DH Mosquito FB.VI ‘Wooden Fighter-Bomber’

The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito was a British multi-role combat aircraft developed in 1939. The Mosquito was constructed almost entirely of wood and, as such, it was dubbed “The Wooden Wonderˮ. Originally conceived as an unarmed high-speed bomber, it was later adapted to many other roles, including day-time tactical bomber, night bomber, day or night fighter, fighter-bomber, maritime interceptor and photo-reconnaissance aircraft.

The Mosquito FB Mk.VI was a fighter-bomber (or strike aircraft), which first flew in June 1942 and it went into service in the spring of 1943.
It was a two-seat, twin-engine, mid-wing monoplane, of a composite wood construction, fitted with a retractable undercarriage. The crew was seated under conventional canopy. It was powered by two Merlin in-line engines turning narrow (later “paddle” type) three-bladed propellers. Typical gun armament was four 0.303″ (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns and four 20 mm Hispano cannons, while two 250 or 500lb (110 or 230 kg) bombs could be carried in the bomb bay. A provision was also made for two 50-gal (227 1itre) or 100-gal (454 litre) underwing drop tanks, or two 250lb or 500lb bombs.

In total, 2,298 FB Mk.VIs were built, nearly one third of Mosquito production. In 1942 production was also launched in Canada in Australia. The Canadian version of the Mosquito FB Mk.VI was the FB Mk.21, which was developed into the FB Mk.26 (3 and 338 built, respectively). In Australia the Mk.VIs were built as the FB Mk.40, of which 178 were produced for the RAAF.

The Mosquito flew with the RAF and other air forces in the European and Mediterranean theatres and also took part in overseas conflicts.