de Havilland Mosquito - In The Movies 

Cool fact about the Mosquito is that it was possibly one of the first plane to spot and be one of the first planes shot down by a Jet fighter the German Me-262 in combat

My drafting professor in college had been an engineer on the Mosquito project. He worked on the aircraft's propeller design. We could always get him to talk about his wartime experiences instead of teaching us how to draft.

Mosquitoes also flew over France at night with a radio operator in the back talking to resistance groups with a radio similar in operation to a mobile phone. Incredible technology in its day.

Its largely thanks to Glynn Powells dogged perseverance in NZ that 3 of the 4 currently flying Mosquitos are flying today. He left behind an incredible legacy.

The first clip is of the film "The Purple Plain" with Gregory Peck as the Canadian, there is an interesting story that I can vouch for as being 100% Truthful. The two Mosquitos in the film were from 81 (PR) Sqdn R.A.F. based at R.A.F. Seletar, Singapore. Without any knowledge of the reason the two Mosquito's and Air Crews were sent to Ceylon and upon arriving at their destination they were met by a Film Crew who's first Question to the Ground Crew was "Where are the Guns" .... A Mate of mine piped up and said "No Guns Mate these are P.R.Mk 34's ... Photographic Reconnaissance" .... after this had sunk in the Film Crew made it clear that guns were essential .... So when plans fall into a heap Ingenuity walks in the door. So the 81 Sqdn ground crew went into a huddle ... came up with a solution (a bit iffy as this Modification had never seen the light of day). First the clear Perspect nose of the PR 34's had correlation lines painted to assist the Navigator in lining up for the Photographic run, so the nose was paint to match the rest of the aircraft, then after working all night the Airframes bods together with other ground crew and transformed Broom Handles into life like Gun Packs on the Nose Cone much to the pleasure of the Film Crew. The 81 Sqdn Ground Crew, because they looked like Ground Crew, were used as extras. Just another Credit for 81 (P.R) Sqdn. Apparently all the 81 Sqdn Bods were in agreement that Gregory Peck was a nice Bloke and very appreciative of the ingenuity of the R.A.F. How do I know all of this ... I served on 81 Sqdn for three very happy but sometimes scary years. "Non Solum Nobis"

The mosquito became the premier night fighter for the allies. A common tactic was to loiter over German airfields with engines off, since the mosquito had an excellent glide. When a German plane taxied up for take-off, the mosquitos would strafe the runway or get the plane before it could get up to speed in the air

"Alrigggght I'm Johnny". Possibly the best outro of all my subs.

The de Havilland Mosquito. The best twin engined aircraft of WW2. The raid on the Gestapo HQ in Denmark was not the first against the Gestapo. Some have said the Mosquitos had a personal vendetta against the Gestapo as this was one of several raids carried out by Mosquitoes against the them. The Wooden Wonder was also known as the Timber Terror. Which is probably what Goring thought of them. He once said it made him yellow and green with envy. Especially as German could not make anything like it. The V-1s were known as code name Divers by the British. I assume this was because once the flight came to an end the dived down. During these attacks the Germans asked their spy ring in Britain where the V-1s were landing so they could make adjustments for range. Their spies reported that the V-1s were landing short so Germany increased the V-1s range. What Germany did not know was that their spy ring was thoroughly compromised and that the information given to them meant that the bombs were now mostly going passed London. To the best of my knowledge the Mosquitoes used against the V-1 were nightfighters which flew at night over the French coast waiting to see the flame from the V-1s engine before chasing it down and attacking it. They, of course, also had their own radar to keep track of them. The V-1s in the daytime were often hunted by Spitfires. Both aircraft flew high above the flightpath of the V-1 and used the speed from the dive to catch them. It was very dangerous and more then one British aircraft was damaged or lost from the V-1 blowing up.

By far THE most versatile aircraft of WWII. Seriously, nothing else even comes close.

The Bomber Command Museum in Nanton, Alberta Canada is currently restoring a 'Mossie' for static display. It should be ready for viewing Next Year.

In 1982 at raf cosford age just 5 I was allowed inside the cockpit of their mosquito…. Wish I could thank the volunteer who gave a small boy an experience that will last a lifetime 😊👍🏽

"633 Squadron" was the first war movie I ever saw on the big screen. So the story goes, star Cliff Robertson wanted to buy one of the Mosquitos after the movie was made, but was refused. He later settled for owning a Spitfire. Flying one of the German fighters in the movie was Martin Caidin author, pilot, and creator of "The Six Million Dollar man.

A bit more info. '633 Squadron' and 'Mosquito Squadron' were both filmed at RAF Bovingdon which is near MGM Borehamwood Studios where the interiors for both movies were shot. Bovingdon airfield stll exists and even has a website but only the runways remain as the buildings were demolished decades ago. It is still used for film production. Some scenes for 'Fury'were shot there. The very last Avro Ansons in RAF service were based at Bovingdon and were retired in June 1968 ,just before filming for 'Mosquito Squadron' started. Two of these Ansons were painted in wartime camouflage and appear at the end of Mosquito Squadron. They can be seen in their original livery in the background in some scenes in '633 Squadron.' Three Mosquitoes were based at Inverness Airport (Dalcross) for the shooting of the' Norwegian' and 'practice' scenes ' for '633 Squadron.' Most of the Mosquitoes used in '633 Squadron' were B.35 /T.T.35 versions with perspex noses . These were simply overpainted for the film and dummy machine guns fitted via a curved piece of wood. This can be seen very clearly in the clip from the 'Avengers' episode 'The Hour that Never Was' which is in the above video. This features Mosquito RS712 at RAF Bovngdon in summer 1965 two years after the filming of '633 Squadron. It was at that time owned by Hamish Mahaddie. RS712 was subsequently used in 'Mosquito Squadron.' The miniature sequences for 'Mosquito Squadron' were filmed at Malta Film Services by a team lead by Kit West who was at that time working for Les Bowie.

I read somewhere that there was a problem with the glue on the Mossies serving in the Far East and they had de lamination problems due to the heat. The red on th British roundels was deliberately left off so they wouldn't be mistaken for Japanese aircraft in the heat of battle.

1946 "A Matter of Life and Death", starring David Niven, has a low level pass by a Mosquito in the beginning of the film. Just thought I would add it, gotta love the old movies!

In my opinion, the Mossie is the finest combat aircraft ever created.

I'm in the lucky situation of living ten minutes drive from the hallowed ground of Salisbury Hall where the mosquito was developed and houses three genuine mossies including the original prototype. If you ever get the chance visit The Mosquito Museum at London Colney in Hertfordshire.

The successor to the Mosquito was the de Havilland Hornet which AFAIK was proofed against the delamination problem the Mosquito suffered in damp conditions, in order for it to be able to work in the Pacific and Asian theatres. It was smaller than the Mosquito and had an extra thousand horsepower - a real hot rod. Sorry, a bit off topic but I have a soft spot for piston engine planes that never quite made it to World War II. :)

I always found it interesting that the De Havilland Mosquito was even used in the Chinese Civil War of 1946-1949 by the Nationalist Air Force. The DH Mosquito was supplied by Canada at the moment.🤔🇹🇼🇨🇳

Totally agree, One of the best and probably the most versatile aircraft of WW2. During the raid on Amiens prison the Mosquitos flew so low up an approach avenue they had to fly with one wing higher than the other to get between the trees!!

Great video. I have a special interest in the Mosquito. I wrote a book called 'Planes on Film' which has a chapter on '633 Squadron' and 'Mosquito Squadron.' I also had an email correspondence with Walter E Grauman director of '633 Squadron' in the early 2000s. A few points. 11 Mosquitoes were used in 633 Squadron. 5 airworthy, 3 in taxiable condition for crash scenes etc and 3 more were used at MGM Borehamwood Studios for cockpit shots etc. 6 Mosquitoes were used in 'Mosquito Squadron.' 4 airworthy , one non - airworthy for ground shots and a crash scene. One for cockpit shots at MGM Borehamwood. I think the figure of 30 survivors includes the four airworthy ones. 'The Man Who Never Was' has a brief shot of Mosquitoes on the ground.

The Mossie was one of the best! Thanks for this overview and the well-detailed summary of the aircraft’s capabilities and contribution! Keep it up!

Hi I'm Burmese and I have been subscribed your channels for a while. When it comes to classic movies about Burma Campaign during WW2, The Purple Plain and The Burmese Harp are the only ones we knew and love. But about The Purple Plain, most Burmese audience watched it for the actress and the romance aspect of the story and rarely mention about the WW2 military aspect. It is good to learn things about the movie from a different perspective.Great Job. Mosquitoe is less known among Burmese as well. People at that time only recognize Spitfire, B-24 Liberator and P-38 Lockheed(older generations nicknamed it as "Two Buffaloes" because of unique design).

great plane with great history it is one of my top 10 British aircraft

I was wondering when you would post a video on the de Havilland Mosquito, and here it is. As always, excellent work you made, and great movie selections! I hope you make a movie review on “The Shadow In My Eye” which centers on Operation Carthage. That movie deserves more recognition.

The scene in 633 squadron when they come in to land is amazing when you have the sound up loud the Merlins roar out from the speakers.

You got the mosquito video out quicker then I thought you would Johnny. You said your next video would be covering British gear & you didn't disappoint. The de Havilland as we have discussed previously is one of the planes that gets really overshadowed though it deserves recognition. The Mossie is a top tier plane for it's time. You cannuck's along with Aussie's built a fair few home variant'ss of the wooden wonder as well. I could give more information on the mossie but I think added everything that was needed & more. I'll have to watch purple plain when I get the time, haven't seen that flick. That's a rare toot sweet.

It’s short lived successor the Hornet further developed the wooden construction used on the Mosquito. Sadly, like most post war piston aircraft (e.g. wyvern, sea fury, f8f bearcat etc.), they went away just about as quickly as they came.

one of my favorite allied aircraft. great work Johnny!

633 Squadron The film was produced by Cecil F. Ford for the second film of Mirisch Productions UK subsidiary Mirisch Films for United Artists. 633 Squadron was the first aviation film to be shot in colour and Panavision widescreen.

Johnny thanks for the cool video about the Mosquito in movies. I have seen some of them. If Iwas going to fly in ww2 I would want to be posted to Mosquito intruder Squadron.

The mk6 fighter bomber was fantastic Armed with 4 7.7mm Brownings 4 20mm Hispano auto-cannons 4,000lbs of bombs or drop tanks It was a beast, more than capable of engaging and killing fighters such as the fw 190, it could fight it's easy to the target, hit it and fight it's way home The mk18 was bonkers. To it's collection of four Brownings, they added a 57mm auto-cannon, with fire select between auto and semi. It sank U-boats. Very well too, it even had an aerial kill with that 57mm. It chopped a wing off next to the engine

Man, really love these videos. Really appreciate the effort to collect all these bits and pieces.

Excellent content as Always Johnny! Mosquito is maybe my favorite ww2 era airplane. I love the story of how it came to be, how the establishment didn't really believe it the concept, but the Mosquito turned out to be a far better aircraft than anyone expected. Most Mosquito's were sold to other lower-tier militaries around the world after the war. They were a very versatile and useful plane, so a lot of them entered civilian service as fire-patrol, coast guard, mail and many other roles. They were eventually used up and scrapped. Very few remain today but there is an ongoing project in Australia where they are building a new one from original plans and parts. (People's mosquito project) A lot of the Mosquito's were built by Canada and Australia, so credit where it's due.

The Mossie was so well renowned that the Germans made their own version which was unsuccessful. It truly is a remarkable aircraft. Thanks for this great video and listing the movie titles. Need to find Shadow and Purple Plain.

There is a restored Mosquito at East Kirkby in Lincolnshire which is used for giving taxi runs to people, it is a fantastic experience in a wonderful aircraft.

You've once again added to my movie list, Johnny. The only I've seen before is "Soldier of Orange."

Been loving the rate of videos you’ve been doing…Great job Johnny 👏🏾

So, I’m gonna throw my 5 pence theory in because ‘why not?’ What if Bomber Command had used thousands of Mossies and similar instead of the heavies? It is entirely possible that the entire campaign would have been more effective in pretty much every way. And considering how awful the RAF bombing campaign of WWII was it couldn’t have been much worse. And ‘No’ I am not dishonouring the memory of the fallen. They were incredibly brave considering the losses. But I think it could have possibly been done differently and more effectively if the RAF hadn’t been so blinkered by Trenchard theory. Discuss 100pts. :) Great work again JJ. You forgot the 633 /Star Wars bit though!!

Cracking video on Hertfordshires finest aircraft the wonderful Mossie.

Me when I was about to go to sleep and I got a notification of you on my Phone but very late: 6:01

My father's favourite WWII era aircraft. He did his National Service in the RAF a few years after the cessation of hostilities but he (sadly, for him!) never got to fly in one. I caught a video recently on the Finnish VL Myrsky fighter (built from the there widely-available raw material, wood) that suffered problems with poor-quality glue in those chilly northern climes so it's interesting how those issues were addressed (or not, in some cases) in the case of the Mosquito. Similar difficulties also befell the wooden Italian CRDA Cant Z 1007 bomber, apparently, although those difficulties arose from being at the other end of the temperature extreme from Finland - in the Western Desert.

Thanks for sharing such videos with us.

Good job! Very impressed with all of your vids and starting to watch the movies you’ve recommended too! Lots of quality effort and research! Much appreciated!

I’m glad you feature tintin cartoon when I first heard about the aircraft

Great video as always. Both intellectually stimulating and fun! I really appreciate your adding movies about the topic at the end. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of any of these growing up in the 60’s. Thank you for the hard work!

Another splendid video. I am still really impressed with you finding all the source material from various medias to fill these videos 10 mins+. Bravo.

The wooden wonder indeed...was privileged to see one flying...awe inspiring...thanks for sharing this with us all, Johnny....cheers/slainte...E

Damn, I love that plane. Gorgeous and deadly.

Was hoping you would make a video on the Mosquito, keep up the good work Johnny!

Another great video mate.

I have both Mosquito Squadron 1969 and 633 Squadron 1964 on DVD. Both are well done movies. The British bombers were being shot to shreds, when de Havilland organized every cabinet worker and wood worker he could lay his hands on and built the plane like a Lego set and had them sent to an assembly area to piece the airplane together. Beak one of the planes and they'd just bolt or glue on the damaged part.

My Grandmother worked at The Canadian Powerboat Company in Montreal, making parts for the Mossie. The assembled aircraft were painted at Downsview by my Best Friend's Grandfather.

Good video. I wasn't aware of Purple Plain so I bought the DVD. Like 633 Squadron and Mosquito Squadron which takes many of its flying sequences from 633 Squadron (and V1s from Operation Crossbow), the B35s have their glazed noses painted out and 4 x 303s added but you can still see the flat bomb aimer window and the give away split screen cockpit glass. The true fighter bombers (and sole T3 RR299 used in both films since destroyed) have flat single piece windscreens. I remember Group Captain Hamish McHaddie, an ex Halifax Bomber pilot who was adviser to 633 Squadron (and the Battle of Britain) and who was a very shrewd business man telling us that after dipping the tanks to check the fuel levels, he subsequently bought 4 Mosquitos for the Mirsk Production company. He made an offer on the 4 of them and ended up paying less than the cost of the fuel inside them. Some of them were TT35s and I believe the sole survivor from the film (TA719) is now at IWM Duxford. Can you believe they destroyed 2 non airworthy examples in the film, one which belly landed after retracting its undercarriage and another taxying into a bowser. What a waste !

I remeber learning about the mosquito after reading a book part of the series of Tintin.

Great as always johnny! Can always count on you to keep me sleep deprived with these 4am uploads lmao, keep up the good work!

Great subject and clip, and great movie choices as I hadn't heard of 'The Purple Plain' (1954) before, or the later 'Shadow in My Eye' (2021), kind regards.

Love your videos. Was going to recommend the beaufighter but im not sure its in any movies.

The best of the best everyone ioves the Mosquito. They were also built in Canada and here in Australia I believe. Great video as always. Good on you Johnny.

Personally Twin Engine Fighter Bombers/Heavy Fighters are a Damn Favorite of Mine, and the Mosquito is one of them, because aside that they can fly for much longer and faster that the Single Engine Ones (Not all, but some) What made me love Twin Engine Heavy Fighters and Fighter Bombers are that its Capable of Mounting Heavy Weapons, Aside from Bombs and Machine Guns and Auto. Cannons, they can Have Unguided Rockets and God Damn AT Guns strapped to them! I'm a Simple Man, I see Lots of Firepower, I Like... No, I Love! I knew only Basic and Little Information about it, until now! Thanks for Expanding my Knowledge Johnny! and Thanks for The New List of Movies to Watch! Keep up the Amazing Work Johnny! Keep the Good Shit Rolling, my Friend!

Goering was feverishly jealous of that beautiful plane. Apparently said it made him "green with envy"!

As a kid and a model hound, I tried to create my own fleet of twin engine allied fighters with each variant of each plane. This was 60 yrs ago, when to make any of the versions, you had the to cut and modify the models to fit the pieces, supplied in the kit.

I fell in love with this thing. Something about it is just cool.

1:59 very well spotted. Gibson, leader of the famous dambusters raid was killed flying a Mosquito on a night attack pathfinder mission to drop marker lights on an objective. One theory is that when he saw that the target had not been properly illuminated he flew high level circuits and verbal guidance to the bomber stream. This extended flying time plus a low level high speed return in an unfamiliar aircraft ended in a fatal crash when fuel ran out.

They are two things i like from this plane, the first is speed and the second is the fire power 4x303 and 4x 20mm cannon

One of the coolest and best planes of WWII. Makes me wonder why not use these smaller bombers more than high altitude bombers which incurred such heavy losses.

Has to be the best all round warplane of WW2 . As not only best light bomber / medium bomber . but also pathfinder ; reconnaissance ; and I can't think of a better night finder and intruder either . Added to that it was in service from !942 and saw continual improvement with 2 stage Merlin engines added for bombers and night fighters etc. Although the Mk vi FB was able to manage on earlier engines quite effectively until the end of the war . In conjunction with the Beaufighter it was a very effective anti shipping and submarine aircraft especially in the Baltic in the last year of the War .

This is a grand video Johnny- but if a may add a correction or two- your picture of Geoffrey de Havilland is actually his brother, Hereward. You’re not the first to use it, I think it’s been misidentified in archives. The only other point is that the designer of the Mosquito was RE Bishop, often overlooked in favour of his employer. Otherwise, what a great video, very extensive, thanks for putting it together.

I was lucky enough to see one do a fly over a military event in New Zealand. The plane was restored their and two weeks after the fly over, it was shipped over to its new owners in the US

I was reading a memoirs of a Luftwaffe nigh fighter ace and he almost died due to Mosquitos near the end of the war. Luckily for German air men they developed a device which would warn them when a mosquito was within 500m of there tail.

The tsetse variant with the 57mm cannon was an abject failure for it's intended role of sub hunting. The cannon would often jam if cycled in anything but 1g directly vertically through the cannon. It therefore required the mosquito to fly in a very shallow dive, fairly slowly, without evasive maneuvers. This made them exceptionally easy targets for the defensive gunners on the target uboats, if they weren't spotted early enough for the uboat to dive, which was usually the case. The pilots by far preferred to have rockets, with up to 16 being carried, they were able to hit the uboats much more efficiently than with the 57mm cannon.

Mosquito Squadron used some major footage from 633 Squadron, i.e. the German air raid on the RAF base (some of the images were reversed, so as to not look too similar!)

I just thumbs up before the first sentence. I look forward to your uploads that much.

My Favorite WWII UK Fighter-Bpmber.

For my money the Mosquito was the standout performer of the war. Its ability to be up with the best in so many roles. The top scoring night-fighter of the war by a considerable margin. The lowest attrition rate of all allied planes. And built using materials, workers, plant and factories unsuited for the construction of other planes. From the DH2 to the Comet jet airliner, De Havilland was a genius.

That was jolly good fun. Well done you 👏

+1 for mentioning Soldier of Orange 👏

There's also a breathtaking cameo of a Mossie at the start of 'A Matter Of Life And Death' (or 'Stairway To Heaven') as it was known in the US).

The Mosquito and the P-38 were the two best fighter/bomber of WW2 as far as I'm concerned. Although the P-38 was mainly a fighter.

663 Squadron. The ultimate mossie movie.

Nice job finding the films

The de Haviland. The only Mosquito you dont need bug spray for. 😅😅 Solid as always Johnny. 💪💪👍👍🔥🔥👋👋 Johnny: has a de Havilland with 3000 hp Myself: Toyota with 75 hp. 😅😅

great vid

I live about half an hour from one of these! It’s one of the 4 flying examples. It isn’t behind barriers so I got to get up close to it

My father was a RAAF PR Mosquito pilot who served with 540sqn in the UK photographing V1 sites in France and at Peenemunde. When I was a kid I asked him if he had met a fighter ace and Johnny Johnson was the name he provided.

Shadow in my eye is also known as “bombardment” in some countries :)

Got to see one of these and a Lancaster fly at Oshkosh a few years ago. Super cool aircraft.

Thanks for including the adventure of Tintin in the collection of movie clips for this video. My parents are fans of this Belgian comic series.

Since I moved to the UK I had a bit of a discovery of this plane: I used to live in North London, near to where they where produced (today there is a museum, and amongst mosquitoes you can also find one of those "dam nuster" bombs). I also worked back then as a carer on a care home and had this chap who worked on the developement of the plane and for what he and his family told me ended doing something SAS related. He never went into detail, nor talked much about the war, so I am not sure what he exactly did, but he was a cool guy.

Not the first wooden aircraft actually. Trainer aircraft made by the Miles Company were all of wooden construction,flying from before the war,and heavily used by the RAF.

633 Squadron also includes a bizarre screaming sound effect added to the Merlin engines in post...

Also another idea for this video channel may want to look into the Harrier Jet among others things like weapons in the original True Lies aside from the Uzi like the Stinger missile, AK-47 among who knows what others. Anyway may want to Google search on that.

Its so cool that you added the Tintin episode where the mosquito appears

I remember watching 'Mosquito Squadron' many years ago and laughing at the idea of dropping Highball on land and rolling them into tunnels. A few years ago I read a history of 618 Squadron, which operated the Highball Mosquitos, and found that they had practised that, and that it was perfectly possible. So much for my sneering at Hollywood!

Great video. The simulator payload to the b 17 is actually a weird comparison but it is very common. The mosquitos only option to carry 4000lbs was the big 4000lb coockie bomb while the b 17 could carry many smaller bombs which often are more effective, especially for strategic bombing, and also the b 17 could carry more if it loaded bombs on the wings but I think the range was more important for the eight Air Force so the stuck with only that which could fit in a bomb bay.

1,284 built as unarmed bombers minus conversions to photo/recon. Max bombload 2,000 pounds in bomb bay plus 1,000 pounds on underwing hard points. "Some" modified to carry one 4,000 pound "cookie", a metal drum filled with explosive. BAE Mosquito page

Incidentally, a Mosquito is used in Indiana Jones, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, as a bush transport.

Great video, but now You gotta make a video on the stuka

"On the night of 18th/19th August, 1944, twenty-one Mosquitos attacked Berlin, seven Cologne, two Wanne Eickel and five the airfields at Florennes. By then Mosquitos of eleven squadrons had been used for diversionary attacks on a small but gradually increasing scale since the first thousand-bomber raid on Cologne on 30th/31st May, 1942. From the spring of 1943 until the end of the war 'harassing' raids as they were originally termed were to prove a constant and, from the point of view of the enemy, a most irritating and unpleasant feature of the bomber offensive. Night after night the Mosquitos were over Germany, flying at between 30,000 and 40,000 feet to inflict damage out of all proportion to the weight of bombs they dropped. They were at once of great value as a nuisance, for they caused the sirens to wail and tired workers to spend yet another night in fetid, if bombproof, bunkers, and they created a diversion, thus drawing the enemy fighters away from the main bomber stream." Hyperwar Royal Air Force 1939-1945 Chapter XII Oil and the Climax

Don't let Greg of Greg's Airplanes and Automobiles know you are comparing the Mosquito with the B17 he is fired up about enough about the Lancaster! Another excellent video thanks for the clip with John Mellion later of Crocodile Dundee fame!