The daring low-level daylight Mosquito raids of World War Two

The Mosquito took part in some of the most famous and daring low-level daylight precision strikes during World War Two. Malcolm V Lowe tells the story

Possessing excellent all-round performance, the Mosquito became a workhorse for many diverse tasks during World War Two. One of these was low-flying, daytime pinpoint attacks against specific targets in Occupied Europe.

Mosquito
One of the Mosquito units that became adept at the specialist role of daylight pinpoint attacks was 487 Squadron, RNZAF. Several of the unit’s Mosquito FB.VIs posed for this formation photograph
JB VIA MALCOLM V LOWE

The Mosquito’s admirable speed and handling at low altitude, together with its ability to carry a useful bomb load over considerable distances, made it the ideal fighter-bomber for just this sort of high-value targeting. Indeed, the Mosquito proved to be a far better and more powerful warplane than the aircraft types that it replaced in this role, notably the Bristol Blenheim.

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