Britain in the Second World War faced possibly her greatest domestic challenges by air. Much of the credit for her successes in stemming the Nazi aggression and eventually taking the fight to the Germans must come from the brilliant people who designed her aircraft. But much more credit must go to their knack for adaptation, and innovation.
This is certainly true of one of the most remarkable aircraft built during the years of the Second World War: the Mosquito. Designed as a fast bomber, mostly made of wood and originally with no air-to-air armament at all, she somehow turned out to be one of the truly great fighter planes of the war.
She was nicknamed “The Wooden Wonder” because of her speed and unexpected agility in the air. She was almost never built, requiring the intervention of the British Air Chief Marshal, Sir Wilfrid Freeman, who defended the concept design. In 1941, she was recorded as the fastest aircraft in the world.
How did a bomber beat the fighters at their own game?
