No. 105 Squadron was a flying squadron of the Royal Air Force, active for three periods between 1917 and 1969. It was originally established during the First World War as a squadron of the Royal Flying Corps and disbanded after the war. Reactivated shortly before the Second World War, it was inactive again after the conflict. During its second existence it was a bomber unit and had the distinction to be the first to operate the de Havilland Mosquito light bomber. During the 1960s it was reactivated again for six years to provide transport support for the British Army in the Aden Protectorate and the Far East.
105 Sqn Mosquito B.IV (serial DK338).
Photo of an attack by six 105 Sqn Mosquito B.IVs on the railyard in Trier, Germany, 1 April 1943.
A Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8
A Bristol F2B of the Shuttleworth Collection
The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the Second World War. Unusual in that its airframe was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden Wonder", or "Mossie". Lord Beaverbrook, Minister of Aircraft Production, nicknamed it "Freeman's Folly", alluding to Air Chief Marshal Sir Wilfrid Freeman, who defended Geoffrey de Havilland and his design concept against orders to scrap the project. In 1941, it was one of the fastest operational aircraft in the world.
De Havilland Mosquito
Construction concepts pioneered in the DH.88 Comet were later used in the Mosquito.
One of de Havilland's proposals was to adapt the de Havilland Albatross design to create a fast bomber.
1943 advertisement for de Havilland taken from Flight & Aircraft Engineer magazine highlights the speed of the B Mk.IV.