| Halifax | |
|---|---|
| Handley Page Halifax B.III showing the later rectangular fins | |
| Role | Heavy bomber |
| Manufacturer | Handley Page |
| First flight | 24 September 1939 |
| Introduction | November 1940 |
| Retired | 1961 (Pakistani Air Force) |
| Primary users | Royal Air Force Royal Canadian Air Force Royal Australian Air Force Free French Air Force |
| Produced | 1940–1945 |
| Number built | 6,178[1] |
The Handley Page Halifax was one of the British front-line, four-engined heavy bombers of the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. A contemporary of the famous Avro Lancaster, the Halifax remained in service until the end of the war, performing a variety of duties in addition to bombing. The Halifax was also operated by squadrons of the Royal Canadian Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force, Free French Air Force, and Polish forces, and after the Second World War by the Royal Egyptian Air Force, the Armée de l'Air and the Royal Pakistan Air Force.
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Handley Page produced the H.P.56 design to meet Air Ministry Specification P.13/36 for a twin-engine medium bomber for "world-wide use".[2] Other candidates for the specification included the Avro 679, and designs from Fairey, Boulton Paul and Shorts; all used twin engines – Rolls-Royce Vultures, Napier Sabres, the Fairey P.24 or Bristol Hercules. A four-engined wing was then still a new idea in British bombers. The introduction of the successful P.13/36 candidates was delayed by the necessity of ordering more Armstrong-Whitworth Whitley and Vickers Wellington bombers first.
The Avro and HP.56 designs were ordered "off the drawing board" in mid 1937, the Avro design as the preferred choice. Soon after Handley Page were told to redesign the HP.56 for four engines as the Vulture was already suffering technical problems. The Avro Manchester would be built with Vultures but suffered due to them. This redesign increased the span from 88 feet (27 m) to 99 feet (30 m) and put 13,000 pounds (5,900 kg) of weight on. Modifications resulted in the definitive H.P.57 which upon acceptance gained the name "Halifax" following the practice of naming heavy bombers after major towns; in this case Halifax in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The H.P.57 was enlarged and powered by four 1,280 hp (950 kW) Rolls-Royce Merlin X engines. Such was the promise of the new model that the RAF had placed their first order for 100 Mk.I Halifaxes "off the drawing board" before the first prototype even flew. The maiden flight of the Halifax took place on 24 September 1939 from RAF Bicester, just 21 days after the UK declared war on Germany.
The Halifax production subsequently began at Handley Page's (now English Electric) site at Samlesbury, Lancashire with over 2,000 bombers being built at the factory during the war.
The Mk.I had a 22 ft (6.7 m) long bomb bay as well as six bomb cells in the wings, enabling it to carry 13,000 lb (5,900 kg) of bombs. Defensive armament consisted of two .303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns in a Boulton Paul Type C nose turret, and four in BP Type E tail turret and, in some aircraft, two .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers K machine guns in beam positions. The Merlins drove constant speed wooden screw Rotol propellers. Subtle modifications distinguished the Mk I aircraft. The first batch (of 50) Mk I Halifaxes were designated Mk I Series I.
These were followed by 25 of the Mk I Series II with increased gross weight (from 58,000 lb/26,310 kg to 60,000 lb/27,220 kg) but with maximum landing weight unchanged at 50,000 lb (23,000 kg). The Mk I Series III had increased fuel capacity (1,882 gal/8,556 L), and larger oil coolers to accept the Merlin XX. A two-gun BP Type C turret mounted dorsally replaced the beam guns.
Introduction of 1,390 hp (1,040 kW) Merlin XX engines and a twin .303 in (7.7 mm) dorsal turret instead of waist guns resulted in the B Mk II Series I Halifax. The Mk II Series I (Special) achieved improved performance by removing the nose and dorsal turrets. The Mk II Series IA had a moulded Perspex nose (the standard for future Halifax variants), a four-gun Defiant-type dorsal turret, Merlin 22 engines and larger vertical tail surfaces which solved control deficiencies (fin-stall leading to rudder overbalance) in the early Marks. Halifax IIs were built by English Electric and Handley Page; 200 and 100 aircraft respectively.
Due to a shortage in Messier-built landing gear and hydraulics, Dowty landing gear were used. Being incompatible with the Messier equipment these gave Halifaxes with new designations. A Mark II built with Dowty gear was the Mark V. The use of castings rather than forgings in the Dowty undercarriage speeded production but resulted in a reduced landing weight of 40,000 lb (18,000 kg). The Mark V were built by Rootes Group at Speke and Fairey at Stockport and were generally used by Coastal Command and for training. Some 904 were built by the time Mark V production ended at the start of 1944,[3] compared to 1,966 Mk II.
The most numerous Halifax variant was the B Mk III of which 2,091 were built. First appearing in 1943, the Mk III featured the Perspex nose and modified tail of the Mk II Series IA but replaced the Merlin with the more powerful 1,650 hp (1,230 kW) Bristol Hercules XVI radial engine. Other changes included de Havilland Hydromatic propellers and rounded wing tips. The Mk IV was a non-production design using a turbocharged Hercules powerplant. The definitive version of the Halifax was the B Mk VI, powered by the 1,800 hp (1,300 kW) Hercules 100. The final bomber version, the Mk VII, reverted to the less powerful Hercules XVI. However, these variants were produced in relatively small quantities.
The remaining variants were the C Mk VIII unarmed transport (8,000 lb/3,630 kg cargo pannier instead of a bomb bay, space for 11 passengers) and the Mk A IX paratroop transport (space for 16 paratroopers and gear). A transport/cargo version of the Halifax was also produced, known as the Handley Page Halton.
The bomb aimer's position was in the extreme nose with the navigator's table behind it; the posts being fulfilled by the same crew member. Separated by a half width partition the wireless (radio) operator was behind the navigator's partition. Above the navigator was the forward gun turret and the pilot and co-pilot above the wireless operator. Aft of the pilots was the flight engineer's compartment. A further compartment aft of the flight engineer led to the dorsal turret.[4]
Halifaxes were assembled from prebuilt sub assemblies. The surface panels were flush riveted although the application of the matte black night bomber camouflage probably negated the benefit.[5]
Total Halifax production was 6,178 with the last aircraft delivered in April 1945. In addition to Handley Page, Halifaxes were built by English Electric, Fairey Aviation, and Rootes Motors (Rootes Securities Ltd) in Lancashire and by the London Aircraft Production Group. Peak production resulted in one Halifax being completed every hour.
The Halifax entered service with No. 35 Squadron RAF at RAF Linton-on-Ouse in November 1940 and its first operational raid was against Le Havre on the night of 11–12 March 1941.
In service with RAF Bomber Command, Halifaxes flew 82,773 operations, dropped 224,207 tons (203,397 tonnes) of bombs and lost 1,833 aircraft.[6] In addition to bombing missions, the Halifax served as a glider tug, electronic warfare aircraft for No. 100 Group RAF and special operations such as parachuting agents and arms into occupied Europe. Halifaxes were also operated by RAF Coastal Command for anti submarine warfare, reconnaissance and meteorological roles. Postwar, Halifaxes remained in service with the RAF Coastal Command and RAF Transport Command, Royal Egyptian Air Force and the Armée de l'Air until early 1952. The Pakistan Air Force which inherited the planes from the RAF continued to use the type until 1961.
A number of former RAF Halifax C.8s were sold from 1945 and used as freighters by a number of mainly British airlines. In 1948, the air freight market was in decline but 41 civil aircraft were used in the Berlin Air Lift operating a total of 4,653 freight sorties and 3,509 sorties carrying bulk diesel fuel. Nine aircraft were lost during the airlift but as the aircraft returned to England most civil Halifaxes were scrapped. The last civilian operated Halifaxes were withdrawn from service in late 1952.
There are 2 fully restored Halifax bomber version in the world. One of the two is located at the Yorkshire Air Museum, on the site of the Second World War airfield, RAF Elvington. This aircraft was re-constructed from a fuselage section of Halifax B.Mk.II HR792 and parts from other aircraft. It is painted to represent Halifax LV907, "Friday the 13th" from no. 158 Squadron RAF on the port side and "N - Novembre" of 347 "Guyenne" Squadron, Free French Air Force, on the starboard side (RAF Elvington being the home of the only two French heavy bomber squadrons in Bomber Command).[16]
Another fully restored Halifax, NA337 of No. 644 Squadron RAF, then based at RAF Tarrant Rushton, is a transport/special duties version, and was retrieved from the bottom of Lake Mjøsa in Norway in 1995 after being shot down in April 1945. It was taken to Canada and restoration was completed in 2005. NA337 is a Halifax A.Mk.VII Special Duties aircraft built by Rootes Motors, at Liverpool Airport and is now preserved at the RCAF Memorial Museum at CFB Trenton in Trenton, Ontario, near Kingston, Ontario.
A third Halifax is a B.Mk.II, serial W1048, 'S' for Sugar of no. 35 Squadron RAF. On the night of the 27/28 April 1942, this aircraft was taking part in a raid on the Tirpitz - its first operational flight. It was hit by anti-aircraft fire after releasing the four 1,000-pound (450 kg) mines it carried and the pilot made a successful belly landing on the frozen surface of Lake Hoklingen. The crew escaped to Sweden with the help of the Norwegian resistance, except for the Flight Engineer who remained behind because of a broken ankle and was taken prisoner. Within hours, the aircraft sank through the ice into 27 metres (89 ft) of water.[17][18] In the summer of 1973, it was recovered from the lake by a team of divers from the RAF and a Norwegian diving club, and was transported to the UK on a British Army Landing craft tank. It is displayed in its "as recovered" condition in the Bomber Command display at the Royal Air Force Museum at Hendon in London, apart from the nose turret which had already been restored prior to the decision.[18]
On 26 November 2006, archaeologists from the Warsaw Uprising Museum, Poland, unearthed remains of another Halifax (JP276 "A") from No. 148 Squadron RAF, which was found in southern Poland, near the city of Dąbrowa Tarnowska. It was shot down on the night 4–5 August 1944 while returning from the "air-drop-action" during the Warsaw Uprising.
In August 1945, while on weather patrol, the aging Halifax bomber LW170 from no. 518 Squadron RAF sprang a fuel leak and, while trying to return to base, was forced to ditch off the Hebrides Islands west of Scotland.[19] A project is currently underway with the stated aim of finding, recovering and restoring Halifax LW170. When it is recovered it will be restored and displayed at the Bomber Command Museum of Canada in Nanton, Alberta Canada.[20]
Data from Halifax, Second to None[21]
General characteristics
Performance
Armament
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