Mosquito Men traces the contrasting careers of the young men of 627 Squadron, including that of Ken Oatley – last surviving member of an illustrious group – who flew twenty-two operations in Mosquitos as a navigator. One of the tourists is Evan, taking an enforced holiday from his family and work in Belfast after breaking down after the death of his daughter in infancy. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. The Founder of the Pathfinders [Donald Bennett] lacks sufficient coverage, but the politics with Cochrane are well articulated.

The author does a nice job of expounding on the power struggle between 5 Group and 8 Group (PFF) that resulted in 627 Squadron moving to Woodhall Spa and 5 Group. I did appreciate the lengthy anecdote regarding the personality and combat loss of Guy Gibson while leading a mission that he was not qualified for.The Mosquito Men are not acknowledged by any of the other characters in The Plane Scene, and themselves say nothing revealing any information about themselves (or at all).

A warm, unsentimental and beautifully-observed book for our times' Lucy Caldwell, author of These Days 'If I were in bother I'd want the Ballybrady bunch at my back. If the Squadron's history has not been well-served in print up to now, this volume sets things to rights. From the summer of 1943, as Bomber Command intensified its saturation bombing of German cities, Mosquitos were used by the Pathfinder Force, which marked targets for night-time bombing, to devastating effect. Many aviation history books concentrate only on the aircraft but this book describes the interaction between the politics, strategy and technology of the Allied bombing campaign, to put the Pathfinder operations in perspective.Its more familiar name was the de Havilland Mosquito, and it used lightning speed and agility to inflict mayhem on the German war machine. From the summer of that year, as RAF Bomber Command intensified its saturation-bombing campaign against German cities and industrial centres, Mosquitos were used by the RAF Pathfinder Force, which marked targets for night-time bombing, to potent and devastating effect. Richly detailed and superbly evocative in the telling – this is a compelling account of the wartime RAF's most glamorous plane and some of the brave men who flew it.

Grace lives alone in Ballybrady, a little village on the sublimely beautiful east coast of Northern Ireland.He has written for many newspapers and magazines on military aviation and is the author of A Bomber Crew Mystery: The Forgotten Heroes of 388th Bombardment Group , and The Crew , the story of an Avro Lancaster crew during the Second World War. As the government’s national archive for England, Wales and the United Kingdom, The National Archives hold over 1,000 years of the nation’s records for everyone to discover and use. Novel in construction and exceptionally fast, the new plane was soon outpacing the Spitfire, and went on to contribute to the RAF's offensive against Nazi Germany as bomber, pathfinder and night fighter.

Novel in design, operationally flexible and exceptionally fast, it inflicted mayhem on the German war machine as night-fighter, fighter-bomber and pathfinder. I have learnt a great deal about the operations undertaken by Mosquito Squadrons and enjoyed every minute of my read. Mosquito Men traces the contrasting careers of the young men of 627 Squadron, including that of Ken Oatley – last living member of an illustrious group – who flew twenty-two operations in Mosquitos as a navigator. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average.She hasn't left the village since a traumatic stay in London as a young woman at the end of the 1980s. He provided a concise overview of the change in 627 Squadron's night tactics from high-altitude to low-altitude target marking. Nicknamed The 'Wooden Wonder' for its timber frame and superb performance, the de Havilland Mosquito ranks alongside the Spitfire, the Hurricane and the Lancaster as one of the RAF's greatest-ever flying machines. She fills her days with swimming, fishing, quilting, and baiting the tourists who arrive from the city with more money than sense.