Consolidated NF.4 Y-2 `Siren` By 1943 the RAF`s bomber command were sustaining heavy loses over Germany from enemy night fighters. While these losses were considered acceptable, Air Chief Marshall Harris ordered a review and subsequently an investigation board into how the RAF could counter this threat.
The British had taken note of the Americans failed YB-40 project and were interested in the idea of a heavily armed gunship that would in effect perform a bomber escort role. The reason for the failure of the YB-40 is widely known, however the investigation team started to formulate plans and tactics that would give this nocturnal `gunship` an advantage over the enemy night fighters.
A secret project was opened codenamed Operation Weaver which was set up to look at the feasibility of such a weapons system with the first priority to find an aircraft platform that could be upgraded to a gunship specification. By chance word reached the team based at the Air Ministry of an upgraded Liberator type from the Consolidated aircraft company which was being considered for service. As standard the aircraft was already faster than the present B-17 and B-24 types as well as having the defensive armament increased.
The only problem with this new design was the lack of any kind of ventral turrets. With the arrival of the vertical firing Schräge Musik gun on German night fighters, more and more RAF bombers were being lost to this kind of attack and a deterrent had to be found.
The RAF approached Consolidated and asked for two revisions. First and foremost was the request for a remote controlled ventral barbette turret operated be a gunner lying in the prone position looking through a glass dome slightly aft of the turret. This would counter any threat from directly below and to the rear. The second request was for the front turret to be literally turned upside down so that the gunner could track and fire upon any night fighter below and ahead of the aircraft hoping for a deflection shot.
To counter any head on threat or if the gunship should ever find itself behind an enemy aircraft, two 20mm canon were fitted in a fixed position just above the front turret. Crude gun sights were installed in both the pilot and co-pilots position for aiming.
By June 1944 the first example had flown across the `pond` and landed at Boscombe for evaluation and while in principle the offensive armament performance was found to be above average, the problem arose of how to lure the German fighters to within killing range? An experienced and knowledgeable Flight Sergeant amongst the ground crew suggested that the aircraft could `leak` a weak signal that was known by the Germans. At night it would be quite hard to tell one four engined heavy from another and there fore the trap would be set. In due course the extra `black boxes` and antenna were installed and tested. (It is shortly after this tactic was written into the proposal that the nickname Siren was given to the aircraft although officially it was only known by it`s designation). The NF.4 was also fitted with the latest forward and rearward facing interception radars and in some circles is looked at as the very first AWACS platform.
By January 5th 1945 six examples had been delivered to 632 Flight based at Hemswell with the first sortie flown on the 15th of that month. 632 Flight was a mix of Mosquito NF.30 and `Sirens` with each Siren given a `guardian angel` on each flight. If an enemy aircraft was detected but was out of range, the NF.30 could be directed to intercept. Between January and May 1945 forty two enemy aircraft were claimed destroyed by 632 with the Sirens claiming nineteen and the Mosquito crews the remainder. Eight Sirens were delivered in all with five surviving by the end of May 1945. One example was lost in action with all hands but no crash site or remains have ever been found to confirm what happened. One example was lost in a landing accident after a night time cross country training flight with the loss of three crew and one example became a hangar queen within two weeks of arriving as spares became an issue. All operational NF.4`s were flown back to the United States by August 1945.
When RAF Hemswell closed down in 1967 a majority of the hulk of the hangar queen, W-Whiskey, was `rediscovered` and was soon on it`s way to storage at RAF St Athens in preparation to be delivered to the new RAF museum at Hendon. However, after an audit of space and exhibits, it was decided that the aircraft was too big and had no real historical importance compared to some of the other types vying for space.
In 1999 the question of what to do with the remains of W-Whiskey again came to the forefront. It was decided that it would be moved to RAF Cosford and restored to static condition for display.
The unveiling is set for 15th January 2015, exactly 70 years to the day of it`s very first, if not well known, mission.
