Handley Page Halifax
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 On Strength (5), RCAF 6 Group (1596), RCAF 400 Squadron (1443), Canadian Aircraft Losses (1562), Canadian Museum(2)Halifax B/A/Met.Mk.III NA192
Halifax NA192 was one of 340 aircraft built by Rootes Securities Ltd. Speke under Contract No. ACFT/637 and Requisition No. HA3/E11/40 and delivered to No.420 (Snowy Owl) Squadron at Tholthorpe on Friday 24th November 1944 coded PT-Q for operational service. Having been assigned to Flight Lieutenant Watson RCAF, Halifax NA192 failed to return from the night’s operation to Magdeburg, became the Squadron’s 78th aircraft to become non effective and struck off charge, the 113th Squadron aircraft taking off from Tholthorpe, the 332nd aircraft from No.62 (Beaver) Base, the 81st aircraft assigned to attack Magdeburg, the 1,007th aircraft from No.6 (RCAF) Bomber Group and the 1,301st aircraft from the RCAF serving in Bomber Command to become non effective and struck off charge… Halifax NA192 was eventually struck off charge by the Squadron on Sunday 28th January…
Lest we forget…
Source: Buzz Hope (Information from ‘and in the morning…’ database and can be verified by MOD documentation and the CWGC Register)