Handley Page Halifax

Handley Page Halifax
A Halifax. This is the Mk II variant which fits the description given in Biggles in the Gobi.
Country of Origin	Great Britain
Maker	Handley Page
Type	four-engined bomber
Years in Service	1940 onwards
Appeared in	Biggles in the Gobi and others

The Halifax and Biggles

In the immediate postwar Air Police stories, the Halifax was Biggles' chosen platform whenever he foresaw that he had to go a long way or had to carry a lot. In Biggles in the Gobi, he choose a Halifax for his operation and Raymond obtained one for him. Thereafter it stayed on the Air Police strength. One may speculate why he chose a Halifax and not, say, the Lancaster. One conjecture might be that the Halifax was more flexible. It had, for example, wingroot bomb cells which could be converted to give extra fuel tankage. And of course, having two crew rest bunks wouldn't hurt!

Which of the many variants of the Halifax did Biggles use? A large number of clues are available from the first mentioned use in Biggles in the Gobi.

• It had Merlin engines - on page 153 of the 1st ed. Ginger mentions the "Rolls engines".
• It had a forward turret - on page 154, Algy tells Ginger that Bertie would be providing covering fire from the forward turret while Algy would man the rear turret. The presence of a forward turret is specific to only the early variants of the Halifax. In later models, a full plexiglass nose was fitted instead in order to reduce weight and drag. Another reference to the forward turret is in page 156 where there a "burst of fire from Bertie's brownings". The forward turret had two Brownings while the plexiglass nose had a single Vickers K gun.
• It also had a dorsal turret - on page 158, during the egress, while engaging a Yak fighter, it is noted that "Ginger must have taken over the centre turret, for the guns there joined in." Again this is uncommon as many Halifaxes had their dorsal turrets removed.

So it appears that Biggles' Halifax had a full complement of guns and Gobi appears to be the only instance when the guns were used. Of course, we can assume that when Biggles needed to, he would have removed the weapons. In Biggles' Chinese Puzzle (short story), for example, his cover story serving as a transport pilot for a group of textile salesmen. This would hardly be credible with a fully armed Halifax!

Biggles' Halifax as drawn by Stead in Biggles in the Gobi. The Merlin engines are clearly seen, as is the forward turret. Also, not mentioned in the text, Stead has drawn in the triangular tailfins which are specific to the early variants and all point to a Mk II. The wingtips are slightly rounded and not squared off like in a Mk V. There is a cutaway drawing published in 1942 of the Mk II looking much as Stead drew it.

List of Books and stories where the Halifax occurs

Unless otherwise stated, the Halifaxes in the books and short stories listed below were piloted by Biggles or his associates

• Biggles in the Gobi
• Biggles and the Pirate Treasure
  • The Case of the Lunatic at Large - stolen by Flying Officer John Glibb
  • The Unknown Diamonds
• Biggles in Australia
• Biggles' Chinese Puzzle
  • Biggles' Chinese Puzzle (short story)
• No Rest for Biggles
• Biggles Makes Ends Meet