British

031645 - MOSQUITO SPECIAL OPERATIONS IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR - The Ultimate Fighter Bomber

By Peter Saxton

The Mosquito was the most successful battle-winning multi-role combat aircraft of the Second World War. It was introduced by the de Havilland Aircraft Company as an unarmed, un-interceptable, long range, high speed, high altitude medium bomber. An unarmed bomber without protective armament was a concept that ran directly contrary to the tactical doctrines of both the Royal Air Force and the US Army Air Force. Notwithstanding, it was developed to carry out almost unlimited roles including ground-attack dive-bomber, anti-shipping strike aircraft, day, and night fighter, 'Pathfinder’ marking targets for a main heavy bomber force, and long-range reconnaissance aircraft. There seemed to be nothing it could not be adapted to do with unmatched success. Its most important role was as a deadly long-range, low level precision ground attack fighter-bomber, ideal for 'special duties' operations. The book examines the crucial role of designers and engineers from drawing board to production and company support. Powered by two Rolls-Royce Merlin engines it could carry the same bombload as four-engine heavy bombers but at much greater speeds and at altitudes from low-level to ultra-high. It was the combination of this performance with its prodigious range capability that made it a truly strategic weapon in air warfare, striking precision targets in the heart of Nazi-Germany and sapping morale.

The text is of full of detailed and dramatic attacks from the aircrew point of view.

“It makes me furious when I see the Mosquito. I run green and yellow with envy.”  Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring.