| A night fighter can be best defined as a fighter | | | | and night fighting, day and night bombing, |
| aircraft that - either by design or by adaptation - | | | | anti-shipping attack, and photo reconnaissance. |
| could fly at night or when other aircraft were | | | | The bomber version of the Mosquito could deliver |
| grounded due to poor visibility. To be able to fulfil | | | | the same bomb-load to distant targets as the |
| its role, a typical night fighter would be a | | | | four-engined Boeing B-17.Mosquitos were also |
| twin-engined aircraft with the nose section | | | | used as high-speed transports by British Overseas |
| crammed full of electronic equipment, typically | | | | Airways Corporation (BOAC) to maintain |
| radar, direction finders to find the airbase at night, | | | | communication with neutral Sweden and bring |
| a variety of communications equipment plus | | | | back strategic items such as ball-bearings. |
| special lighting inside the cockpit.The early night | | | | Passengers, if any, rode in the bomb bay. |
| fighters were conversions of either heavy | | | | Because of the glued-and-screwed wooden |
| fighters or light bombers. The Bristol Beaufighter | | | | construction, early Mosquitoes were not suited to |
| was an early example and the de Havilland | | | | the tropics where exposure to high humidity and |
| Mosquito came later on. A few types were later | | | | rain caused the airframe to warp and the glue to |
| designed from the start for the role of night | | | | dissolve.The Mosquito Nightfighter with a crew of |
| fighters, as in the P-61 Black Widow.The | | | | two was powered by two Rolls-Royce Merlin XXI |
| Luftwaffe also experimented with single-engine | | | | engines. With a wing span of 54ft and a length of |
| planes in this role, which they referred to as Wilde | | | | 50ft, it was capable of a maximum speed of |
| Sau (wild boar). In this case the fighters, typically | | | | 380mph with a ceiling 36,090 ft (11,000m). Armed |
| Focke-Wulf Fw-190s, were equipped only with a | | | | with four 20mm cannon, or four 7.7mm machine |
| direction finder and landing lights. Lacking radar | | | | guns, it also had a rack for two long range fuel |
| they were not that efficient in their role.One of | | | | tanks, or two 500 lb bombs or eight rockets. The |
| the main functions of night fighters was to act as | | | | Mosquito also carried out some famous |
| Pathfinders. Entire squadrons of Mosquitos were | | | | operations, like the attack on the Gestapo head |
| assigned this task. Pathfinders flew ahead of the | | | | quarters in The Hague. In that raid a 5 story |
| heavy bombers such as Lancasters and Flying | | | | building was leveled by 3 "waves" of 2 aircraft, |
| Fortresses at low altitudes (this in the dark of | | | | using incendiaries and high explosives, and |
| night) located the targets and dropped flares and | | | | destroying all records the Gestapo had collected |
| small incendiary bombs over the designated | | | | over the years on resistance fighters and their |
| targets. These would light up the sky for miles | | | | families, and hiding addresses of Dutch Jews. |
| around and were readily visible to the bombers | | | | Another famous attack was the break out of |
| flying at high altitude.The de Havilland Mosquito | | | | more than 250 prisoners in the prison of Amiens, |
| was a twin-engined aircraft of plywood | | | | France. The first bombers destroyed the guard |
| monocoque construction, designed originally as a | | | | houses, and following aircraft breached the walls |
| fast, unarmed light bomber. This concept was | | | | to enable the men inside to break free. This |
| regarded as an aberration by the authorities, but | | | | remarkable feat was put in progress because the |
| the performance of the Mosquito silenced the | | | | French Resistance had mentioned the planned |
| critics. At night it operated pretty much with | | | | execution of numerous resistance fightersIt was |
| impunity over Germany to the end of the war, | | | | fast, and it was small: the recipe for a hard target. |
| because the Luftwaffe never had a night fighter | | | | The Mosquito bomber saw the lowest loss rate |
| fast enough to intercept it.The Mosquito also | | | | of all Allied bombers. It astounded the brass in its |
| served with distinction as fighter-bomber and | | | | maiden flights (it was faster than the Spitfire Mark |
| reconnaissance aircraft. It was one of the finest | | | | of the time by 20mph) and kept the enemy very |
| aircraft of WWII, with versatility only matched by | | | | busy indeed. For the enemy to get a Mosquito |
| the German Junkers Ju 88. The night fighter | | | | down in a dogfight they had to get lucky. They |
| versions remained in production until 1947. The | | | | couldn't catch it in level flight and they couldn't |
| amazingly adaptable design was effective for day | | | | climb higher. |