Mosquito Mayhem: de Havilland's Wooden Wonder in Action in WWII

by Martin W. Bowman

“This is the book that puts the flesh on the bones of its reputation as one of the best aircraft of the Second World War.” —Pennant MagazineThe flak started about four or five minutes before the target and immediately it was apparent that it was intense and extremely accurate. Oboe entailed the pilot flying dead straight and level for ten minutes on the attack run. Suddenly a tremendous flash lit up the sky about 50 yards ahead of our nose and exactly at our altitude. Within a tenth of a second we were through the cloud of dirty yellowish-brown smoke and into the blackness beyond. I shall never forget the spontaneous reaction of both my pilot and myself. We turned our heads slowly and looked long and deep into one another’s eyes—no word was spoken—no words were needed. The Mosquito was probably World War II’s most versatile combat aircraft. This book contains hundreds of firsthand accounts from many of the two-man crews who flew in them; pilots and navigators. It portrays the dramatic experiences of flying in its many roles as pathfinder, night fighter, reconnaissance aircraft, precision bombing and low-level ground attack aircraft. It describes many of the RAF’s most audacious raids on prime but difficult targets where carpet bombing by heavy bombers was likely to be ineffective and cause unnecessary casualties to civilians. It is a remarkable record of the aircraft and the men that flew them.

Genres: Aviation, History, War, Nonfiction, Biography

464 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2010

About the author

Martin W. Bowman is one of Britain's leading aviation authors, with over 100 published books on the Second World War and post-war aviation history, and several on the landscape of East Anglia. He has also established an international reputation for his superb imagery and aerial photography. He has a passion for flying in military aircraft. He lives in Norwich, Norfolk.

Reviews

[Ernest Godfrey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Confused

The one star is for the aeroplane which was a cracker but the book is confusing it consists of a paragraph describing a mission flown followed by a paragraph of a mission flown followed by a paragraph,,,,,,, etc etc. I cannot understand who would read all these, I gave up at page forty. If you flew a mission or your dad or grandad did then that particular paragraph would be very interesting but to find it in the book would take perseverance or luck and would you really recall the others. Even for instance th he bombing of Hamburg or Berlin would be difficult to analyse as the raids are scattered all over and picking them out requires you to read the whole book. I waited for the book to move onto the plane how it was built an appreciation of its finer points it's performance it's particular features but skipping forward fifty pages showed the same format, a paragraph describing a mission etc etc.
Sorry but I very rarely abandon book but 15% was all I could manage, shame really

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Martin W. Bowman's history of the Mosquito in the Second World War focusses on air crew narratives and experiences, making for an engaging read. It does not however, include analysis of the impact of the Mosquito, either on tactics or the war more broadly. To be fair to the author the subtitle of the book rather does imply this factor anyway!

At times technical numbering of the Mosquito version hampers the ease of reading, without adding greatly to the overarching narrative, and as other reviewers have identified, administrative tasking lists are covered without real value added here.

First hand accounts are helpful and enlightening to history; what is stark from those here is a lack of a sense of vulnerability from flying a wooden and broadly unarmed aircraft. Though an interesting read, one leaves with a sense that you do not have the full picture of the Mosquito; an aircraft that would perhaps benefit from the attentions of someone such as Leo McKinstry.

[John Mchale]

Factual list of Mosquito squadrons actions

[Derek Noble · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read from start to finish

Thoroughly enjoyed this. Written extremely well and it takes you into the daily lives of the aircrew. Anyone who enjoys learning about this time in our history will be taken there.

[MR MICHAEL A FRANCIS · Rating 5 out of 5]

The wonders of wood.

Britain's equilavant to the Spitfire with 2 engineds nstead of 1. The Tetse version is also deadly.. Thank heavens for the mossie.

[Clarke Wood · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book provides a run down on Mosquito operations from surprise bombing raids, pathfinding, V rocket hunting and night fighter operations. There is not a whole lot of technical details about the development of the mosquito, and also little discussion of how the aircraft fit into the bigger picture of air operations. Mostly the book just recounts operations by Mosquito planes. There is no real analysis, just a stream of anecdotal discussion of missions.