Why This Unique World War Two Aircraft Terrified the Germans

An awesome presentation. I am a World War II buff and didn’t really know that much about the mosquito and the night raids and such until I saw this. Very very good!

Brilliant Documentary really well Narrated. Thank you. In Retrospect in is shocking these Magnificent Aircraft didn't survive into Preservation in far greater numbers.

Great innovation from De Havilland, the company destroyed itself 7 years after the war ,hit by a Comet 😢.

Nothing terrified the Germans.

Was this Britain's biggest contribution to the air war?

and today its called the A10 ????

Amazing program , thank you . The bravery of this generation is incredible , including my Dad and my Uncle who were on Navy aircraft carriers .My only Uncle was shot down in an Avenger June 12 1944 , and never found to this day . I sometimes cry that he didn't get to live a full life and I have no cousins or family ...

Is that mr Christie?.

How were they held together?

id heard of the V1 but you hardly ever see anything about them

Mighty aircraft mighty Crew bomber command suffered horrendous sacrifices casualties

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.

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Love the bombing story about Goering's scheduled speech. I could just see the fat man proudly walking up to give his speech. Dressed in white, holding his sword, with his jacket buttons ready to pop. Then suddenly the sound of aircraft racing in and bombs exploding. Goering would have had other Nazis trying to hustle his fat butt to a bunker. I could just see him yelling trying to run and the other Nazis trying to shove him along. 🤣🤣

The Mozzy was NOT unique to the Germans. They had developed twin engine fighters for the same purpose, BUT the Alies, bombing the cities and civlians, quickly drained Germany's engineering output... unlike the US.

Question : what planes escorted the Mosquito

The most-produced variant, designated the FB Mk. VI (Fighter-bomber Mark 6), was powered by two Merlin Mk. 23 or Mk. 25 engines driving three-bladed de Havilland hydromatic propellers.

Although most of the aircraft was constructed out of wood, certain structural elements as well as the engine compartment were made out of metal. The wood consisted of three layers consisting of Ecuadorian balsa wood and two layers of three-ply birch wood, harvested in the UK, US and Canada.

WOW.. If you are going to produce a documentary, get the facts right. The higher-ups at the Defense Ministry resisted getting updated aircraft and when they finally realized they needed to modernize, they resisted the Mosquito which DeHavilland developed and built on their own with their own time and funds. Even then the Defense Ministry resisted approving it until they tested it out of desperation. Until then they considered the plane to be a ridiculous joke because it was made of wood when "REAL" modern aircraft were being made of aluminum. DeHavilland fought hard to get the heads of the Defense Ministry to even give it a chance to be tested.

Why were so many Irish, put in the RCAF? My Dad was a tail gunner in Lancaster’s, but he was form Limerick in the Irish republic and volunteered in 43. I have his photos and log book and he had a Canada flash on his shoulder .

This was excellent!!!! A poorly covered aircraft in WWII history. Brilliant work

It makes me furious when I see the Mosquito. I turn green and yellow with envy. The British, who can afford aluminium better than we can, knock together a beautiful wooden aircraft that every piano factory over there is building, and they give it a speed which they have now increased yet again. What do you make of that? There is nothing the British do not have. They have the geniuses and we have the nincompoops. After the war is over I'm going to buy a British radio set – then at least I'll own something that has always worked.-Hermann Goering

Balls of titanium

De Havilland mosquito with the combination of Machine gun and 20mm cannon and a fighter bomber even multiple plane

a lot of things and People terrified rhe germans. seems to be a beloved title in britain . next week: the hamsterettes that terrified german panzers

Now that is what i call HollyWood type myth making.

The Mosquito was at 1st rejected by RAF Command and Dehavland used his own money to continue development then when he felt it was ready invited few top brass to his airfield where the test pilot throw it around like a single seat fight at which point it was ordered. A varient of Mosquito had a 8ponder fitted that put nice holes in subs and Nazi ships. Sadly the Mosquito didn't last as the bonded would that gave it its strength suffered delamination in wet climates. I also read while great for experienced pilot it could bite the inexperienced or cocky pilot but aGreat video.

Great video, but the inappropriate stock Stuka dive bomber sound effects were a bit annoying. So many seem to think that every airplane in a dive makes that sound, but the Stuka had actual sirens on it to make that and strike fear into their targets. You can find a recording of it on YT by searching for "Stuka Siren".

De Havilland made the Mosquito initially as an unarmed bomber.

Awesome plane! .. we had them with our RNZAF and we have Mosquito warbirds here in NZ...it is an emotional plane 👍✈️🇳🇿

Outstanding video guys

This is the umpteenth WW2 aircraft that terrified the Germans. Either this phrase is being over used or the Germans were all scarten kleine pussykaten.
On the other hand, anyone in their right mind, on seeing a mosquito diving at you bomb bays open, firing 4 x 20mm cannon, would be fucking terrified. I'd poop my pants.

Wow! This is an excellent presentation about a phenomenal aircraft and phenomenal war effort that would help save the world from genocidal fascism.

Woke people wake up!!!!!

There were no allies until after Pearl Harbour old boy.

Our cousin Eric, my father's first cousin, was a Mosquito pilot. He arrived in England from Canada, in early 1944. He flew more than 50 low altitude night missions over France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. He was posted to No. 107 Squadron RAF and flew his first night sortie over occupied France on Aug. 26, 1944. He flew 58 missions, attacked troop transports, rail yards, warehouses, ammunition dumps, boats, trains, even the V-1 flying bomb, often while under attack by German anti-aircraft units. He received many medals including the Distinguished Flying Cross, with the citation “He has at all times exhibited great determination, initiative and daring, and set an inspiring example by his fine fighting spirit and devotion to duty.” He later flew an F-86 Sabre in Korea for the U.S. Air Force. He received the U.S. Air Medal for “his fortitude and courage” in flying 50 combat missions in the Korean War while on secondment to the U.S. Air Force.
He had heard his father’s stories about the mud and misery of trench warfare and wanted nothing to do with the regular army, which is why he joined the RCAF. His father had fought in WWI in such battles as Hill 70 and Passchendaele.
Eric passed away in March 2019 at the age of 98.

The German U Boats were not fans of the Mosquito either. They used a Mk 18 version (called the Tetse) armed with a Mollins 57 mm 6 pounder Anti Tank gun to shoot up U Boats going out to hunt atlantic convoys.

Never understood why we didn't built thousands of the wooden wonder so we could drop a few bombs accurately as opposed to thousands inaccurately. It was such a radical and genius concept but guessing it made the air ministry look incompetent given they laughed at the proposal and favoured much more vulnerable heavy bombers.

Tickles me my once great country is now flooded with immigrants from so called war zones. 39 -45 Britain was a war zone. Did we run away??? Nope, our race fought back. Lesson their for immigrants and why we dont want you in UK. Go away, fight for your country, cowards

Arguably, the Mosquito was the most successful aircraft De Haviland produced.

British not allied

I heard Erich Hartmann couldn't even get out of bed in the morning he was so terrified. :-)

It is great that this is a marvel video to find out a few insights in these airplanes of history. Equally important, or more so, is in the comments section, when descendants of the pilots, ground crew or maintenance personnel get acquainted with one another. Thanks for posting this and allowing that opportunity to exist!

Many skilled hands in Europe including Ukrainian Farmers like my Father helped build this Magnificent Airplane.

The allies didn’t develop the Mosquito the BRITISH did. I met one of the first four people who worked on the initial plans for the Mosquito in a wooden hut on the then R A F Airfield at Hatfield in Hertfordshire.

So what is so special about wooden aero planes the Russian had mostly wooden planes The Mosquitos tend to become unstuck ( unglue ) in the tropic SAAF scrapped them in short order