Handley Page Halifax
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The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester.
The Halifax has its origins in the twin-engine HP56 proposal of the late 1930s, produced in response to the British Air Ministry's Specification P.13/36 for a capable medium bomber for "world-wide use." The HP56 was ordered as a backup to the Avro 679, both aircraft being designed to use the underperforming Rolls-Royce Vulture engine. The Handley Page design was altered at the Ministry to a four-engine arrangement powered by the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine; the rival Avro 679 was produced as the twin-engine Avro Manchester which, while regarded as unsuccessful mainly due to the Vulture engine, was a direct predecessor of the famed Avro Lancaster. Both the Lancaster and the Halifax would emerge as capable four-engined strategic bombers, thousands of which would be built and operated by the RAF and several other services during the War.
On 25 October 1939, the Halifax performed its maiden flight, and it entered service with the RAF on 13 November 1940. It quickly became a major component of Bomber Command, performing routine strategic bombing missions against the Axis Powers, many of them at night. Arthur Harris, the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Bomber Command, described the Halifax as inferior to the rival Lancaster (in part due to its smaller payload) though this opinion was not shared by many of the crews that flew it, particularly for the MkIII variant. Nevertheless, production of the Halifax continued until April 1945. During their service with Bomber Command, Halifaxes flew a total of 82,773 operations and dropped 224,207 tons of bombs, while 1,833 aircraft were lost. The Halifax was also flown in large numbers by other Allied and Commonwealth nations, such as the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), Free French Air Force and Polish forces. Wikipedia
National Air Force Museum of Canada
CASPIR Aircraft Groups:
RCAF Owned (5) RCAF 6 Group (1595) RCAF 400 Squadrons (1596) Canadian Crewed (2352) Canadian Museum (2)Halifax B/Met.Mk.V LK644
On 1943-11-25, Squadron Leader A. Ross Dawson, a Technical Officer at Leeming, wrote in his diary:
Everything was proceeding nicely. We had 17 on & 429 had 16. About halfway through the take off 429 G edging out from a diagonal collided with our [sqdn427] G & locked the two kites together & blocked the track. On one side was a ditch so they could not get around there & on the other was fairly soft muddy ground with several 4 to 6 inch diameter trees in the way. Everyone was in a panic & the CO said we could not get the rest around & there were 18 more to come. Thought I might be able to do it so suggested chopping the trees down with the fire axes from the crashed aircraft. I collected a few of the boys, commandeered axes & flashlights, chopped down the trees and directed the other 18 kites around one after the other & not one got stuck although I never did so much running around, stumbling and floundering around in the pitch dark, through mud and water up to my knees . . . I got 16 of my 17 away. The one that tangled of course could not go.
Failed to return from attack on Frankfurt on 20/21 December 1943. All were killed. Came down near Weilmunster, locals speculated aircraft was after Goerings private train, parked in a nearby tunnel.
1943-12-21 Failed to Return Failed to return from attack on Frankfurt. All were killed. 2019-08-20