Page 8 - RAFEW A

Handley Page Halifax Mk II

Origin Handley Page Ltd.

Type: Long range heavy bomber with crew of 7.

Engine: Four-1,390hp Rolls-Royce Merlin XX vee-12 liquid cooled

Dimensions: Span 98 ft 10 in (30.12m); length 70 ft 1 in (21.36m); height 20 ft 9 in (6.32m).

Weight: Empty 35,270lb (16,000kg); loaded 60,000lb (27,216kg)

Performance: Maximum speed 270mph (435km/.h); initial climb 750ft (229m/min); service
ceiling 22,800ft (6,950m): range with maximum load 1,100miles (1,770km)

Armament: Boulton Paul turrets situated at the front and dorsal positions each with two 0.303in
Browning machine guns. Boulton Paul turret at rear with four 0.303in machine guns. Bomb load
up to 11,000lb (4992kg) internally.

History

First flown in October 1939 the Handley Page Halifax was one of the new generation of 4-
engined heavy bombers designed for the RAF. The early versions of this aircraft suffered a high
accident rate due to a design problem but further development and modifications led to a highly
effective machine that performed extremely well in a wide variety of roles. 103 Squadron were
equipped with this aircraft from July 1942 to November 1942 when they re-equipped with the
Avro Lancaster.

Whilst equipped with the Halifax 103 Squadron flew 15 bombing operations detailing 137
sorties for the loss of 12 aircraft on operations and 1 during training. In addition the 103
Squadron Conversion Flight lost 2 in training accidents.

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