The Mighty Beaufighter Refused to Retire from the Raf After the W
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LAST OF THE LINE BEAUFIGHTERS TUGGING AT SLE THE MIGHTY BEAUFIGHTER REFUSED TO RETIRE FROM THE RAF AFTER THE W Right attle-hardened torpedo-bomber, all, he carried out the maiden flights Beaufi ghter TT.10 SR912 strike weapon of awesome of more than 1,800 of the 3,336 that towing a target while with Bcapability and pioneer night originated from the Weston factory. Kai Tak Station Flight, Hong Kong, circa 1952. fighter it may have been, but When the atomic bombs shattered The sleeve is only slightly with the advent of peace there Japanese willpower, there were just In the deployed for the purposes seemed little future for the Bristol six frontline Beaufighter TF.X units Far East, the of the photo; normally Beaufighter. That slim fuselage was left; two each in India (22 and Beaufighter had the edge over it would be a long, long not capable of taking more advanced 217 Squadrons) and the UK (254 its more nimble rival, the Mosquito. way behind! PETER GREEN airborne interception gear, and the and 287), one in Burma (27), and The latter’s bonded plywood COLLECTION remoteness of the gunner-turned- another (252) in Greece. The last of structure suffered in extremes of radar operator back in the fuselage these disbanded in December 1946. temperature and humidity, while the did not help. With its side-by-side The lack of fuselage capacity all-metal Bristol type could shrug crew, the de Havilland Mosquito was also worked against the ‘Beau’ as a off such privations. It was in this the night fighter of choice for the potential crew trainer. Like many same theatre that conflicts that immediate post-war period. other warhorses, some were headed could benefit from the For torpedo or rocket attacks for re-work and export, but most Beaufighter’s attributes another Bristol type, the Brigand, were destined for scrap. were developing. was gearing up for service, but it In Burma, 27 Squadron proved to be disappointing and, NEW LIFE, NEW WARS at Mingaladon was still besides, the days of torpedo- But there was still life in the needed to flex its muscles. bombers were coming to an end. revered twin, thanks to its robust Despite the surrender, Victory in Japan Day was characteristics. The 1,770hp getting the word through celebrated on August 15, 1945 and (1,320kW) 14-cylinder, two-row to out-of-touch the following month – on the 21st – Bristol Hercules Mk.XVII radials Japanese troops meant production test pilot Ronnie Ellison powering the Mk.Xs were very that, occasionally, took TF.X SR919 into the air from reliable, plenty were held in reserve ‘contact’ was the Bristol-administered shadow and there were huge stocks of required factory at Oldmixon, near Weston- consumables. Later versions of the and a super-Mare, Somerset. This was the Hercules were fitted to the Handley 5,564th and last of the powerful Page Hastings, Vickers Valetta, twins to be built in Britain. Varsity and Viking, so there was Ellison had been at the helm of a large pool of personnel the first Oldmixon machine, Mk.If used to working X7540, on February 20, 1941 and on them. he made sure he took the honours for the 1,000th (Mk.VI JL762), 2,000th and 3,000th examples. In 90 FLYPAST January 2019 EEVES E WAR. KEN ELLIS EXAMINES ITS SECOND CAREER, WHICH LASTED UNTIL 1960 January 2019 FLYPAST 91 LAST OF THE LINE BEAUFIGHTERS Above burst from the guns of a TF.X often 1946, 27 Squadron disbanded the dissidents had become better armed The prototype TT.10, helped to quell resistance. The unit following month. and more organised. NT913, at Filton in 1948. also dropped more than 250,000 Following a slaughter of plantation Note the winch in the HEAVY STRIKE upright position and leaflets explaining that World War owners and staff in Perak, a state the wire guards around Two had ended. In Malaya, insurrection was of emergency was declared on June the tail surfaces. BRISTOL Having endured the Japanese, fermenting throughout the vast 17, 1948. With typical British AEROPLANE COMPANY on Java the Indonesian nationalist jungle peninsula behind Singapore, understatement, what was to Sukarno seized his moment to declare spreading up to the Thailand/ become an 18-year conflict was Above right Weary-looking TT.10 independence from the previous Burma border. By early 1948, nonchalantly referred to as ‘The RD809 of 34 Squadron, occupying power, the Netherlands. based at Horsham St Militarily, the area was a British BEAUFIGHTER TT.10 UNITS Faith, taxiing at an responsibility – UK forces were airshow circa 1950. PETER busy rounding up Japanese soldiers Squadrons: 5 & 17 Chivenor, 20 Valley, 34 & 695 Horsham GREEN COLLECTION and, most importantly, extracting St Faith, 167 Abingdon, then Benson Below prisoners of war. Armament Practice Camps: 26 Nicosia, Cyprus; 27 Butterworth, Malaya The last British-built Although hoping to avoid a Beaufi ghter, TF.X SR919 at confrontation, one occupying force Civilian Anti-Aircraft Co-operation Units: 1 Hornchurch; 2 Little Snoring, then Langham; Oldmixon, August 1945. looks much like another and, from 3 Exeter; 4 Llandow; 5 Llanbedr BRISTOL AEROPLANE COMPANY October 1945, British personnel were fired upon by Sukarno supporters. Communications/Target Towing Squadron: Luqa and then Ta Qali, Malta The UK was unwillingly immersed Far East Transport Wing: Changi, Singapore in what would become the bitter struggle for Indonesian autonomy. Operational Conversion Units: 226 Molesworth then Bentwaters and Among other assets, 27 Squadron’s Driffi eld; 229 Leuchars, Scotland, then Beaufighters were detached to Chivenor, Devon Kemajoran on Java, arriving in Station Flights: Changi, Seletar and Tengah, all Singapore; Kai November 1945. They went straight Tak, Hong Kong into action and, in the space of three months, undertook 300-plus ‘ops’. Target Towing Flight/Section/Unit: Nicosia, Cyprus; Shallufa, Egypt Many of these sorties were a matter of merely showing up to disperse Trials units: Aeroplane & Armament Experimental hostile forces, or to drop leaflets. Establishment, Boscombe Down; Handling When close support was required, the Squadron, Manby; Royal Aircraft Beaus provided accurate firepower. Establishment, Farnborough Returning to Mingaladon in January 92 FLYPAST January 2019 violently. On return to RAE, the undersides of RD388 were pockmarked with damage from expended shell links. The gun bay was urgently re-thought, so the links were not ejected into the slipstream but Left collected within the fuselage. TT.10 RD850 served with Distinctive bulges – known as 229 OCU at Chivenor before moving to ‘Sabrinas’ after a well-endowed Nicosia, Shallufa and glamour model and actress of the fi nally Malta, retiring in time – were fitted to Hunters to late 1958. KEC cure this element of the jet fighter’s Below left Emergency’ and in RAF-speak as The first assault was on August 12, ADEN ailments. Based at Llanbedr, Operation Firedog. 1949, on a camp near the Thai border, Testing in the modified Wales, TT.10 SR914 of During 1948, the RAF stopped where a large concentration of CTs RD388 continued, including 5 Civilian Anti-Aircraft using Roman numerals for its aircraft had been found – 30 were believed to firing in tight manoeuvres and Co-operation Unit, at designations. Arabic numbers were have been killed in the initial salvoes. steep dives. These inflicted terrible low level in early 1950. adopted, so the Beaufighter TF.X Five days later came the biggest strike strains on the airframe and the PETER GREEN COLLECTION became the TF.10. The nearest heavy yet, with Beaufighters supplemented Beaufighter was declared over- strike unit in the Far East Air Force by Spitfires. stressed by the end of 1955 and was 84 Squadron at Seletar, Singapore. In October, 84 Squadron departed was grounded. Gloster Meteor F.8 Previously a Mosquito FB.6 operator, to Habbaniya in Iraq, where it started WK660 took over the trials. it re-equipped in November converting to Brigands. Also coming The ADEN was a derivative of the 1946 with Beaufighter TF.10s. A to grips with the troublesome Brigand German Mauser 213. The name detachment was sent to Kuala Lumpur was 45 Squadron, which re-located was derived from a combination of – known as ‘KL’ – in July 1948. to Tengah, Singapore, in December the Royal Armament Research and Across the Indian Ocean at 1949. The unit did not forsake Development Establishment at Fort Negombo in Ceylon, 45 Squadron Beaus totally, though, until early the Halstead, Kent, where the cannon was traded its Mosquito FB.6s for TF.10s following year. created, and Enfield in Middlesex, in December 1948. It was also put Beaufighters of 45 were brought where it was manufactured. ADEN on standby and had a detachment of in for an attack on a settlement in 30mm guns were eventually fitted to Beaus in place at KL a month after Johore – the Malay state neighbouring British jets through to the Harrier 84 and the entire unit settled there in Singapore – on February 7, 1950. and Jaguar. May 1949. This sortie was very likely the last time Between these two, an average of a Beau was used in anger. THREE PROPELLERS eight Beaufighters were on call to hit With its days of shooting at targets what were called Communist Terrorist BIG GUN over, the Beaufighter turned to a (CT) bases, supply lines or bands of The Weapons Department of the task that would keep it employed insurgents. Until the arrival of the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) for 12 years. Its good turn of speed – 303mph at 1,500ft (487km/h at 457m) – and typical range of 1,470 miles (2,365km) offered considerable endurance. All this combined to make the Beau well suited for target-towing.