Built in late 1943 with the serial number LR480, it served for three months at RAF Benson before being sent to the Middle East in december 1943. There were 76 flying hours on the airframe when 60 Squadron SAAF at Foggia, Italy, received it in June 1944. It flew missions over Italy, Austria, and the Balkans. The squadron later relocated to San Severo, Italy, and replaced LR480's engines. In December 1944, Colonel Glynn Davies, DSO, Commanding Officer No. 60 Squadron, received a transfer to South Africa. The military brass, wishing to generate a little publicity, allowed Col. Davies to attempt to establish a speed record from Cairo to Pretoria. The SAAF provided LR480 for the attempt. Col. Davies' commander, Brigadier Peter Hingeston, wishing to catch a little of the spotlight, flew as his navigator, though both men were pilots. As the saying goes, two pilots and no navigator is a recipe for disaster! Before the aircraft made its way to Cairo to begin the trip, everyone in 60 Squadron signed a white plate on the airplane's starboard underside.

Colonel Davies left Cairo with his "navigator" in the latter half of 1944. Originally there were only two planned stops, but upon making their second stop they found only a single man with several drums of aviation fuel and a hand pump. Colonel Davies opted to remove the aircraft's long-range fuel tanks. Flying on internal fuel alone, they had to make an additional refueling stop in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Both pilots were confident they could still set a record.

The third stop was the flight's undoing. The two pilots mistook the bombing range at Que Que for the airfield. The bombing range proved too short to land a Mosquito. The aircraft ended up in a ditch dug around the range as a fire stop, in case a practice bomb lit off the grass. LR480 received serious damage to its undercarriage and propellers. Local troops and laborers took the aircraft to RAF Station Thornhill, then Southern Rhodesia. RAF Station Thornhill assigned Corporal R.A. Whittingham, who was familiar with the Mosquito, to repair the machine. He worked in his spare time with a crew of African laborers. Since there were no spare parts at Thornhill , Corporal Whittingham had to order parts from as far away as England. At one point several 60 Squadron Mosquitoes passed through on their way to South Africa, and LR480's tail surfaces were taken to repair the tail of another machine that clipped a fence when it landed at Kumalo (Bulawayo), then Southern Rhodesia. After 20 months, Corporal Whittingham repaired LR480 and added his signature to those already under the wing. Finally, on 27 August 1946, LR480 arrived in Pretoria. LR480 may have set a record - for the longest flight time from Cairo to Pretoria! When it landed, the SAAF put it in storage at 15 Air Depot. The airframe had 219 hours. In 1948, the aircraft was transferred to the South African National Museum of Military History where it remains on display at Saxonwold, Johannesburg. South Africa. 16-9-2014