May 13, 2026: What was supposed to be “punishment” for Canadian airmen during the Second World War turned into a blessing.
Karl Kjarsgaard of the Bomber Command Museum in Nanton, Alberta, was the guest speaker for the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association’s annual fundraising dinner. He explained the misconception that the Lancaster was the most common plane used by Royal Canadian Air Force crews during the Second World War. In fact, in the three-year period 1942-1944, 71 per cent of missions were flown on Halifax bombers.
Kjarsgaard explained Prime Minister Mackenzie King wanted Canadians to fly in their own squadrons. As a result, British Air Vice Marshall Harris of the Royal Air Force, who oversaw all bombing missions, thought he was “punishing” the Canadians by sticking them with the Halifax bombers.
The Halifax was slower than the Lancaster, and as a result, losses were higher. However, the situation changed in 1943 when the Halifax bomber received an engine upgrade – and a significant one that added 800 more horsepower. With the upgrade came higher speed, greater efficiency, and a lower loss rate.
“This is the reason Canadians ended up number one for efficiency in 1943,” Kjarsgaard said.
Unlike the Lancaster, surviving intact Halifax bombers are almost impossible to find. Kjarsgaard said hundreds of RCAF Halifaxes were left behind in Britain.
“There were Halifaxes with 70, 80 missions painted on the noses and we left them behind for the British to cut up for pots and pans,” he explained.
The Halifax on display at Canadian Forces Base Trenton is the only completely restored complete Halifax in the world. It was raised from a lake in Norway in 1995. The Bomber Command Museum doesn’t have a complete Halifax, but they are working on it. An airframe was found in Malta. Propeller blades were found in a crate in England, a turret was found in Halifax, and the restoration is continuing.
Kjarsgaard said the group is also working on restoring a Harvard, and there will be a combined effort between the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association and his group on this project.
Article courtesy of Jeff Helsdon, Editor Tillsonburg Post. Click here to read the Original Article.