Handley Page Halifax B Mk III Serial HX328 'J' Johnny of 35 Squadron PFF.

Does anybody have knowledge of any photographs of Handley Page Halifax B Mk III Serial HX328 'J' Johnny of RAF 35 Squadron PFF stationed at RAF Graveley, Huntingdonshire (now Cambs) ?.

To my knowledge only one photograph exists of the aircraft. That is a very poor copy of a late wartime newspaper article of the burnt out aircraft (see attached).
There are however three other photographs of a burning Halifax attached to a 'Word Press' article for 35 Squadron detailing the crash of Halifax HX328 (see attached). Unfortunately these photographs are incorrect for the subject aircraft being those for a burning HP Halifax B Mk I or II (note earlier type rudders) and are possibly for another Halifax that crashed at Graveley ?.

Halifax HX328 was only delivered from Handley Page at Radlett to 35 Squadron at RAF Graveley on the 11th December 1943 so it was a relatively new aircraft when it was lost in the accident on the 20th December 1943.

The aircraft, commanded by Sqdn Ldr Julian Slade, was burnt out at Graveley airfield on the 20th December 1943 after landing at 22.17hr on the main runway (No 2) from a raid on Frankfurt that same night. Upon the landing approach to the airfield a 'hung-up' target indicator pyrotechnic caught fire whereupon the pilot ordered the crew to parachute from the aircraft but as another of the crew had a fire damaged parachute the pilot stayed with the aircraft and landed it successfully with both men safe. The pilot Sqdn Ldr Slade was awarded a Bar to his existing DFC for his courage during the incident. Sqdn Ldr Slade sadly did not survive the war and died later in a German POW Camp from injuries sustained while parachuting from a later aircraft.

 

Hi Roger,

According to Form 1180, the Halifax HX328 Mk III was produced with Bristol Hercules XVI radial engines.

This was also the case in a production serial block beginning in September 1943, during which the aircraft were delivered from the factory with the new, improved rudders, unlike the older models, which were gradually replaced during maintenance.

The small photo shows a Halifax with the old rudder, presumably a Mk I or II, in which a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine is clearly visible.

Finn