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Halifaxes in the Western Desert: Desert camo?


Juanita

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Was the Desert camouflage scheme applied to Halifaxes operating in the Western Desert?

It is very difficult to tell from photos whether the scheme is just a faded version of standard RAF bomber scheme (black underside, Dark Green/Dark Earth uppers), or whether the Dark Green was overpainted in Sand.

I gather the Wellingtons were given a desert scheme, but so far I have found no definative confirmation that the Halifaxes got the same treatment.

Can someone please clarify this point.

Juanita

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Some Halifaxes did indeed have the Dark Earth / Mid Stone camo scheme. I'm waiting for a Z Nose to come out to build my Revell kit using Aeroclubs engine replacement set in this colour scheme.

Cheers, Neil

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Thank you Neil,

I have just now come across a small paragraph in “Bomber Colours” by Michael Bowers where he says: “By July 5 1942, 32 Halifaxes had arrived in Palestine, 16 each from Nos 10 and 76 Squadrons, on a mobility exercise. Before leaving Britain they had their upper camouflage colours changes to Dark Earth and Middle Stone…”

Best regards

Juanita

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It "should" be possible to see if the darker colour is where the Dark Green is in the Temperate scheme or the Dark Earth in both. I must admit not having tested this, and it certainly isn't infallible with regard to Spitfires - it generally is with Hurricanes but not for a few of the earliest.

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I have previously applied Graham's theory to pictures of 462 Sqn Halifaxes in the Aeroplane Icons book and the 462 history (To See the Dawn Again) with the same aim as woody37 and I think they were in the desert scheme.
The history is silent on colours but the AE book says "When Halifax bombers were hastily transferred to the Middle East in mid-1942 they received an upper surface colour of Middle Stone over the Dark Green while retaining the Dark Earth and their lower surface Night finish".
“By July 5 1942, 32 Halifaxes had arrived in Palestine, 16 each from Nos 10 and 76 Squadrons,
This was Operation Barefaced, a planned attack on the Italian fleet, know as Operation Barefaced Lie to those who ended up eventually forming 462.

Note that it seems by the time these Halifaxes were in 462 they had the Z-nose and armament of 2 rear guns as their only defence..

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No Whitleys - perhaps you mean Wellingtons? If so then yes, at least sometimes....

Edit: I'd carefully study any photos before mid-1941, or thereabouts. I doubt that repainting night bombers had a high priority in the theatre, and it seems clear that other types (eg Hurricanes) were still being delivered in Temperate colours as late as the Greek campaign.

Edited by Graham Boak
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What about Whitley's in the desert? Did they have the desert scheme?

The only Whitley`s that I`m aware of in the Middle East were the BOAC aircraft which flew the UK-Malta-Egypt passenger/freight shuttle and the RAF aircraft which deployed to Malta to drop British para`s on their mission against the Tragino Aquaduct,...the first ever British Airborne mission. One of the Whitley`s was lost over Italy.

As for desert schemed Halibags,....here is a rather old model that I built using left over Airfix fuselage and Matchbox wings;

airfixmatchboxhalifax1.jpg

The serial is incorrect and the model is not perfect by any means, with cracked decals but I hope that it shows the camo OK.

All the best,

Tony O

Edited by tonyot
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I'm waiting for a Z Nose to come out to build my Revell kit using Aeroclubs engine replacement set

Cheers, Neil

You and me both Neil. Surely we aren't the only ones either.

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There is a photo of a desert-based Hali with just doped canvas wrapped around the nose turret instead of the formal Z nose.

Indeed there a couple of photographs of that nature in Merrick's book.

He also writes that "The Halifaxes arrived in the Middle East in standard night bomber camouflage, the green of the upper gradually being changed to mid-stone..."

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In his latest (last) book this comment is in the caption to W(ex-H)/W7671 on p70. The camouflage appears to be freshly painted and shows a high degree of contrast typical of the desert scheme. Photographs taken earlier, e.g B(ex-W)/W7757 and A/W7755 on p68, show the darker colour where '71 has the lighter, with less contrast. I'd say this showed the early retention of the Temperate scheme. It is worth bearing in mind that the detachments were intended to be temporary, so repainting before departure from the UK is perhaps unlikely.

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It is worth bearing in mind that the detachments were intended to be temporary, so repainting before departure from the UK is perhaps unlikely.

That's a contentious point. There are definite indications that the deployment was never intended to be temporary. As Ed states it was named "Operation Barefaced" and the appended word "Lie" seems well merited. In view of that it seems quite likely that the aircraft may not have been repainted in order retain the impression that the deployment was a temporary one.

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Yes, I read that too, but I find it difficult to see what's so special about this deployment that a deliberate lie should be told. A lie specific to this particular case and not in all the other examples of men/aircraft/tanks/ships whatever being deployed to the ME. I can see how it might have felt otherwise to those involved, particularly given the codeword, but codewords were chosen to avoid being meaningful, and clearly it wasn't organised for a long stay. There were personnel unfit for oversea duties, and adequate spares were not sent in advance. Had it been always intended as a simple transfer, it could have been done a lot better. Who were they trying to fool, Harris?

It's not as though they were sent to Malta, where men and aircraft were regularly hijacked.

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Well you may be correct Graham, but personally I think the jury is still out on that one, irrespective of the codeword.

Bennett believed they were off to bomb the Italian fleet, whilst apparently nobody in the ME was aware of any such operation. Since Tedder was scratching about for heavy bombers at the same time, there must at least be an element of doubt about the timing and motives, particularly as Merrick (again) writes that on arrival all personnel were warned tp prepare for an indefinite stay.

Whatever the true facts of this are, it seems evident that, wether or not there was ever a real "operation", aircraft left the UK in standard night bomber camouflage, and re-painted as and when.

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Tony, you may say that model isn't perfect, but it's a Halifax and I like it!

I suppose it would take a lot of digging to find out the truth about Operation Bareface now. The personnel didn't seem the best suited it's true, but heavy bombers were very much in demand out there and Arthur Harris didn't like to lose his resources easily. A case for both sides is easy to formulate.

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You and me both Neil. Surely we aren't the only ones either.

I suspect aftermarket people are holding off due to the part being included in the original Revell sprue shots, but recent Revell kits have tended towards horribly thick clear nose parts (Halifax & B17), so I'd welcome a vac replacement that fits the new kit. That said, with minimal transparencies in the Z nose, this might not be too noticeable. I wonder what intentions Revell have regards the spare sprues that never hit the market ???????????

Tony, you may say that model isn't perfect, but it's a Halifax and I like it!

Me too, this is gorgeous Tony and a great inspiration :)

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I suspect aftermarket people are holding off due to the part being included in the original Revell sprue shots, but recent Revell kits have tended towards horribly thick clear nose parts (Halifax & B17), so I'd welcome a vac replacement that fits the new kit. That said, with minimal transparencies in the Z nose, this might not be too noticeable. I wonder what intentions Revell have regards the spare sprues that never hit the market ???????????

I cannot understand why the part wasn't in the kit. Seems logical to me. I don't suppose we'll ever see it.

I suppose it's possible to scratch build one.

BTW Tony, that is a great looking halifax.

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1. That Halifax looks good to me!

2. I concur that they were probably left in standard Bomber Command camouflage at first and were repainted as opportunity arose.

3. Field mods were made on noses until Z type noses arrived with replacement Halifaxes

I hope this extract from "To See the Dawn Again" clarifies the movement of Halifaxes to the ME theatre and I hope the authors don't mind me quoting it. It's a great book written by professional historians.

The Axis summer campaign began on 26 May 1942 with mobile armour and heavy air assault. German and Italian fighters were used in support of a Blitzkrieg style of warfare and in reply, they faced a range of Allied fighters, fighter bombers and light bombers. Heavy fighting in early June resulted in a withdrawal of the Allies to Sollum and by the 18th, the position of the opposing forces was almost that of November 1941. Tobruk had become a garrison fortress once again, but was to fall within a week. By the end of the month, the allies had withdrawn to El Alamein. Heavy air reinforcements were desperately needed and after representation by the Minister for State for the Middle East, the Hon. Richard Casey, it was agreed to send heavy bombers.

Two detachments of Halifaxes from Nos. 10 and 76 Squadron, RAF, which were already operational in England, were ordered temporarily to the Middle East. They arrived in July and were intended to stay for only a few weeks to fly in support of the Tobruk garrison and conduct Operation Barefaced, a planned attack on the Italian Fleet. The first to deploy were from 10 Squadron, with their historian recording on 5 July 1942 that “Seven aircraft took off from Leeming on the first leg of a flight out to the Middle East of [the] detachment. Each aircraft carrying in addition to its crew, three maintenance personnel and a number of spares...”

A further seven aircraft left the next day and as well as the maintenance crews, also took with them Flight Lieutenant Jones, the Engineering Officer, and Flight Lieutenant Finch, the Intelligence and Operations Officer. An advance party consisting of two aircraft flown by Squadron Leader George Seymour-Price and Warrant Officer Peterson had already left on 29 June making the total detachment 16 aircraft and 48 NCOs and airmen from the various maintenance sections. Next was No.76 Squadron- eight aircraft led by Squadron Leader Doug 'Hank' Iveson left on 10 July followed by Wing Commander David Young leading another eight Halifaxes four days later.

However, no one in Middle East Command expected the heavy bombers and a base was hurriedly organised. In the end, Barefaced was just that -a barefaced lie -as the Air Ministry always planned to keep the aircraft in the Middle East until the end of the Allied campaign. Shortly, these detachments

of 16 aircraft each were to be based at Aqir in Palestine, a large pre-war RAF base established south of Tel Aviv. Aqir would be an ideal location from which to operate as it was safe from possible Nazi air and ground attack, and the 'heavies' could cover North Africa, the Mediterranean, Greece and the

Balkans.

Nos 10 and 76 Squadrons together with a new non-operational squadron, No.227 RAF, would form 249 Wing under 205 Group, a heavy bomber group established in late 1941. By July, 249 Wing had renumbered as 245 Wing, and it was under 245 Wing that 462 Squadron would operate. No.227 Squadron was established on 1 July 1942 as the servicing element of a combination of No. 10/227 Squadron while No.76 Squadron combined with another new non-operational Australian unit, No.454 Squadron, also forming up in the Middle East at the time. 454 Squadron would be the servicing echelon of No.76 Squadron for some time until 454 Squadron could form in its own right and it was here that the first Australian ground crew were posted. The new heavy bomber wing began operations on the night of 11/12 July with a bombing raid on Tobruk. Very soon, the Halifaxes were widely used against Rommel's supply lines and port facilities, being invaluable for their bomb carrying capacity.

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Glad you liked the Halibag model fella`s and cheers for saying so,.....it probably looks better on a photo than `in the flesh'!

I also meant to mention the Airborne Forces Halifax glider tugs from 38 Group which deployed to North Africa for the invasion of Sicily as these had Mid Stone and Dark Earth upper surfaces too. Some had Tollerton Fairings and some had the new clear nose cone,.....and off the top of my head some may have had faired over nose gun turrets too? Compared to the Airborne Halibags used a year later, the Sicily ones were quite a rag tag bunch with different mods and most if not all had the triangular fins.

I love the desert scheme on a bomber, such as the Wimpey seen here;

DSCF5753.jpg

and have plans to build a Ventura Mk.I in this scheme for a magazine article,....having found a lovely photo!

All the best

Tony O

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It is often said that to modify the standard scheme to the 'Desert Scheme', the Middle Stone was painted over the Dark Green. This sounds very logical, however the Halifaxes seem to have Dark Earth in those areas of the camouflage that would normally be Dark Green, and Middle Earth over the standards Dark Earth areas.

For example BB339 of 178 Sqn ("Aeroplanes Icons: Halifax" page 32), a line up of "614 Sqn" (462 Sqn) aircraft (("Aeroplanes Icons: Halifax" page 44), also BB325 of 462 Sqn (photo easily found on the internet).

Cheers

Juanita

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You'll find the same problem with other types such as Hurricanes and Spitfires, particularly in 1941/42. It has been suggested that this is because the painter assumed that the dark shading on the drawing was the darker of the two colours in the scheme, rather than actually reading the instructions. However, there are a few examples where the colours were reversed even on standard schemes (example, W Cdr Minden Blake's personal Spitfire), so this can't be ruled out as a cause. One possible confusion is brought about by the misunderstanding of a Dark Green/Mid Stone scheme, but this is very unlikely to apply to the Halifaxes.

It seems most probable that the Halifaxes repainted in the theatre will have followed the simple rule of retaining the Dark Earth areas, as they are unlikely to have been completely stripped back before repainting. For example, in Merrick W7671 p70 and BB325 p71. Here both have the darker camouflage colour where the Dark Earth is in the Temperate scheme, as does BB331 p72. So I have to disagree with you on BB325, at least at the time of this photograph. I thought that I had just about everything published in recent decades on Halifaxes but I don't have the "Aeroplanes Icons" (unless perhaps it is buried in my collection of Aeroplane magazines). I do however have photos of 462 Sq aircraft showing both possible colour arrangements.

Edited by Graham Boak
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Doesn't answer any colour question, but I just happened upon COS(42)323, in PRO CAB 80/37 "Heavy Bombers for the Middle East" 27/6/42

This gives a summary of the situation (history of) - basically Liberators had been selected as the best type, and were beginning to be sent when Japan threw a wrench in the works. In April '42 an agreement was reached to share 5 Lib squadrons between India and ME, with equipment to support 3 in either location. "...It was stated that in addition two Halifax squadron equipments would be sent out forthwith in the hope that within two or three months the aircraft would be fit for operations outside the UK" [Lancs were not yet ready]

In June, further agreements concerning Liberators, but "It was also decided to send out temporarily, for use during convoy operations to Malta, aircraft of two Halifax squadrons (now considered fit for use abroad in emergency) to arrive in July when the equipments should have reached Middle East. The situation in Libya justifies their going, even though the convoy is postponed."

I surmise that subsequently plans continued to change, impacting the delivery of Liberators, and since the Halifaxes were on the spot, it was logical to retain their services.

bob

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