633 Squadron

633 Squadron DVD cover.

Movie (1964)

Starring:
Cliff Robertson (Wing Cmdr. Roy Grant)
George Chakiris (Lt. Erik Bergman)
Maria Perschy (Hilde Bergman)
Harry Andrews (Air Vice Marshal Davis)

When Norwegian resistance leader Lieutenant Erik Bergman reports the location of a German V-2 rocket fuel plant, the Royal Air Force's 633 Squadron is assigned the mission to destroy it.

The plant is in a seemingly-impregnable location beneath an overhanging cliff at the end of a long, narrow fjord lined with anti-aircraft guns. The only way to destroy the plant is by collapsing the cliff on top of it, a job for 633 Squadron's fast and maneuverable de Havilland Mosquitos.

Miles M.38 Messenger 4A

Thanks the efforts in this forum thread, the identity of this airframe is mostly likely registration G-AKZX, c/n RH424.

De Havilland DH.98 Mosquito

Eleven examples seen to have been used in the production, per this very detailed and well-researched article.

• RS709 (now on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton, Ohio) - Marked as HR113 with codes HT-D and HT-G.
• RS712 (now owned by Kermit Weeks, on display at the EAA AirVenture Museum, Oshkosh, Wisconsin) - Marked as RF580 with code HT-F.
• RS715 – only used for cockpit scenes
• RS718 – marked as HJ898 and HJ662 with code HT-C, written off in a crash sequence.
• TA639 (now preserved at the RAF Museum Cosford, Shropshire) - Marked as HJ682 with code HT-B.
• TA642 - Marked as HX835, written off in a crash sequence.
• TA719 (now preserved at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford) - Marked as HJ898 with code HT-G.
• TA724 - written off in a crash sequence
• TJ118 – only used for cockpit scenes
• TV959 (now at the Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum, Everett, Washington) - Marked as MM398 with code HT-P.
• TW117 (now preserved at the Norwegian Aviation Museum, Bodø, Norway) - Marked as HR155 with code HT-M.

SNCAN Nord 1002 Pingouin II

Two "German" aircraft strafe the airfield and later attack the squadron towards the end of the film. These pretending Messerschmitt Bf 108s are actually the post war French built and Renault engined version S.N.C.A.N. Nord 1002 'Pingouin' II from 1946. Same airplane is used in Mosquito Squadron - IMPDb: Frequently Seen Aircraft (Military Fixed-Wing).

Avro Anson

North American B-25J-25-NC Mitchell

Used to drop Lt. Erik Bergman into enemy-held territory. Registration N9089Z / G-BKXW. Built in 1945, c/n 108-34136, for the USAAF with serial 44-30861.
This civil aircraft usually used as a camera plane (and christened moviemaker II) traded its nose art for roundels and fin flash during filming.
1967-1983 : display outdoors at London Southend Airport as Mitchell III (markings HD368 VO-A) in the brown and green livery of 98 Squadron 2nd Tactical Air Force RAF.
Owned by several museum with limited resources; increasingly derelic condition.
2006 : seen stored in a dismantled state before being acquired by Wings Museum in Balcombe, Sussex (UK) and undergoing restoration to static since 2019.

Back To:

• Movie/TV List
  
• Top

See also

• 633 Squadron at IMDb
• 633 Squadron at Wikipedia
• 633 Squadron at IMCDb