“I thought we just got finished shooting these devils down, now we’re painting them on our own aircraft?”
These ain’t swastikas, mate, they’re… harakists, or hakarstis, or summat. The Finns use ‘em, and they’re in need of aircraft to fight the bloody Russians.”
“Same Russians we fought WITH to beat Jerry. Couple of years later and we’re enemies. Don’t know what this world is coming to.”
The bell rang to signify it was time to down tools and have a cuppa, and the two workmen at de Havilland’s plant in Hatfield wandered off to the cafeteria, their minds on relaxing for a few minutes and getting away from politics.
It was summer, 1947, barely two years since the end of WW2, and there was a new war in Europe. After consolidating their hold on the eastern part, Russia had turned north, to its old adversary; Finland. Almost seven years to the day that the Winter War ended, an invasion was launched. Finland was now in need of aircraft, and Britain, nearby and with some of the finest in the world, was able to supply them. The DH.98 Mosquito was still in production, and the factory in Hatfield was busy with reconditioning older airframes to supplement the new ones. Red white and blue RAF roundels were replaced with the light blue Hakaristi of the Finnish air force, and a two-tone green camouflage scheme was applied for operations over the fir tree forests of the north. No numbers were applied, this would be left up to the Finnish air force.
When the two workmen returned and finished their repainting, a Mosquito NF.30 awaited a crew to fly it to Rovaniemi Airport, so far north that the Arctic Circle actually crossed its runway. The crew arrived a few minutes later, in another Mosquito scheduled for refurbishment.
Another model, another fight. Matchbox DH Mosquito Mk.IX/NF.30. The model itself isn’t bad, goes together easily, with the typical panel line trenches and sparse detail that Matchbox was known for. So of course I had to push my luck and try to make my own decals. Luck was on holiday. I really need a better printer, so research has started.
