The bomber that shouldered the workload ahead of the Lancaster’s arrival into World War Two
THE ultimate heavy bomber of the Second World War was undoubtedly the Avro Lancaster, but RAF operations during the conflict were not limited to one four-engine aircraft, especially as the Lancaster only carried out its inaugural operation in March 1942, two years and six months into the conflict.
It was the lesser-known Short Stirling that bore the brunt of bombing missions for almost two years before the Lancaster emerged, the first four-engine bomber to enter RAF service in August 1940 when it was delivered to No. 7 Squadron at Leeming.
(A Short Sterling of 7 Squadron)
It was, however, another six months before it undertook operational duty, its first combat mission on the night of February 10, 1941, hitting fuel storage tanks near Rotterdam in the German-occupied Netherlands – frontline missions lasting little more than two years before its bombing duties passed to the Handley Page Halifax and the Lancaster.
It was the late 1930s when the British military started looking beyond twin-engine bombers, the Air Ministry publishing Specification B.12/36 – a requirement for a high-speed, four-engine strategic bomber capable of a range of 2,000 miles at a cruising speed in excess around 250mph at 15,000ft, carrying a maximum payload of 14,000lbs.
The specification was initially sent to Supermarine, Boulton Paul. Handley Page and Armstrong Whitworth, Shorts only later added to the list of aircraft companies when it became clear the firm already possessed designs in-house akin to what was required; at that time Shorts were producing four-engine boat designs including the S.25 Sunderland.
(Short Stirling of No. 1651 Heavy Conversion Unit c.1941 being loaded with bombs.)
The initial decision was to hand the order to Supermarine, with Shorts as back-up, but following an alteration in the requirements for the new aircraft and the death of Supermarine designer Reginald Mitchell, prototypes were ordered from Shorts and Supermarine.
Stirling developed the S.29 as a derivative of the Sunderland, with a shortened wingspan to fit the new aircraft into existing hangars, June 1937 seeing the S.29 prototype accepted by the Air Ministry, along with Supermarine’s Type 317.
While Shorts also continued to develop the S.31 – based on the Empire flying boat – with a prototype flown to RAF Martlesham Heath in October 1938 to be evaluated by the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (AAEE), the Air Ministry had their eyes on the S.29, with an order placed ahead of any prototype as concerns grew over the increasing strength of the Luftwaffe.
It was May 14, 1939 that the first S.29 performed a test flight from the firm’s Rochester aerodrome in Kent, the success of which was countered by an accident on landing when the brakes locked causing the aircraft to spin off the runway and the landing gear to collapse.
Despite the prototype being written off, changes to the undercarriage design were accepted, a second prototype taking off on December 3, 1939, just a few weeks after war had been declared, the aircraft already named after the Scottish city. This, however, was also far from a complete success, one of its engines failing with the test flight conducted on the three remaining, the pressures of war seemingly allowing for any deficiencies in design to effectively be ignored with an upgrade on the Hampden and Whitley medium bombers desperately needed.
With the initial order of 100 now increased to 1500, production was expanded to Shorts’ Belfast plant along with Austin’s Longbridge car factory, and at its peak 20 sites were producing parts for the new aircraft.
The pace of the Stirling’s development suffered in 1940 by the focus switching to restock the RAF fighters and twin-engine aircraft lost during the Battle of Britain, and by damage to Rochester: on August 15, 1940, a wing of Dornier 17s hit the Kent factory and its aerodrome with 100lb bombs, a number of completed Stirlings destroyed on the ground, with production set back by around a year. Development was then focused in Belfast along with a number of satellite firms, production of Stirlings also moving across the Atlantic in 1941 to Canada.
(Aircrew in front of Short Stirling Mark I, N3676 of No. 1651 Heavy Conversion Unit at RAF Waterbeach)
August 1940 also saw the first delivery of Stirlings to RAF Leeming, No. 7 Squadron beginning a four-month working-up programme, operational status achieved in January 1941 with active missions beginning in February.
With Shorts ahead of Supermarine in development of a four-engine bomber, Supermarine’s work on Type 317 continued until September 26, 1940 when their Southampton factory was bombed, the two prototypes and construction plans lost with the Air Ministry cancelling the 317 project officially in November 1940.
By the end of 1941, more than 150 Stirlings were completed with three squadrons equipped, the aircraft undertaking day and night operations, the bomber also playing a pioneering role in the formation of the Pathfinder squadrons, navigation and target-finding units that assisted bombing missions.
While the Stirling was impressive in its handling and its ability to outmanoeuvre Luftwaffe nightfighters, its performance at high altitudes was disappointing, many mission conducted as low as 12,000ft, meaning other RAF bombers could fly higher with the Luftwaffe focusing their attention on the Stirlings.
Another problem was that with a maximum bomb load its range could be as low as 600 miles, so raids into Italy or Germany were conducted with reduced payloads, sometimes the same as what medium bombers like the Wellington could carry. The design of the bomb bay also meant that the bigger incendiary devices being created at the time could not be carried, and by late 1943 the Lancaster and Halifax had overtaken the Stirling in importance to the military – by November 1943, the Stirling was withdrawn from frontline service.
(Photograph taken from an Airspeed Horsa glider cockpit, while under tow by a Stirling during Operation Varsity, 24 March 1945)
For the remainder of the war, the Stirling was reduced to secondary missions including minelaying and glider towing, its bombing role ending with a record of 14,500 sorties flown and 582 aircraft being lost in action. From 1944, a Stirling Mk V was being produced for transport duties, but they were being phased out shortly after the end of the war, several sold to a Belgian firm for charter flights, with Egypt also buying a number which saw action during the 1948 Arab Israeli War.
