(dramatic music) (radio call speaking indistinctly) (plane engine roaring) (guns firing) (metals clanking) (plane thuds) (buoyant music) (plane engine roaring) (buoyant music) - We're on an airfield in Northern France. During the second World War, this airfield was used
by the German Luftwaffe. You can actually see the old tarmac, in 100s of aerodromes like this one, the German Luftwaffe would take off to attack the allied bomber formations. And for the first years of the war, they had a field here. (gun fires) (plane engine roaring)
(plane explodes) In 1941, the Allies developed
a versatile plywood aircraft known as the Mosquito, and this Mosquito could fly undetected into German occupied Europe, and attack these fighter bases. (plane engine roaring) - [Narrator] From 1941 To 1945, the Mosquito would serve as the Allies most successful fighter bomber, (bomb exploding) carrying out some of
the riskiest missions, of the second World War. (plane engine roaring)
(bomb explodes) - We've come back to tell
the story of the Mosquito, and the men who flew them. Those men, the Germans called
the Bandits of the Air. (gun firing) (plane engine roaring) (dramatic music) (bomb explodes) (plane engine roaring) (glass shatters) (guns firing) - [Narrator] September 1939, the Nazi war machine
invades Poland igniting the second World War. (gun firing) The following May seizures
attention turn West, with the invasion of Belgium and France. (guns firing) The German Blitzkrieg quickly
overwhelms the Allied forces. And by the beginning of June, the survivors are forced
to retreat to England. Hitler's domination of Europe is complete. (dramatic music) For the Allies, the
situation is desperate, with no continental foothold
for staging a counter attack, and no foreseeable hope of invasion. Their only means of striking
back is from the air. (plane engine roaring) The RAF of 1940 is no match, (planes engines roaring)
of making those attacks. (plane explodes) And through the remainder of the year, the Germans exerted terrible terror for the Allied bombers improvement. (plane thuds) - Although the bomber when
it was first introduced it was considered to
be an advanced airplane which it probably was in about 1936, but by the time the war came, it was getting, a bit too slower and a bit too heavy, less maneuverable than
it should have been. (plane engine roaring) (soft upbeat music) They got shot down rather well easily. (jet engine roaring) (guns firing) And in the low level operations
the planes were dangerous so there's no doubt about that. So, losses were quite high. (plane engine roaring) (plane thuds) - [Narrator] It is clear to the RAF, that the Allies need a
new kind of aircraft, one capable of penetrating
deep into enemy territory, with the speed and maneuverability
to avoid German fighters, with a capacity to deliver
the destructive payload, of a conventional one. (bomb explodes) And in 1941, they find their savior in the form of an unorthodox wooden aircraft, the de Havilland Mosquito. (upbeat music) Based on the design of the
Havilland civilian aircraft, the Mossie she becomes known, is a radically stripped down version of a conventional RAF bomber. Made almost entirely of wood, and manned by only two crewman, the Mosquito sacrifices
defensive capability, in exchange for increased
speed and maneuverability. Constructed of a modest
40 foot wooden frame, and with a wingspan of only 54 feet, the Mossie is remarkably light, at just over 14,000 pounds. Powered by two 1400
horsepower Merlin engines, the streamlined aircraft could fly speeds in excess of 400 miles per hour, to a range of 1700 miles. (buoyant music) Armed with 4 303 machine guns, and 4 20 millimeter canons, (gun firing) Mosquito packs a powerful punch, adding a potential payload
of 4 500 pound bombs, and the aircraft becomes the
Allies ultimate fighter bomber. The Mosquito greatly impresses the RAF, and is immediately put into service. (plane engine roaring) In September 1941, the aircraft flies the first of many dangerous
intruder missions, striking deep inside Nazi occupied Europe, taking the war back to
the Germans at last. (plane engine roaring) - So we're just crossing the
English channel right now. We're at about 1,000 feet
and about 150 miles an hour. So we're actually 950 feet at least, higher than what the
Mosquitoes would cruise at, (plane engines roaring) we're in a little fact with this like this just very much like the Mosquitoes. 'Cause really it gives
you a very cool feeling. You can just imagine what
this would have been like for these guys at the
incision of the flying, to be able to go at about
200, 250 miles an hour, 30 feet over the channel, and then you gotta find
out where you're going. I remember one pilot describing
hitting the French Coast is going over the top. Now you're in enemy territory, and that's where the real
routing would take place because the navigator had to determine, where the anti-aircraft guns were, (guns firing)
(plane engine roaring) ultimately with the Germans
in 43 weren't ready, to deal with low-level
intruder operations. (buoyant music) - [Pilot] We crossed the narrow lake until we hit a railway line, we turned north and in less than a minute, we were at the airfield. The first thing I saw was a church parade, after all it was Sunday morning, at least 100 guys were
drawn up in perfect lines in the middle of the field. The moment they heard our
Canon they broke and ran, stumbling and falling over each other. (guns firing)
(plane engine roaring) There were about a dozen ME 109's parked at the far side of the field. We close to 50 yards
with a two second burst, one ME 109 exploded immediately, (plane explodes) we hit two others. I can see the shells heading home, and the yellow flames coming
out of the wing groups followed by a huge puff of black smoke. - Although the pilots
were obviously very good at the Mosquito the navigator
had to be just as good, and they had to work together as a team. To me one of the hardest
things to understand about these operations is how the hell they found the targets. You're not using radar, you have to pick up these landmarks whether during the day or at night, and to be able to crawl these canals, look for a hill, look for a tower. I honestly don't know
how you could do that, especially when you're
going 200 plus miles an hour at 50 feet. But the Mosquitoes used their
versatility and their speed, to get through the German defenses, which made every pilot love them. (plane engine roaring) - It was a different airplane altogether. Although it was made
of good Canadian wood, it was very chill for aircraft. (plane engine roaring) - There was nothing like
it, even at low level. At full power it could do
almost 400 miles an hour, which is faster than anything else. (jet engine roaring) - Pretty steady exciting, for those days a very high speed airplane, very maneuverable. (plane engine roaring) - The mighty fire power, but you let go the aircraft
don't move right backwards. (gun firing) - If you hit an aircraft
with that kind of firepower and you get to literally blow it apart. (guns firing) (canon explodes) - That's the airplane. I thought it's a beautiful airplane, I felt very safe in it, and it got us save brothers back. (jet engines roaring) - One of the beauties of the
Mosquito was his versatility, it was used in photo
reconnaissance operations which are terribly
important for intelligence. (camera snaps) They were used as pathfinders, fire droppers for the
heavy bomber missions, (plane engine roaring) they were used as a fighter bombers. (bomb explodes) And these aircraft took
missions deep into Germany, and they were striking at
the heart of the third right. (jet engine roaring) - We were told evening before
there would be an operation in the morning and what
time we'd be called outside. - [Narrator] The navigator said, that he'd been briefed already. - And I've never forgotten it. This one is different. - The RAF is putting the Mosquito
to its greatest test yet, the mission, a long range bombing right into the heart of Germany. The target, a radio station in Berlin, where the head of the luftwaffen Field
Marshall Hermann Goring, is to deliver an address
to the German people. - We walked into the Hunsdon
and there's this piece of strings starts tomorrow
and off we went to Berlin. And everybody asks the same question, "Do we have enough fuel to do that." (plane engine starting) (buoyant music) We flew in, for that 25,000 feet, and we were above solid
cloud all the way there. (engines roaring) And we just got to the
stage where I was saying, "I can't see any breaks in the cloud, we're going to have to bomb on time." (walkie speaking indistinctly) When visible break into
cloud appeared and I said I know that there is a break, and I could see the lakes of Berlin. And of course we knew
where the radio station was which was the aiming point. And we dropped the bombs. (bombs exploding) Until the bombs hit the ground
there was no gunfire at all. I didn't think they knew we were there. (bomb explodes) Later, after we bombed, we were able to hear a
recording of the radio station. (radio broadcasting in German) During was announced by the announcer, but no repeat, and there was a short silence. And then you could hear an explosion. (radio broadcasting in German) (feet stamping) then you can hear some
shouting in the distance, then they played national music. You know they did that. (classical instrumental music) It was an indication some of the things that were possible. (jet engine roaring) - [Narrator] Year 1941 and '42, the speedy Mosquito proves itself an exceptionally effective weapon. (guns firing) In just 18 months, the aircraft flies over 1000 sorties, with remarkably few losses. In 1943 the RAF confirms its
confidence in the Mosquito, ordering 1000s of more aircraft. With mass production beginning in the UK, Canada, and Australia. But by mid 1943, the air war over Europe is escalating, and Mosquito crews will find themselves in even greater peril, as they are assigned the
most dangerous missions, of the Second World War. (guns firing) (jet engine roaring) (bright classical music) - We're on our way to Hunsdon airfield, just north of London, is probably the most
famous Mosquito airfield. And by 1943, as more
Mosquitoes are being produced, and more squadrons equipment Mosquito, three squadrons were operating at Hunsdon, and they were the most
successful intruder operators in the early parts of the war. (jet engine roaring) (guns firing) We're going out Hunsdon
to see what is left, of this legendary airfield. (upbeat music) I'm with Dennis Sharp, who's an expert on the Hunsdon airfield. And of course this is where
the Mosquitoes operated in 1943, 1944. Do people around here know
the history of this place? - Not a lot of them do, as I said it doesn't
bear any relation today as what it was then. (engines roaring) This whole place we see here
had about 442 buildings, on Hunsdon airfield. Male today, we're looking at about half a thousand at the most. (soft piano music) - This is one of the defense posts. - That's right. This is at high 21 pillbox. It was a one of a ring of
many around the actual, from early airfield. And now these are actual gun ports , all point in towards
the actual flying field of the airfield, because we have an airfield, the threat of invasion
would have been carried out by the glider or paratroops, and they would have landed
actually on the airfield to capture key facilities. - We're out on the airfield now. So we're in '43 what
were they using them for? - Well the airfield more or less, all of its life is dedicated
to night fight as an intruder. The originally runway ended here. This was a fresh out to the main runway. - So this was the nice
smooth concrete based ride? - This had a dal, high sensitively light and this large marker
lights in the ground, do you know either the actual course if you see it is like an arrow, which actually is built into
the aiding of the runway, you sort of come a spare enough of air and that will give you
exact runway heading. (engine roaring) When the airfield was originally built, you see those villas, there's also a pub, the Turkey Pub, but it was right in
the line of the runway. And apparently, people used to duck their
heads while drinking at the pub because the Mosquitoes was almost hitting the pub on take off and landings. (plane engine roaring) - Mosquito is really
what made the intruders more successful right? - Yes, you are. - In the aircraft, they were
at the bar this was so good. - No, no. I must say I was
born for it, wasn't it? They had the reliability,
the punch and fire power, and the legs to actually fly from here, get low level all the
way across the continent to a designated German night fighter base. And then all of it from a few miles there, wait for a German night fall, and then sneaking up
behind him as a Mosquito. - So that's why they call
them the bandits of the air. - That's right. Yeah. It's a way of keeping the
German night fighter force, on the ground. - [Narrator] In early 1941, Allied bomber command begins a campaign of massive night raids on enemy targets. By 1943, RAF bombers have
dropped over 20,000 tons of high explosive, on
Germany's industrial Heartland. (bomb exploding) Fearing the crippling
effect of continued raids on their war industry, the Germans strike back. This time with a secret
weapon of their own, the radar equipped night fighter. (jet engine roaring) the results are devastating. In just under 15 months, bomber command loses 5,881 bombers. (bomb exploding) The Allies best hope of
countering these attacks, is to penetrate deep into enemy territory, and destroy German fighters
on their airfields, where they are most vulnerable. And in 1943 there's
only one Allied aircraft capable of carrying out
such a hazardous mission. The de Havilland Mosquito. (plane engine roaring) - This is something completely different, for us to go in at night and attack an airfield at low feet. And we just didn't know
what was gonna happen as if when it did happen, it was quite frightening. Yeah, it was scary. No doubt about it. (buoyant music) - If we're going on an intruder mission as we were taking off I would often think, "Well I hope I'm gonna see this aerodrome, little later on tonight." (jet engine roaring) I used to duck right down
to a couple of 100 feet across the coast 'cause then you go across their defended area first, and they wouldn't get around to where the
aircraft comes fast enough. (jet engines roaring) - We were always low level intruders, so I made with a good moonless night, they could see you from the ground. (dramatic music) (jet engine roaring) - And when we got to our target area, the first thing we'd look forward to see whether the
airdrome lights were on. If they were on, we knew that there was
operations take place. (buoyant music) They were pretty smart and they knew, that there were intruders around, they took off and they
stayed right down at 50 feet, until they were at least 20 miles out. And then they'd start
their climb to get up into the Walmart Street. So we seldom had any success except when they were coming into land. (buoyant music) You'd head for the downward
side of the airdrome, in the hope that they turn some lights on, when they're on their approach. And if they did try to take a
crack at shooting them down, the problem was that
they knew we were there, and they flashed their Searchlight, on the approach once their
aircraft got past it. (guns firing) - So all they did was cover the air there on a blanket around the aircraft far, so you had to fly through it. And, that I'll tell you straight, was frightening. (guns firing) - The only hope we have there, is circle around, we drift in and try to get behind them. (gun firing) Getting them as they were
touching down on the runway. (gun firing) (aircraft explodes) (gun firing) (aircraft explodes) (jet engine roaring) - After that if you had
any ammunition left, you were allowed to go anywhere you like, and beat their transport on the ground, (gun firing)
(vehicle explodes) trains, (gun firing) (train explodes) canals, (guns firing) and then when you, well more or less looked
at the petrol gauge and said I gotta go home, you turn back and head back. (plane engine roaring) - This airbase went from
night fighters into intruders. Now in beginning of '44, they bring a new group here
and that's under Pickard. - That's real at 140 wing. - And Pickard was sort of a
legend already, wasn't he? - Pickard was, he made his
debut in a film actually, in 1941 by the Crown Film Unit, they actually made a film
called "Target for Tonight." And he portrayed the
pilot of F for Freddy. - I'm here for F for Freddy here. - I'm here right away. - Here sir, I'm asking of her. - Okay sir. okay sir. Well that's a change anyway. - He arrived in January of '44 and of course in February of '44, the ride on Amiens or Operation Jericho he was actually flying from this airfield. And if anyone could do the job, it was him. (buoyant music) - [Narrator] In January, 1944, Allied intelligence learns that over 100 French Resistance Members, are being held in the
jail at Amiens, France, awaiting execution. The French underground, requests an urgent airstrike, to break open the prison walls, and liberate their comrades. The task of planning the mission, code named Operation Jericho, is given to the RAF's most
experienced Mosquito navigator, Ted Sismore. - Well we knew we had a problem, because we were told that
the objective was to break the prison walls to get some
of the French prisoners out, who were I think key members
of the French Underground and they needed them out. The problem was, how do you break down walls, and how do you break down the inner walls, without killing everybody inside? Well, first of all on
all targets at low level. You need if you can find one, a very good leading, and of course that prison
we had a very good leading but they weren't perfect. That meant that we should
attack the outside wall, parallel to that road, we could then have a
choice on how we attack the inside wall, because we knew which parts
of the prison were critical. So the outside wall would be attacked, with people at low level just dropping bomb straight into it. Then the wall be attacked
by people pulling up doing shallow dive. (jet engine roaring) The trouble with that sort of operation you could never do it twice. You get one chance, but it was an urgent operation
and it had to go ahead. (engine roaring) - [Narrator] At 10:00 AM,
on February 18th, 1944, a day before the executions
are scheduled to begin, 19 mosquito fighter bombers
take off from Hunsdon airfield, and set out across the English Channel, headed for Amiens. (jet engine roaring) Operation Jericho was a
gamble for the Allies, and mistakes could not be higher, at risk, were the lives
of 38 elite RAF airmen, along with 100s of French prisoners. (jet engines roaring) February 18th, 1944, 19 RAF Mosquito bombers
crossed the French Coast, and into the hostile skies
for Nazi occupied France. Their mission, code
named Operation Jericho, is to free over 100 French
Resistance fighters, scheduled for execution. The target, the heavily
guarded prison at Amiens. (air whooshing) - The Mosquitoes came
from De long's 12 bear, and then turned sharply Southwest. And they followed this old
Roman road right down here, to the prison, halfway down, the Typhoon split off to engage German fighters, and at 12:01, the first
Mosquito wave hit the prison. (dramatic music) (jet engines roaring) - Most of it was in operation, we could see the fighter defense, beginning to operate,
it was rather worrying. (engine roaring) The fighter airfield of Amiens
was very close to the target. So it was almost inevitable
that some fighters would get airborne and
we would have problems. (engines roaring) - The first wave were the New Zealanders, and their job was to break
the Northeastern wall of the prison. And they came in 12:01, zero feet, dropped their bombs, (jet engine roaring) (bomb thuds) the bomb skidded on the snow, they had an 11 second
fuse for the Mosquitoes to get out of there, before the bombs went off. The second wave was so tight
on coming in behind them, so the first bombs hadn't exploded yet, so they actually had to divert and go around the prison 360
degrees before they came in, and their objective was to
hit the buildings themselves. (dramatic music) (bomb exploding) (camera shatters) - Once we started getting
the actual reports of course we were hearing very good news that the walls had been broken into, even one or two reports that
they'd seen people running out. And the underground was around
the prison waiting for them, regathered in quite some numbers, so they were, what should I say, hustled away quickly, before all the Germans
could organize a recapture. (buoyant music) Of course the loss of Pickard was very sad and rather disturbing really, as he was a character, or rather special character. (buoyant music) - After the raid, Pickard
waited around for awhile, and he could see through
the smoke that the prisoners were getting out in fact, more than 250 of them did escape. And the raid was a great success, but that delay allowed the
German fighters to close in on. (jet engine roaring) (gun firing) (Mosquito thuds) (Mosquito explodes) And he crashed, just Northeast of Amiens. The French locals took his
body out of the wreckage, but before they could bury them, the Germans took them
and they buried them here in the old World War one
cemetery at St. Pierre. Charles Pickard, DSO and two bars DFC, pilot Royal Air Force, 18th February, 1944, age 28, "At the rising and going down of the sun, we will always remember him." Pickard was a legend in the RAF, and his action here at
Amiens only added to it. Pickard lost his life in
the most amazing air raid of the entire Second World War. (buoyant music) (jet engine roaring) (bomb exploding) - [Narrator] Following
the success of Amien, Mosquito crews are called
upon time and again, to perform similar surgical strikes. (bomb explodes) Late in the war Denmark's
Resistance Movement sends a telegram, pleading
for an attack on Shell House. A former shell oil building, now occupied by the Gestapo. The target, a collection of damning evidentiary files on resistance activities, but the Gestapo anticipates an attack, and places 26 Danish
prisoners as a human shield, in the upper floors of the building. - We were called up again to Baker Street and asked if we could
attempt this as well, of course the first reaction was, how on the earth are we
going to find a building in the middle of a city? And if we do this job we're
going kill all those people. (dramatic music) They said well, "You may have to do that." (Mosquito engine roaring) It was difficult but it was possible and it was successful except, of course that, one aircraft hit a pole on the railway line, and crashed into the school
just short of the target. (Mosquito explodes) This confused the people behind, because of the smoke, and some of the later people dropped bombs onto the school, which was sad. But, you have to look on both sides. One of two of the people
in the attic were killed, one or two were badly injured
because they had to jump from about the fourth floor, but some got out alive. Well, if we hadn't had the accident and the disaster of killing
some school children, probably they would never have got out. So it was a very mixed feeling, but it was successful in the sense, that it was the documentation
that was wanted. And of course it caught
fire and the building burnt. (fire rattling) - [Narrator] The raids on
Amiens and Shell House, are just two of 100s of daring
low-level Mosquito attacks, which would leave the enemy ruining. The Luftwaffe is simply unable to counter the reign speed and fire power, of what has become the deadliest weapon in the Allied airborne arsenal. But in June, 1944, Germany would unleash
its own super weapon. The V-1 flying bomb. Beginning a new reign of terror, over England's civilian population. (bright upbeat music) - We're in a wood outside the village of Morbecque in French Flanders, and it's approximately 120
miles as the crow flies, from here to London. And this is really a great
remnant of the Second World War. This is a V-1 launching site, but of course in 1943, the Allies didn't know that. They got reports from
the French Resistance, about the Germans building
bunkers in these odd positions done down potty Kelly
and in the lower region and you can actually see one of the smaller bunkers over here, but it wasn't the smaller
bunkers that concerned them, it's this one right here, this long skinny one curved at the end, which they dubbed as ski site. They thought that this would be related to the German rocket
program in Peenemunde. (soft piano music) - [Narrator] Peenemunde,
in Northeastern Germany, is home to a massive factory complex, where the Nazis are
engaged in the development and construction of a new terror weapon, the V-1 flying bomb. (dramatic music) - The ski bunkers were
actually the storage buildings for the V-1 rockets. And the V-1 rockets were a
nifty piece of engineering. It was a torpedo, about 25 feet long, with store pipes on top which
was the pulse jet engine. They would store them in here, for quick delivery to launching pad. So you can actually see the trolley marks, where they'd carry the V-1's in. It was like the cradle, but this was not the final
preparation for the launching, the setting of the
altimeter or the compass, or even the warhead detonators, would be done at other bunkers
closer to the launching pad, just over here at the
far end of the forest. (buoyant music) This is the rictus or the
non-magnetic building. And you can see there's
not much left of it, it must've had a bad
encounter with an Allied bomb. (bomb explodes) What happened here is the
final stage of preparation before launching. They would bring the V-1 in. You can see what's left
of the doorway here, this was a non-magnetic building, and it had to be that, because this is where
they set the compass. And they would put two detonators in, one in the belly and one on the nose, so if it landed flat it would go off, or if it came down nose first, it would also go off. Once this was done the
wings were attached, it's still on it's trolley, and it's taken over to the launching pad. (soft classical music) (buoyant music) This is the launching ramp, and it's really all that's left of the entire launching facility. And it's built of cinder
blocks and the idea was it would protect the
crew from any explosion that might go on during
the rocket launching, and within it they put a catapult, 150 feet long, and of course they reason
they needed the catapult, is that the V-1 was only
airworthy at 150 miles an hour. So the catapult had to fire it
out of here like a slingshot, when everything is going, they'd run back to a little
control bunker over there, and from there they pressed a button which would ignite the jet engine. (radio tuning) So when everything was
set, the engine is firing, the Germans would press the button, and the rocket would go. (rocket roaring) One of things that's
totally unique about the V-1 was the sound it made. It was really infamous, because it was a pulse engine, it would start off with fuel coming in, it would be ignited by the oxygen, and then it would explode, combust. And once it combusted, a new amount of fuel would go
in and then it would combust. So you had a (air whooshing) In these positions, the Germans planned to
reign terror on London. It was gonna be a new blitz, with new vengeance weapons. (rocket engine roaring) (rocket explodes) (leaves crunching) The Allied reaction to the
German rocket program was swift, and they initiated Operation Crossbow to destroy all German
rocket installations. The heavy bombers went across to Germany and destroyed Peenumunde, and they launched attacks on
every one of the ski sites, and there were more than 100 of them. At first it was heavy bombers bombing from about 10,000 feet. (jet engines roaring) (bombs exploding) And you can see evidence
of their bombing all the way through this parks. This is a crater maybe
made by a 500 pound of bomb from a Lancaster. Some of the fighter bombers they use here were the Mosquitoes. They also had no ball raids, or what the pilots started
to call no balls raids because when they came in low
level to attack these sites, they're hit by rifle fire machine, gun fire, and like any aircraft fire. (jet engine roaring) - V-1 sites you couldn't
attack at low level. (gun firing) They were cited in awkward places anyway and of course the building
was just a single story. So the only sensible way of the Mosquito was to do shallow dive bombing. (Mosquito engine roaring) You'd go in low level
to avoid interception, and then just before the target pull up to about two and a half thousand feet, (engine roaring) come in a shallow dive, bomb in the dive, (Mosquito engine roaring) (banker exploding) and go back down to escape. (jet engine roaring) - By May 1944, all 100 of
the ski sites were destroyed, but the Germans reacted very quickly, and they built modified V-1 sites and they got rid of the ski buildings. And these were very difficult to detect because they were built around farms in the little woodlands, there was no clear bunkers to attack. And on June 13th, 1944, the first V-1's fell in London, and a new blitz had begun. (V-1 engine roaring) - [Narrator] The V-1's attacks
on England are devastating. (bomb explodes) (buoyant music) The civilian population
is thrown into alarm, and with little defense
against the high-speed bombs, the Allies look once
again to the Mosquito, hoping their tried and
tested super weapon, can turn back this new threat. (Mosquito engine roaring) June 6th, 1944, the Allied invasion of Normandy, after five long years of occupation, the liberation of Western
Europe is underway, but the Nazi threat is far from over, in truth, the Germans with their
advanced rocket technology, are about to unleash a
wave of terror attacks on England's civilian population, with their new secret weapon, the V-1 flying bombs. On June 13th, 1944, only one week after D-Day, the first V-1's rain down on London. (V-1 engine roaring) (V-1's exploding) (buoyant music) - There were so many V-1s coming across, through the circuit of the airfield, this was untenable. (rocket engine roaring) (bomb explodes) - I was underneath a couple
when I was near London, and of course when you
saw it and that motor cut everybody hit the ditch, 'cause we know it was going to crash. (jet engine roaring) (jet thuds)
(jet explodes) - We heard this one come over. We heard the engine stop, so everybody slept on the floor, (jet explodes) the dust came up from
the walls and the ceiling were about six inches. And I got up from the floor, to my drink which was on the bar, and as soon as I touched
the glass it disintegrated, just fell apart. And I always remember the bomber, who showed up for the
other side of the bar. He said, "I saw that so I'd
better have one on the house." (Sismore laughs) (air whooshing) - [Narrator] Ground
crews fight desperately to repel the V-1 attacks, and the aircraft fire
and the barrage balloons proved marginally effective. Nonetheless, the majority of
flying bombs slipped through. (bomb explodes) The Allies quickly realized, the most effective way to stop the V-1 is to intercept them in the air. Once again, they turned
to the unparalleled speed and firepower, of the
de Havillage Mosquito. (engine roaring) - When the V-1 started to come along, we were taken right off
of intruding in the hopes of shooting down these V-1's. (jet engines roaring) There was a vivid flash
on the French Coast. (jet engine roaring) All you'd see is a big flame, 'cause it trailed the
flame about 20 feet long, we could see it coming
out across the channel so we would do an interception, (jet engine roaring) these things were going pretty
close to 400 miles an hour and sometimes a little more, and even diving on them we
had trouble catching them. We immediately decided on a tactic, of patrolling at 10,000 feet, (jet engine roaring) they could pill over and
try and get the Mosquito after 440 miles an hour. (jet engine roaring) - [Officer] We were gaining some because the fire coming out
of the ass end of the V-1 was getting big. The Mosquito was screaming at every joint, I thought the wings would never stand it. We began to level out, the
clock said 400 miles per hour, we're too close, I shut my eyes as the
canons began banging away. (canons firing) - The real danger was if you'd picked up a piece of debris in the radiator, (metal clanks) the other problem was that it produced a very vivid white flash would blind you. (guns firing) - [Officer] When the explosion came, I thought I was going dead. (V-1 explodes) The God damn thing went
off right in our faces, (jet engine roaring) "I bet we're all
blistered," My pilot said. He was talking about the Mosquito. There wasn't an inch of paint anywhere, the mosquito was black, no numbers, no letters, nothing. - Once we got the hang of the tactic, we were fairly successful and
I think 4 on each Squadron, shot down about 80 of these V-1s. (guns firing) (V-1 explodes) (guns firing)
(jet engines roaring) (V-1s exploding) - [Narrator] Russ Bennett
goes on to destroy a total of 1981 rockets, and 11 driven night fighters, earning him the distinction as Canada's Second highest
scoring fighter race, of the Second World War. The Mosquito proves a
highly effective weapon, against the last of the V-1 attacks, of the war in the air is changing. 1944 also sees the introduction of Germany's powerful V-2 rocket. (rocket engines roaring) On the mission statement, 262 jet fighter, currently the new era of air warfare, by the time war against
Germany ends in may, 1945, Mosquitoes reign, is all but over. (jet engine roaring) - This is the church in the small village of Port of Picardie in Northwest France. It's about 100 miles from England, and during the second World War, there are many airbases in this area and many transport centers, that were targets of
the Allied air attacks. There is a cemetery just up here that contains 149 Commonwealth airman. Most of the men buried here were killed on bombing operations. Here's the grave of
Flying Officer Harry Jones of Montreal, who was a pilot of a Halifax bomber when he was shot down on June 8th, 1944, but there's another crew in here, that's quite different. They were the men known as intruders. This is the grave of RJ Tomlinson, Sherbrooke, Quebec. He was the pilot of a Mosquito and here's his navigator, Charles Esam, who was shot down on intruder
operations on June 3rd, 1944. Intruders were so effective, that the Germans referred to
them as the Bandits of the Air. (dramatic music) (mosquito engine roaring) - [Narrator] Though it is never enjoyed the historic fanfare of the spitfire or the Lancaster bomber, the fact remains that
the four crucial years, the Mosquito, of it's a
matchless combination of speed, maneuverability and firepower, was the Allies most versatile aircraft, piloted by fearless crews, it's 100s of high risk missions hastened the end of the Second World War, undoubtedly saving countless lives, that might yet have been lost. (V-1 explodes) (jet engine roaring) (bright upbeat music)
