James Neal Harvey - Sharks of the Air: Willy Messerschmitt and How He Built the Worlds First Operational Jet Fighter

On 26 July 1944, an RAF Mosquito of 544 Squadron flew over Munich at an altitude of 28,000 feet. The aircraft carried no bombs, and had no armament; its mission was photographic reconnaissance. Flight Lieutenant A.E. Wall was at the controls. His navigator was Pilot Officer A.S. Lobban.

Munich was heavily defended by 88mm anti-aircraft guns and by Luftwaffe fighters based just to the east of the city at Flughaven Riem. Wall and Lobban werent worried, however. Flak put up by the German gunners was rarely effective at this height, and the Mosquito could outrun any of the Bf-109s and Fw-190s that might try to intercept it.

Nevertheless, the RAF airmen were keenly alert, as they had been since taking off from their base at Benson, Oxfordshire, early that morning. As combat veterans they realized their aircraft could be the victim of a lucky hit by an 88, or could be attacked by fighters at any moment. So as Wall handled the flying and Lobban lay in the nose and operated the camera, each man also kept a sharp eye out for impending danger.

It was a good day for their mission. The weather was bright and sunny, the air unusually clear for the midpoint of the brief Bavarian summer. A scattering of clouds drifted lazily across the sky, but the white puffs of cumulus were no hindrance to visibility.

As he looked down from the left side of the cockpit, Wall could distinguish only a few landmarks. He saw the bahnhof and the railroad tracks extending from it, and he also thought he could make out the twin spires of Munichs famous old church, the Frauenkirche , but he wasnt positive. Many of the other buildings were in ruins as a result of bombing raids carried out by the RAF at night, and by the USAAF in daylight. A feature that was easier to identify was the Isar, the river that ran through the center of the city.

One thing he could not pick out was the BMW factory, though he knew it was on the northern outskirts. The Bayerische Motoren Werke was a major engine manufacturer, and that was one of the reasons RAF Intelligence had sent the Mosquito to take aerial photographs.

As an auto-racing enthusiast, Wall was familiar with BMWs history. The company had been founded in 1916 to build aircraft engines under license from Daimler-Benz, which was why its famous blue-and-white emblem depicted whirling propeller blades. Both Mercedes and BMW engines had been used to power many German airplanes, including the Fokker D-VII, the outstanding fighter of the First World War.

Following the armistice, Germany had been forbidden by the Versailles Treaty to build aircraft. Therefore, in the 1920s BMW began manufacturing autos and motorcycles, and later built race cars that competed at England s Brooklands track. Today the plant was a vital contributor to the German war effort, once again turning out a wide range of engines, principally for airplanes and tanks.

But what was the factory s present condition? Had it been badly damaged, or even destroyed? Or would the photos indicate it was still in operation? If it were, Allied bombers would be sent to hit it again.

As Wall flew back and forth over the battered industrial area of the city, Lobban triggered the shutter, shooting frame after frame of black-and-white film. The Mosquito was ideal for this kind of work, very stable in the air. In fact it was remarkable in many respects, and like every pilot who flew it, Wall held the type in high regard. Yet its design was so unorthodox that when first conceived, the airplane had come close to not being produced at all.

Built by De Havilland, the Mosquito was 41 feet long, with a wing span of 54 feet. It was powered by two liquid-cooled twelve-cylinder Rolls-Royce Merlin engines that together provided 3,000 horsepower. Its range with two drop tanks was 1,905 miles, more than enough for it to fly from its base in England to the target and back.

But those aspects of the design were not what made it unique among contemporary military aircraft. What set the Mosquito apart was that it was built almost entirely of wood.

Such a radical idea had come about thanks to foresight on the part of De Havilland s engineers when they began planning a new medium bomber. Anticipating the war by several years, they reasoned that the metals required for conventional construction would one day be in short supply. Then why not build the new airplane of molded plywood, and some parts even of balsa wood?

Predictably, officials of the British Air Ministry considered that a foolish idea. They said the days of wooden airplanes in combat were long past, and directed De Havilland to put the project aside and concentrate on building its Flamingo troop carriers and Tiger Moth trainers.

But when the Battle of Britain raged in the skies over England, the De Havilland factory at Hatfield worked feverishly to produce a prototype of the Mosquito. It was test-flown by Geoffrey De Havilland Jr. on 25 November 1940, and proved to be an excellent performer.

The Mosquito was then rushed into production, and eventually it became the most versatile aircraft in the war. It played many different roles: as a bomber carrying 4,000 pounds of high explosives, as a day fighter, as a radar-equipped night fighter, as a mine layer, as a pathfinder, as a supporter of ground troops, as an air ambulance, as a military transport. But it also served as a platform for reconnaissance photography, as it did above Munich on this mild summer day.

After a few minutes of circling, Flight Lieutenant Wall decided he and Lobban had achieved the mission s objective. He was tired of sucking oxygen through his smelly rubber mask, and his electrically heated flying suit was uncomfortably warm. He told his navigator it was time to pack it in.

Plenty of flak was coming up by then. The sky was marked by ugly black bursts, though none of them came close to their aircraft. Lobban got back into his seat and said Wall should turn to a heading of 285 degrees.

At that point the Mosquito was still over the northern part of the city. As Wall banked to turn on course, the strong rays of the sun caused him to squint. He knew he d have to contend with the glare all the way back to base.

Suddenly Lobban called out, Hey, what s this? Bandit at six o clock! And closing fast!

Wall was surprised. How could an enemy fighter have reached their altitude so quickly, without being seen?