Variant FB.VI Fighter bomber. Developed from the NF.II with Rolls- Royce Merlin 22, 23 and 25 engines. Same armament as the NF.II plus two 50 gallon jettisonable wing tanks or two 500lb bombs (or extra tankage in the fuselage behind the cannon) in the later versions. Provision was made in 1944 to carry four 60lb rockets under each wing in place of the wing tanks or bombs for attacks on shipping. Two Mk.6 Mosquitos were modified for deck landing and converted to Sea Mosquitos by adding an arrestor hook, strengthening the rear fuselage and fitting four bladed propellers, becoming the basis for the Mk.33.
"The Wooden Wonder" The De Havilland Mosquito's nick-name says it all. The aircraft was arguably the most versatile in WWII. Mosquitos served as fast bombers (go to Bombing!), day and night fighters (go to Fighting), bomber-escorts, Pathfinders, photo-reconnaissance (go to Photo-Recon), U-boat hunters, and as the Gestapo's personal nightmare. The mosquito concept of a light, unarmed and extremely fast bomber started life as a private experiment by de Havilland. Initially the RAF top brass met the mosquito with disinterest and scorn. To them there was no place in the modern RAF for an old fashioned all wood aircraft with fabric covered control surfaces. History went on to prove them wrong because 7,781 (including 212 in Australia) of these aircraft were built, and flown with extraordinary success. When the prototype was trialed on the 25th November 1940 it achieved 624 km/h in front of stunned officials. (Bowman, 1995) (go to Performance) This speed placed it 32 km/h faster than the contemporary MK.V. Spitfire. Fitted with new engines the prototype achieved 703 km/h, the fastest any Mosquito has flown (Wilson, 1990). The Mosquito in flight above is from Web Birds. The 418 primarly flew this plane
418 Squadron RCAF was Canada's highest-scoring squadron in WWII, in terms of both air-to-air and air-to-ground kills, and in terms of both day and night operations. The Squadron's most active period was 1944, when assigned to Intruder and Ranger sorties across occupied Europe.
Base(s):
Bradwell Bay (February 1943)
Ford (14th March 1943)
Holmsley South (April 1944)
Hurn (14th July 1944)
Middle Wallop (29th July 1944)
Hunsdon (28th August 1944)
Hartford Bridge (21st November 1944)
Coxyde (15th March 1945)
Volkel (25 April 1945 to 7th September 1945)
(
www.rcaf.ca)
