Mosquito Men: The Elite Pathfinders of 627 Squadron

Description

The story of one of the most remarkable - and feared - British aircraft of the Second World War: the de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito fighter-bomber. Nicknamed the 'wooden wonder' for its balsawood frame, the two-man Mosquito excelled in several different roles, from reconnaissance to the bombing of sensitive priority targets. Following a Mosquito raid on the main Berlin broadcasting station on 30 January 1943, which succeeded in removing Hermann Goering from the airwaves, the Luftwaffe chief observed ruefully: 'It makes me furious when I see the Mosquito. I turn green and yellow with envy.' 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. David Price's involving and fast-paced narrative traces the contrasting wartime fortunes of a number of Mosquito crews, alongside which the development and operational history of the aeroplane (especially with the Pathfinder Force) forms a descant to the principal human narrative. Like the author's earlier book The Crew, Mosquito Men is rich in evocative and technically authoritative accounts of individual missions flown by an aircraft that ranks alongside the Spitfire, the Hurricane and the Avro Lancaster as one of the RAF's greatest ever.

David Price's early interest in aviation was inspired by days exploring deserted RAF airfields in his native Cumbria. 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.

PRAISE FOR THE CREW: 'Price has given the bomber offensive a human face... A sensitive account' The Times. 'His eyewitness account is frank about the dangers of the role' The i. 'A fascinating and fast-paced account of the exploits of an Avro Lancaster bomber crew... A poignant epilogue [in a] riveting book' Herald. 'A sobering and poignant book' Daily Mail. 'A remarkable insight into the bravery, determination and skill of British Bomber Command crews during WWII' * Waterstones *