“We did not think about the personal nature of killing in the air. We were proud of every victory in the air, and particularly happy that we had not been hit ourselves. Of course, I tell myself in quiet moments today: “You’ve killed. In order to protect others and not be killed yourself.” But in the end: for what? The Third Reich trained 30,000 pilots. Ten thousand survived the war. One-third. This is the highest loss rate along with the U-boat sailors.”
– Oberleutnant Gunther Rall
When Mosquito production began in 1941, it immediately became one of the fastest operational aircraft in the world. Entering service in late 1941, the first Mosquito variant was an unarmed high-speed, high-altitude photo-reconnaissance aircraft. Subsequent versions continued in this role throughout the war. The first Mk. B.IV bomber, serial no. W4064, entered service with No. 105 Squadron on November 15th, 1941. From mid-1942 to mid-1943, Mosquito bombers flew high-speed, medium or low-altitude daylight missions against factories, railways and other pinpoint targets in Germany and German-occupied Europe. From June 1943, Mosquito bombers were formed into the Light Night Strike Force and used as pathfinders for RAF Bomber Command heavy-bomber raids. They were also used as “nuisance” bombers, often dropping Blockbuster bombs — 4,000 lb (1,812 kg) “cookies” — in high-altitude, high-speed raids that German night fighters were almost powerless to intercept.
To combat the effects of the Mosquito and hopefully intercept it before it could do further damage, several German Luftwaffe units came up with various proposals to deal with their wooden nemesis. “Red 8” as it came to be known, was a modified Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6 fighter that was piloted by Kurt Gabler, who was attached to III./Jagdgeschwader 300, then deployed to Juterbog-Waldlager, Germany, during July 1944. From war time photographs, the aircraft appears to have been sanded back from its original RLM74/75/76 finish, reportedly in an effort to increase its speed for intercepting RAF Mosquitos. Traces of paint are visible on the wing root and base of the elevators, and the swastika has clearly been sanded down, leaving only a faint trace of the geometrical figure. The gun troughs and various access panels appear darker than the rest of the aircraft because they are composed of darker metals (e.g., the gun troughs were iron). This same effect is seen in photographs of a sanded down Bf-109G belonging to the National Air and Space Museum (NASM), adding support to the claim that “Red 8” was natural metal rather than light grey.
Look for Corgi’s rendition of “Red 8” (AA27107) to circle our diecast air base some time this May.