The De Havilland Mosquito was, without a doubt, the standout aircraft of World War Two and one of the most remarkable planes ever built.
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While, in the day, some planes, such as the German Messerschmitt 262, were faster and others, such as the Lancaster bomber, had longer range, nothing came close to offering the "wooden wonder's" combination of both qualities.
This was demonstrated beyond any possible doubt when, on September 6, 1945, Squadron Leader John Merifield, flew a PR (photo reconnaissance) variant from RAF St Mawgan in Cornwall to St John's in Newfoundland, Canada, in just seven hours and two minutes.
This was just over double the time the Concorde would average when it came into service decades later.
Merifield's achievement was recorded in [Australian] Army News a few days later.
"The plane, which was making a regular duty flight, averaged 335 miles per hour [536km/h] for the 2,300 mile [3680km] distance," the paper reported."
Merifield, who beat the previous record by five hours, could have done the trip in less time had the weather been favourable.
"During the flight [he] battled against headwinds of nearly 80 miles an hour [130km/h]."
The Mosquito's fastest variant, the Mark B XVI, could hit 415 miles an hour [664km/h] while the maximum range, across several variants, was 1830 miles [2928 kilometres].
This would suggest Merifield's plane must have been carrying auxiliary fuel tanks on the day of the crossing.
The greatest praise for the mosquito came from, of all people, Herman Goering.
"It makes me furious when I see a Mosquito," he said. "The British, who can afford aluminium better than we can, knock together a beautiful wooden aircraft every piano factory over there is building. They have the geniuses and we have the nincompoops."
Goering was half right. When it came to its engineers the German's had plenty of geniuses. The trouble is they were working for a government of nincompoops.
The Mosquito was most famous for its work with the Pathfinder squadrons, the men who marked the targets for the heavy bombers that followed them across the channel into France, Germany and other parts of occupied Europe.
Group Captain Leonard Cheshire was awarded the Victoria Cross for his efforts in a Mosquito over Munich on April 24, 1944.
Although his plywood plane had been hit many times Cheshire remained on station until it was physically impossible to remain.