"the aircraft has been raised, it will be moved to the Bomber Command Museum of Canada in Nanton, Alberta for restoration. The second aircraft the organization is seeking to recover is LW170 off the coast of Scotland. This aircraft has yet to be located, although its general position is known. Videography Handley Page Halifax The Handley Page Halifax was a 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 Avro Lancaster and Short Stirling, all three aircraft being four-engined heavy bombers. The Halifax has"
"In response to a 1936 government request for heavier, longer ranged aircraft, Handley Page tendered the HP.56 design powered by twin Rolls-Royce Vultures and this was ordered, along with what became the Avro Manchester. However the Vulture proved so troublesome that – years before the engine was abandoned by Rolls-Royce in 1940 – the Air Staff decided that the HP.56 should be fitted with four engines instead. Therefore, before reaching prototype stage, the HP.56 design was reworked into the four-engined HP.57 Halifax. The Halifax became the second most prolific British heavy bomber of the war after the Avro Lancaster (itself"
"firms within the London Aircraft Production Group, Fairey Aviation, and Rootes Motors. Because of this scheme and other initiatives, the Halifax was manufactured by a variety of aviation companies at sites across the British isles. The Halifax was produced in large numbers during the war: of the 10,018 heavy bombers produced in Britain between 1940 and 1944, 4,046 were various models of the Halifax – in excess of 40%. In all, 6,178 Halifaxes were built, the last delivered in April 1945. At the peak, 41 separate factories and dispersed units were involved in production, along with 600 subcontractors and 51,000"
"the service name ""Halifax"" upon its acceptance. This name followed the practice of naming heavy bombers after major towns – in this case, Halifax in the West Riding of Yorkshire. In September 1941, a production Halifax Mk.I participated in an official naming ceremony of the type, officiated by Lord Halifax and Lady Halifax. Series production of the Halifax began at Handley Page's factory at Cricklewood and at English Electric's site in Samlesbury, Lancashire. In order to speed up production, Handley Page implemented several new manufacturing techniques, including two pioneering approaches: photo-lofting and split construction. In the latter capacity, each Halifax"
"employees, with one Halifax completed every hour. The first English Electric-built aircraft was flown from Salmesbury on 15 August 1941. The first production standard Halifax, the Mk.I, had a 22 ft (6.7 m) long bomb bay as well as six bomb cells in the wings, providing a bomb capacity of 13,000 lb (5,900 kg). Defensive armament consisted of two .303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns in a Boulton Paul Type C nose turret, with an additional four in a Boulton Paul Type E tail turret. Some aircraft included two additional .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers K machine guns in"
"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 inability to carry larger individual bombs such as the 4,000 pound ""Cookie"" blast bomb. 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. Various improved versions of the Halifax were introduced, incorporating more powerful engines, a revised defensive turret layout and increased payload. It remained in service with Bomber Command until the end of the war, performing a variety of duties in addition to bombing. Additionally, specialised versions of the Halifax were developed for troop transport and paradrop operations. Following the end of the Second World War, the RAF quickly phased the Halifax out"
"was a core part of the bombing offensive against Germany and its Axis allies. By the end of 1943, No. 4 Group had been entirely equipped with the Halifax, and would continue to operate the aircraft til the end of the war. The No. 6 Group of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) also adopted the Halifax around the same time, and would to on to operate it in each of its 14 squadrons, although it was never solely equipped with the type. At its peak strength, Bomber Command operated a total of 76 Halifax-equipped squadrons. While the early-built models"
"its origins in a design produced by Avro in order to fulfil the British Air Ministry's Specification P.13/36. This was the same specification to which Handley Page had also produced their initial design for what would become the Halifax bomber. Issued in May 1936, Specification P.13/36 called for a twin-engine monoplane ""medium bomber"" for ""worldwide use"", which was to be capable of carrying out shallow (30°) dive bombing attacks and carry heavy bombloads (8,000 lb/3,630 kg) or two 18 in (457 mm) torpedoes. Additionally, it had to feature provisions to conduct catapult assisted takeoffs, which would permit the carriage of"
"essentially a four-engine development of the Manchester). Although in some respects (such as crew survivability) better than the Lancaster, the Halifax suffered in terms of altitude performance and was redeployed toward the end of the war as a heavy transport and glider tug, with several variants being specifically built as such, including the HP.70 Halton. After the war, the British Government sought tenders for jet bombers to carry the nation's nuclear deterrent. The three types produced were known as the V-Bombers, and Handley Page's contribution was the HP.80 Victor, a four-engined, crescent-winged design. This aircraft remained in service (as a"
"SS Mont-Blanc SS Mont-Blanc was a freighter built in Middlesbrough, England in 1899 and purchased by the French company, Société Générale de Transport Maritime (SGTM). On Thursday morning, 6 December 1917, she entered Halifax Harbour in Nova Scotia, Canada laden with a full cargo of highly volatile explosives. As she made her way through the Narrows towards Bedford Basin, she was involved in a collision with , a Norwegian ship. A fire aboard the French ship ignited her cargo of wet and dry picric acid, TNT, and guncotton. The resultant Halifax Explosion levelled the Richmond District and killed approximately 2,000"
"British heavy bombers, the Avro Lancaster and Handley Page Halifax, dropped 608,612 long tons (681,645 short tons) and 224,207 long tons (251,112 short tons) respectively. The RAF entered World War II with no heavy bomber of its own in service; the biggest available were long-range medium bombers such as the Vickers Wellington, which could carry up to of bombs. While the Short Stirling and Handley Page Halifax became its primary bombers by 1941, in early 1940, the RAF entered into an agreement with the U.S. Army Air Corps to acquire 20 B-17Cs, which were given the service name Fortress I."
"Hercules-powered Halifax was available in quantity and quickly proved to have superior performance in the face of German fighter defences. Early on, Air Chief Marshal Arthur Harris, head of Bomber Command, was scathing in his criticism of the Halifax's performance in comparison to the new Avro Lancaster, primarily of its bomb-carrying capability: an average Halifax was calculated to drop 100 tons of bombs in its lifetime, compared to a Lancaster's 154. Harris continued to have a poor opinion of the Halifax, despite the fact that later Hercules-engined machines had lower loss rates and higher crew survival rates after abandoning the"
"and compensated for the low power of the de Havilland Gipsy Twelve engines used by this aircraft, but simplified production and reduced construction time. On 8 September 1936, the British Air Ministry issued Specification P.13/36, which called for a twin-engine medium bomber capable of carrying a bomb load of for with a maximum speed of at ; a maximum bomb load of that could be carried over shorter ranges was also specified. Aviation firms entered heavy designs with new high-powered engines and multiple defensive turrets, leading to the production of the Avro Manchester and Handley Page Halifax. In May 1937,"
"bombers and brought into operational service the bombers usually associated with attacks on German targets in Europe. From November 1940 the four-engined Halifax was introduced, followed by the four-engined Stirling in January 1941 and the under-powered twin-engined Manchester (which had relatively brief operational service before being replaced by the world-famous Lancaster) in February 1941. In November 1941, the fast twin-engined Mosquito light bomber was introduced and finally in March 1942 the four-engined Avro Lancaster came into service. The Vickers Wellington continued in service with RAF Bomber Command in Europe into 1943 although the squadrons were being converted to four-engined bombers."
"with 49 Sqn in September 1938. The Handley Page Halifax, of which he was responsible for the design, first flew on 25 October 1939. In early 1944, 1,200 Halifaxes were produced in six months. Two-fifths of Britain's heavy bombers in World War II were Halifaxes. It entered service with 35 Sqn on 23 November 1940 at RAF Linton-on-Ouse, carrying out its first night-raid on 11 March 1942 over Le Havre. Most of the Halifaxes flown from England were with the RCAF in North Yorkshire as No. 6 Group RCAF. He married Violet Elizabeth Haley, of Hurlingham, on 21 July 1928"
"the end of the year, a full mock-up of the design was assessed; production of a pair of ""HP57"" prototypes commenced in March 1938. Further design modifications resulted in the definitive aircraft, now considerably enlarged and powered by four Rolls-Royce Merlin X engines. Such was the promise of the new model that, in January 1938, the RAF chose to place their first production order for the type, ordering 100 Mk.I Halifaxes ""off the drawing board"", at which point the serials which had already been assigned to HP56 were switched to HP57. The first prototype was built at Handley Page's facility"
"of service, after the type was succeeded in the strategic bombing role by the Avro Lincoln, an advanced derivative of the Lancaster. During the post-war years, the Halifax was operated by the Royal Egyptian Air Force, the French Air Force and the Royal Pakistan Air Force. The type also entered commercial service for a number of years, used mainly as a freighter. A dedicated civil transport variant, the Handley Page Halton, was also developed and entered airline service. 41 civil Halifax freighters were used during the Berlin Airlift. In 1961, the last remaining Halifax bombers were retired from operational use."
"included the adoption of de Havilland Hydromatic propellers and rounded wing tips. The Halifax 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 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 Halifax C Mk VIII, an unarmed transport that was fitted with an 8,000 lb/3,630 kg cargo pannier instead of a bomb bay, which could accommodate a maximum of 11 passengers and"
"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"
"the RAF—in part to keep German defences dispersed, just as there had been raids on areas other than the Ruhr during the battle. The British bomber force consisted mainly of the twin-engined Vickers Wellington medium bomber and the four-engined ""heavies"", the Short Stirling, Handley Page Halifax and Avro Lancaster. The Wellington and Stirling were the two oldest designs and limited in the type or weight of bombs carried. The Stirling was also limited to a lower operational height. Bombers could carry a range of bombs—Medium Capacity bombs of about 50% explosive by weight, High Capacity ""Blockbusters"" that were mostly explosive,"
"of the Halifax's payload, while the cockpit was flush with the upper fuselage. The Halifax was powered by four engines, two spaced evenly on each wing. Early production Halifax bombers were powered by models of the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine; later aircraft were commonly powered by the larger Bristol Hercules radial engine. To contain and attach the engines to the airframe, Handley Page developed their own design for the power egg instead of using the typical, slimmer Rolls-Royce counterpart; despite generating increased drag, this in-house design was readily adaptable to the alternative Hercules engine on later aircraft. Each engine drove a"
"the Canadian bomber force of No. 6 Group RAF. In January 1944 the squadron replaced its Merlin-powered Halifax B.IIs with Halifax B.IIIs, powered by Bristol Hercules radial engines which gave greater performance. The squadron continued in the bomber mission until the end of the war in Europe, both against German cities and in direct support of allied ground forces during and after the invasion of France in June 1944. In total, the squadron had dropped 17000 t of bombs and mines during 6,337 operational sorties, losing 182 aircraft but claiming 28 enemy fighters shot down. In May 1945 the squadron"
"bomber in late 1943. In June 1944, the squadron returned to Driffield. From May 1944, operations were focussed on German infrastructure in France, such as coastal artillery batteries and railway marshalling yards, in preparation for the invasion of Europe. Flying Officer Joe Herman (RAAF), the captain of a 466 Sqn Halifax B.Mk.III, narrowly escaped death in a remarkable incident on 4 November 1944. During a night mission over Germany, his aircraft (""LV936"", ""HD-D""), was badly damaged by ""Flak"". After ordering the crew to bail out, Herman was blown out of the plane, without a parachute. After falling a long way,"
"aircraft than Lancasters, and came very close to the Lancaster's speed and altitude performance. Unlike the Lancaster, the Halifax's bomb bay could not be adapted to carry the 4,000 pound ""Cookie"" blast bomb, which was an integral part of Harris's fire-bombing tactics. The Halifax was progressively outnumbered in front-line service over occupied Europe as more Lancasters became available from 1943 onwards; many squadrons converted to the Lancaster. Production of the Halifax continued, supposedly because it was more efficient to keep building it than to stop its production and convert to building another aircraft. But any new facilities were devoted to"
"Frederick Handley Page Sir Frederick Handley Page, CBE, FRAeS (15 November 1885 – 21 April 1962) was an English industrialist who was a pioneer in the aircraft industry and became known as the father of the heavy bomber. His company Handley Page Limited was best known for its large aircraft such as the Handley Page 0/400 and Halifax bombers and the H.P.42 airliner. The latter was the flagship of the Imperial Airways fleet between the wars and remarkable at the time for having been involved in no passenger deaths. He is also known for his invention, with Gustav Lachmann, of"
"in Cricklewood, London, It was then dismantled and transported by road to RAF Bicester (the nearest non-operational RAF airfield with suitable facilities) for reassembly. On 25 October 1939, the maiden flight of the first prototype Halifax, serial number ""L7244"", was performed by chief test pilot Jim Cordes with E A 'Ginger' Wright as flight test observer; during this flight, the undercarriage remained locked down as an extra safety precaution. On 17 August 1940, the first flight of the second prototype, ""L7245"", now complete with full armament and operationally-representative equipment, was performed by Cordes from Radlett Aerodrome. The HP57 was given"
"Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British four-engined Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirling, all three aircraft being four-engined heavy bombers adopted by the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the same wartime era. The Lancaster has its origins in the twin-engine Avro Manchester which had been developed during the late 1930s in response to the Air Ministry Specification P.13/36 for a capable medium bomber for ""world-wide use"". Originally developed as"
"RAF heavy bombers of World War II such as the Handley Page Halifax (until its Mk II Series I (Special) version omitted the nose turret), Short Stirling and Avro Lancaster typically had three powered turrets: rear, mid-upper and nose. (Early in the war, some British heavy bombers also featured retractable, remotely-operated ventral (or mid-under) turret. The rear turret mounted the heaviest armament: four 0.303 inch Browning machine guns or, late in the war, two AN/M2 light-barrel versions of the US Browning M2 machine gun as in the Rose-Rice turret. The tail gunner or ""Tail End Charlie"" position was generally accepted"
"Stockport. from May 1941 they took responsibility for final erection followed by the test flight and their first aircraft was airborne before the end of 1941. They were allotted their own aerodromes instead of sending aircraft to the Handley Page aerodrome. At peak the group involved 41 factories and dispersal units, 660 subcontractors and more than 51,000 employees, Ultimately output rose to 200 Halifaxes a month and the group provided something like 40 per cent of the nation's heavy bomber output. Halifax bombers dropped more than 200,000 tons of bombs. Sir Frederick Handley Page's ""thank you"" to these ""daughter"" firms"
"surfaces, leading to rudder overbalance in the early marks. Halifax IIs were built by both English Electric and Handley Page; 200 and 100 aircraft respectively. Owing to a shortage of Messier-built landing gear and hydraulics, Dowty-built landing gear were used on some aircraft instead. As it was incompatible with the Messier equipment, this led to these Halifax bombers being given new designations: a Mark II built with Dowty gear was the Mark V. The use of castings rather than forgings in the Dowty undercarriage had resulted in an increased production rate but had also led to a reduced landing weight"
"damage to German industry. The Battle of the Ruhr began with a 442-aircraft attack on Essen on the night of 5/6 March 1943. That night, Meurer shot down a Halifax shot down at 20:57 west of Düsseldorf and, at 21:20, a Wellington northwest of Weeze. On 12/13 March 1943, as RAF Bomber Command targeted the Krupp factory in Essen, Meurer claimed four aerial victories, two Halifax, one Lancaster, and one Wellington. The first Halifax was shot down at 21:16 northwest of Venlo; the Lancaster at 21:25 approximately east of Bergen; the second Halifax at 21:48 at Grafwegen;and the Wellington at"
"HMCS Halifax (K237) HMCS ""Halifax"" was a Royal Canadian Navy revised which took part in convoy escort duties during the Second World War. She served primarily in the Battle of the Atlantic. She was named for Halifax, Nova Scotia. Flower-class corvettes like ""Halifax"" serving with the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War were different from earlier and more traditional sail-driven corvettes. The ""corvette"" designation was created by the French as a class of small warships; the Royal Navy borrowed the term for a period but discontinued its use in 1877. During the hurried preparations for war in the"