On the night of 11 / 12 March 1941, Halifax bombers went into action for the first time when aircraft from 35 Squadron bombed the docks at Le Havre. The following night the squadron took part in a raid on Hamburg, with the Halifax becoming the first of the four- engine ‘heavies’ to bomb Germany, nearly a year before its illustrious counterpart, the Lancaster, entered the fray.

Equipping numerous units that subsequently included RAF, Canadian, Australian, Free French and Polish squadrons, from that night in March 1941 until the cessation of hostilities, this formidable, hard-working aircraft would become a core component of Bomber Command’s night bombing campaign against the Third Reich. Despite being eventually overshadowed by the Lancaster, Halifaxes would nevertheless deliver more than a quarter of all the bombs dropped on Germany by the Royal Air Force.