Short Stirling & RAF Bomber Command Forum

Hello,
I have a couple of photos of my uncle Bob Constant who, whilst serving in the Royal Navy, was assigned to work on Horsa Gliders at an airfield in Dorset.
We believe that he was based at RAF Hurn, but there is a possibility that he was at Tarrant Rushton or even Christchurch.
He is stood to the right on the first photo next to the main wheel of what I am guessing is a Short Stirling Mark IV..?

I am trying to confirm where the photos were taken...any help would be greatly appreciated.
The date must be between June 1944 and March 1945.
Invasion stripes can be seen on the underside of the rear fuselage of a couple of Stirlings in the background and he was assigned to HMS Pioneer which travelled out to the far east in March 1945.

I have blown up the parked aircraft section of the first photo which might help.
It appears that "Goofy II" had flown four missions as there are four "dagger like" symbols to the right of the nose art.
I am guessing that the aircraft must be from one of the following Squadrons, as I believe they served at Hurn or Tarrant Rushton:
196, 295, 299 or 570 Squadrons.

Anyway, I hope they are of interest...
Many thanks
Richard

Welcome to the forum, Richard.
Many thanks for sharing these great photos and details.
I'm on my mobile at present but will have a closer look tomorrow.
Cheers,
John

The forum has hundreds of images of of the Short Stirling, however, many can be found on these two links ..........

viewtopic.php?f=25&t=44&p=14213&hilit=s ... ion#p14213

At present, I can't seem to being up the other link, which is the Short Stirling Aircraft & Crews thread.
I know I've seen a 'Goofy' but it may have been a Halifax aircraft from that collection. I will persist though.
John

Hi John,
Thank you for your replies and link to the other photo pages in the forum, both are very much appreciated.

I'm hoping, somewhere out there, someone may have a list of all the names given to the Stirling aircraft...
(I'm guessing it's a bit of a long shot, but you never know)

If I manage to find anything else out I will post on the forum.

Thanks again
Richard
P.S. I've added an blown up shot of the pilot & nose art from the first photo.

Hi all

From my Chairman who is the font of all knowledge

"Stirling 'Goofy II' is EF446 of 'B' flight, 295 Sq. at Rivenhall. Some of the operations were undertaken from Hurn, but these photos were almost certainly taken at Rivenhall."

Hope that helps

John

Stirling Project wrote:Hi all

From my Chairman who is the font of all knowledge

"Stirling 'Goofy II' is EF446 of 'B' flight, 295 Sq. at Rivenhall. Some of the operations were undertaken from Hurn, but these photos were almost certainly taken at Rivenhall."

Hope that helps

John

Please pass on our thanks to the detective.
John ( Kitty )

Hi,
That is some fantastic detective work, thank you...the information is very much appreciated.
(I hope to build a model of this aircraft, at some point, as a tribute to my uncle who, sadly passed away a few years back)

It's interesting that RAF Rivenhall is mentioned, one thing I know for certain is that my uncle was working on Horsa gliders at the time of this photo...I presume in preparation for Operation Market Garden..?
(He worked on aircraft maintenance for the Royal Navy ending up on HMS Pioneer which travelled out to the Far East in 1945. I don't believe the ship was involved in any enemy action, as such, but they did get tasked with throwing dozens of aircraft off the flight deck and into the sea at the end of the war).

He may well have been given a "jolly" flight in one of the Stirlings and ended up at Rivenhall.

Thanks again
Richard

Hi Richard,

If you want to build a Short Stirling, there are some great models of different scales in our 'Modelling' section.
If you are game, you could try the 1:48 scale vacuum model by Sanger, ha! .............. viewtopic.php?f=7&t=798
Cheers,
John

Hi John,
A 1:48 scale Stirling, well that would be quite a challenge!
(Especially after reading the log of the build...)

I've managed to find a few more details regarding "Goofy II", from a couple of books that my dad has managed to dig out of his collection:
"The Stirling Bomber" by Michael J.F. Bowyer, states that EF446 was in service with 295 Sqn between 3/8/44 until 20/07/45.

"Stirling Wings, the Short Stirling goes to War", by Johnathan Falconer lists a number of named and personalized aircraft. Amongst the list of 34 aircraft is "Goofy II", it's details being: Mk IV, 8E-O, EF446, No 295 Sqn, 08/44 - 07/45.

I think that I've got enough information to make a model of the aircraft...i'll have a read of your modelling section before I start, though I suspect the fairly new Italeri kit of the Mk.IV would be the best option. If/when it gets built I'll post a photo on the forum.

Thanks again
Richard

Hi Richie

I think the photo may have been taken at RAF Harwell as in the background is what looks like a 'C' type hangar. Harwell was a pre war expansion airfield whereas the other main airfields 295 Sqn operated from where wartime builds without the more permanent structures. 295 Sqn operated from Harwell during Market Garden. The Wiki page for 295 Sqn shows a Stirling taking off with C type hangars behind and Stirlings lined up in a similar position to your photo.

Hope this helps,

Cliff