Moquito PR
Airfix

Britain began the Second World War dangerously short of capable reconnaissance aircraft. The Supermarine Spitfire had solved part of the problem, providing an aircraft with the performance to take photographs over defended areas, but it did not have the range to make an ideal PR aircraft.

The de Havilland Mosquito, originally developed as a high speed unarmed bomber, would provide the answer. It had the speed and the range needed in a photo reconnaissance aircraft, and the space to carry a wide range of camera installations.

The Mosquito PR Mk I was the first version of the aircraft to enter active service. In July 1941 the prototype aircraft joined No. 1 PRU (Photographic Reconnaissance Unit), flying its first mission on 17 September 1942 over Brest and Bordeaux. Eventually the unit would receive ten PR Mk Is as well as a number of conversions of NF Mk IIs and B Mk IVs.

The arrival of the Mosquito gave the PRU an aircraft with which it could reach across Europe. Missions to Norway began in October 1941, to Danzig, East Prussia and Poland in January 1942.

From March 1942 the PRU began to perform PR work for Bomber Command, recording the results of bombing raids. The long range of the Mosquito would allow it to reach just about anywhere that the main bomber force could bomb. This duty saw the Mosquitoes of the PRU reach into southern Germany.

Naval reconnaissance remained an important duty, with the Mosquitoes flying constant missions to Norway searching for the main units of the German fleet.

The importance of photographic reconnaissance was recognised in October 1942 when No. 1 PRU was reorganised into five PR squadrons. No. 540 became a dedicated Mosquito squadron, while No. 544 Squadron would convert to the type in March 1943.

Each new variant of the Mosquito improved its capacity as a PR aircraft. Higher altitudes and longer ranges allowed the Mosquitoes to penetrate further and further across Hitler’s Europe. The PR Mosquitoes made many crucial discoveries, amongst them the secret German research centre at Pennemünde, photographed on 22 April 1943 by a PR Mosquito returning from a mission to Stettin. After a series of Mosquito PR missions over Pennemünde, the main bomber force attacked on 17/18 August 1943, inflicting serious damage on the German rocket program.

Long range can also be expressed as high endurance. This made the Mosquito the perfect aircraft to search for V1 launch sites, allowing for long missions while efforts were being made to find these scattered sites.