Cliffnemo,
I mentioned it in an earlier post, but did you get any training in those days in tail-plane stall recovery? I suspect that a lot of unexplained accidents in WW2 and until the 60s on short finals prior were due to tail plane stall on selecting full-flaps. As far as I can determine, the cause was not really understood until the 60s-70s.
The Stirling might have been a bit more susceptible to tail icing than some other WW2 bombers, as its tail was borrowed from a seaplane so was set higher than would normally be expected (seaplanes had high tails to keep them out of spray).
Pure conjecture, but I'd certainly be interested to know if it was a phenomena recognised and trained for by WW2 crews.
There is a very interesting video here, courtesty of NASA, for non-pilots who might not be familiar with the tail-plane icing and the non-instinctive recovery technique that it requires.
1 of 3, Aircraft icing loss of control - YouTube