Handley Page Halifax

Heavy bomber · Handley Page · United Kingdom

Handley Page Halifax
ⓘ licence & credit(via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain)
Typical crew7
Engines4 × Rolls-Royce Merlin or Bristol Hercules
First flight1939
Number built6,176

Photographs

The H2S radome (top) and the enclosed, rotating, scanning aerial (bottom) on a Handley Page Halifax. Imperial War Museum? - picture scanned by me Ian Dunster 08:36, 22 September 2005 (UTC) from the; The Radar War article in the November 1978 issue of Aeroplane Monthly and uncredited.
ⓘ licence & creditPublic domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:H2S_Radome_And_Scanner_On_Halifax.jpgView source & full licence →
FOULSHAM, ENGLAND. 1945-04. A GEE NAVIGATION RECEIVER IN A HANDLEY PAGE HALIFAX AIRCRAFT OF NO. 462 SQUADRON RAAF.
ⓘ licence & creditHines, Ronald Maxwell / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GEE_Navigation.jpgView source & full licence →
Fine RAF Groundwork That Keeps Halifax Bombers on the Job, the Engineers Panel Being Checked
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fine_RAF_Groundwork_That_Keeps_Halifax_Bombers_on_the_Job,_the_Engineers_Panel_Being_Checked_CH6662.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. A Handley Page Halifax is silhouetted against target indicators descending over the target during the bombing of a flying-bomb storage dump at Biennais, France, at 3.38 am on 6 July 1944
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Etaimpuis-Biennais,_Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945_C4462.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1942-1945. An Avro Lancaster (bottom left) and a Handley Page Halifax (top right) fly over Essen, Germany, during a major daylight attack by 771 aircraft which inflicted heavy damage on buildings and the city's remaining industries. The Lancaster is flying over the Krupps steelworks from which clouds of smoke from exploding bombs is rising into the air.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Essen,_Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1942-1945_C4743.jpgView source & full licence →
ⓘ licence & creditUnknown photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:English-bomber-crashed-in-southern-Sweden-after-the-air-raid-on-Berlin-391757173013.jpgView source & full licence →
British Forces in the Middle East, 1945-1947 Two girls wait to board one of the Royal Air Force Halifax aircraft of 113 Squadron that were used to fly out British non-essential personnel and civilians from Aqir airfield in Palestine to Almaza aerodrome in Egypt as part of 'Operation Polly.'
ⓘ licence & creditNo 1 Army Film & Photographic Unit, Davis, Desmond (Sergeant) / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:British_Forces_in_the_Middle_East,_1945-1947_E32217.jpgView source & full licence →
British Aircraft in Royal Air Force Service, 1939-1945- Handley Page Hp.57 Halifax. Halifax B Mark III, PN369 ‘A’, of No. 1341 (Radio Countermeasures) Flight based at Digri, India, in flight: one of five such Halifaxes specially modified for the investigation of Japanese radar and radio transmissions.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:British_Aircraft_in_Royal_Air_Force_Service,_1939-1945-_Handley_Page_Hp.57_Halifax._C5458.jpgView source & full licence →
Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1939-1941. Vertical aerial photograph taken during a daylight attack on German warships docked at Brest, France. Two Handley Page Halifaxes of No. 35 Squadron RAF (upper right) fly over the naval dockyard, towards the dry docks in which the battlecruisers SCHARNHORST and GNEISENAU are berthed (top right), and over which a smoke screen is rapidly spreading. At middle right, a stick of bombs can be seen to have exploded inland from their intended target, PRINZ EUGEN, moored by the quayside. 47 aircraft from Nos. 3, 4 and 5 Groups took part in the operation, claiming accurate bombing on their targets for the loss of 6 aircraft.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brest,_Royal_Air_Force_Bomber_Command,_1939-1941_C2228.jpgView source & full licence →
Aircraft of the Royal Air Force 1939-1945- Handley Page Hp.57 Halifax. Halifax B Mark III, MZ296 ‘Z5-L’, of No 462 Squadron RAAF, about to take off from Driffield, Yorkshire, on the crew’s last operation of their tour, (note the chalked message on the tail fin). The aircraft was lost near Brussels the following month while flown by a different crew.
ⓘ licence & creditAustralian official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aircraft_of_the_Royal_Air_Force_1939-1945-_Handley_Page_Hp.57_Halifax._MH6838.jpgView source & full licence →
AWM caption : YORKSHIRE, ENGLAND. 1944-01-20. OFFICERS AND AIRMEN AT A HALIFAX NO. 466 SQUADRON RAAF, AT RAF STATION LECONFIELD, WAVING EACH AIRCRAFT OFF AS IT SETS OUT FOR BERLIN. Comment : This is obviously in daylight : missions to Berlin in winter would have taken off in darkness.
ⓘ licence & creditnot stated / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:466_Squadron_RAAF_Halifax_at_Leconfield_UK0953.jpgView source & full licence →
AWM caption : Gibraltar. 31 January 1945. Members of No. 458 Squadron RAAF at Gibraltar after their flight from Italy via Algiers. Note the Handley Page Halifax aircraft in the background.
ⓘ licence & creditLe Guay, Laurence Craddock / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:458_Squadron_RAAF_personnel_at_Gibraltar_AWM_MEC1842.jpgView source & full licence →
AWM caption : Gibraltar. 31 January 1945. Members of No. 458 Squadron RAAF at Gibraltar after their flight from Italy via Algiers. Note the Handley Page Halifax aircraft in the background.
ⓘ licence & creditLe Guay, Laurence Craddock / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:458_Squadron_RAAF_Halifax_at_Gibraltar_MEC1841.jpgView source & full licence →
P-47 of the 325th Fighter Group
ⓘ licence & creditUnited States Army Air Force / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:325fightergroup-p-47-1943.jpgView source & full licence →
Image from the Charles Daniels Photo Collection album "British Aircraft." SOURCE INSTITUTION: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive
ⓘ licence & creditSan Diego Air & Space Museum Archives / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:15_Handley_Page_Halifax_Bristol_Hercules_Engine_(15650664137).jpgView source & full licence →
Image from the Charles Daniels Photo Collection album "British Aircraft." SOURCE INSTITUTION: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive
ⓘ licence & creditSan Diego Air & Space Museum Archives / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:15_Handley_Page_Halifax_(15835800215).jpgView source & full licence →
Image from the Charles Daniels Photo Collection album "British Aircraft." SOURCE INSTITUTION: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive
ⓘ licence & creditSan Diego Air & Space Museum Archives / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:15_Handley_Page_Halifax_(15835800135).jpgView source & full licence →
Image from the Charles Daniels Photo Collection album "British Aircraft." SOURCE INSTITUTION: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive
ⓘ licence & creditSan Diego Air & Space Museum Archives / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:15_Handley_Page_Halifax_(15833937961).jpgView source & full licence →
Image from the Charles Daniels Photo Collection album "British Aircraft." SOURCE INSTITUTION: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive
ⓘ licence & creditSan Diego Air & Space Museum Archives / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:15_Handley_Page_Halifax_(15650664017).jpgView source & full licence →
A Royal Air Force Handley Page Halifax Mark II Series I (s/n W7676, 'TL-P') of No. 35 Squadron RAF based at Linton-on-Ouse, Yorkshire (UK), being piloted by Flight Lieutenant Reginald Lane, (later Lieutenant-General, RCAF), over the English countryside. Flt Lt Lane and his crew flew twelve operations in W7676, which failed to return from a raid on Nuremberg on the night of 28/29 August 1942, when flown by Flt Sgt D. John and crew.
ⓘ licence & creditRAF / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Halifax_II_35_Sqn_RAF_in_flight_c1942.jpgView source & full licence →
British Aircraft in Royal Air Force Service, 1939-1945- Handley Page Hp.57 Halifax. Halifax B Mark III, PN369 ‘A’, of No. 1341 (Radio Countermeasures) Flight based at Digri, India, in flight: one of five such Halifaxes specially modified for the investigation of Japanese radar and radio transmissions.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:British_Aircraft_in_Royal_Air_Force_Service,_1939-1945-_Handley_Page_Hp.57_Halifax._C5458_(cropped).jpgView source & full licence →
AWM caption : England. c 1944. Bombs loaded into the belly of `Tommy the Tourist', a Halifax Bomber aircraft
ⓘ licence & creditnot stated / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bombing_up_a_Halifax_AWM_P02669.006.jpgView source & full licence →
A Handley Page Halifax of RAF Bomber Command over the target during a daylight raid on the oil refinery at Wanne-Eickel in the Ruhr, 12 October 1944. A Handley Page Halifax of No 6 Group flies over the smoke-obscured target during a daylight raid on the oil refinery at Wanne-Eickel in the Ruhr. 111 Halifaxes of 6 Group and 26 Avro Lancasters of No. 8 Group took part in the raid which destroyed a chemical factory but only inflicted minor damage on the refinery itself.
ⓘ licence & creditRoyal Air Force official photographer / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_Handley_Page_Halifax_of_RAF_Bomber_Command_over_the_target_during_a_daylight_raid_on_the_oil_refinery_at_Wanne-Eickel_in_the_Ruhr,_12_October_1944._C4713.jpgView source & full licence →
AWM caption : A Halifax aircraft of No. 10 (Halifax) Squadron RAF flying above the clouds.
ⓘ licence & creditnot stated / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:10_Squadron_RAF_Halifax_AWM_P02953.004.jpgView source & full licence →

About

The Handley Page Halifax was the other great four-engined heavy of Bomber Command, serving alongside the Avro Lancaster from late 1940 to the end of the war. First flown in prototype form in 1939, it entered service with No. 35 Squadron at RAF Linton-on-Ouse in November 1940 and made its operational debut against Le Havre in March 1941.

Early marks used Rolls-Royce Merlin engines; the much-improved Halifax III switched to the Bristol Hercules radial, curing the handling troubles of the first versions. Flown by a crew of six or seven, the Halifax was a true workhorse — beyond bombing it towed gliders, dropped paratroops and supplies to resistance forces, flew maritime patrols and carried casualties. In Bomber Command service it flew some 82,000 sorties for the loss of more than 1,800 aircraft. Over 6,000 were built, yet only a handful survive, several recovered decades later from Scandinavian lakes.

Sources: This page was compiled from publicly available historical sources, including Handley Page Halifax II — RAF Museum and Handley Page Halifax — Wikipedia. The text is original and has been written from factual source material; no source text has been copied unless specifically quoted and attributed.

Engines

Airframes in this database

SerialCodeSquadronFate
HX322 NP-B 158 Lost on operations
HX349 NP-G 158 Lost on operations
LK797 LK-E 578 Lost on operations
LK800 AL-? 429 Lost on operations
LK804 AL-Q 429 Lost on operations
LV777 MH-F 51 Lost on operations
LV822 MH-Z 51 Lost on operations
LV857 MH-H 51 Lost on operations
LV879 QB-A 424 Lost on operations
LV898 ZL-D 427 Lost on operations
LV907 NP-F 158 Survived the war
LV923 ZL-M 427 Lost on operations
LV944 QB-U 424 Lost on operations
LW537 MH-C 51 Lost on operations
LW544 MH-Q 51 Lost on operations
LW579 MH-V 51 Lost on operations
LW618 ZL-E 427 Lost on operations
LW634 NP-P 158 Lost on operations
LW647 MP-W 76 Lost on operations
LW696 MP-X 76 Lost on operations
LW724 NP-S 158 Lost on operations
NA337 2P-X — Lost on operations
W1012 NF-Z 138 Lost on operations
W1048 TL-S 35 Lost on operations