Back during the early days of World War II, British RAF pilots often blamed so-called “gremlins” for any malfunctions their aircraft experienced in combat. For purposes of discussion, a gremlin is a mischievous mythical creature that’s said to cause trouble to machinery, particularly in airplanes. When you’re a nervous flyer, confronting all sorts of man made issues, the last thing you want to think about are gremlins messing with the plane’s engines or other mechanical components.
The word gremlin first appeared in print in 1929. It emerged from the U.K.’s Royal Air Force aviator slang (possibly influenced by goblin), and it became especially popular during World War II, as pilots were forced to contend with FLaK, enemy fighters, poor weather and even night time flying to perform their missions.
Of course, there’s no such thing as a gremlin yet pilots persisted in blaming the mythical tricksters on otherwise inexplicable accidents — convenient scapegoats, if you will, for any odd issues they faced that couldn’t be explained away or overcome.
As if thumbing its nose at the supposed gremlin infestation plaguing other RAF aircraft, Stirling Mk.III LJ542 was unusual in that it sported rather elaborate nose artwork — a feature which wasn’t quite as prevalent on British aircraft as it was on those flown by the USAAF, but was particularly impressive nonetheless. Named “The Gremlin Teaser”, the artwork featured a pin-up girl wearing what appears to be strap-on angel wings, the inference thought to be that this angelic figure was flying in defiance of evil, in this age-old wartime struggle of good against evil, something its crew must have felt they were doing on a nightly basis.
While the Lancaster would go on to become synonymous with the RAF’s bombing campaign over Nazi-occupied Europe, aircraft such as the Short Stirling soldiered on alongside the Lancs. Indeed, the impressive stature of the Stirling was a result of the massive, lengthened undercarriage the aircraft employed, a design modification needed to give the Stirling a greater angle of attack during take-off.
The Stirling’s huge bomb bay allowed the aircraft to carry three times as many bombs as the Vickers Wellington and almost nine times the weight carried by a Bristol Blenheim, presenting the RAF with a potent new weapon with which to take the war to the enemy and pointing the way towards the future of night bombing operations.
“The Gremlin Teaser” would end up being a veteran of 60 operational sorties and during her time with No.199 Squadron, was involved in undertaking vital electronic countermeasures missions, particularly around the time of D-Day, confusing enemy defenses in advance of the Allied invasion.
Corgi’s latest Short Stirling bomber, “Gremlin Teaser”, is currently en route to us and available for shipping early next week.