page_title: De Havilland Mosquito operational history
section_title: Fighter-bomber operations
hierarchical_section_title: De Havilland Mosquito operational history / Fighter-bomber operations
caption_attribution_description: English: de Havilland Mosquito FB.VI NS898 'SY-Z' of 613 City of Manchester Squadron at RAF Lasham.
context_page_description: The de Havilland Mosquito was a British light bomber that served in many roles during and after the Second World War. Mosquito-equipped squadrons performed medium bomber, reconnaissance, tactical strike, anti-submarine warfare and shipping attack and night fighter duties, both defensive and offensive. Mosquitos were widely used by the RAF Pathfinder Force, which marked targets for night-time strategic bombing. Despite an initially high loss rate due to low-level daylight attack operations, the Mosquito ended the war with the lowest losses of any of the aircraft types in RAF Bomber Command service.
context_section_description: Media related to de Havilland Mosquito FB at Wikimedia Commons
  Operational experience in its varied roles quickly led to the development of a versatile fighter-bomber version; the FB VI, which first saw service in early 1943. The Mark VI had a strengthened wing for external loads and along with its standard fighter armament could carry two 250 lb (110 kg) bombs in the rear of the bomb bay and two 250 lb (110 kg) bombs under the wings, or eight wing-mounted rockets. Later up-engined versions could carry 500 lb (230 kg) bombs. The FB VI became the most numerous version of the Mosquito (2,292 built), equipping the day bomber 2 Group, the intruder squadrons of Fighter Command and 2nd Tactical Air Force, and the strike wings of Coastal Command, who used the variant as a potent anti-shipping aircraft armed with eight "60 lb" rockets.
  One of the higher-risk uses of the fighter-bomber Mosquito FB VI was by 21 Sqn., 464 (RAAF) Squadron and 487 (NZ) Squadron of No. 2 Group, 2nd Tactical Air Force in Operation Jericho, a mission to destroy the walls and guards' quarters of Amiens prison to allow members of the French Resistance to escape. In the aftermath of the operation the Mosquito of Group Captain Percy Pickard was shot down.
  On 11 April 1944, after a request by Dutch resistance workers, six Mosquito FB VIs of No. 613 (City of Manchester) Squadron made a pinpoint daylight attack at rooftop height on the Kunstzaal Kleykamp Art Gallery in The Hague, Netherlands, which was being used by the Gestapo to store the Dutch Central Population Registry. The first two aircraft dropped high explosive bombs, to "open up" the building, their bombs going in through the doors and windows. The other crews then dropped incendiary bombs, and the records were destroyed. Only persons in the building were killed — nearby civilians in a bread queue were unharmed.
  On 21 March 1945, a similar raid, Operation Carthage, again by 21 Sqn., 464(RAAF) Sqn. and 487(NZ) Sqn., involved a very low-level bombing attack on the Gestapo headquarters in Shell House (Shellhus), near the centre of Copenhagen, Denmark. The attack had been requested several times by members of the Danish resistance, but was initially deemed too dangerous by the RAF. Twenty Mosquitoes were involved, split into three attack waves. They were escorted by 30 RAF Mustangs. The main attack on the Gestapo headquarters caused the death of 55 German soldiers and 47 Danes working for the Gestapo, together with destruction of the Gestapo records in the headquarters. Eight Gestapo prisoners were killed while 18 prisoners escaped. A Mosquito flying in the first wave of the attack struck a tall lamp-post and crashed into a nearby Catholic school (the French school). Mosquitoes of the third wave bombed this area by mistake, killing 86 children, 10 nuns, 8 teachers, and 21 other civilians; no civilians had been killed during the main attack. Four Mosquitoes were lost and nine pilots/crew members died.
  Following Operation Chastise (the famous "Dambusters raid"), Group Captain Leonard Cheshire, CO of RAF 617 squadron (Dambusters), developed a low-level dive-bombing method of target marking, expecting the main bombers to strike from a higher altitude. Initially he experimented with the squadron's Lancaster bombers, but then he wished to use Mosquitos for precision target marking by a Master Bomber.
caption: Mosquito FB.VI of 613 (City of Manchester) Squadron wearing 'D-Day stripes' at RAF Lasham in June 1944
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