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Old 2nd May 2014, 02:48
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The mystery Mosquito of Cirkus Rosarius - solved?

In 2003 Classic Publications released a very interesting book: "On Special Missions - The Luftwaffe's Research and Experimental Squadrons 1923-1945". It has many photos of the captured aircraft of Cirkus Rosarius, including the well-known Mosquito B Mk IV DZ466 "T9+XB". On page 110 it states in a footnote regarding Cirkus Rosarius: "There is no evidence that the Staffel had two Mosquitos despite Rosarius' assertion."
Furthermore at the top of page 118 there is a photo of a captured razorback Thunderbolt, said to have been taken after re-capture by US forces at Göttingen at the end of the war. Recently a large uncropped copy of this photo appeared on the internet and amazingly it reveals an unknown Mosquito in the background:



Could this be Rosarius' second Mosquito? And if so, which airframe is this?
A close-up reveals it is most likely a 613 Sqn machine, possible SY-F.



As fuselage code/serial number combinations aren't well documented for RAF Mosquitoes, further identification wasn't possible until this week a Dutch model accessory company, Dutch Decal, announced a new release: a decal sheet dealing with Dutchies in the RAF featuring a Mosquito of 613 Sqn regularly flown by Rob Cohen (in RAF records as F/O Robert Stevens to hide his Jewish descent, KIA 11-8-1944). It was MM408 SY-F! Looking through this Mosquito production list we find the following entry for MM408:

MM408 - FBVI - 613 - Missing (Rouen) 27.8.44

Could MM408 be the one? Could it have belly landed in salvageable condition and transported to Germany to join Cirkus Rosarius?
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