Hello chaps,
I’m currently enjoying “The Men Who Flew The Mosquito” by Martin W Bowman and it’s throwing up a few questions.
On P. 91, in the chapter which deals with the Americans’ interest in procuring and using the Mosquito, it states:
“In 1943 30 Mosquitoes were diverted from British production after the Canadian production of 120 for the Americans had been reduced to just 60 B.XXs because of RAF demands. These plus 11 Canadian-built F-28 models, were delivered to the 802nd (later 25th) Bomb Group at Watton. However these were not as popular with the pilots and navigators as the British-built Mosquitoes, and they were soon reassigned to a bomb group in Italy.”
I was wondering if the difference between the Canadian and British aircraft was because of the models in question or if there was a real difference in quality/performance/equipment etc between the British and Canadian Mossies.
In a wider sense, was there the intention to make the British and Canadian Mosquitoes the same as far as possible? Was it obvious which was which?
Cheers for any help with this – also feel free to recommend any further reading 😉
PS I would heartily recommend Bowman’s book to Mossie fans.
By: John Green - 30th September 2015 at 18:26
Simon,
I’ve ordered mine from Waterstones, in, on Friday next, price £14.99
The order number (ISBN) you quoted isn’t the right one. This is, according to Smiths and Waterstones: 97818-4415-8911.
By: mhuxt - 25th September 2015 at 23:50
Thanks for the replies, all.
Hah – you’re not wrong!
This isn’t the further reading that I had in mind when I asked for it above 😉 At least the first-hand accounts in the book can’t be full of misinformation.
This is the “real deal” when it comes to USAAF Mosquito recce/covert operations:
http://www.amazon.com/The-25th-Bomb-Group-World/dp/0764339508
(Norman Malayney’s book).
By: John Green - 25th September 2015 at 20:10
Thank you Simon.
By: SimonR - 25th September 2015 at 14:41
Hi John,
Sure: ISBN: 1-85260-488-3
Cheers…
By: John Green - 25th September 2015 at 14:25
SimonR
Are you able to quote an ISBN number for the Bowman book please ?
By: SimonR - 25th September 2015 at 11:19
Thanks for the replies, all.
This thread is worth a look:
Hah – you’re not wrong!
This isn’t the further reading that I had in mind when I asked for it above 😉 At least the first-hand accounts in the book can’t be full of misinformation.
By: mhuxt - 25th September 2015 at 10:37
This thread is worth a look:
By: Graham Boak - 25th September 2015 at 09:53
As far as I know there were no significant differences. I suspect any dislike of the Canadian aircraft would be because they were basically Mk.IVs, with the single-stage engines, whereas the British production had by then moved to the two-stage engines. However, I think the story of transferring them to a bomb (or even a PR) group in Italy has to be most unlikely. I suspect they either went into store or used as hacks.
By: CeBro - 25th September 2015 at 09:19
Because of location I would think instruments, equipment and engines would be American made.
Cees
Sign In
September 24, 2015 at 9:51 pm