Fly Past

100 YEARS OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE

BOMBERS RAF CENTENARY CELEBRATION 59

Above

Fortress II SR388

was delivered to 214

Squadron at Oulton

in January 1944. It

served the unit until

it disbanded in July

1945; it was struck

off charge in March

1947 and scrapped.

The large aerial

above the ‘U’ of the

squadron code is part

of the ABC jammer

apparatus. PETE WEST

Above

Fortress IIA

FK209 ready for

transatlantic delivery

in 1941. Built as a

B-17E at Seattle,

Washington, it carries

its USAAF serial

number 41-9203 on

the fi n. While serving

with 59 Squadron

from Aldergrove,

FK209 failed to return

from a patrol on June

14, 1943. BOEING

Above left

Part of a seven-man

crew of 90 Squadron

meets the press at

Polebrook in early

July 1941. KEC

BOEING FORTRESS

Type: Ten-crew heavy bomber

First fl ight: July 28, 1935, entered service May 1941

Powerplant: Four 1,200hp (895kW) Wright Cyclone R-1820 radials

Dimensions: Span 103ft 9½in (31.63m), Length 67ft 10½in (20.68m)

Weights: Empty 31,150lb (14,129kg), All-up 45,470lb (20,625kg)

Max speed: 320mph (514km/h) at 20,000ft (6,096m)

Range: 3,160 miles (5,085km)

Armament: One machine gun in the nose, two each in dorsal and ventral

positions, one in each port and starboard beam positions. Up to

4,400lb (1,995kg) of bombs

Replaced: All variants – Bristol Blenheim and Lockheed Hudson from 1941

Taken on charge: All variants – 184

Replaced by: Consolidated Liberator from 1943

BOEING FORTRESS I

1942 took delivery of the first of the
considerably redesigned and heavily
armed E-models.
The tactic of flying aircraft
individually also astounded USAAF
pilots. Tight formations, giving one
another protective fire was the way
they went to war.

SPOOFING
The long endurance of the Fortress
made it an ideal platform for Coastal
Command, and radar-equipped
Fortress IIs and IIIs entered service
from July 1942 when 220 Squadron,
by then at Ballykelly, began to replace

its original Mk.Is. The Fortress II

was based upon the B-17E and the

’F, while the Mk.III was a version of

the most-produced version of the

Fortress, the B-17G.

The Fortress was retired from service

with Coastal Command in February

1946 when the meteorological

reconnaissance 521 Squadron stood

down its Mk.IIIs at Chivenor.

Generous space within the fuselage

on the Fortress allowed for the

carriage of specialist crew and an

incredible amount of radio and

radar countermeasures gear. Among

the apparatus was ‘Airborne Cigar’

AboveAbove

Fortress IIA Fortress IIA Fortress IIA

(or ABC) which jammed VHF

transmissions, and the electronic

device ‘Mandrel’ and air-dropped

reflective foil strips known as

‘Window’, both of which played

havoc with enemy early warning

radars.

Established in January 1944 at

Sculthorpe, later moving to Oulton,

214 Squadron flew with specially

modified Fortress IIs and IIIs. The

unit was part of 100 Group in the

‘bomber support’ role, although this

was widely referred to as ‘spoofing’.

In August 1944 the Consolidated

Liberators IVs of 223 Squadron

also settled in at Oulton and began

re-equipping with a mixture of

Fortress IIs and IIIs in April 1945.

Their job done, both units were

disbanded in July.

The highly secret nature of the

work of 214 and 223 Squadrons

was revealed in Laurie Brettingham’s

book Even When the Sparrows are

Walking (Gopher, 2001). Canadian

Sqn Ldr Mervyn Utas gave an insight

into Fortress ‘ops’: “Sometimes

our spoof force would do a double

penetration if the Main Force wasn’t

operating.

“After clearing the Mandrel screen,

we would start our Window drop

and head for a target, drop token

markers and bombs, and then head

back into France behind the Mandrel

screen. We would then descend to low

altitude, orbit for 30 to 45 minutes,

then climb back up again and head

back into Germany for a second

spoof.”