De Havilland Mosquito VR976 as restored by Victoria Air Maintenance and liveried as ‘F’ for Freddie on its maiden flight on June 16, 2014. This aircraft is now owned and maintained by the KF Centre for Excellence in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. (📸 Rhys Kent via World Air Photography) 1
‘F’ for Freddie: How It All Started
The tale of a star-crossed Mosquito.
By Ross Sharp
The Specification and Its Consequences

Air Staff requirements for a twin-engined Medium Bomber Landplane. Spec. P13/36 2 was drawn up in June/July, 1936, and issued on September 8 of the same year. De Havilland desperately wanted to get back into the ‘warplane world’, and studied the requirements diligently. Many alternatives were evaluated to satisfy the goals: 275 mph cruise at 15,000 ft, 4,000 lb bomb load and a 3,000 mi still air range. Attempts were made to up-engine their successful DH.91 Albatross airliner (also of ply/balsa/ply monocoque fuselage construction) and their newly designed DH.95 Flamingo, an all-metal stressed skin airliner. Neither of these approaches worked. Consequently, Geoffrey de Havilland, Sr. (he wasn’t Knighted until February 1944), realised that a radical ‘clean sheet’ approach would be needed.

The Opposition

Needless to say, the Air Ministry was not best pleased to be approached with a design for an unarmed, wooden bomber that relied on speed and manoeuverability as its defence. Even the promise of breathtaking speed on two Merlins - in excess of 400 mph - and extreme range, did not cause the Air Council to budge. By great good fortune the project had a major supporter, Air Chief Marshal Sir Wilfred Freeman, GCB, DSO, MC, FRAeS. He argued strongly for the De Havilland project, playing the photo-reconnaissance card when he had to. He agitated so often inside the Ministry, that the De Havilland project became known as ‘Freeman’s Folly’, particularly by his superior at the new Ministry of Aircraft Production, the Maple, Ontario-born, Lord Beaverbrook. Lord Beaverbrook actually told Freeman, on three separate occasions, to stop all work on the project; fortunately for the outcome of WW2, ‘the Beaver’ did not put that demand in writing!

As well as technical detractors, the De Havilland proposal was strongly opposed by the then Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, RAF Bomber Command, Air Chief Marshal Sir Edgar Rainey Ludlow-Hewitt, GCB, GBE, CMG, DSO, MC, DL, who would not accept an unarmed bomber, only a reconnaissance aircraft . However, Freeman had an ace up his sleeve. As the Member for Research and Development on the Air Council, he could order one — just one — example of an aircraft for research purposes, if he thought it had merit. This he promptly did; on the January 1, 1940 Freemen ordered one aircraft to Specification B.1/40/dh. The first production order for 50 Mosquitoes, a mix of bomber and reconnaissance types, was finally issued on Friday, March 1, 1940, with the building of the prototype rolled into this.

‘F’ for Freddie

The airframe that was to become ‘F’ for Freddie rolled down the production line at the De Havilland Main Works at Hatfield, approximately twenty miles north of central London, as part of a production batch of 200 Mosquitoes built to Contract № 555/C.23(a); this included 118 FB.VI, 60 PR.IX and just 22 B.Mk IX bombers.

Given the RAF serial LR503, she was delivered to № 109 Squadron some time between March 17, 1943 and November 10, 1943, and was destined to have a most remarkable service life. Not so her near ‘build mate’, LR495. This B. Mk IX Mosquito was sent as a test aircraft to the Aircraft & Armament Experimental Establishment at RAF Boscombe Down in Wiltshire. It was there, in an eerie foreshadowing, that on the January 29, 1944, LR495 crashed during an overload test into a field at Larkhill in Wiltshire, killing the pilot Sqn Ldr Eric Metcalfe, RAF.

The B. Mk IX was powered by two Merlin 72, two-stage, two-speed supercharged engines, each producing 1,710 hp at 3,000 rpm, at +18 psi boost at 8,500 ft. This Merlin was basically a revised and improved Merlin 66 with reversed engine coolant flow. 3

Following service with № 109 Squadron, LR503 went to the famous № 105 Squadron, the very first Mosquito bomber squadron; indeed, they received their very first Mosquito, a B. Mk IV, on November 15, 1941, and their first B. Mk IX on July 1, 1943. This was exactly one month after 105 and 109 were transferred from № 2 Group to № 8 (Pathfinder Force) Group, where they were to become the only two Mosquito Oboe-equipped marker squadrons for Bomber Command. The role of an Oboe marker aircraft meant operating at 28,000 ft, when the Main Force of Halifax and Lancaster bombers of RAF Bomber Command normally flew in a bomber stream at around 14,000 to 19,000 ft depending on their bomb load; the Halifax being at the lower end of these figures.

Over 150 different Mosquitoes were flown by № 105 Squadron, and towards the end of the war its operating losses became miniscule. In total, during its time with Pathfinder Force, № 105 Squadron flew a grand total of 4,947 sorties for a total loss of just ten aircraft to enemy action!

The squadron code letters for № 105 were GB, and aircraft were assigned an individual letter, A through Z accordingly. When Light Night Strike Force squadrons expanded towards the end of the war, and there were more than twenty-six aircraft taken on charge with a squadron, the aircraft letter received a bar over it to distinguish it, in this case, from the original ‘F’.

The B. Mk IX was designed to carry four short-tail 500 lb bombs as standard, although it could carry a mix of HE and Target Indicators, as required. A few B.Mk IXs were modified to carry the famous 4,000 lb HC bomb (AKA a ‘cookie’), by being fitted with single point release gear, and bulged bomb bay doors with an aerodynamic fairing under the fuselage. LR503 was not one of those. As well as this, the Mark could carry either a fifty gallon jettisonable fuel under each wing (at Rib № 8 station which was specially strengthened) or a 500 lb bomb in that position. By 1945, the capacity of that under wing tank had grown to one hundred gallons, as well as an extra fuselage tank, providing the all up weight did not exceed 25,200 lb. A photograph on the front page of the Toronto Telegram showed that ‘F’ for Freddie had, indeed, been fitted with one hundred gallon underwing tanks when she arrived in Canada.

Before LR503 went into retirement, and a Victory Loan Tour of Canada arranged, there was a war to finish in Europe. On New Year’s Day, 1945, a crew of Flt Lt T. C. Walmsley (pilot) and Flt Lt K Pray, DFM took LR503 to Plauen in Saxony, Germany along with just seven more Pathfinder Force Mosquitoes. Take off time was 22:05 and ‘F’ for Freddie landed back at Bourn at 02:32. The Squadron Operational Record Book entry after this sortie was just a laconic, ‘Primary attacked’.

One of the last recorded wartime sorties for LR503 was on the April 3, 1945, when Fg Off T. P. Lawrenson (pilot) and Fg Off D. W. Allen took off at 17:01 to visit Hanau, 20 km east of Frankfurt-am-Main, as part of a 28 Mosquito-strong ‘spoof’ raid. These were small raids designed to attract the Lufwaffe nightfighters away from the Main Force target, and to confuse the Luftwaffe ground controllers. Again, the primary was attacked and LR503 landed back safely at 20:55.

Markings and Repairs

A photograph credited to Phil Jarrett shows ‘F’ for Freddie having its 203rd mission symbol being painted on its nose. At that stage the bomb markers are obviously white, and Hitler’s uniform appears lighter than in some photographs. Also, the bomb aimer’s window in the nose was painted over with what appears to be black paint, carrying an F (overscore) in white. This is likely because this was a dedicated, Oboe-equipped, bomber and had no need of a visual bombsight, as the navigator/bomb aimer received Morse signals from the Oboe stations - codenamed Cat and Mouse - which indicated whether he was on or off track, and when, exactly to the second, to press the bomb release button.

In Canada

Flt Lt Maurice Briggs, DSO, DFC, DFM had received his ‘wings’, or to be more correct his RAF Flying Badge, at № 37 Service Flying Training School, Calgary on April 2, 1943. This was after the unit’s Airspeed Oxfords, whose performance at the local altitude was unsatisfactory, had been swapped out for Harvards, which arrived in October, 1942. Prior to his arrival in Canada, Briggs had completed a full tour on Armstrong Whitworth Whitley bombers as a wireless operator/air gunner, had been awarded a well-deserved DFM and had been a gunnery instructor, before applying for pilot training. He and Flying Officer John Baker, DFC and Bar would have felt at ‘home’, I am sure. John Baker was the son of Alan C. Baker and Barbara E. Baker of San Francisco, California.

For its crossing of the Atlantic, LR503 was assigned to the control of № 45 (Atlantic Ferry) Group, RAF, which had its HQ at Dorval Airport, Montreal.

When LR503 landed at Downsview, Montreal on the May 6, it can clearly be seen that the bomb aimer’s window had been replaced or the paint removed. The port spinner had also lost quite a bit of paint, and it is reported that De Havilland Canada (DHC) mechanics undertook servicing and maintenance on the Mosquito. The bomb symbols are obviously a darker colour as is Hitler’s uniform. I wonder if this was done at Downsview, as in the DHC photograph № 2111.

The Flight on the May 9, 1945

The flight over Calgary by ‘F’ for Freddie on May 9 was, according to many observers, quite astonishing, almost to the point of recklessness. According to a report by Air Traffic Controller Peter Minchuk ‘F’ for Freddie flew under a trestle which spanned 9th Avenue, two blocks from the Palliser hotel.

This historic twelve storey hotel was built by the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1912 and is still in existence to this day as the Fairmont Palliser. I am sure that any guests in rooms facing 9th Avenue would have been astonished to see ‘F’ for Freddie flash by well below the level of their windows! Briggs later admitted that he did not know how he had missed the Palliser’s flagpole.

Post Crash

The horrific circumstances of the loss of the Mosquito and its crew in the crash on Thursday, May 10, left everyone who witnessed it in shock and with indelible memories.

As recently as 1990, a woman donated a four inch long piece of grey-painted plywood and a six inch long strip of fabric to the then Calgary Aerospace Museum (now The Hangar Flight Museum). They were collected by her father, a fireman, who was amongst those who were clearing debris from the crash site. 4

As well as memorial stones at their graves in Calgary, at least one of the crew is memorialised elsewhere. John Briggs was the son of Mr and Mrs John T Briggs of Silverdale, Lancashire. On the north wall of the nave of nearby St John's C of E Church is a cast bronze plaque: 5

A New ‘F’ for Freddie

The restoration of VR796, an Airspeed-built Mosquito B.35, by Victoria Air Maintenance, BC was a mammoth task. Utilising a new pair of bomb bay doors made in New Zealand, it more closely resembles ‘F’ for Freddie than the original B.35 did. Colour photographs of the nose indicate that the bomb symbols have been painted a dark grey and Hitler’s uniform is a darker brown. One wonders if this was done working on contemporary information available to Victoria Air Maintenance?

At least VR796 will remain in Canada, and I admire the new ownership at KF Aerospace Centre for Excellence, in Kelowna, BC for that fact.

©2025 Ross Sharp 6


1 This photo was sourced from an excellent article entitled The Story About the Mosquito B.35 VR796, F-for-Freddie found on the World Air Photography website. It's well worth a look.

2 The Packard Merlin in the P-51D was a V-1650-7, equivalent to a Rolls-Royce Merlin 66, but producing approximately the same power as the Merlin 72.

3 This document is in the possession of the National Archives, although not currently digitised and therefore available for inspection at their premises only.

4 A recent enquiry with the Collections Director at The Hangar Flight Museum resulted in the following statement: « Our records show that we do indeed have a plywood piece … However, it is currently not on display. » Further clarification on the status of the fabric strip is currently being sought.

5 The inscription on it reads: « TO THE BELOVED MEMORY OF ▫️ LT JOHN MAURICE WINNINGTON BRIGGS DSO, DFC, DFM ▫️ OF THE PATHFINDER UNIT RAF ▫️ KILLED ON ACTIVE SERVICE IN CANADA 10TH MAY 1945 ▫️ BORN 6TH MAY 1920 ▫️ “TILL THE DAY BREAK AND THE SHADOWS FLEE AWAY” » The Biblical quote from the bronze plaque is loosely from The Song of Solomon, Ch.2 vs 17, (KJV). ©Sheila Spencer (WMR-66662)

6 I encourage you to let me know what you thought of ‘F’ for Freddie: How It All Started or if you have questions. To facilitate same, please leave a reply to the launch post for this story.