The mystery Mosquito of Cirkus Rosarius - solved?

[Skyraider3D]

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?

[kaki3152]

Nice picture, but the best explanation is that the Mosquito was being broken down for spare parts,since it still had its British markings and is clearly non-flyable.

[Skyraider3D]

I believe the scene shows the capture of these hangars and everything is as yet untouched. In other words, all aircraft shown belonged to the Germans. Note the jeep at the entrance. All other equipment like the truck, Kettenkrad and tractor are German. The Mustang seems to confirm this too, as it's most likely 44-14687 of the 350th FS/353rd FG, which was lost on 24 March 1945 with its pilot made POW.
There is no sense in repainting a captured Mosquito before restoring it. And naturally it had to be disassembled to be transported from France to Germany. T9+XB was never flown, despite being in much better condition.

[Revi16]

This is the text on the back of the picture,

"Along with several German planes abandoned by Nazi's, U.S. First Army troops found this P-47 with German markings at an air field near Goettingen, Germany. 4/9/45" (April 9, 1945)

[Skyraider3D]

Good to know the exact date, thanks!

[zorglub]

Hello ,

Obviously it can't be MM408 as both crew members were killed .

Another possibility would be LR290 lost 14 January 1944 near Dieppe .
The crew made a crash-landing with bombs aboard . Individual letter is not known however .

Zorglub .

[Hans Nauta]

Hi Zorglub and others,

According to the ORB 2 Group the radio letter of LR290 was 'T'. Perhaps the 'F' visible on the picture is actually a 'T'?

Regards,
Hans

[Skyraider3D]

Aircraft sometimes survive a crash that crew members don't. But seeing as the Mustang was captured just a couple of weeks before it was "liberated", August 1944 is a bit of a stretch, let alone January 1944. I reckon we need to look closer to the date of the photo. Here are alternative possibilities:

NS859 on 29 February 1945
NS899 on 22 February 1945
RS563 on 22 February 1945

All these are 613th Sqn a/c which went MIA. Perhaps one was SY-E or a replacement SY-F?

[Skyraider3D]

Originally Posted by Skyraider3D

RS563 on 22 February 1945

All these are 613th Sqn a/c which went MIA. Perhaps one was SY-E or a replacement SY-F?

It was! RS563 SY-F, at last, found here on Andreas Zapf's webpage:
http://www.chronicles-of-the-luftwaffe.de/?p=799
Six years well-spent!


It does raise a troubling question: if their airplane was in such a good shape, how come the crew were apparently both killed?




PS. The pilot's logbook was up for auction once. I always find that very sad, but I hope it's in good hands: https://www.worthpoint.com/worthoped...ion-1110959792

[Alex Smart]

The Cirkus Rosarius Mosquito "T9+XB" was on show at the September 1943 display of captured aircraft. At that time the Mk IV had already had been repainted in Luftwaffe markings.
If I am correct it was the same aircraft that was found on a beach DZ466 ?

The first "T9+XB" was the captured P-38, so the Mosquito followed.

This Mosquito was the subject of discussion at some stage between the Finn's and German's. The Finn's had thought to build copies and power them with the DB engines.