Handley Page Halifax | World War II Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Edit A Halifax in flight. The Halifax's origins can be found in B.1/35, an unsuccessful specification for a twin engined bomber, to which Handley Page responded with the HP.55. The following year the Air Ministry issued B.13/36 for a twin engined medium bomber powered by Rolls Royce Vulture engines. Handley Page submitted their HP.56 aircraft, which was selected for prototype construction, but doubts regarding the Vulture's reliability prompted the company to redesign the HP.56 to take four Rolls Royce Merlins. On 3rd September 1937 Handley Page received a contract to build two Merlin powered prototypes as the HP.57. Construction began in early 1938, with final assembly taking place at the Royal Air Force airfield at Bicester in Oxfordshire, from where the type made its first flight on 25th October 1938. [N 1] References Halifax Bomber over 10,000 free military vehicle photos!

Halifax Bomber The Halifax bomber was a British-made heavy bomber used by the Royal Air Force in World War II starting from November 1940. Designed and built by Handley Page Ltd., it often partnered with the Avro Lancaster on various night bombing offensives undertaken by the RAF Bomber Command to destroy German industrial and urban areas. Today in WW II: 5 Jan 1941 British 8th Army [Wavell] captures Bardia in Cyrenaica, Libya taking 45,000 Italian prisoners. More ↓ 5 Jan 1942 On the Kerch Peninsula, German forces in the Crimea defeat a surprise landing at Eupatoria by the Soviet Red Army. 5 Jan 1942 Birth of the Seabees : Authority granted to recruit men from the construction trades for assignment to three Naval Construction Battalions [CBs => Seabees]. Visit the Olive-Drab.com World War II Timeline for day-by-day events 1939-1945! See also WW2 Books . Handley Page Halifax Bomber in World War II The Halifax began its life as a response to the British Air Ministry's B.1/35 requirement.

Its predecessor, the Vickers Wellington, was a twin-engine bomber, and the Handley Page Ltd. design team started off with two Vulture engines as the powerplant. The design team asked the Air Ministry to revise the requirement from H.P.56 to H.P.57, allowing for a longer wingspan that would accommodate four Merlin engines. The first prototype of this design flew on 25 October 1939; an improved prototype with Rotol propellers flew in August 1940, the design that became the Halifax Mk I. Although the Halifax was deemed highly functional and versatile, it took many revisions over the ensuing five years to eliminate problems such as main landing gear retraction and reduction gears in the Merlin X engine. Ultimately, the Halifax was able to carry as heavy a weapons load as and fly faster than the Avro Lancaster bomber. A crew of seven manned the Halifax. A pilot and copilot worked the enclosed flight deck. A navigator/bombardier/gunner, radio operator, flight engineer, and two gunners worked in the fuselage. The aircraft had standard navigation and communications equipment for its day, along with an optical bombsight and gun sights.

The Halifax Mk III was the first bomber to receive the H2S nav/attack radar system. In November 1940, the Halifax Mk I entered service, arriving first at the No. 33 Squadron of the RAF Bomber Command. The first mission was flown on 10/11 March 1941 in an attack on Le Harve, France. A total of 84 Mk Is were manufactured and delivered using the Merlin X engines in the Series 1 and 2, but a Merlin XX in some of the Series III. Interestingly, a shortage of four-blade propellers, introduced to the Mk I to eliminate vibration that locked the tailwheel unit into the extended position, led to some Mk Is having three-blade propellers on the inboard engines and four-blade propellers on the outboard engines. The Halifax Mk II represented a substantial step forward for the bomber. This was the first model manufactured on a large scale, using four Merlin XX or 22 engines. A new dorsal turret was also added. But the turret created excess weight and drag, and the Mk II Series I (Special) was stripped of it as well as the original nose turret.

Some aircraft had the flame-damper exhausts removed as well, changes that boosted performance. The Mk II Series IA saw a low-drag Boulton Paul dorsal turret added, as well as a molded Perspex nose fairing equipped with one .303 machine gun. These changes increased the length of the Mk II but improved the aerodynamics, allowing for higher speeds. The Mk III became the ultimate Halifax. The limitations in the earlier models, including lack of speed and low service ceiling, were resolved by using the Bristol Hercules radial piston engine. The earlier Mk Is and IIs had lower-powered Merlin engines because the high-performance Merlins were needed in fighters such as the Beaufighter, Mosquito, and Supermarine Spitfire. The first Mk III flew in July 1943 using four Hercules XVI engines and a three-blade de Havilland metal propeller. These improvements allowed the Halifax to operate against targets previously thought to be too risky. A total of 2,091 Mk IIIs were manufactured. The Halifax lived on in several further versions. The Mk IV was a model that was projected but ultimately not built except as a conversion.

The Mk V (904 built) had new Dowty units for the hydraulic system, and most of these aircraft had four-blade propellers. The Mk VI (557 built) first flew in October 1944. It was an improved version of the Mk IV with Hercules 100 radial engines. The final Halifax, the Mk VII (193 built) used the Hercules XVI radial engine instead of the Hercules 100 in the Mk VI due to supply shortages. The Mk VIIs found homes with French and Polish squadrons. More than 6,000 Halifaxes came off the assembly lines of Handley Page and other companies sharing in the production. At the height of Britain's bomber offensive against Germany, the Halifax comprised 40 percent of the strength of the RAF Bomber Command. Halifax Bomber Characteristics Armament Nine .303-inch trainable forward-firing machine guns (1 Vickers K in nose, 4 Browning in dorsal turret, 4 Browning in tail turret) Crew Halifax Bomber A brief account of a World War II bomber’s final mission, it’s crew and it’s ultimate fate.

THE AIRCREW OF DK 253 Alfred Gaiger David Coe Eric Potts Harold Frost Kendall Begbie Alexander Chibanoff Frederick Webb INTRODUCTION The following is an account of an event that the author witnessed as a child of eight years of age. Some thirty five years later in 1978 a serious attempt was made to investigate and find out more about this aircraft and the men that died in it. In the following year I was fortunate in having access to a meticulously kept diary of the late Mr Wild an A.R.P. warden and a farmer in a neighbouring village of Sipson. This diary documented local war time events from 1939 to 1945 and confirmed the date as that of the 16th Sept 1943. The current rumour at the time was that it was crewed by Canadians, as a member of the Civil Defence Corps being first on the scene identified a Canadian accent from a crew member who tragically died on route to hospital. In order to further the investigation, a visit to the Canadian section of the Commonwealth War Graves at Brookwood Cemetery helped to locate three grave markers dated the 16th September 1943 and identified the Squadron as No.

427 Located in the National Archives at Kew (formally the public record office) is the Squadron’s Air Record Book, and from this one was able to piece together the full details of the crew, the mission, aircraft type, bomb load and crash details. In the preparation of this account at the time, I was able to make contact with the U.K. crew’s relatives, and more recently their Canadian counterparts. My thanks went to Mr Bill Gaiger of Wilmslow in Cheshire, brother of Sgt Alfred Gaiger who supplied the crew photograph. The sisters of Sgt David Coe told me much about his pre-service life where he worked on the Royal Estate at Sandringham, and gave a current photograph of his burial on 21st Sept 1943. RAF LEEMING is still operational (1978) as a base of the Central Flying School but regretfully no airworthy Halifax bomber exists. In 1973, a partially damaged aircraft was located and raised from the bottom of a Norwegian fjord, after laying there for 31 years following a raid on the German pocket-battleship “Tirpitz” in April 1942.

Its condition was such that restoration was not possible, but it is now on display at the RAF Museum at Hendon, North London, alongside another famous WW2 bomber, the Avro Lancaster. THE EVENT In the small hours of the morning of the 16th Sept 1943 a Mark 5 Halifax No DK 253 of 427 Royal Canadian Air Force passed over the village of Harmondsworth, formally in the county of Middlesex. (Ordnance Survey Landranger No 176 location TQ 058/777), approximately 13 miles west of London’s Hyde Park Corner. Its altitude was extremely low and in a westerly direction passing over fields where London Airport (Heathrow) is now operating, and jettisoning bombs. It struck the ground adjacent to Cambridge House, the home of the late Mr & Mrs Freebody.

The impact was of such intensity that the aircraft bounced some 25 feet high, tearing through the branches of the ash and willow trees lining the river bank of the River Colne, and felling the jib of a dredger parked on the bank side, finally exploding and disintegrating over a wide area of what was then known as Middle Moor. (O/S Landranger No 176 location TQ 052/777). The engines ploughed on ahead, over the river Wyrardisbury and settled in Hawthorn Moor, having travelled a quarter of a mile after initial impact - all indicative of a high speed impact. There was a total loss of life. [see also an article on this event by Hollie Bridges published in the Canadian Air Force magazine, 11 November 2010] THE STATE OF WAR In the autumn of 1943, Europe was still under German occupation. The Normandy landings were still some nine months away and hostilities were to exist for another twenty months.

To check the German war machine the air forces of the United Kingdom, the Dominions and the United States embarked on a policy of intense area bombing, the RAF by night and the USAAF by day. In 1943 alone, over 207,600 tons of bombs were dropped by the combined services. THE AIRCRAFT To meet this offensive, four-engined bombers were planned and built. They were designed and built for long range operation, affording deep penetration into Germany, carrying what was at that time, unprecedented bomb loads of up to 20,000 lbs. The RAF employed three types of heavy bomber, the Short Stirling being the first to go into service, an aircraft limited as a result of a short wing span. Air Ministry specifications insisted on its necessity to be ‘hangared’ for servicing purposes. The Handley Page Halifax followed in November 1940, to be followed in 1942 by the Avro Lancaster of ‘Dam Buster’ fame. THE HALIFAX In 1936, the Air Staff put forward specifications for a twin engined medium bomber.

It was designated HP 56, but later specifications called for an aircraft to be powered by four Rolls Royce Merlin engines. This designation was to be HP 57. The designer was George Volkert, the company Handley Page. It was designed to be produced by the split-construction and unit assembly method, enabling rapid construction. Photo lofting techniques were employed where the drawings of the component parts were reproduced photographically on sensitised metal. This enabled accurate machine work to the print-out. These methods were pioneered by Handley Page enabling mass production techniques by shadow factories known as the Halifax Group, comprising English Electric, the Fairy Aviation Company, Rootes Securities (motor manufacturers) and the London Aircraft Production Group formed out of London Transport Organisation at Chiswick and built at Hanworth (West London). The technological spin off from this was employed in the building and construction of the first of the post war London buses - the RT that dominated the streets of the Capital from the end of the war until 1979 when the introduction of the RM bus replaced it.

The first Halifax prototype flew one month after the declaration of war and a total of 6176 were built and saw service throughout the period of the War and remained in squadron service for a further 10 years, in particular the Berlin Airlift, where they were indispensible. They were not without problems in their earlier life, developing sever instability in flight, but redesigning of the tail plane rudders overcame this, and it became a very reliable aircraft serving a multi role function from meteorological surveys to glider tugs, as well as the role of an efficient bomber. Halifaxes flew 75,000 individual sorties throughout the conflict, the first taking place on the night of March 10/11 1941 on Le Havre. A total of a million tons of bombs fell on enemy territory from Halifax bombers throughout the war. The aircraft required a crew of seven, namely:- The Pilot, the Navigator, the Flight Engineer, the Wireless Operator, the Bomb Aimer, the Mid Upper Gunner and the Tail Gunner.

Nine Marks of Halifax were built, all at variance with each other by engine type, armament, and only, in the case of the Mark V, the under carriage was by Dowty, and the engines were Rolls Royce Merlin XX, each with a power output of 1,260 Brake Horsepower. It had an armament consisting of 9 x 0.303 Browning Machine Guns and a maximum bomb load of 13,000 lbs. Its length was 71ft 7ins with a wing span of 104ft 2ins. With a height of 20ft 9ins it weighed 6,000 lbs. THE SQUADRON ZL 427 RCAF was formed at Croft in County Durham in November 1942 on a nucleus of ten crews from 419 Squadron and eighteen Wellingtons Mark 3, of which sixteen were serviceable. These transferred to RAF Leeming in Yorkshire in May 1943, where the crews underwent the heavy conversion courses on Halifaxes, making their first operational flight on the 28th June 1943.

The badge was issued on the authority of King George VI in October 1943 and displayed A Lion Rampant in front of a maple leaf, thereby representing both Britain and Canada. The motto was Ferte manus certas-“Strike Sure”. Its mascot was the Lion and it adopted one of the Prime Minister’s private lions kept at Whipsnade Zoo. The Squadron was in turn adopted by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film company in May 1943 and their first Mark V’s were named after MGM stars. THE MISSION On the 15th of September DK253 was assigned its final and fatal operation. The aircraft was a veteran of these operations, having bombed Hamburg, Nuremburg (its longest run), Dusseldorf, Mannheim and the most dangerous run of all –Berlin. It had bombed Leverkusen on the 2nd of August and made back to base with failure of the starboard inner engine. On August 30th it made a bombing run to Munchen Gladbach.

Unfavourable weather conditions during the first two weeks of September prevented any further operations, but by the 15th the weather conditions improved over France and at 2035 hours DK253 lifted off the runway at Leeming for the very last time. The target was the Dunlop rubber factory at Montlucan, an industrial town some 170 miles south of Paris, making it a round trip of approximately 1,200 miles. The aircraft was armed with a bomb load of 5,960 lbs and was one of thirteen aircraft from 427 Squadron. This mission was shared with 20 Halifaxes from 158 Squadron out of Lisset, a station near the coast of South Yorkshire, now Humberside. Of 427 squadron three aircraft returned prematurely with a variety of mechanical problems, the remaining ten proceeded on through the night. France was considered a nursery run as enemy opposition was considerably less than that encountered over Germany.

To quote from a recently arrived crew member of 158 Squadron: “Being in France was regarded by the rest of the squadron as a ‘sissy one’, but to us of course……today I offer a silent prayer to the Flight Commander who put us on a French target for our first operation. We would not have survived a German raid prancing about as we did at Montlucan. We soon grew up though - our next one was Hanover”. The weather was good the night of 16th with 6/10 cloud (cloud density is now measured in 8ths) at height of 9,000/10,000 ft over the target area and all debriefing reports confirmed a successful operation, with little enemy opposition. The target was indicated with marker flares previously dropped by Pathfinders and bomber crews debriefing reports confirmed- “Observed T I markers through gap in clouds and bombed through this gap. Observed large and well concentrated fire in the shape of a factory building.

Raid appeared to be quite successful.” (Ext ARB 427 Squadron PRO Kew) By 0400 hours on the morning of the 16th September nine Halifaxes of 427 Squadron had returned to their base at Leeming without mishap. By 0250 hours that same morning DK 253 lay wrecked in a field at Harmondsworth. That morning an entry was made in his personal diary by an ARP warden on the site:- Harmondsworth Moor Incident 16th September 1943 HALIFAX bomber flew in low on a NW and W position (sic) disintegrating before finally crashing in a field on Harmondsworth Moor, pieces falling in Trustler’s field and Cedar Farm (*). Bombs jettisoned in Philp’s field (**) behind Eustace Watkins(***) drawing out all the shop windows along the Bath Road(****) and many houses near Pinglestone Close, and also shops in Sipson Way also lost windows. Aircraft exploded on impact killing all crew, petrol tanks exploded, causing huge sheet of flame. There was no alert at the time. *Sipson end of Harmondsworth Lane.

**Now inside the airport perimeter (Heathrow L.A.) ***A shadow factory fitting engines into motor torpedo boats. Since demolished. ****A4 London to Bath and adjacent properties. By day break the RAF crash guard despatched from RAF Northolt took up duty and comprised LAC, - R Riddell, E Crossland, J Clover, ? Spencer, ?How, and one Cpl Field. All trace of the aircraft was removed during the ensuing days and on the 19th of September a further entry in the diary mentions: Service held at place of plane crash conducted by Mr Hollis. Scripture by Mr Woolford Speaker Mr Belch, all members of the local Baptist Chapel. Also in attendance was the Vicar of the local church of St Mary, the Rev Ross. He also states that 300 people were in attendance. ------------------- The following entry was made in the Squadron’s Air Record Book.

Time up Time down Halifax V Pilot A Chibanoff Flt Sgt R147645 (RCAF) 20.45 ------------- DK2353 R/Air Gunner Sgt HW Frost R188092 (RCAF) Nav FV Webb F/O J14505 (RCAF) Bomb Aimer KB Begbie F/O J22698 (RCAF) W/Op-Air gun A R Gaiger Sgt 137997 RAF (VR) Mid-Upper Air Gun ET Potts Sgt 1302756 RAF (VR) F/Eng DR Coe Sgt 1649543 RAF (VR) Target- MONTLUCAN Bomb load 1 x 2000ib HC Nose INST + 48 x 30lb Inc +600 x 4lb Inc + 30 x 4lb X type Inc This aircraft failed to return from operation, and is therefore presumed as missing. Later information received to the effect that aircraft crashed at West Drayton* on return to this country with all occupants killed.

*The site is some 3 - 4 miles south of West Drayton, and it is assumed that this was used for location purposes as there was an RAF station in the town. ED. MEMORIALS In the beautiful surroundings of the Canadian Military Cemetery at Brookwood near Woking in the county of Surrey-maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission-lie the bodies of Alexander Chibanoff of Glendon, Alberta, Canada. Aged 22years. Harold Frost of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Aged 20 years Frederick Webb of Vancouver, BC, Canada Aged 27 years At the Warriston Crematorium, Edinburgh, Scotland, commemorated on a memorial panel, is the name of Kendall Begbie of Riverside, Ontario, Canada. In the quiet churchyard of St Nicholas in the village of Dersingham in Norfolk, England, lies the body of David Coe, aged 19 years In the town cemetery of the Yorkshire town of Knaresborough, not so distant from Leeming, lies Eric Potts aged 22 years.

And in the Chorley cemetery near Alderley Edge in Cheshire lies Alfred Gaiger aged 26 years, whose brother died two days later of wounds received at Salerno, and another killed in February of the same year. Dedication of The Monument SUMMARY The purpose of this account was to remove the anonymity of such a tragic event that occurred so long ago, and, by researching, established much that was not known. One thing that was not established at the time of this initial research, was why, after a successful mission, this one aircraft should end its operational life in the fields of Harmondsworth. 1978 In September 1995 documents were received from the family of Frederick Vere Web in Canada, consisting of the Accident Investigation Branch report No W1659 giving a précis account of events just prior to the crash. Whilst this is primary source material, it must be accepted as conjecture. Acknowledgements The late Mr & Mrs Freebody for providing the crash guard names, confirming many points and giving their time and patience. Mrs C Wild - for the opportunity to read and extract the two entries from her father-in-law’s diary.

Captain R N Benwell for his advice on certain points and the use of the crew member’s account after the Montlucan raid – taken from his book ‘In Brave Company’ and co-authored with W R Chorley, and available from the author. Mr TAE Gibson, Chief Records Officer – Commonwealth War Graves Commission, for the burial records and locations. Mr W Gaiger for the aircrew photograph. Mr D. Wheeler - for the photograph of the memorial panel at the Warriston Crematorium. The Handley-Page Halifax The Handley-Page Halifax v1.0.3 / 01 jul 16 / greg goebel * In the mid-1930s, Britain began programs to develop heavy bombers, with three four-engine bombers -- the Shorts Stirling, the Handley-Page Halifax, and the Avro Lancaster -- emerging in World War II. The Lancaster would prove the most famous of the three, but the Halifax would also be an important weapon in the conflict, being built in large quantities and seeing action all over the world. This document provides a history and description of the Halifax.

[1] HALIFAX ORIGINS * In 1935, the British Air Ministry issued a request designated "B.1/35", specifying a new twin-engine bomber for the Royal Air Force (RAF). A number of manufacturers submitted proposals, with the Vickers firm being awarded the contract for what would emerge as the "Warwick" some years later. Handley-Page had submitted a design with the company designation of "HP 55" for B.1/35, but the next year, 1936, the Air Ministry issued two new requests for bombers, "B.12/36" and "B.13/36", leading to changes in company plans. The B.12/36 requirement ultimately led to the Shorts Stirling, the first of the RAF's four-engine "heavies" of World War II. As for the B.13/36 requirement, design concepts from both Avro and Handley-Page were accepted for prototype development.

At the outset, both these designs were to be powered by twin Rolls-Royce Vulture engines -- the Vulture being a complicated 24-cylinder water-cooled inline, essentially two vee-12 engines mated together in an "X" configuration and driving a common crankshaft. The Avro design emerged as the Manchester, which would prove notably unsuccessful, mostly thanks to the chronic unreliability of the Vulture engine. Rolls-Royce would never get the Vulture right; the Manchester was then redesigned to use four Rolls-Royce Merlin vee-12 water cooled engines, becoming the superlative Lancaster. As for Handley-Page, company engineers rethought the HP 55 design to come up with the "HP 56", powered by twin Vultures; but before the prototype build was initiated, the deficiencies of the Vulture were becoming very apparent. Handley-Page comprehensively modified the design to use four Merlins, with the new design designated "HP 57" -- also providing a backup design using Bristol Hercules air-cooled radials, with considerations of other powerplants as well.

The Air Ministry approved the Merlin-powered HP 57, with the company being awarded a contract for construction of two prototypes in September 1937. Construction began the next year. As the first prototype neared completion, the realization grew that the machine was simply too big to operate off the relatively small airfield at the factory site at Radlett. The decision was made to perform the first flight at an unused RAF base at Bicester, with the subassemblies of the aircraft trucked over and assembled in a hanger. First flight of the HP 57 was on 25 October 1939, with company test pilot J.L. Cordes at the controls. By that time, Britain was at war with Germany. The first prototype had fairings in place of the gun turrets, plus two-position three-blade metal de Havilland props. The Merlin installation proved troublesome, with the problems taking considerable effort to work out. The second prototype -- which did have turrets plus floor guns and Rotol (Rolls-Bristol) constant-speed three-bladed wooden props -- followed on 18 August 1940.

Production orders had been placed in January 1938, even before the flight of the first prototype. The first production machine flew on 11 October 1940, with initial deliveries of the "Halifax B Mark I Series I" to RAF Number 35 Squadron in November 1940. After workup, in early March 1941 the Halifax performed its first combat sorties in a raid on Le Havre, followed a few days later by a night attack on Hamburg. The Halifax performed its first daylight attack on Germany in a raid on Kiel on 30 June 1941. It remained a public secret at that time, the type finally being announced to the world in July. RAF Bomber Command's faith that defensive armament would allow bombers to perform daylight attacks without fighter escort proved overoptimistic, as proven by heavy losses. By the end of 1941 the Halifax was generally committed to night bombing operations. For the next year or more, most of the raids conducted by Bomber Command amounted to not much more than a nuisance to the Germans, the night attacks proving hopelessly inaccurate and ineffective.

They accomplished little other than to force the Reich to allocate resources to air defense that could have otherwise been used for offense. * The Halifax B.I Series I provides a baseline for the family. The B.1 was a mid-wing aircraft with a twin-fin tail and powered by four Rolls-Royce Merlin X vee-12 water-cooled engines providing 855 kW (1,145 HP) each, the engines driving constant-speed three-bladed Rotol propellers -- the prop blades being made of magnesium, not wood as with the second prototype. The aircraft was built largely of metal, one of the small exceptions being fabric-covered ailerons. The Halifax was designed modularly, with a set of subassemblies being built individually and then pieced together in final assembly; the modular construction permitted more rapid construction, straightforward road transport of subassemblies, and relative ease of repair. The wings had one-piece slotted flaps inboard and the fabric-covered ailerons outboard. Early production had wing leading-edge slats, but they were deleted early on to permit fit of barrage-balloon cable cutters.

The twin-fin tail was of conventional arrangement, with rudders and elevators; tailfins were straight in the rear and triangular in the front, an arrangement distinctive of early mark Halifaxes. The bomber had tailwheel landing gear, all assemblies with single wheels, the main gear semi-retracting backward into the inboard engine nacelles and the tailwheel being fixed -- it was actually designed to be retractable, but the retracting system proved highly unreliable, and the decision was made to lock it down. Ground steering was by differential braking.

HANDLEY-PAGE HALIFAX B MARK I SERIES I: _____________________ _________________ _______________________ spec metric english _____________________ _________________ _______________________ wingspan 30.12 meters 98 feet 10 inches wing area 116 sq_meters 1,250 sq_feet length 21.36 meters 70 feet 1 inch height 6.32 meters 20 feet 9 inches empty weight 15,370 kilograms 33,860 pounds maximum bombload 5,900 kilograms 13,000 pounds MTO weight 26,310 kilograms 58,000 pounds max speed at altitude 420 KPH 260 MPH / 225 KT service ceiling 5,490 meters 18,000 feet range, max load 1,610 kilometers 1,000 MI / 870 NMI _____________________ _________________ _______________________ Defensive armament consisted of: Two 7.7-millimeter Browning (0.303-caliber) machine guns in a Boulton-Paul C Mark II

 nose turret.

Four 7.7-millimeter Browning machine guns in a Boulton-Paul C Mark I tail turret. A 7.7-millimeter Vickers K machine gun on a pintle mount on each side of the rear fuselage. Up to 5,900 kilograms (13,000 pounds) of bombs could be carried in the capacious bombbay, which was 6.7 meters (22 feet) long; auxiliary tanks could also be fitted in the bombbay for ferry flights or for reduced-bombload long-range missions. There was a bomb compartment inboard in each wing as well. Typical crew was a pilot, navigator, flight engineer, radio operator, and three gunners; a second pilot could be carried for familiarization on training or as relief on long ocean patrol flights. Standard RAF Bomber Command colors for the Halifax were black on the bottom, with a disruptive pattern of brown and green on top.

[2] HALIFAX BOMBER VARIANTS * A total of 50 Halifax B.Mk I Series I machines was built, being followed in production by 25 "B.Mk I Series II" aircraft -- generally similar to the Series I but rated for higher gross weight, and with a number of small improvements. The B.Mk I Series II was followed in turn by nine "B.Mk I Series III" bombers, which deleted the Vickers K guns in the beam positions in favor of a beehive-style Boulton-Paul C Mark III dorsal turret with twin 7.7-millimeter Brownings, as earlier fitted to the Lockheed Hudson. The Series III also featured 18% more fuel capacity; new Rotol propellers with a slightly increased diameter; and much-improved Merlin XX engines, with 955 kW (1,250 HP) and better altitude performance. * Combat demonstrated that the Halifax B.Mk I left much to be desired, with about half of them lost in action up to the beginning of 1942. One of the most critical issues was improvement of defensive armament.

There was design work on an "HP.58 Halifax II" with top and bottom low-profile turrets each with twin 20-millimeter cannon, the tail turret being deleted -- but it never got out of the mock-up stage. The revised design that actually emerged was the "HP 59 Halifax B Mark II Series I", which was essentially a B.Mk I Series III with minor improvements, particularly 15% more fuel capacity. Initial flight of the B.Mk II Series I was on 11 October 1940, with introduction to service in the late summer of 1941. A few early B.Mk II Series I machines had Merlin X instead of Merlin XX engines, plus beam guns instead of the beehive dorsal turret. * The changes in production configuration of the Halifax had led to an upward creep in weight, not entirely compensated for by the Merlin XX engine. Performance had accordingly suffered, with the B.Mk I Series 1 seen as on the edge of unacceptable. In particular, its ceiling was lower compared to the Lancaster, which made it more vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire, and in a few cases also made it the unintended target of Lancasters dropping bombs overhead.

There were experiments with cleaning up the aircraft, in particular deleting the nose turret and replacing it with a metal fairing, called a "Tempsford" or "Z-type" nose; and deleting the too-tall dorsal turret. A few were fitted with four-bladed Rotol props, with some even featuring a mix of three-bladed and four-bladed props -- say, three-bladed on the inboard engines, four-bladed on the outboard. However, four-bladed props would always be rare on Halifax bombers. Some Halifaxes were fitted with a low-profile Preston-Green belly turret with a single 12.7-millimeter (0.50-caliber) machine gun, the belly having proven a vulnerable sector for RAF bombers that Luftwaffe night-fighters had profitably exploited. The modified aircraft were designated "Halifax B.Mk I Series 1 (Special)".

Of course, changes were introduced into production as well, resulting in the "Halifax B Mark II Series IA", modifications including: The "solid" Tempsford nose was strictly a stopgap; the B.Mk II Series IA used a streamlined transparent fairing instead, with a single 7.7-millimeter gun on a flexible mount to discourage forward attacks, which weren't a big threat in night operations anyway -- the old nose turret had been little more than dead weight. The new nose stretched the length of the aircraft by about 45 centimeters (18 inches). A new low-profile four-gun Boulton-Paul A Mark VIII dorsal turret, as used on the unsuccessful Boulton-Paul Defiant turret fighter. Some of the B.Mk I Series I (Special) machines had been similarly rigged up with the four-gun turret. Uprated Merlin 22 engines with at least 10% more takeoff power; later production had revised nacelles and engine radiators to improve streamlining. The new radiators were also retrofitted to some B.Mk II Series I machines with the Merlin XX.

Late production B.Mk II Series IA machines were fitted with new rectangular "dee" style tailfins, replacing the old tailfins with a triangular leading edge. The new tailfins improved controllability and made the aircraft a more stable bombing platform. It appears the new tailfins were also often retrofitted to older Halifaxes. The aircraft was given a large number of minor tweaks to improve streamlining and reduce weight. One annoying feature of older production was that the bombbay doors didn't snap shut tightly, contributing to drag; the B.Mk II Series IA was given doors with a tighter fit. Special bombbay doors were developed for oversized stores that didn't permit the doors to fully close. A small number of B.Mk II Series IA machines were built with the Preston-Greene belly turret with a single 12.7-millimeter gun. In place of the turret, some B.Mk II Series IA aircraft were fitted with a belly radome for "H2S" bombing radar, being among the first Bomber Command machines to carry such gear.

H2S -- the meaning of the acronym, if any, remains obscure -- improved accuracy of night bombing, at least for targets marked by bodies of water whose radar reflections allowed them to be made out on a radarscope. Machines with H2S were operated as specialized "pathfinders", dropping oversized flares on a target that bombers lacking radar then targeted with optical sights. * With the Halifax B.Mk II, production ramped up dramatically. Britain, somewhat for the lack of any better direct offensive measures to take against Hitler's Reich, was heavily committed to a strategic bombing campaign against Germany, and that meant building as many bombers as possible. The Handley-Page factories at Cricklewood and Radlett couldn't keep up with demand, but from before the war began plans had been laid for multiple sources, and four more production lines were set up: The English Electric Company factory at Preston, which was the first to produce a second-sourced Halifax, this machine performing its initial flight on 15 August 1941. EE had previously built the Handley-Page Hampden twin-engine bomber at this factory. Fairey at Stockport. Rootes Security at Speke. The London Aircraft Production Group, in London of course.

This organization effectively cobbled together four subcontractors, including Chrysler UK, with the London Passenger Transport Board performing final assembly in its facilities. * One of the problems encountered by ramped-up production of the Halifax was a shortage of main landing gear assemblies. As a result, Fairey and Rootes built Halifaxes with Dowty main gear assemblies instead of the default Messier main gear assemblies. For whatever reason, these machines were given the designation of "Halifax B Mark V", though they were very hard to tell from a B.Mk II; the out-of-sequence designation throws a certain amount of confusion into documenting the Halifax. 904 B.Mk V machines were built, with production including both B.Mk V Series I and B.Mk V Series IA subvariants. * A single prototype of a "B.Mk II Series II" bomber was built by modification of a B.Mk II Series Ia featuring various small updates, but it didn't go into production. Handley-Page had something better in mind. Ironically, although fitting the Avro Manchester with Merlin engines produced the outstanding Lancaster, for whatever reasons the Merlin was never a very good fit with the Halifax.

As noted, Handley-Page engineers had considered air-cooled radial powerplants, including the 14-cylinder two-row Bristol Hercules, from early on. The Merlin was in strong demand for the Lancaster and other prominent RAF aircraft like the Spitfire, driving the development of a Hercules-powered Halifax. After conversion of a B.Mk II Series IA (Special) machine to Hercules VI radials for trials, production moved on to the "HP 61 Halifax B Mark III" with Bristol Hercules XVI radials, providing 1,205 kW (1,615 HP), and driving three-bladed de Havilland props. The B.Mk III also featured structural reinforcements; more fuel tankage; and stronger landing gear to handle higher weights, with the tailwheel finally being made properly retractable. Late-build Mark IIIs were also fitted with a wingspan stretch of 1.63 meters (5 feet 4 inches) to increase ceiling and range. The dee-style tailfins were standard. An H2S radar or a Preston-Green turret was fitted under the rear fuselage.

The first production B.Mk III performed its initial flight on 29 August 1943, entering squadron service in late 1943. Halifax crews now had a machine that generally matched the Lancaster, with no penalty in higher loss rates. The B.Mk III was the most heavily produced Halifax variant, with 2,091 machines built.

HANDLEY-PAGE HALIFAX B MARK III (EXTENDED WINGS): _____________________ _________________ _______________________ spec metric english _____________________ _________________ _______________________ wingspan 31.75 meters 104 feet 2 inches wing area 118.4 sq_meters 1,275 sq_feet length 21.82 meters 71 feet 7 inches height 6.32 meters 20 feet 9 inches empty weight 17,345 kilograms 38,240 pounds maximum bombload 5,900 kilograms 13,000 pounds MTO weight 29,485 kilograms 65,000 pounds max speed at altitude 455 KPH 280 MPH / 245 KT service ceiling 7,315 meters 24,000 feet range, max load 1,660 kilometers 1,030 MI / 895 NMI _____________________ _________________ _______________________ * Although a prototype conversion was performed on a B.Mk II for a "Halifax Mark IV" with Merlin engines, plus other changes such as dual wheels

 on each main gear assembly, events passed it by, and the B.Mk III was actually followed by the "B Mark VI", which featured Hercules 100 radials providing 1,250 kW (1,675 HP) takeoff power, plus engine intake filters and a pressurized fuel system -- the changes being mostly intended to support tropical operations in the Far East.

They were otherwise similar to the B.Mk III in airframe configuration and equipment fit. Late production machines had a Boulton-Paul D.Mk II tail turret with twin 12.7-millimeter Browning machine guns and "Village Inn" aiming radar. The "B Mark VII" was effectively the same as B.Mk VI, except that it reverted to Hercules XVI engines due to a shortfall in Hercules 100 production. A total of 643 B.Mk.VI and 160 B.Mk VII machines was built. 64 were transferred to France after the war, and 8 were provided to Pakistan. * During the war, many wondered why the Halifax remained in production when the Lancaster seemed the better bomber, but with the introduction of the B.Mk III, there wasn't that much to distinguish the two in terms of range, ceiling, and speed. The Halifax did have a somewhat smaller bombload, about 85% that of the Lancaster, and the ultimate loss rate was higher -- about one Halifax per 21 sorties, versus about one Lancaster per 27 sorties.

However, this statistic was skewed by high losses of Halifaxes in the early days -- the Halifax was in combat service about a year before the Lancaster became a real force -- and in maturity, the odds of surviving being shot down in Halifax were almost twice as great as they were for a Lancaster. While the ultimate full load of bombs carried by the Halifax during the war was only about a third that carried by the Lancaster, it was still more than dropped by all other RAF bombers combined. [3] ELECTRONIC WARFARE & COASTAL COMMAND HALIFAXES * At its peak, the Halifax equipped 34 RAF Bomber Command squadrons in Europe, plus four in the Middle East, along with more squadrons in the Far East, which were built up after the surrender of Germany for the final assault on the Japanese. The Halifax was overshadowed by the Lancaster as a bomber, but the capacious fuselage of the Halifax made it suitable for other duties -- though the fact that Bomber Command couldn't get Lancasters fast enough for bombing operations also factored into the preference for using the Halifax in alternate roles.

One such alternate role was electronic warfare, with a number of conversions of B.Mk III machines to such "bomber support (BS)" configurations. They generally looked much like the bomber configuration, other than sporting a litter of additional antennas. There were various configurations, featuring such kit as: Electronic intelligence (ELINT) receivers to locate and characterize radio emitters. Mandrel and Carpet radar jammers. The Airborne Cigar radio voice channel jammer, intended to disrupt communications between Luftwaffe fighters and ground controllers. Window, what we could call "chaff" in modern times. Configurations were generally optimized for ELINT, radar jamming, or communications channel jamming, though the electronic equipment fits tended to be variable. * RAF's Coastal Command was a user of the Halifax as well, operating conversions of various Halifax bomber variants: A small number of B.Mk II Series I machines was converted to the "GR.Mk II Series 1" configuration with Air-to-Surface Vessel (ASV) Mark III radar in an H2S-style belly fairing and a Tempsford nose, often fitted with a 12.7-millimeter Browning machine gun to help suppress anti-aircraft fire from U-boats.

They retained the upper turret. They usually carried depth charges, as well as flares for night combat, and were apparently fitted with bombbay fuel tanks to increase patrol range and endurance. Of course, some B.Mk V machines were also converted, to "GR.Mk V" configuration. The B.Mk II Series IA was converted in much larger numbers to the "GR.Mk II Series IA", with changes similar to those of the GR.Mk II Series I. A number of them, somewhat surprisingly, were fitted with a belly turret instead of ASV radar, though the lack of radar would seem a serious deficiency for oceanic patrols. Coastal Command was particularly interested in obtaining Hercules-powered Halifax Mark III machines for patrols, but Bomber Command preferred to reserve them for its own use. "GR Mk III" conversions did start to go into Coastal Command service in early 1945, but of course they had short service lives. Some B.Mk VI bombers also served as "GR.Mk VI" patrol aircraft for a brief period after the end of the war in Europe.

Halifaxes were converted to serve in the weather reconnaissance role for both Bomber Command and Coastal Command, with conversions including the "Met.Mk V", "Met.Mk III", and "Met.Mk VI". The meteorological Halifaxes were fitted with weather instrumentation and an associated operator's station. These aircraft generally retained full armament, since they ranged widely alone and sometimes over hostile territory. From midwar, the GR and Met Halifaxes were painted dark sea gray on top, white on the bottom. [4] TRANSPORT & CARGOLIFTER HALIFAXES / VARIANT SUMMARY * The Halifax also proved useful as a paratroop transport / glider tug, as well as an airliner / cargolifter. Minimally modified B.Mk II Series 1 were initially put to this use in late 1941, being employed to support European resistance operations via the British "Special Operations Executive (SOE)".

Bomber Command only grudgingly spared aircraft for SOE, particularly since there was a perception that the SOE wasn't a good use of resources -- a view often supported by modern historians, who suggest that the resources pumped by the Western Allies into resistance groups generally created forces who didn't cause the Germans serious trouble, but were often enthusiastic at fighting among themselves. However, SOE was one of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's pet projects and it couldn't simply be shrugged off. The result was conversion of B.Mk II Series 1 machines to a "Special" configuration for SOE, with: The dorsal turret removed. A Tempsford nose fitted -- apparently the Tempsford nose was originally developed for this application -- with additional fuel tanks installed as well. A paratroop door fitted, along with other kit to support paratroop jumps. Various tweaks were made to enhance streamlining. The tail turret was retained. These machines were eventually fitted with the Gee radio navigation system, as well as "Rebecca" -- a "radar beacon" system that would interrogate a "Eureka" ground unit set up by a resistance group to nail down its location.

A number of B.Mk V Series 1 machines were converted to a similar specification. British Airborne Forces used the "A.Mk V" -- generally similar to the B.Mk V (Special) machines used by SOE, except for the addition of a glider tow hookup under the tail. They performed their first combat operation on 9 November 1942, when two A.Mk V tugs hauled two Horsa gliders loaded with Norwegian troops to Norway to attack German-controlled heavy water production facilities. The attack was a fiasco, with one tug lost and both gliders crash-landing. The Germans captured the Norwegian survivors and executed them even though they were in uniform, as per a secret order issued by Hitler the month before that directed the killing of commando troops. The A.Mk V was followed by the "A.Mk III", "A.Mk VI", and "A.Mk VII" paratroop / glider tug conversions. The need for the Halifax in the paratroop role was seen as important enough to justify new-build construction of the A.Mk III, with at least 30 built, and the A.Mk VII, with at least 228 built.

The A.Mk VII machines could be easily reconfigured back to bomber operation, though it was rarely done. Airliner / cargolift conversions for RAF Transport Command included the "C.Mk V", "C.Mk III", "C.Mk VI", and "C.Mk VII", characterized by removeable cargo panniers plugged into the bombbay. They were comparable in many ways to cargo-hauler configurations of the B-24 Liberator. Typically they could carry eight passengers or nine stretchers. * Most of the bomber Halifaxes were retired with the end of the war, but the coastal patrol machines served on for several more years. There were actually two new-build variants produced, if briefly, in the postwar period. Following studies for the development of a Halifax-derived "HP 64" dedicated cargolift transport machine with a new fuselage, Handley-Page instead focused on modification of the B.Mk VI, with conversion from a B.Mk VI performing trials in the spring of 1945.

That led to production of 98 "HP 70 C.Mk VIII" cargo-transport machines, with no armament -- the tail turret was faired over -- plus a paratroop door and provision for a belly pannier. The C.Mk VIII was mostly operated by the Free Poles, but since the Free Poland operation didn't have a future in the postwar period, neither did the Free Pole squadrons. Most were then operated with some minor civilianized modifications for a few years by BOAC, with the type participating in the Berlin Airlift from 1948. Along with the standard belly pannier, they could be fitted with an alternate high-capacity pannier, less streamlined but capable of carrying bulkier items. A dozen of these aircraft were modified to a relatively tidy airliner configuration, featuring rectangular passenger windows and comfortable accommodations for ten passengers, and flown by BOAC as the "HP 70 Halton". The C.Mk VIII was also operated by some other civil organizations, but it was out of service by the early 1950s.

Boulton-Paul built 145 "HP 71 Halifax A.Mk IX" paratroop transports, derived from the B.Mk III and powered by Hercules XVI engines. They had a paratroop door and could carry 16 paratroopers, with folding bench-type seats on both sides of the cabin; they also had a glider tow attachment under the tail and could be fitted with a belly pannier, but it seems that was rarely if ever done -- though sometimes they paradropped jeeps or gear carried on pallets under the bombbay. They were armed with a 12.7-millimeter Browning machine gun in the nose and a Boulton-Paul D.Mk II tail turret with twin 12.7-millimeter guns, as fitted to late-build B.Mk VI bombers. The A.Mk IX was used mostly for training for a few years after the war, though three were used for meteorological duties. A few A.Mk IX machines also served in the Berlin Airlift.

It was out of British service by the early 1950s, but nine ended up in Egyptian hands and struggled on for a few more years until they were grounded by parts shortages. The last Halifaxes were phased out of service in the mid-1950s. While at least three Halifaxes survive as museum displays, none remain flying. * The following table summarizes Halifax variants & production: _______________________________________________________________________ HP 57 2 Initial prototypes with Merlins. B.Mk I Series I 50 Initial production variant. B.Mk I Series II 25 Minor improvements. M.Mk I Series III 9 Added beehive dorsal turret. B.Mk II Series I 1,977 Improvements on B.Mk I Series III B.Mk II Series IA * No nose turret, new dorsal turret, etc. B.Mk II Series II - 1 Unproduced improved prototype. GR.Mk II Series I - ? Coastal Command conversion. GR.Mk II Series IA - ? Coastal Command conversion. B.Mk V Series I 904 B.Mk II Series I with Dowty main gear.

B.Mk V Series IA * B.Mk II Series IA with Dowty main gear. Met.Mk V - ? Weather reconnaissance conversions. A.Mk V - ? Paratroop conversions. C.Mk V - ? Cargolifter conversions. B.Mk III 2,091 Hercules XIV radials. GR.Mk III - ? Coastal Command conversions. Met.Mk III - ? Weather reconnaissance conversions. A.Mk III ** Paratroop transport. C.Mk III - ? Cargolifter conversions. B.Mk IV - 1 Unproduced improved prototype. B.Mk VI 643 B.Mk III with Hercules radials, etc. GR.Mk VI - ? Coastal Command conversions. Met.Mk VI - ? Weather reconnaissance conversions. A.Mk VI ** Paratroop transport. C.Mk VI - ? Cargolifter conversions. B.Mk VII 160 B.Mk VI reverted to Hercules XIV radials. C.Mk VII - ? Cargolifter conversions. C.Mk VIII 98 Unarmed cargolifter. HP 70 Halton - 12 BOAC Airliner conversion.

A.Mk IX 145 Paratroop transport. ___________________________________________________________________ TOTAL 6,104 ___________________________________________________________________ * Production totals for B.Mk II & B.Mk V do not include a breakdown between Series I and Series IA machines. ** New-production A.Mk III / A.Mk VI included in B.Mk III / B.Mk VI totals. Sources are very fuzzy on Halifax production subtotals, and so the numbers cited here are only approximate. [5] COMMENTS, SOURCES, & REVISION HISTORY * As concerns copyrights and permissions for this document, all illustrations and images credited to me are public domain. I reserve all rights to my writings. However, if anyone does want to make use of my writings, just contact me, and we can chat about it. I'm lenient in giving permissions, usually on the basis of being properly credited. * The Halifax is not over-documented, and aside from some comments here and there scrounged up online, there's really only one source for this document: "Handley Page Halifax Variants" by Jon Lake, WINGS OF FAME, Volume 8, 1997.

* Revision history: v1.0.0 / 01 oct 10 v1.0.1 / 01 sep 12 / Review & polish. v1.0.2 / 01 aug 14 / Review & polish. v1.0.3 / 01 jul 16 / Review & polish.

Question: Which aircraft company made the World War II 'Halifax' bomber?
Answer: HANDLEY PAGE