Birth of a Bomber

Photographic reproduction, 12 large plates

c. 1940
38 x 40 cm

‘This is the story of the production of the Handley-Page “Halifax” heavy bomber. The Air Ministry of Aircraft production tell the manufacturers what kind of aircraft they want, and what they require it to do. First comes the design which has to be worked out in all its details by large numbers of designers and draughtsmen.’

Produced by the Ministry of Information, this striking brochure showcases an engineer hard at work designing a Halifax heavy bomber. The Halifax bomber was first introduced to combat in November 1940, three months after the first bombing raid in Germany took place. Throughout the war, both the Halifax and Lancaster bombers proved themselves as steadfast four-engine military planes. This poster goes some way to demystify the processes that went into its design and manufacturing, and the original photo belongs to a larger archive–now at the Imperial War Museum–documenting the production of such aircraft.