Handley Page Halifax Mk II Series 1

This Halifax served with No. 102 Squadron. On 27 April 1942, it flew its first operational mission – an attack on the German battleship Tirpitz that was moored in a Norwegian fjord. Damaged by anti-aircraft artillery, the aircraft made a forced landing on a frozen lake. One of the crew suffered a broken ankle and was taken prisoner. The other five, with the help of the Norwegian resistance, escaped to neutral Sweden. W1048 sank to the bottom of the fjord where it remained for the next 31 years.

Halifaxes were the second four-engined heavy bomber to enter RAF service. Some in Bomber Command were sceptical of their performance, but several revisions produced a capable heavy bomber.