Thanks Dave, for the website on the Republic Rainbow....I've just a small article on it in a book, but it's specs greatly aroused me, as also it's nice sleek lines....it did have real potential, even as a light/medium bomber too, perhaps, especially indicative of some of the great ideas going on the US Aircraft industry.....just a shame they took so long to produce.....
As to the B-29's in N.Ireland.....In Aug. 1943, they had the Quadrant Conference in Quebec, where Arnold submitted his 'Air Plan for the Defeat of Japan'...- This document contained the first reference in strategic policy for the B-29. - Up to that time a rather vague proposal for committing the new bombers to Europe had existed, and it was envisaged that 12 Groups would be stationed in N.Ireland, and 12 more would be stationed near Cairo, in Egypt....- Arnold's plan though, was much more specific, proposing the deployment of the 58th Bombardment Wing [Very Heavy], newly activated under Wolfe's command, organised to contain 4 Groups of B-29's, to the CBI by years end.... Only one B-29 went to the UK, as mentioned, on the way to the CBI, to confuse the Axis Intelligence as to the actual theatre of operations.....
In regard to Bomber Command Mosquitos;.... RAF 139 Sqn. wasn't actually a Pathfinder Sqn. but due to 5 Group's [Cochran] depletion of some of the Pathfinder Force's Sqn.'s, they did the target-marking for the Pathfinders Mosquito 'Light Night Strike Force', as they were fitted and trained with H2S....Alot of folk thought they were just a 'nuisance-raiders', but with about a 100 Mossies each carrying 4000 lb 'cookies', their average raid on Berlin dropped about 400,000 lbs on the German Capital. After the War, it was discovered that Berliners regarded these attacks as anything but 'nuisance raids', realising also that it wasn't 'Main Force' either, but still nonetheless, genuine heavy raids.....
AVM Don Bennett, the Commander of Pathfinder Force commented in his book....'' The experts on the Air Staff who turned down the Mosquito as a type, in the early days, might be interested in the argument which subsequently became current, to the effect that one Mosquito was worth 7 Lancasters....For those mathematically-minded, here is the exercise :...... A Mosquito carried a little over half the bomb load of a Lancaster to Berlin. It's casualty rate was about 1/10th of that of a Lancaster. It's cost was 1/3rd of the Lancaster, and it carried two people in it's crew instead of seven....'' Bennett went on to say it's a little hard to get an exact mathematical result from those figures, but it was quite clear that in value for War effort, it was certainly well in favour of the Mosquito, compared with ANY other aircraft ever produced in the then history of flying......And the still sobering thought, that ALL Bomber Command and No.1409 Meteorlogical Flight Mosquitos were totally UNARMED.....At the late stages of the War, the Met. Flights were often intercepted by Me-262's, that could always out-pace them, but never out-manoevre them......there was nearly always a Met. Flight in the air, 24 hours, around the clock, keeping weather updated for the bombers.....brave, consistent, reliable men........