Bristol Fairchild Bolingbroke IVD on Eastern Front

[comrade harps]

Bristol Fairchild Bolingbroke IVD
Red 28, 287 Escadrille, Socialist Union Red Army Air Force
Gorbunki, Leningrad, Socialist Union, May 1942



Thrown into crisis by the Axis invasion of 22 June 1941, the Socialist Union had little choice but to make common cause with what until then had been referred to as the Western Imperialist Allies. Moscow ordered its diplomats in London and Washington to make appeals for assistance within days of the assault.




Although anti-Communist, Churchill and Roosevelt responded favourably, as did the Free French government in exile. By 9 July 1941, a proposal had been agreed whereby the Royal Navy would send the first of many an aid convoys to Murmansk and Archangel in August. Among the arms and logistics sent would be 40 Hurricane IIBs, plus pilots and ground crew to train the Reds in the unpacking, assembly, maintenance, procedures and tactics of Hurricane operations. The RAF formed 151 Wing for the mission and drew its Hurricane personnel from 81 and 615 squadrons, both units being highly experienced on the Hurricane. 81 Sqd included Australian, British and Canadian personnel and 615 Sqd was commanded by a British officer but mostly staffed with Free French. 151 Wing also included 147 Squadron RCAF with 18 Bristol Fairchild Bolingbroke IVD radar-equipped fighters, intended to provide both local night fighter air defence and convoy escort.




The Bolingbroke IVD was a development of the IVB maritime fighter. The RCAF had ordered the license-built version of the Bristol Blenheim Mk IV bomber as a maritime patrol aircraft, the initial patrol bomber model being the Bolingbroke IVA. Used on anti-shipping and anti-submarine duties over the North Atlantic, it was clearly unsuited to combating the growing threat posed by the Luftwaffe's long-range Fw 200 Condors. To deal with this a Canadian equivalent of the Blenheim IVF was developed, the Bolingbroke IVB version featuring AI Mk.III radar and a ventrally mounted pack containing four .303 Browning machine guns. The Bolingbroke IVC was the same as the IVA, but with the ASV Mk. II radar and many IVAs were upgraded to this standard. Experience from Blenheim and Bolingbroke encounters with the Fw 200 saw the RCAF take a step not taken by the RAF, largely because the Canadians were not re-equipping with the heavily armed Bristol Beaufighter like the RAF was. Two 20mm Hispano cannon replaced the four .303 machine guns in the ventral position, the twin dorsal .303 Vickers Ks were replaced with a single .50 calibre Browning and the AI Mk. IV radar replaced the Mk.III to produce the Bolingbroke IVD. As with the IVC, many of the IVDs were conversions of the superseded model.




All Bolingbroke combat versions were better equipped for cold weather operations than their British equivalents. Adaptions included wing leading edge de-icing boots and improved crew heating, making them better suited than the Blenheim to Arctic operations. These features, combined with the AI Mk. IV radar, made the Bolingbroke IVD the option of choice when selecting a long-range, radar-equipped fighter to send to join the Operation Benedict deployment to the Kola Peninsula. 147 Squadron RCAF was formed from suitably qualified air and ground personnel to operate the Bolingroke IVD as part of Operation Benedict. A short-term deployment, 151 Wing was to provide an air deterrence against Finnish and German actions against the convoy ports at Murmansk, Arkhangelsk and Polyarnoe and the railway line that connected them to the remainder of the Socialist Union. The Wing was also to train the Reds how to operate the Hurricanes and Bolingbrokes themselves, the surviving planes being left behind as the personnel of 87 and 147 squadrons returned to Britain. Significantly, the Free French personnel of 615 Sqd remained, briefly flying I-153s before going on to fly other Red fighters on the Eastern Front until August 1944 as the 1, Groupe de Chasse GC 3 Normandie.



Flying from Veanga, the Bolingbrokes of 147 squadron participated in several combat missions during their September to late November 1941 deployment. These included providing shipping escort, serving as navigation lead ships for Hurricane on strafing missions against targets in Finland and conducting nocturnal air defence and intruder sorties. Training started in October and the Reds of the newly formed 287 Escadrille were declared operational by the end of November. 



Once 151 Wing was officially deactivated at Veanga on 1 December 1941, the 16 surviving Bolingbroke IVDs and their freshly trained crews of the 287 Escadrille were quickly transferred to the Moscow Air Defence Front. Here they were active in nocturnal air defence against the Luftwaffe's sporadic night bombing of Moscow and Gorky, with subsequent small deployments to Leningrad. However, the limitations of the Bolingbroke in the night fighter role were clear, as Luftwaffe bombers often avoided interception by simply flying faster than the fighters. Additionally, the radar was already obsolete, limited in performance and a spares shortage soon ensued. By mid-June 1942 the last of the radar spares had been exhausted and the 12 surviving Bolingbrokes were withdrawn to second-line duties, serving as armed couriers with 319 Escadrille until April-1944 when the last 2 aircraft were retired.




Red 28 is modelled here as photographed at Gorbunki airfield near Leningrad in May 1942. The 5 red star kill markings are not individual to either the aircrew or the airframe, but represent the confirmed kills to date of the entire 287 Escadrille. The unit had been formed at Veanga in September 1941 and had been in combat since December. The Bolingbroke's kill tally amounted to just 6 Luftwaffe bombers (4 He-111s, 1 Do-215 and 1 Ju-88, the latter having already been damaged by flak) when they were retired from combat in mid-June 1941. The paucity of aerial success was no reflection on the courage or skill of the Red aircrew, but rather on the limitations of the Bolingbroke IVD as a night fighter and the restricted nature of the Luftwaffe's night bombing campaigns against Gorky, Leningrad, Moscow, Murmansk and Veanga during this time frame.

[zenrat]

Good job Comrade.

I am trying to imagine how "bolingbroke" would sound when said with a russian accent.

[Old Wombat]

Nice one, comrade!

[Scotaidh]

Good job Comrade.

I am trying to imagine how "bolingbroke" would sound when said with a russian accent.

I have heard that to fake a Russian accent one needs to insert a "y" sound as the second letter of each syllable. 

"Byoling-Byroke"

[Scotaidh]

Very nice model and back-story, btw.   

Does anyone know why the RAF was so reluctant to install cannons instead of machine guns? 

[rickshaw]

Very nice model and back-story, btw.   

Does anyone know why the RAF was so reluctant to install cannons instead of machine guns?

Access and weight limitations and the introduction of the new Beaufighter which cured those problems compared to the Blenheim.  The cannons were initially drum fed and as each drum only held 60 rounds, they were a handful to change in mid-flight.  The location in the bomb bay was not easily accessed from inside the aircraft.

[comrade harps]

Very nice model and back-story, btw.   

Does anyone know why the RAF was so reluctant to install cannons instead of machine guns?

Access and weight limitations and the introduction of the new Beaufighter which cured those problems compared to the Blenheim.  The cannons were initially drum fed and as each drum only held 60 rounds, they were a handful to change in mid-flight.  The location in the bomb bay was not easily accessed from inside the aircraft.

I did think about installing machine guns or cannons in the nose but decided against it due to the maritime nature of the type. Of course, Beaufighters didn't need a clear nose to navigate over the sea...

[NARSES2]

That's come out well, I like it 

I am trying to imagine how "bolingbroke" would sound when said with a russian accent.

Probably get you arrested if you said it in public