Shorts Stirling production

[johnoL]

Morning all
I am looking for information about the production of Stirling aircraft . I know that they were produced at Rochester , Belfast ,Longbridge and South Marston, but I wonder if there is any information regarding which serial numbers were produced in which location
If anyone has any wise words to point me in the right direction,I would be very thankful
J

 

[Snautzer01]

G Geoffrey Sinclair He could be your man for this.

 

[fubar57]

​

 

[Capt. Vick]

Coming through as always!

 

[Geoffrey Sinclair]

Austin, mark I March 1941 to March 1943, mark III November 1942 to October 1944.
50 Mark I From W7426 to W7475
40 Mark I From W7500 to W7539
30 Mark I From W7560 to W7589
30 Mark I From W7610 to W7639
37 Mark I From BK592 to BK628
4 Mark I From BK644 to BK647
20 Mark III From BK648 to BK667
42 Mark III From BK686 to BK727
26 Mark III From BK759 to BK784
21 Mark III From BK798 to BK818
35 Mark III From EH875 to EH909
41 Mark III From EH921 to EH961
20 Mark III From EH977 to EH996
24 Mark III From EJ104 to EJ127
37 Mark III From LK375 to LK411
42 Mark III From LK425 to LK466
43 Mark III From LK479 to LK521, LK500 became TS262 and LK512 became TS264 when converted to mark IV
42 Mark III From LK535 to LK576, LK562 became TS265 when converted to mark IV
36 Mark III From LK589 to LK624

Short and Harland, mark I November 1940 to February 1943, mark III January 1943 to January 1944, mark IV December 1943 to August 1945, Mark V August 1944 to December 1945.
25 Mark I From N6000 to N6024
0 Mark I From N6025 to N6028, 4 Destroyed on production line
2 Mark I From N6029 to N6030
0 Mark I N6031, 1 Destroyed on production line
18 Mark I From N6032 to N6049
20 Mark I From N6065 to N6084
20 Mark I From N6085 to N6104
10 Mark I From N6120 to N6129
14 Mark I From R9295 to R9308
1 Mark III R9309, became mark III Prototype, Aircraft Card mark I converted to III, Contract Card mark III, Serial Register III
25 Mark I From R9310 to R9334
10 Mark I From R9349 to R9358
50 Mark I From BF309 to BF358
45 Mark I From BF372 to BF416
21 Mark I From BF434 to BF454
29 Mark III From BF455 to BF483
35 Mark III From BF500 to BF534
20 Mark III From BF561 to BF580
48 Mark III From EE871 to EE918
39 Mark III From EE937 to EE975
50 Mark III From EF114 to EF163
41 Mark III From EF177 to EF217
47 Mark III From EF231 to EF277
28 Mark III From EF289 to EF316
7 Mark IV From EF317 to EF323
42 Mark IV From LJ810 to LJ851
36 Mark IV From LJ864 to LJ899
44 Mark IV From LJ913 to LJ956
31 Mark IV From LJ969 to LJ999
43 Mark IV From LK114 to LK156
43 Mark IV From LK169 to LK211
32 Mark IV From LK226 to LK257
44 Mark IV From LK270 to LK313
45 Mark IV From LK326 to LK370
5 Mark III From MZ260 to MZ264, Replacements for N6025 to 6028 and N6031
46 Mark V From PJ878 to PJ923
25 Mark V From PJ935 to PJ959
29 Mark V From PJ971 to PJ999
44 Mark V From PK115 to PK158
16 Mark V From PK171 to PK186
13 Mark IV From PK225 to PK237
42 Mark IV From PW384 to PW425
28 Mark IV From PW438 to PW465

Short Brothers, mark I May 1940 to may 1943, mark II July 1941, April and September 1942, mark III April 1943 to September 1944, mark IV June and July 1944, mark V April 1944.
1 Prototype mark I L7600, First flew 14 May 1939 and promptly crashed
1 Prototype mark I L7605, First flew 3 December 1939
10 Mark I From N3635 to N3644
0 Mark I N3645, 1 Destroyed on production line
1 Mark I N3646
0 Mark I From N3647 to N3651, 5 Destroyed on production line
5 Mark I From N3652 to N3656
1 Mark II N3657
27 Mark I From N3658 to N3684
11 Mark I From N3700 to N3710
1 Mark II N3711
18 Mark I From N3712 to N3729
20 Mark I From N3750 to N3769
30 Mark I From R9141 to R9170
4 Mark I From R9184 to R9187
1 Mark II R9188
15 Mark I From R9189 to R9203
50 Mark I From R9241 to R9290
6 Mark I From DJ972 to DJ977
43 Mark I From EF327 to EF369
15 Mark I From EF384 to EF398
1 Mark III EF399, Aircraft Card mark I or III , Contract Card mark I, Serial Register I or III, official Ministry of Aircraft Production total reconciles if mark III.
1 Mark I EF400
12 Mark III From EF401 to EF412
1 Mark I EF413
46 Mark III From EF425 to EF470
31 Mark III From EF488 to EF518
44 Mark III From LJ440 to LJ483
29 Mark III From LJ501 to LJ529
1 Mark V LJ530, Prototype
14 Mark III From LJ531 to LJ544
40 Mark III From LJ557 to LJ596
34 Mark III From LJ611 to LJ644
1 Mark IV LJ645
1 Mark III LJ646
1 Mark IV LJ647
2 Mark III From LJ648 to LJ649
1 Mark IV LJ650
1 Mark III LJ651
1 Mark IV LJ652
1 Mark III LJ653
3 Mark IV From LJ667 to LJ669
1 Mark III LJ670
1 Mark IV PW255
1 Mark III PW256
1 Mark IV PW257
9 Mark III From PW258 to PW266

The Mark II N3657, N3711 were converted to mark I, R9188 converted to mark III. Contract Card note, mark IV Type A1 (38 Wing version), Mark V Type B (Transport version) Edit Reasons: Change mark II serial from N3722 to N3711, add mark II conversions and type note.

 

[johnoL]

Thank you so much that's great , so the specific aircraft I was looking for was EF497 , which looking at this was a shorts aircraft in the batch of 31 (488-518), am I correct that this narrows it down to Rochester and South Marston ? Is there anyway of finding out which site of these two ?
Thanks Johno

 

[Geoffrey Sinclair]

Ministry of Aircraft Production Statistical Review, says official production was Rochester, 39 I, 1 II, 117 III, Swindon 218 I, 2 II, 150 III, total 257 I, 3 II, 367 III. but the monthly reports do not give factory information. Nor do the individual aircraft cards. South Marston often = Swindon when it comes to factory location.

https://www.airfieldresearchgroup.org.uk/forum/introduce-yourself/12109-short-brothers-swindon-area says South Marston production from early 1942
July 1943 shows the squadron knew where its aircraft came from.

You will need to see if the Short company archives, RAF Archives and/or British Archives hold more detailed records giving factory information.

Shorts Aircraft since 1900 by C.H. Barnes says after the raid on Rochester permission to rebuild was denied for a while, components sent to Hucclecote and South Marston. Officially Short built 9 mark I in 1940 and 40 in 1941, 140 in 1942 and 68 in 1943, with mark III production starting in April 1943. If the MAP split is correct it indicates Rochester was not building much in 1941/42, around 30 aircraft in 28 months while South Marston began production in November 1941 at the latest. Not sure about that. Then Rochester built under half the mark III.

Since the query about the aircraft tends to be really about the people, EF497 lost on air test 20 October 1943, crew killed

Stirling EF497 [Royal Air Force Aircraft Serial and Image Database]

This is a individual page for Aircraft Stirling EF497 of the Royal Air Force. You may find some details of its career, loss details, maybe a photograph, and whatever mention of the serial that occurs in the forum. At the very least you will end up knowing what type of aircraft carried this...

www.rafcommands.com

I would dearly like to understand what this Air Test mission was about

I received this mail. Partly form my website and partly from this person. On Wednesday 20 October 1943, a member of the 90 Sqdn, Sergeant K W...

ww2talk.com

 

[johnoL]

Hi Geoffrey,thanks so much for all the information that you have provided .I am helping a friend who's uncle was a crew member of the aircraft, who himself has done a huge amount of research into the crew and the crash .I am trying to help with some of the smaller details , I also lost an uncle all be it in a Halifax in March 43 , and it was relatively easy to find out where his aircraft was built, so on that basis I thought I could trace production detail for the Stirling too
J

 

[Alex Smart]

Hi Geoffrey,thanks so much for all the information that you have provided .I am helping a friend who's uncle was a crew member of the aircraft, who himself has done a huge amount of research into the crew and the crash .I am trying to help with some of the smaller details , I also lost an uncle all be it in a Halifax in March 43 , and it was relatively easy to find out where his aircraft was built, so on that basis I thought I could trace production detail for the Stirling too
J

Hello John,
410 Short Sterling I's, III's and IV's delivered between January and December 1943.
The 31 Mark III's were - EF488 to EF518.

Numbers up to EF323 were built by Short & Harland,Belfast to Contract 774677/38/C.4c.
The remainder being built by Short Bros, Rochester to Contract 763825/38/C.4c. ( Page 34 Air Britain "Royal Air Force Aircraft EE100 to EZ999".
On page 40 -
EF497 - 90 Sqdn -
Hit by Lightning lost trailing aerial, tail turret became unserviceable, returned to Base 17.10.43.
Hit trees low flying on Air test, Woodhouse Farm,Ipsden, near Wallingford,Oxon, 20.10.43.

 

[Geoffrey Sinclair]

Two prototypes from Short Brothers under contact 67299/37, plus

Short Brothers contract 763825/39, number built, requisition
100 60/E11/38 N, DJ Serials
100 122/E11/39 R serials
150 SA4/E11/41 EF serials, originally meant to be mark II
Short Brothers contract AC2008, number built, requisition
187 SA2/E11/42 LJ, PW serials, 88 aircraft, PW267 to 280, PW303 to 347, PW361 to 380 cancelled 15 March 1944

Austin Motor Company contract B982939/39, number built, requisition
420 111/E11/39 W, BK, EH and EJ serials
200 SA1/E11/42 LK serials

Short & Harland contract 774677/38, number built, requisition
100 81/E11/38 N, MZ serials
50 23/E11/39 R serials
200 SA1/E11/40 BF serials
260 SA5/E11/41 EE, EF serials
Short & Harland contract AC2009, number built, requisition
603 SA3/E11/42 LJ, LK, PJ, PK, PW serials, 157 aircraft PK187 to 205, PK217 to 224, PW466 to 479, PW493 to 525, PW539 to 580, PW593 to 633 cancelled
Short & Harland contract AC4776, 100 aircraft, all cancelled, TS543 to 592, TS605 to 620, TS639 to 672.

Mark/Year	1940​	1941​	1942​	1943​	1944​	1945​	Total
I	9​	40​	140​	68​	0​	0​	257​	Short Brothers
I	5​	73​	170​	12​	0​	0​	260​	Short & Harland
I	0​	40​	146​	5​	0​	0​	191​	Austin Motor Company
II	0​	1​	2​	0​	0​	0​	3​	Short Brothers
III	0​	0​	0​	164​	103​	0​	267​	Short Brothers
III	0​	0​	0​	341​	2​	0​	343​	Short & Harland
III	0​	0​	4​	291​	134​	0​	429​	Austin Motor Company
IV	0​	0​	0​	0​	9​	0​	9​	Short Brothers
IV	0​	0​	0​	11​	372​	67​	450​	Short & Harland
V	0​	0​	0​	0​	1​	0​	1​	Short Brothers
V	0​	0​	0​	0​	26​	134​	160​	Short & Harland
Total	14​	154​	462​	892​	647​	201​	2370​

Production totals, 537 by Short Brothers, 1213 by Short & Harland, 620 by Austin Motor Company. EF488 to EF518 delivered 28 July to 30 August 1943