Mosquito the Wooden Wonder

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My Dad worked at the mosquito factory in Coventry during the war as a reserved occupation. How he came to do that we never new. He was a compositor in the print! A good composition.

Hi Fred, I think they called on every available skilled and semi skilled person to make these aircraft, they were made of wood, glue and canvas, very labour intensive and intricate, so a compositor with good powers of concentration would be high on the list I guess?

Thank you Robert. Yes you're probably right. He did bring me and my brother a balsa wood model home for us.

Oil on board 50x40 cm. The painting is an imaginary scene of two Mosquito aircraft bombing a mountain railway bridge during WW2. Practically every one knows of the famous aircraft of WW2 the Hurricane, Spitfire and Lancaster but few know of the Mosquito, probably the most iconic and important aircraft of the war. Built in secret by Geoffrey DeHavilland after its proposal was initially rejected by the Air Ministry, built of wood and powered by two powerful 12 cylinder Merlin engines it was fast, lightweight and with a range of 1500 miles at a loaded speed approaching 400mph. It operated in various roles such as unarmed reconnaissance, as an unarmed fast bomber, as a fighter with 4 cannons and as ship and sub destroyer when some of the Mossies as they was affectionately called carried a massive sub destroying 57mm fast firing cannon with 25 round capacity! And it was used perhaps most importantly as a Pathfinder for the Lancaster raids giving vastly improved bomb accuracy. Not an easy