Haven't been able to get to the Mosquito Museum as much as I'd like but managed to get there yesterday.
The hangars are being cleaned up and rearranged for the new season. Standing on the floor, in the corner, unloved, dirty and starting to show rust (! [img]graemlins/no.gif[/img] ) I found the historic 627 Squadron Monthly Practice Bombing Trophy.
This is a 10lb practice bomb mounted on a large wooden plinth with duralumin plates attached engraved with the names and ranks of the most accurate pilots.
627 in its short life became legendary ; it was the 5 Group Pathfinder Mosquito outfit specialising in ultra-low-level target marking techniques, operating with 617 Squadron from Woodhall Spa.
The trophy has some interesting associations ; it would have stood in the 627 Officers Mess when Guy Gibson took off for Rheydt in a 627 Mosquito, never to return. And the trophy winner in September 44 and January 45 was Flt Lt W W Topper, who was Marker Leader and dropped the first TI on Dresden. If only the trophy could talk.....
Anyjow, the restoration task is mine and the trophy is sitting right here next to me awaiting some TLC. It's great to be a temporary custodian of such a piece of history, which can be seen on p.134 of Alan Webb's classic 627 book,
'At First Sight' .
But.. IF
ONLY IT COULD TALK !!
