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.

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.

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."

Comment about this from an American, not an "allied" plane, this was a British plane utter genius give them credit

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Mosquito is my favourite plane! Thank you to all service members for their heroics!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Those Merlin engines were superlative! What Genius to develop such a thing. Truly awe inspiring!

I've watched many WWll docus, and this is absolutely one of the best ever. Congratulations to the film makers!

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.

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.

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.

My Dad was a Aviation tech on A8 and A7's during the Vietnam was, but his favorite plane was the Mosquito.

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.

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.

My grandfather flew one mission over Berlin in the Mosquito and then the war ended. Previously he flew Wellington's and Halifax's.

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.

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]

Certainly the DH Mosquito deserves a better deal reputation wise, a fantastic aircraft with fabulously heroic crews. Great film! Nice one team. ⭐👍

The mosquito was also effective against submarines with the massive single cannon it carried. When fired, the plane nearly stopped .

The Mosquito, a.k.a. the Wooden Wonder or the Timber Terror is still my favourite piston engined aeroplane.

De havilands were told not to pursue the mosquito but they did in secret and a magnificent aircraft was born !

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.

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.

"The RAF of 1940 was no match for the German Luftwaffe" um, The Battle of Britain wants a word with you!

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.

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 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.

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!

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.

Great job keeping the memories of these great innovations, and brave men alive!

de Havilland mosquito was my favorite plane growing up...airfix model and everything😊

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.

Good to see that Ben Elton has a great knowledge of this RAF airfield.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

Thank God for those brave men and women who gave us our today.

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

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 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.

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".

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.

This is just an absolutely unbelievable story of a unique plane that deserves much more recognition. Love this channel.

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.

Mosquito: Jack of all trades, master of everything

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.

The came a point where they were afraid of every aircraft they heard because they knew it wasn’t one of theirs

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.

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.

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.

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. 👍👍👍👍👍🍁🍁🍁

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.

This was a real Commonwealth aircraft with commonwealth crews from e.g., Canada and New Zealand. A really great documentary. Thanks so much.

What a great little documentary on a truly fabulous aircraft and its crews. Brilliant! Thank you.

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.

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.😉

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).

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".

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

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...?".

Allies didn't invent the Mozzie, the British did

My father's friend Jim Thompson flew the armed versions of the Mosquito and Beaufighter both outstanding aircraft

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.

My uncle flew mosquito in WWII, loved the plane, but said it was murder in the clouds! I miss the talks we had!

Interesting and informative. Excellent photography job enabling viewers to better understand what/whom the orator was describing. Professional class A research project!!! Special thanks to veteran airmen/guest pilot speakers. Sharing personal information/combat experiences. Making this documentary more authentic and possible. As always necessity was the mother of invention. De Havilland mosquito served it's pilots& crew well!!!✈✈✈✈✈✈💥💥💥💥💥💥

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.

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.

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!😆

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.

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.

It was good but it got some of the Mossie information wrong. Also they never mentioned the loss of Gibson and Cheshire who used a mossie to do pathfinder duties, before changing to a Mustang.

The very best of the best . More respect should be admired to this aircraft and there brave crew.

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.

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.

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.

"Night Fighter" is one of my favorite WWII books. Love the Mosquito!

I love that it was uesd as a figther, figther bommer, night fighter, pathfinder, reconnaissance, ground attack , precision bombing. And intruder op's

Having researched a lot about the Second World War i agree that this aircraft was the most versatile allied warplane of this war.