A Mosquito raid on Berlin March 1945

[HReccon58]

After a lot of research, I have found interesting facts about a Mosquito raid with 163 sqn RAF March 13th 1945 on Berlin.
One of the aircraft KB476 taking part of the raid barely made it back on the proverbial wing and a prayer.
What they also did and probably never knew was giving Joseph Goebbels a bloody nose that night.

I have made a video about this story and published it on my youtube channel: The Wooden Wonder A miserable night in Berlin 1945

 

[Gnomey]

Good stuff!

 

[MiTasol]

Thank you

 

[mig2830]

Hi, Nice video - but some corrections:

The attacking force was not opposed that night by aircrafts due to bad weather in Germany, so the Wild Boar hunting was not an issue that night, neither was the ME262 you show. First, the two seater that you refer to was not taking part until march 27 when the first two seater participated (and was lost due to a pilot error), up till then the jet night fighters was single seaters ME262's.
The FLAK guns you are showing is not correct for that night, because at that time the FLAK towers in Berlin was equipped with the twin 12,8 cm. FLAKZWILLING 40/2.

 

[HReccon58]

Hi, Nice video - but some corrections:

The attacking force was not opposed that night by aircrafts due to bad weather in Germany, so the Wild Boar hunting was not an issue that night, neither was the ME262 you show. First, the two seater that you refer to was not taking part until march 27 when the first two seater participated (and was lost due to a pilot error), up till then the jet night fighters was single seaters ME262's.
The FLAK guns you are showing is not correct for that night, because at that time the FLAK towers in Berlin was equipped with the twin 12,8 cm. FLAKZWILLING 40/2.

Hi, Nice video - but some corrections:

The attacking force was not opposed that night by aircrafts due to bad weather in Germany, so the Wild Boar hunting was not an issue that night, neither was the ME262 you show. First, the two seater that you refer to was not taking part until march 27 when the first two seater participated (and was lost due to a pilot error), up till then the jet night fighters was single seaters ME262's.
The FLAK guns you are showing is not correct for that night, because at that time the FLAK towers in Berlin was equipped with the twin 12,8 cm. FLAKZWILLING 40/2.

Thank You for interesting remarks! and yes ME262 was not a threat that night, however my comment in the video is that ME262 was taking out Mosquitos two weeks after this raid.

 

[Crimea_River]

I have in my data files that the debriefing file contains a witty comment from the pilot in which he says that "everything went haywire" and it is felt that "everything" possibly does not exclude the pilot.

BTW, where did you get the information that the Mosquito had only 130kg of metal in it, excluding engines? I would appreciate a source document for that.

 

[HReccon58]

I have in my data files that the debriefing file contains a witty comment from the pilot in which he says that "everything went haywire" and it is felt that "everything" possibly does not exclude the pilot.

BTW, where did you get the information that the Mosquito had only 130kg of metal in it, excluding engines? I would appreciate a source document for that.

Hi! Thanks for your comments!, Here is a link to my source regarding the weight of metal: https://www.friends-amis.org/index..../fact-sheets/39-the-dehavilland-mosquito/file

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks for the link. I don't have a better number but it seems very low to me.

 

[herman1rg]

From the net for the Rolls Royce Merlin 61;
DRY WEIGHT: 1,640 lb (744 kg) x2 of course

 

[Vic P]

The link says that the 130 kg is of metal castings and forgings (besides the engines). So there would be a lot more metal than that. How much would all the armour plate weigh? Probably close to that much on its own.

 

[HReccon58]

The link says that the 130 kg is of metal castings and forgings (besides the engines). So there would be a lot more metal than that. How much would all the armour plate weigh? Probably close to that much on its own.

Hi, interesting thought - the degree of protection differed between the versions of the "Mossie" some used for ground attack had a bullet resistant windscreen and armour plating at the front of the cockpit. Anyway 130 kg is not a lot.. so maybe someone in this forum can shed some more light on this?

 

[Crimea_River]

Well, if I had the time, I could weight the lot from the parts in our restoration but I'm here to tell you that the tail wheel alone takes two people to lift.

Our B.35 has only one armour plate and that's on the bulkhead to which the pilot's eat is bolted. It's 1/4" steel plate which, at about 11 lbs/sq.ft. would come in at around 60 or 70 lbs. The radiators weigh a lot as well and I'm not sure those are being counted - I doubt it.

 

[HReccon58]

Well, if I had the time, I could weight the lot from the parts in our restoration but I'm here to tell you that the tail wheel alone takes two people to lift.

Our B.35 has only one armour plate and that's on the bulkhead to which the pilot's eat is bolted. It's 1/4" steel plate which, at about 11 lbs/sq.ft. would come in at around 60 or 70 lbs. The radiators weigh a lot as well and I'm not sure those are being counted - I doubt it.

So you are restoring a B35 - Thats fantastic! Whats the status on that project? Do you have a website or some info on that on the web?

 

[Crimea_River]

Yea we've been at it since 2012. Here's our web site. The Calgary Mosquito Society

Also a thread here that I have not updated for some time. Mosquito RS700 Restoration

The aircraft is actually a PR.35 the first of its kind to be converted from a B.35.