Anson's remained in service until June 1968, at that time amongst other duties they were used to move V Force crew to the dispersed airfields. They were replaced by the Beagle Basset which was required to fly a five-man V-bomber crew, wearing full flying gear, and a ground crew member to the dispersed airfields including Malta. The RAF Spec included power operated air stairs, which I was told, compromised it's ability to carry said V Bomber crew in full kit, due to weight limitations.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....c53e058512.jpg

My two ATC Warrant Officers worked for Shorts at Bovingdon; they told me the stairs didn't work without giving them a kick.
And we all know the tale of the props hitting the ground under heavy braking.

I think you're conflating two characters in 633 Sqn. There was indeed a Sikh pilot with a minor role but i'm pretty sure he had two hands. There was a British pilot with only one hand .

We were regularly beaten up' at KInloss during the making of 633Sqn.

Correct.
It was Flt.Lt. Scott played by John Bonney who had the hook hand.

I've never quite understood why people say Mosquito sqn is such a terrible film? I've seen both it and 633sqn many times and enjoy both. What is it about Mosquito sqn that makes it terrible?

Best bit of flying I saw in '68 as I watched from my home in nearby Chesham was Farnborough's Shackleton MR3 which was being used as a camera ship chasing a Mossy round the skies

Shack, MR3?? Never saw one fly!. Went all the way to Cape Town to a show that it was flying in. It got to the end of the runway at Ysterplatt, had a big mag drop and returned, never to be seen again [well, not by me!. I think it only flew once more!] B...ger!.

Frequent visitors at Bovingdon although I never seemed to see an MR2 there but I got a flight in one of those when I was at ATC Camp at Ballykelly in '63.

They are both pretty bad films and sadly typical of the budget 60's war movie genre.......its only the real Mosquito's in them that make them watchable (and Ron Goodwins musical score in 633 Sqn)......well for me.

I have no problem with 633 Squadron which I first saw with my dad when it came out.

Mosquito Squadron I think is terrible but since I literally never watch it when it's on TV, which it is frequently, I'm not even sure why now.
I think it gets my back up to start with by being an obviously American writer with character names such as Quint and Wiley.
Really, for boys born in 1920s Britain?

The special effects were bad beyond belief :yuk: and the destruction of Mosquito airframes during the making of the film, was a crime against aviation :(

I make a point of not watching either of them for the above reasons.

Here's a report on Mosquitos at Exeter from Air Pictorial Feb '63.

And before that, in 1961 we had 'The War Lover' flying overhead with 3 x B17s.

There were a lot of 'stock' shots in Mosquito Squadron provided by out takes from 633 Sqdn.

Which is why for Mosquito Squadron, they used the same HT-* codes on the 4 x Mossie's used for filming, so as to be able to use 633 Sqn footage.

People naturally think that Mosquito Squadron was a sequel to 633 Sqn for this and other reasons, but it wasn't really, it was just as way of keeping costs down on a budget film, so made sense to not re-invent the wheel.

Mosquito Squadron was actually the 3rd in a 5 film plan of war theme movies made in the late 60's on the back of the success of 633 Squadron.
From Wiki:
Encouraged by the worldwide success of 633 Squadron, producer Walter Mirisch proposed a series of British made films with a military theme having major American stars in the lead that would comply with the Eady Levy requirements and cost no more than US$1 million.

Attack on The Iron Coast starring Lloyd Bridges was the first of the series of John C. Champion's Oakmont Productions and began shooting in May 1967. The others were Submarine X-1, Hell Boats, Mosquito Squadron, The Thousand Plane Raid and The Last Escape. Each of the films was approximately 90 minutes long making them suitable for half of a double feature and had a Hollywood star leading the cast.

Just reading Martin Caidin's Ragwings and Heavy Iron - mentions bringing the B-25 across the pond for 633 Squadron with Greg Board and flying a Me108 in the film....

IIRC "Mitchells do Fly in IMC" documentary........

Much later; used for the filming of 'Hanover Street' at Bovingdon in '78 or '79.

Thanks Chev, IIRC Jeff Hawke (RIP ) was the main player in that docu. .