The Operation
The operation involved a round trip distance of 1,100 miles (1,800 km), with a flying time of 4.75 hours, making it the longest mission flown with Mosquitos at that date. The bombers crossed the North Sea at heights of less than 100 ft (30 m) to avoid interception by enemy aircraft and navigated by dead reckoning. Each aircraft was armed with four 500 lb bombs with 11 second delayed action fuses since in such a low level attack the bombs had the potential to damage the aircraft that had dropped them.
Despite their low altitude, the Mosquitos were intercepted by two Focke-Wulf Fw 190 fighters of 3/JG 5 flying from Stavanger, causing Gordon Carter's Mosquito to make a forced landing in Oslofjord. Rowland and Reilly were pursued by the other Fw 190 until it clipped a tree and was forced to break off the attack.
At least four bombs penetrated the Gestapo HQ; one failed to detonate, while the other three crashed out through the opposite wall before exploding. The building was not destroyed, but several civilian residences were, and 80 civilians were killed or injured. The Norwegian government in exile, which did not know about the raid, later expressed serious concern to the British government. Official announcements by the German occupation forces claimed that several British aircraft had been shot down, when in reality a single Mosquito had been lost.
Read more about this topic: Oslo Mosquito Raid
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