stock boy, roofer, construction worker and now, museum curator. Wilson began writing novels in 1993, after a sketchy attempt to write short stories. His eclectic interests include motion picture history, movie soundtracks, 19th Century military history, and World War II. He works fulltime as a curator and museum consultant and writes part-time. He considers research as least as important as the writing, and plans to write some non-fiction works in the future. Website: http://www.huntersandthehunted.com/ E-Mail: readermail@HuntersAndTheHunted.Com Related Links History Directory: World War II Steven Wilson Archives

 

Up close and personal with the De Havilland Mosquito (Photo from Marshal Stelzreide's World War II Website).

It was made of wood, but it became one of the most lethal bombers in World War II -- the De Havilland Mosquito.

They were born when World War II was still the "Phony War" to some people; several months before the real killing started and the idea that any war could be called phony went up in the thousand columns of smoke that dotted the real battlefields.

The initial contract for 50 bomber/reconnaissance aircraft was let on March 1, 1940; the same day that Hitler issued a formal directive to the German military for the invasion of Norway and Denmark. Later they would become heavily armed fighters, and torpedo bombers and, with hinged wings, intended to serve aboard aircraft carriers although seeing their graceful form crammed on those tiny decks seems a sacrilege. They were De Havilland Mosquitoes, all-wooden aircraft when wood was not the valuable commodity that aluminum was. And it was faster to build than conventional aircraft, which was critical to the British war effort-they were losing pilots and aircraft to the powerful German Luftwaffe at an alarming rate. It was Geoffrey De Havilland's vision that was to become one of the most successful aircraft in World War II. De Havilland's four-engine transport, Albatross had already proved that wooden, lightweight aircraft could be dependable. Availability of materials, ease of equipment installation, comparatively low skin stresses, and the light-weight of the fuselage made it less susceptible to buckling than a metal one of the same weight per square foot. Eventually, almost 8,000 Mosquitoes would be produced in the United Kingdom. Mosquitoes were flown by men from Poland, the United States, Australia, South Africa, Great Britain, and New Zealand.

The De Havilland Mosquito, one of the most lethal airplanes of World War II (Photo from Aircraft Photos and Air Displays Website).

When the Mosquito prototype was first flown on 25 November 1940, the Battle of Britain was well underway and British bombers and German bombers made frequent trips back and forth over the English Channel to bomb one another's capitals. The British military had evacuated some 350,000 French and English soldiers from the beaches at Dunkirk but they had left their artillery and some said, any chance of victory. What was needed now was a miracle, even if the miracle was named after a tenacious little pest that did little more than irritate people.

W4050 was the first of the Mosquitoes, a clean-lined craft with twin Merlin engines, a glazed nose and a two-man cockpit. It wasn't an intimidating beast-there was no predatory look about it like the Stuka. The Mosquito had more the lines of a swallow, every aspect of her from her wingspan just a shade over 52' to her tapered tail that ended 41' from the tip of her nose. But she was fast and she was versatile; she did what ever was asked of her.

DH.98 was the designation given to the first of the fast aircraft (speeds, depending on the models and the circumstances were recorded at around 400 miles per hour), but the balsa-plywood aircraft soon settled nicely into its variant rolls. They were particularly effective as photoreconnaissance aircraft, either armed or unarmed with six ports for oblique or vertical cameras. Lateral coverage from these aircraft flying at 35,000 feet was a remarkable three miles and the quality of the images that they produced was astounding. One PR Mk 1 was able to distinguish the markings of the floatplanes carried aboard Prince Eugene from 24,000 feet traveling at nearly 250 miles and hour. Modified with extra fuel tanks to extend their range, the Mosquito PR Mk 1 depended on speed and altitude to elude their enemies.

The aircraft changed as its roles changed; the wingspan grew longer, the glazed nose was often covered over and filled with machine guns and protruding bomb bay doors were added, destroying the lines of the aircraft but increasing its bomb load.

If there was a need to fight, "Mossies" could do that as well. The fighter and fighter-bomber versions (a Mosquito FB Mk VI for example), carried from two to four 500-pound bombs, mounted four 20mm Hispano cannons under the nose and four 7.7mm machine guns above that. The Mosquito Mk XVIII was even deadlier than its sister. Two of the four 7.7mm guns and all four of the Hispano cannons were removed. A 57mm cannon capable of firing 25-six pound rounds in about 20 seconds, was mounted in their place. Certainly a credible tank or ship buster. The aircraft was also fitted with eight, 3.5-inch air-to-ground rockets, which could be fired in pairs or in a massive salvo of 25 pound semi-armor piercing or armor piercing projectiles. When it became necessary to fit the Mosquito with outer-wing drop tanks to carry the aircraft beyond its 1,700-mile range, the rockets were mounted in a tier arrangement. Much like the animals on Noah's ark they went two by two but unlike those Biblical passengers, they did so with menace.

The advent of radar as a common tool on aircraft created additional opportunities for the Mosquito but also changed its graceful lines for the worse. A "bullnose" radome was added to night fighters, night intruders, and PR reconnaissance aircraft. While contributing significantly toward the pilot's ability to "see" at night or during inclement weather, the bulbous bullnose with its upturned proboscis gave the otherwise sleek aircraft a clownish appearance. Progress is the price that we pay for beauty.

The Royal Navy, never one to linger when it came to opportunities, drafted the Mosquito. Fitting the aircraft with an arresting hook, strengthened landing gear, a four-bladed propeller, radar, and folding wings, they then announced the twin-engine aircraft capable of flying from carriers. Just to ensure that they could, Mosquitoes were also fitted with RATOG (rocket assisted take-off gear), to give the planes an extra boost. The graceful Mosquito must have been mightily embarrassed to have those pipes sticking out of her underbelly belching all manner of smoke and flame. The aircraft needed the additional power to take-off if they were to carry aerial torpedoes from carrier decks. Fortunately, the Royal Navy came to its senses and ordered that their Mossies should be launched from land bases.

There are a number of these remarkable aircraft remaining, most of them at rest in museums, around the world. Even in repose they remind visitors of the role they played in World War II as fast, lethal weapons. Fast planes, fast planes.

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