Intruders! 418 squadron in WW2

[Furball]

http://www.hitechcreations.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=101877 This post inspired me to share this with you guys, let you know the beauty of the Mosquito.

Just typed this out, selected different extracts from a speech given by Russ Bannock 30 May 1981 who served in 418 Squadron.

Please excuse any typo's on my part

However the great turning point in the history of the squadron came in March 1942, when it converted to the de Havilland Mosquito Mk. VI fighter bomber-aircraft.  At that time, it moved to ford aerodrome, near arundel, surrey, a very picturesque part of the South English coast... The move to this base really was the turning point in the fortunes of the squadron.  It went to a part of england where the weather was better, and of course, aquired the new and very fast Mosquito.

Let me tell you a little bit about the Mosquito.  This was the Mk. VI.  It was capable of carrying a good bomb load : four 500lb bombs, and was armed with four 20 mm Hispano cannons mounted beneath the aurcraft.  It had, as well, four .303 machine guns in the nose, and all of this really provided devastating firepower.  It flew more like a fighter than a bomber, and furthermore, it was at the time the fastest aircraft in the world.  At sea level, it could do about 375 miles per hour full out, the odd one could do about 385.  At altitude, say 20,000 feet, the mosquito was capale at flying over 400 miles per hour.  Now this doesn't sound very fasttoday, but in those days it was the fastest aircraft around....

Then the Squadron started going for bigger game, and this is when intruding against enemy airfields really got going in earnest.  There were only two squadrons in the U.K., 418 squadron and 29 Squadron RAF, assigned to the low level intruder role against enemy airfields.  There were three or four squadrons that were on the high-level rold assigned to go with the bombers to try and intercept some of the nightfighters; but at this early stage they didnt have much success because they weren't allowed to carry radar over Germany.  Our intruder role involved three different types of mission.  One was this assignment in support of bomber command which we called, by the code name "Flower Operations".

They were planned as follows.  Bomber command would advise fighter command that to-night there would be a 500+ aircraft raid on a city like Hanover.  Fighter command would advise 11 group, which was our group, that we were to provide cover over the german night-fighter airfields on the routes that the bombers were taking to the target, such as Hanover, and we as a squadroun would be assigned a half-dozen known german nightfighter airfields on their route.  We would try and catch them taking off and climbing up, and then we tried to catch them after the bombing raid was over when they were coming in.  Sometimes there would be three or four bomber raids over a two-hour period, so we would have to send somebody else to spell off the first fellow.  Usuallyit was a two hour trip to the target area and you would stay on patrol for two hours, and then head home.  So, if we had to patrol the same area for four hours, we would send a relief crew to take over that particular field.  Until D-Day time, June 1944, the Luftwaffe usually burned navigation lights, when they got back to the airfield for obvious reasons to prevent collisions and to allow their own ground defence crews to know that they were friendly aircraft.  We would arrive in the area and suddenly see  a set of navigation lights flying around; we'd go after them and try to shoot them down.  Gradually, of course, after they suffered considerable casualties,  they wisened up to this, and they didn't burn navigation lights except perhaps to flash them on final approach to advise their anti-aircraft crews that they were on final.  So it became much tougher, later on, to spot these fellows.  We had to work a lot harder and the only way we had of finding these aircraft was to get into the airfield area, where we knew there was activity, and do right hand circuits in hope of passing a set of exhausts suddenly flying overhead.  Then you would wheel around and try to pick up the exhausts.  If you were within 400 yards, and dead astern of an aircraft at night, you could see the exhausts, even though they had shrouds on them.

Typical of one of these "Flower" operations was my own experience on 10 June 1944, just immediately after D-Day.  the bombers were attacking railway yards just south of Paris, and i was assigned to a known Luftwaffe night-fighter airfield called Bourges Avord.  It was about 100 Miles south of Paris....  I arrived at Bourges Avord at about 11:00pm.  I was supposed to patrol it from eleven until one.  An hour after i arrived at the airfield lights and the approach lights suddenly came on.  The German Luftwaffe had an approach system that we called the Lorenz system.  It was a single line of lights with cross lights at different intervals which indicated to the pilots that they were supposed to be at a given height at each intersection. I saw these lights come on and realised there must be some activity, there must be something trying to land.  So i got closer to the airfield and started doing right hand circuits at about 800 feet.  Sure enough, when i was going right on the down-wind leg for a left hand circuit i spotted a pair of exhausts overhead.  I immediately wheeled around and by this time the aircraft was on base leg and probablyturning final, and at that point a search light went up right at the end of the Lorenz system.  Well, i'd been briefed enough to know that when that light went up, it meant the aircraft was on final and already had passed it.  It was a signal to the anti aircraft crews on the approach to shoot at anything that passed the light after the friendly aircraft.  However i went boring in hoping to spot this guy's exhaust on final approach.  Sure enough as soon as i'd passed te light, all hell broke loose, and there was a complete curtain barrage of flak!  I had to break off my attack and turn steeply to one side of the aerodrome.  Unfortunately for the German aircraft, just before he touched down, he made the mistake of turning on his landing lights.  I was able to wheel in and fire a burst, broadside with cannon and machine guns, and he exploded just as he was touching down.  We could tell by the light that it was a Messerschmitt Bf-110 nightfighter.

Then the fun started.  The whole airfield it seemed to me, was like the CNE on the fourth of july.  I've never seen so many coloured lights coming up at me from all directions.  There was a wall of flack that seemed to span the airfield.  We did a very tight 180 degree turn, at 100 feet and got out the area.  That was a typical "flower" operation.

In addition to these so-called "Flower operations", we did "Night Rangers",  The night ranger was sort of a trip tp a target of opportunity which usually resulted from intelligence information directly from fighter command.  Fighter command would tell us about some special activity at a German airfield and we would plan a trip there.....  I'd like to give you another personal example of a Night Ranger trip  i did on 17 July 1944, to an airfield called called Altenburg, south of Berlin.  Intelligence reports indicated that the Luftwaffe were moving their training fields from France to deep into Germany, and at this particular airfield they were converting Focke-Wulf day units into night fighter units... It was to be about a six hour trip at low level.  We planned a course to be flown about 500 feet to avoid radar detection.  These trips were always accomplished on dead reckoning navigation.  I find it amusing today to hear of so many pilots today who can't able to go anywhere unless they have a VOR, and ADF and all the latest aids, when i think we flew right across Germany, into Poland and so on, at 500 feet, on D.R. and we usually arrived on target right on schedule... bear in mind that the whole of Europe was black with no lights anywhere; so you could pick out water, little bodies of water such as a resivoir.  From this resivoir, I set a course and arrived at Altenburg to find a couple of searchlights flailing around the air, working witha  couple of Fw-190's who were practising on eachother.  We managed to shoot down one Fw down and damage the other one.  As we weren't sure if it crashed or not we claimed one destroyed and one damaged.  And that was a typical night ranger operation that the crews planned on their own initiative.

...Paul introduced another type of operation to the squadron, the Day Ranger.  These sorties were usually carried out in pairs and were flown at tree top level, being designed to disrupt daylight air transports and training activities all over France, the low countries and Germany.  They were highly successful and brought the squadron much fame and publicity, particularly in late 1943 and throughout 1944.

The first big occasion was 27 January 1944, when two seperate pairs went out, ranging in southern and eastern France, and came home having destroyed seven enemy aircraft in only six minutes combat!  They got two Ju-88's, two W-34's, one He-177, one He-111, and a Fw-200 transport.  Can you imagine the morale of the Luftwaffe wiith these Mosquitos roaming around in the tree tops, suddenly popping up, destroying three or four aircraft, getting back into the tree tops and disappearing?  The Mosquitos soon became such a pest to the Luftwaffe that they literally drove those training schools i talked about earlier into far Eastern Germany and severely limited transport operations...

 

Continued

[Furball]

Charlie Scherf became the top destroyer of aircraft in the squadron.  He got 22 aircraft mostly on Day Rangers and won the DSO, DFC and bar.  Interestingly enough most of these were shot down after he finished his tour and went on a rest tour to 11 group.  He kept calling up the squadron on weekends and asking "Can i come down and visit you fellows? Can i borrow a Mosquito for a couple of hours?"  Then he would talk somebody else into going with him in another mosquito and come back six hours later, having shot down six or seven aircraft.  He really was an incredible gentleman....

In November of 1944, the squadron moved to Hartford Bridge accepting a new and final role for the last four months of the war.  It was put into Number 2 Groupin the Second Tactical Air Force.  They were put into a wing with 29 Squadron and their job was to attack all kinds of road and rail transport - anything that moved behind the enemy lines - the same role performed by the squadron when it was equipped with bostons.  By this time of the war, the day fighters, the Typhoons and so on, had very effectively neutralised road and rail transport in the daytime.  So the role of 418 Squadron, was to go out and attack transport, anything they saw and they certainly racked up a tremendous score in that period: they destroyed and damaged 300 mechanical transport, 15 trains, 13 locomotives and some 20 goods wagons.....

By this stage of the war, every available man in Germany over 18 had been put into the army, and a lot of the ack-ack guns were manned really by these boy scout troops they called the "Hitler Jugend", or Hitler Youth.  The Mosquito was so feared by the germans at this point, that it was counted for the top score towards getting a "Ritterkreuze", the German Iron Cross.  If a pilot or ack-ack crew shot down a single-engined aircraft he got one point towards a "Ritterkreuze", a twin-engined aircraft he got two points, for a bomber or transport - three points, and for a Lancaster, Halifax or Fortress - four points.  But if you shot down a Mosquito, you got Five points!

Hopefully this will inspire one or two of you use the mossie in the MA

[Replicant]

Good read Furby!  

BTW, for those that don't know, the Mosquito in AH belongs to 418 Sqn!

[Guppy35]

Terrror in the Starboard Seat, by Dave Macintosh, a Mossie navigator is a great read too for Mossie fans.

Glad our two ship Mossie Intruder in AH got you th share this stuff

Dan/Slack

[TheManx]

Already use it a fair bit, and will try to use it more in the future. Excellent 1 vs 1 plane, a bit too big and flammable for furballing however.

[MOSQ]

I loved the Mossie in AW, that's why when we switched to AH I took the MOSQ handle. Alas, the Mossie in AH is not as good relative to the planeset as the Mossie in AW. In AW the only planes that could catch you in FR Europe were the P-51 and later on, the D9. In AH most of the planes can run you down.

Plus the fuel burn rate in AH is too fast. Mossies could fly to Berlin and back like a 51, but here the 51 has a long range, the Mossie a very short one.

And one ping from a field ack and the wing burns like a roman candle! You've got about 30 seconds before the wing comes off.

I wish it weren't so. I have an awesome print of Mossies attacking a german airfield, signed by original veteren aircrew of the RCAF. It hangs above my monitor, to inspire my nightly flights in the old AW, and now AH.

MOSQ

[TheManx]

If you're ever rooks Mosq, come find me and we'll wing up. I generally do very well in them.

[bozon]

At sea level, it could do about 375 miles per hour full out, the odd one could do about 385. At altitude, say 20,000 feet, the mosquito was capale at flying over 400 miles per hour.

from the help pages, our mossie can do only 340 mph on the deck (with wep) and can't reach 400 mph no matter the altitude.

also, the mossies range in AH is nothing to write home about.

any reliable sources about it's preformace?
I hope it will be fixed in AHII.

Bozon

[Karnak]

Originally posted by bozon
from the help pages, our mossie can do only 340 mph on the deck (with wep) and can't reach 400 mph no matter the altitude.

also, the mossies range in AH is nothing to write home about.

any reliable sources about it's preformace?
I hope it will be fixed in AHII.

Bozon

Our Mosquito hits the RAF numbers for a Mosquito FB.Mk VI Series 2 equipped with exhaust flare dampers exactly.  Look at the engines on the AH Mossie and you'll notice that it doesn't have the exhaust stack like the Spitfire or P-51 do.  Those curved tubes blocked the exhaust flare so Germans couldn't see them at night.  However they also blocked the thrust from the exhaust stubbs.  To give an idea of how much effect exhaust thrust could have, the A6M3 and A6M5 had the same engine, but the A6M5 had exhaust stacks setup for thrust and was 20mph faster.

The exhaust flare dampers knocked about 15mph off of the top speed.

With 150 octane fuel the Mosquito FB.Mk VI Series 2 without exhaust flare dampers could probably hit the numbers in the original article, 375-385mph.


As to the range, they said they're looking at it.  Here's hoping it gets fixed.

[bozon]

thx karnak

[hogenbor]

Would be nice to have a Mosquito set-up for day fighter-bomber operations. In AH it feels so sluggish and this is supposed one of the fastest operational aircraft in the world 1942-1943, if not, the fastest.

I really don't want to start one of those exhasutive performance discussions (just read the 109 k/d thread) but can anyone explain why the Mosquite bleeds energy so badly? Ok, it's big, but is streamlined and has quite a good power to weight ratio... let's not forget that Mossies were used too to catch V1's and Fw-190 nuisance raiders. (Please correct me if I'm wrong).

[gofaster]

Originally posted by Furball
http://www.hitechcreations.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=101877 This post inspired me to share this with you guys, let you know the beauty of the Mosquito.

Just typed this out, selected different extracts from a speech given by Russ Bannock 30 May 1981 who served in 418 Squadron.

Is that in print in a book?  Wouldn't mind having a longer read.

[Squire]

Why dont you 418 lads come by the CT more often? you want Mossie missions, thats where to find them.

Some quick notes:

*The Mosquito VI top speed was under 400 (@380).
* It did down V-1s but it was the Tempest and Spit XIV that did most of that, along with the P-51 and P-47.
*It was not the fastest combat a/c in 1942-3, but it was one of the fastest.
*340 on the deck is nothing to sneeze at.
*Mossie VI was not a day fighter, and was never used as one, it was a fighter-bomber, night fighter, intruder, anti-shipping a/c.

[MOSQ]

Manx, I am a Rook ! . I fly in the NightHawks squad. I'll look you up for a mission!

GoFaster, I have two Mossie books I bought used from Amazon:

Mosquito Wooden Wonder by Edward Bishop 1971, and The de Havilland Mosquito by M.J. Hardy 1977.
 
The Bishop book is a paperback and originally sold for $1. I think I paid $16 or more. The Hardy book is a hardback, original price $11.95, I think I paid about $30.

They are both chock full of every detail on the history of the planes with stats on the enormous number of variants. Also a lot of flying history, including the Ranger flights, the raids on Gestapo HQ and Gestapo prison, and of course their use as Pathfinders for Lancasters. In that role they would use the bomber only version of the Mossie, fly ahead of the Lancaster bomber stream, and mark the city to be destroyed with incendiary bombs. The Lancs would then home in on the fires.

One of the problems in any discussion of Mossies is the numerous variants have such different performance. The pure bomber versions were typically faster than the FBs. And the photo recon were screamers. The PR 34 could fly 425 mph at 35,000 ft, with a range of 3,500 miles!

Two interesting variants to add would be the B XVI (B for Bomber) that could carry the 4,000 lb blockbuster bomb; it was capable of 408mph at 28,500 ft. Nice Tiger blaster or HQ raider.

And if AH2 adds night operations, the NF 30 nightfighter, 424 mph at 26,500 ft.

[Bulz]

Hmm Great story!  I think we need to get REDDG to post his own artistic vision of it..