Handley-Page “Halifax”

Aeroplane identification poster, published 1942

63 x 47 cm

A particularly unusual style of aeroplane identification poster, owing to the very arty images. Most such posters rely on very plain silhouettes, this series – and we have several in this series; view them here – have a much more arty approach to the task with shading and an interesting angle view.

The Halifax bomber was a twin-engined bomber that entered service with the RAF in 1940. Viewed by Arthur ”Bomber” Harris as inferior to the Lancaster, on account of its smaller payload, the crews preferred it. 1,833 aircraft were lost in service with Bomber Command, across a total of 82,733 operations. Only three survive, one at the Yorkshire Air Museum in Elvington (based on a fuselage that had been in use at a chicken farm following a crash near Stornoway), one at the National Air Force Museum of Canada (which was discovered in 1991 in Norway and subsequently restored), and one at the RAF Museum in London (that crash landed in Norway following an attack on the German battleship Tirpitz; rediscovered in 1971, it has been left unrestored).

Condition: generally very good.

If you are interested, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056.