WARBIRDS: British heavy bomber survivors

Gary Brown and James Kightly outline the history of active preservation with Commonwealth heavy bombers around the world.

There is a clear contrast in approach between the United States and the U.K. when it comes to the preservation of each nation’s multi-engined bombers. In the U.K., the flag has been flown very ably by the Royal Air Force’s Battle of Britain Memorial Flight for many years with Avro Lancaster PA474, which has had several major services, a respar, but is still essentially the same machine and hold the record for duration of a Lancaster flying career by some distance. Apart from this lone example of the Royal Air Force’s commitment to commemorate the Allied Bomber aircrew in W.W.II, there have only been a few rare examples of British four engined aircraft flown privately, and normally only for brief periods.

Conversely, in the U.S.A. the United States politicians do not appear to believe it is worthwhile having active examples of their own aircraft: hence no USAF-sponsored historic display team equipped with the B-17 Flying Fortress, B-24 Liberator or indeed B-29 Super Fortress. As is well known though, this gap has been ably filled by various private organisations that have operated, and continue to operate these types (as covered in the next article.)  Additionally, in recent years a public-private partnership of current USAF and US Navy aircraft flying with a privately owned historic type has developed as the ‘Heritage Flight’ and ‘Tailhook Legacy Flight’ respectively.
 
The Commonwealth’s heavies
After the realisation that twin-engined bombers did not have the load carrying capability or the chance of survival that was required, the RAF asked for and got a range of four engined ‘heavies’ to carry the war to Germany.  It is true that, of the three types which entered service two were ‘accidental’ in that they had been derived from twin engined aircraft, but nevertheless the Avro Lancaster and Handley Page Halifax were in many ways better than the ‘from the drawing board’ Short Stirling, which was never in a position to carry the larger bombs used later in the war, or to fly at the altitudes required, due to a badly framed specification laid down by the Air Ministry.

Once the war was over, the U.S. retired vast numbers of its bombers to the dry deserts, where a select few were to escape to later civilian and (later still) display careers. The RAF’s heavy bomber contingent was not so lucky, and when one looks at photographs today of massed ranks of Haltons (the civilianised version of the Halifax) that once pioneered air travel in the immediate post-war world, it is difficult to believe that not one of these civilian workhorses survived. Only the nose of Halifax PN323 was preserved, being taken under the wing of the Skyfame Aircraft Collection and eventually ending up with the Imperial War Museum. 

The Lancaster, being the most famous and charismatic of the three, was in a sense most likely to have at least some survivors, and the examples which the French and Canadians used for maritime roles (a normal ‘accidental’ route to preservation) were not the only machines to make it into the sixties; examples such as B.Mk.I W4783 known to thousands of Australians as G for George is currently on show at the Australian War Memorial, while another ex-RAAF machine, R5868 S for Sugar (now at the RAF Museum Hendon) were both preserved because of their remarkable operations tally.  Canada, as well as the UK, has an airworthy Lancaster, put there by a huge restoration effort by the Canadian Warplane Heritage. Additionally there is a healthy number of preserved Lancasters scattered all over the globe, including taxiing examples such as NX611 'Just Jane', overleaf. We will look in detail at the Lancaster survivors in a future issue of Flightpath.
 
Short’s Stirling
Worst served was the Cinderella of the four engined heavies trio, the Short Stirling.  First of the trio into Bomber Command, it was also the first to be assigned to other roles. Soon relegated to glider tug and transport duties, as well as more clandestine roles, a number soldiered on post-war in the transport category, but at some point (probably in the 1950s) the last Short Stirling was scrapped. Today the type is not technically extinct because one example, EF311 was found off the south coast of England in the late ’eighties and its recoverability was assessed in 1992, and though still underwater and incomplete, it does at least exist. It is likely to remain on the sea bed unless a large amount of money appears in order to enable it to be recovered, and if there are no such funds forthcoming it will in time no doubt disappear forever.  However, in part two of this bomber feature, (next issue), we will cover the Stirling Project team, who are in the process of bringing the Stirling back from extinction.  That’s a tall order, however the story of the return of the Halifaxes from a similarly near-extinct state sets an example.
 
Return of the Halifaxes
The Handley Page Halifax, which was down to only one nose section has achieved something of a renaissance by recovery from watery graves. In a major triumph of aviation archaeology, back in 1973 the Halifax B.Mk.II W1048 was recovered from the Lake Hoklingen, Norway. The aircraft had failed to return from an attack on the Tirpitz in 1942.  There was hope that this machine would be restored to its pre-immersion state, but apart from the restored nose turret, which is incongruously perched on the front of the still wrecked machine, it has been left ‘as recovered’ (though conserved) in its current home, the Bomber Command Hall of the R.A.F. Museum at Hendon. In our view this machine serves very well as a memorial to the cost of the bombing campaign in this state rather than in a cosmetically reworked form as an ‘intact’ example of the type.

This was not good enough for some people, who felt that a complete and pristine example of the Halifax was worth having, and one group set to work to build a Halifax from the ground up. Using major parts from HR792 and smaller pieces of LW687 and JP158, as well as a Hastings centre section and wings, the current state of play by the Elvington, Yorkshire, based team has resulted in something which looks all Halifax, and already has something of the grandeur of the type. 

And, amazingly another example was recovered -this time Halifax Mk.VIIA NA337 from Lake Mjosa in Norway, and now in Trenton, Ontario with the National Air Force Museum of Canada.  This fairly complete machine underwent a major volunteer restoration to commemorate the Royal Canadian Air Force’s contribution to the air war, and is now re-completed and on proud display in a new, purpose-built building.

Although regarded as a ‘medium’ at the war’s end, the Vickers Wellington was the main RAF heavy in 1939.  For many years, the type was represented only by the T.Mk.10, serial MF628, which flew until the mid-fifties, and was for many years on display at the RAF Museum, but recently removed from display and is undergoing restoration and conservation at the RAF Museum’s workshop at Cosford.

It was with delight that the aviation world had one of Loch Ness’ monsters revealed in the form of Wellington Mk.la R for Robert (N2980), an historic airframe, which was recovered in 1985, and this aircraft has been undergoing an extensive reconstruction at its birthplace, Brooklands where it is one of the premier attractions.  However it is ironic that there are enough parts scattered around Britain to build a third Wellington, if they could be gathered together by one organisation.

Key ‘heavy’ of the 1939-40 period was the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley, of the incredible nose down flying attitude, and again there may be a survivor underwater off Ireland if certain rumours are true. If not (and the clever money is on the ‘not’) the Whitley, a mainstay of the RAF, is completely extinct.  Again, however, there is a group attempting a reconstruction, from parts and new material.  Parts turn up in the most unlikely places, the Australian War Memorial having a Whitley turret in store.

We have not attempted to cover the wide range of light, medium and naval bomber types here, but one U.S. design operated by the RAF should be mentioned, and that is the Consolidated Liberator.  As most readers will be aware, the Liberator Project in Werribee has been working well on their major challenge of rebuilding a complete example from an ex-Papua New Guinea wrecked wing and an ex-Moe, Victoria, fuselage.  A recent visit showed the impressive state of play.

The other Commonwealth Liberators are ex-Indian, the Indian effort at reclaiming the ‘scrapped’ Lend-Lease Liberators left on the sub-continent by the RAF having a much later benefit in preservation.  The Indians have B-24J ex-44-44213 on display as HE924, ‘L’, and there are persistent rumours of others.  The Indian Air Force gave the Canadians (in trade for a Lysander) a Liberator which is in very original condition, in store at the Canadian Air & Space Museum, Rockliffe, Ontario.  The RAF also gained an ex-Indian Liberator, displayed for many years at the RAF Museum, Cosford, but moved down to Hendon in 2005.

It is sadly true that all too few bombers are airworthy, and it is true too that the diversity of flying types is not likely to increase in the foreseeable future; almost all the machines currently under restoration are duplicates of the airworthy types.  However, there is the diversity available, should a desire to put more machines into the air become backed by funding, and the efforts of the groups involved with the Brooklands Wellington and the Halifaxes in Yorkshire and Canada, lends credibility to the Stirling and Whitley teams and prove that no task is too big to undertake. It looks like prospects for the future can only improve.

CAPTION: Canada's Canadian Warplane Heritage undertook one of the greatest warbird restorations by restoring Lancaster C-GVRA to flight. (Gary Brown)