The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop

Built of lightweight wood, powered by two growling Rolls-Royce Merlin engines, impossibly aerodynamic, headspinningly fast and armed to the teeth, the de Havilland Mosquito was the war-winning wonder that should never have existed: the aircraft the RAF didn’t think it wanted then couldn’t do without. Excelling as a spyplane, night-fighter and pathfinder for Bomber Command’s heavies the Mossie’s reputation was cemented by a series of daredevil bombing raids across occupied Europe, including on Berlin itself, where only surprise, speed and precision could ensure success. So when Churchill’s top secret Special Operations Executive needed to destroy the Gestapo HQ in the centre of downtown Copenhagen to prevent a devastating Nazi last stand, there was only one machine for the job – the Mosquito. This is the story of that legendary aircraft told through that one impossible mission.