inside the Halifax fuselage there are a series of levers under the bench seat? one set port and one set stbd.
Can anyone tell me what they are for?
Also was there any way of opening the under wing bomb bay doors manually ie a cranking system?

I have a photo from the aeroplane database on the halifax which shows the fuselage section during assembly at the front spar. Looking from the front backwards attached to the mainspar on either side are levers which looks as if they are for an emergency manual hydraulic pump. These are not in any pics of "restored" aircraft. I don't know about any levers in the area behind the main spar were the bench seats are.

cheers
phil

Hi,
There was a lever in the fuselage around the crew rest station area, (fitted to the starboard fuselage about waist / shoulder height)commonly known as the "Wobble Pump" it was used for lowering the u/c manually AFTER manually releasing the U/C "up locks".
As for other levers, the only ones I'm familiar with would be those in the crew rest area, underneath the seating. These are the fuel flow transfer cocks, which the Flight Engineers would operate during a flight.
In the FLight Engineers position there were loads of levers, but I'm assuming you are not referring to any of these.
Does this help any?
Ian
57 RESCUE

Ian,

Thanks for the info.
Yes, it was the levers under the rest area benches.
Would the engineer use them in an emergency only
situation or during normal flight?
Are they mechanical or hydraulic?

Also looking for info on which type of mines
that RAF museums Halifax would have been carrying.

Thanks

Tony

Hi Tony,
The taps under the rest area for the fuel were all manually operated and would have been part of the F/E's "normal" duties... Apparantly they were a bit of a pain in the a*se due to the complexity of the Handley Page fuel changeover system.
As for the type of mines, sorry, can't help you much there - over to the experts on this forum
Good luck
Ian

Tony, if you are referring to the Halifax at the RAF Museum in Hendon, W1048 TL-S, then the type of mines it was carrying were 4 x 1000 lb naval Mk XIX spherical contact mines had been modified and tested specifically for the operations against Tirpitz in March and April 1942. When carried, the bomb bay doors could not fully close.

Do you have a special interest in this particular Halifax?

Regards
Linzee

Forgot to add in the above post: The mines were only carried by the Halifaxes from 10 Sqdn and 35 Sqdn. The 76 Sqdn Halifaxes on the op carried one 4,000 lb bomb plus additional 500 lb bombs.

Linzee,

Thanks for the 'mine' info.

Yes I do have a special interest in W1048 TL-S
as I am a member of the Society of Friends
of RAF Museum Hendon, Aircraft Restoration Team.

We have recently removed the 'under wing'
universal bomb racks, taken them apart, cleaned and treated them with anti corrosion chemicals as part of
stabilising the whole aircraft for future generations to see.

The port rack was in better condition than the stbd rack, they both have cleaned up great!

Would the mines you mentioned have been carried 'under wing' or in the main bomb bay or both?

Dont suppose you know where I could get hold of a de-activated mine?!!!

Tony

Hi Tony,

No problem, you're welcome.

It's good to know that the a/c is being stabilised to preserve it.

I hope the a/c isn't going to be tarted up too much though? It's nice to see it as it was when recovered from Lake Hoklingen and serves as a reminder of the many men who didn't return from the ops against Tirpitz in 1942.

I believe that the mines would have been carried in the main bomb bay. The following is a paragraph from Nigel Smiths excellent book Tirpitz the Halifax Raids (which if you have not read yet then I can recommend)[quote] "They (the mines) were so large that the bomb-doors woulc not close properly, thus the aircraft would have to fly with the bomb doors partially open. In order to release the mines, the navigator/bomb aimer had to arm the mine electrically, prior to the run-up, then activate the release mechanism over the target. However, if a mine failed to leave the aircraft, remaining 'hung up' in the fuselage, and if it could not be released, then the crew had no option but to fly home with the live mine on board....Let into the floor of the fuselage of the Halifax, in three different positions (beneath the after escape-hatch, between the two main wing-spars and near the door through to the F/E's compartment) were small, removable plates that provided access for the crew to reach the manual bomb releases beneath the floor. In at least one Halifax, W1048, the screws fastening two small round panels into the floor had been partly removed, leaving the F/E to remove the final couple of screws (as the a/c neared the target area) and insert his hands to locate by feel two metal rings secured to the mine release cables. He was to pull on these 'toggles' as soon as the bomb-aimer (Nav) had released the mines electrically, the intention being to ensure that the mines fell away properly." [end of quote]

Bearing in mind that all the above was being tackled in the dark, flying at ridiculously low level (200ft)while being shot at not only from below, but also from above (by AA guns on the sides of the fjord which were higher than the Halifax on the final approach) it's a wonder any of the Halifaxes made it back from those ops.

"Dont suppose you know where I could get hold of a de-activated mine?!!!"

Have a few suggestions for you about that. Meanwhile, you can see what the mines looked like in the photo of a memorial on this page http://mysite.freeserve.com/archie_bombercommand/raidsontirpitzspring1942.html scroll to the bottom of the page for the photo. The mine is sitting on three link chains from the anchor of Tirpitz.

You can contact me direct about possible sources for mines by clicking on my name to the left of this message.

Regards
Linzee

Just a quick note of interest.

Pilot Officer Donald McIntyre who flew this aircraft was converted onto the Halifax by my Grandfather W/Cdr. P.S.James (F/O at the time), who was an instructor with No. 35 Conversion Flightat Linton-On-Ouse.

Kind Regards,


James

Hi James,

Thanks for that little gem of info. Amazing how all these names start tying in with one another.

Good to see your research still progressing.

Best Wishes
Linzee