Handley Page Halifax (2e GM) : livres - histoire

The Halifax became the second of the new generation of four-engine heavy bombers to enter service with RAF Bomber Command in the Second World War. It flew its first offensive operation in March 1941 and by 1944 it had become the exclusive equipment for Bomber Command's 4 Group and 6 (Canadian) Group, as well as being used in smaller numbers by 100 (Bomber Support) Group.

The RAF's four-engine Halifax bomber flew on most of the main raids over Germany in the Second World War, as well as in operations from Italy, in North Africa and the Far East, and after the war on the Berlin Air Lift.

Jonathan Falconer reviews the design and operation of the Halifax and offers a detailed close-up look at its construction. Fascinating insights into the recovery and restoration of Halifax airframes include the RAF Museum's Mk II (W1048) and the superb A Mk VII (NA337) in the National Air Force Museum of Canada.

The second of Britain's four-engined bombers to enter frontline service, Handley Page's Halifax has forever lived in the shadow of Avro's superb Lancaster. However, it was a Halifax which became the first RAF 'heavy' to drop bombs on Germany when No 35 Sqn raided Hamburg on the night of 12/13 March 1941.
Between 1941-45, the Halifax completed some 75,532 sorties with Bomber Command alone [compared with the Lancaster's 156,000], not to mention its sterling work as both a glider tug and paratroop carrier with the Airborne Forces, maritime patrol mount with Coastal Command and covert intruder with the SOE.

Contents: Introduction - Origins of the Halifax - Halifax Goes to War - Breaking the Back of the Reich - Pathfinder Force - SOE Halifaxes - No 100 Group - Airborne Forces and Transport - Coastal Command - The End - Appendices.