Short Stirling - Operational History

Operational History

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 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. Based on its flight characteristics, Pilot Murray Peden of No. 214 RAF Squadron flatly described the Stirling as "one of the finest aircraft ever built".

Another consequence of the thick wing was a low ceiling and many missions were flown as low as 12,000 ft (4,000 m). This was a disadvantage on many raids, notably if crews were attacking Italy and had to fly through (rather than "over") the Alps. When Stirlings were on combined operations with other RAF bombers which could fly higher, the Luftwaffe concentrated on the low-flying Stirlings. Within five months of being introduced, 67 out of the 84 aircraft delivered had been lost to enemy action or written off after crashes.

The Stirling's maximum bomb load was able to be carried for only a short distance of around 590 miles. On typical missions deep into Germany or Italy a smaller 3,500 lb (1,590 kg) load was carried, consisting of seven 500 lb (227 kg) GP bombs. This was the sort of load being carried by the RAF's medium bombers such as the Vickers Wellington and by 1944 the de Havilland Mosquito. Perhaps the biggest problem with the design was that although the bomb bay was large at 40 ft long (12 m) it had two structural dividers running down the middle, limiting it to nothing larger than the 2,000 lb (907 kg) bomb. As the RAF started using the 4000-lb (1,815 kg) "cookies" and even larger "specials", the Stirling became less useful. The Handley-Page Halifax and especially the Avro Lancaster offered better performance (the Lancaster could carry twice the Stirling's bombload over long distances and was at least 40 mph faster while having an operating altitude of about 4,000 ft higher) so when they became available in greater numbers from 1943, it was decided to withdraw Stirlings to secondary tasks.

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 (through the unused ventral turret ring). Also at that time, there arose a need for powerful aircraft to tow heavy transport gliders such as the GAL Hamilcar and Airspeed Horsa; the Stirling fitted this role admirably. 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 Battle of Normandy and Operation Market Garden. Stirlings were also used on Operation Glimmer on D-Day June 1944 for the precision-laying of patterns of "window" ("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 service with Bomber Command Stirlings flew 14,500 sorties, dropping 27,000 tons of bombs, losing 582 in action with another 119 written off.

The Stirling is listed in the appendix to the novel KG 200 as one flown by the German secret operations unit KG 200, which tested, evaluated and sometimes clandestinely operated captured enemy aircraft during World War II.