THE MIGHTY BEAUFIGHTER REFUSED TO RETIRE FROM THE RAF AFTER THE WAR. KEN ELLIS EXAMINES ITS SECOND CAREER, WHICH LASTED UNTIL 1960
LAST OF THE LINE BEAUFIGHTERS
Battle-hardened torpedo-bomber, strike weapon of awesome capability and pioneer night fighter it may have been, but with the advent of peace there seemed little future for the Bristol Beaufighter. That slim fuselage was not capable of taking more advanced airborne interception gear, and the remoteness of the gunner-turnedradar operator back in the fuselage did not help. With its side-by-side crew, the de Havilland Mosquito was the night fighter of choice for the immediate post-war period.
For torpedo or rocket attacks another Bristol type, the Brigand, was gearing up for service, but it proved to be disappointing and, besides, the days of torpedobombers were coming to an end.
Victory in Japan Day was celebrated on August 15, 1945 and the following month – on the 21st – production test pilot Ronnie Ellison took TF.X SR919 into the air from the Bristol-administered shadow factory at Oldmixon, near Westonsuper-Mare, Somerset. This was the 5,564th and last of the powerful twins to be built in Britain.
Ellison had been at the helm of the first Oldmix…
