The Short Stirling was a British four-engined Second World War heavy bomber designed and built by Short Brothers to an Air Ministry specification from 1936, for the Royal Air Force (RAF). It first saw active service with RAF Bomber Command in 1941 and had a relatively brief operational career as a bomber, being relegated to second line duties from 1943 onwards. When other four-engined RAF bombers, specifically the Handley Page Halifax and Avro Lancaster, took over the primary bombing role, the Stirling still fulfilled a major role as a glider tug and resupply aircraft during the allied invasion of Europe in 1944-1945.

Back to Top

Development

An Air Ministry Specification P.13/36, which was for a new generation of twin-engined medium bombers for 'worldwide use', was placed. Designed by Short Brothers from the outset as a four-engined heavy bomber (the Halifax and Lancaster were designed originally as twin engined bombers), the Short Stirling would take the war to Germany in the early 1940's and the Mk III variant was the definitive principle bomber. By 1938, a half-sized prototype was flying with a full-size prototype being delivered for testing in 1939. Shorts were producing several four-engined flying boat designs of the required size and created their S.29 by removing the lower deck and boat hull of the S.25 Sunderland. The new S.29 design was largely identical otherwise: the wings and controls were the same, construction was identical and it even retained the slight upward bend at the rear of the fuselage, originally intended to keep the Sunderland's tail clear of sea spray. In order to get the needed lift from a shorter span and excess weight, the redesigned wing was thickened and reshaped. The wing span was limited by the Air Ministry to 100 ft with the limitation forcing the designer to keep overall weight down. The first S.29, now given the service name 'Stirling' after the Scottish city, flew on 14 May 1939 with four Bristol Hercules II radial engines. Upon landing one of the brakes locked, causing it to slew off the runway and collapse the landing gear. A redesign added much stronger and heavier struts on the second prototype. On its first sortie two months later, one of the engines failed on take off but the aircraft landed easily. From then on, the record improved and service production started in August 1940 at Shorts' Rochester factory. The first few Mk.Is had Hercules II engines but the majority had 1,500 hp (1,100 kW) Hercules XIs. The Mk.III, introduced in 1943, was similar with the exception of the new dorsal turret and the improved 1,635 hp (1,200 kW) Hercules VI or XVI engines, which improved maximum speed from 255 to 270 mph (410 to 435 km/h).

Back to Top

Operational use

Operational status was reached in January 1941, by No. 7 Squadron RAF. The first three Stirlings flew a mission on the night of 10/11 February 1941 against fuel storage tanks at Vlaardingen near Rotterdam and from the spring of 1942, the bomber started to be used in greater numbers. From May 1943, raids on Germany were conducted by over a hundred Stirlings at a time. Despite the "disappointing performance" at maximum altitude, Stirling pilots were delighted to discover that, due to the thick wing, they could out-turn the Ju 88 and Bf 110 nightfighters they faced. Its handling was much better than that of the Halifax and some preferred it to the Lancaster. On missions against long-range targets such as Italy or deep inside Germany, the Stirling was restricted to 3,500lbs of bombs (seven 500lb-ers) and could barely climb over the Alps during the flights to and from the targets. The design of the bomb-bay meant that the heaviest bomb that could be carried was the 2,000lb armour-piercing shell - the new 4,000lb High Capacity bomb being introduced was too big for the compartmentalised bay of the Stirling. By December 1943 Stirlings were being withdrawn from frontline service as bombers, increasingly being used for minelaying outside German ports ("Gardening" missions), electronic countermeasures and dropping spies deep behind enemy lines at night. The final Bomber Command operation was flown by No 149 Squadron against Le Havre on 8 September 1944.

Back to Top

New Roles

In early 1943, there arose a need for powerful aircraft to tow heavy transport gliders such as the General Aircraft Hamilcar and Airspeed Horsa with the Stirling fitting this role. In late 1943, 143 Mk.III bombers were rebuilt to the new Mk.IV series specification (without nose and dorsal turrets), for towing gliders and dropping paratroops, as well as 461 Mk.IVs being built. They were used in the Operation Overlord and Operation Market Garden. Stirlings were also used in Operation Glimmer on 6 June 1944 for the precision-laying of patterns of 'window' (later known as 'chaff') to produce radar images of a decoy invasion fleet. From late 1944, 160 of the special transport variant Mk V were built, which had the tail turret removed and a new opening nose added, most of these being completed after the war. In all, Short Stirlings were supplied to a total of twenty-eight RAF bomber squadrons. Of note: one downed Stirling was repaired with canvas covering most of the damaged nose section, then flown by the German secret operations unit KG 200, which tested, evaluated and sometimes clandestinely operated captured Allied aircraft during World War II.

Back to Top

Post War:-

Belgium: A number of Stirlings were procured for civilian Air Transport. They were then sold to Egypt. Six(or eight: various sources) Stirlings were purchased by the Egyptian Air Force, which formed the 8th Bomber Squadron and were used in the1948 Arab Israeli War. These flew a number of air raids on Israeli targets in the 1948 war, one of their number being lost either as a result of an accident or sabotage. The remaining aircraft appeared to have been scrapped or retired by 1951. While in service with Bomber Command, Stirlings flew some 14,500 sorties, dropping 27,000 tons of bombs, losing 582 in action with another 119 written off from a total of 2,383 Stirlings being built.

Back to Top

Wings Over the Empire from MilMerchant at fineartamerica
Back to Top