The Avro Lancaster was definitely the most famous British bomber of WWII, but was it the best?

When one thinks of the Royal Air Force’s (RAF) contributions to the Allied victory in World War II, chances are the Supermarine Spitfires and Hawker Hurricanes of RAF Fighter Command immediately come to mind, and understandably so.

However, the contributions of RAF Bomber Command—under the leadership of Air Marshall (later marshal of the RAF) Sir Arthur Travers “Bomber” Harris, 1st Baronet, GCB, OBE, AFC (April 13, 1892-April 5, 1984)—certainly shouldn’t be overlooked. To that effect, Sir Arthur’s two most famous war machines were the Avro Lancaster and Handley Page Halifax heavy bombers. So then, which of these two mighty warbirds was the “better” bomber?

The Case for the Avro Lancaster

This was definitely the most famous British bomber of WWII, with the BAE Systems info page going so far as to call the Lancaster “The most iconic heavy bomber of World War II.” Making its maiden flight on January 9, 1941, and officially introduced into operational service with the RAF in February 1942, the Lancaster had the following specifications:

• Fuselage Length: 69 feet 4 inches
• Wingspan: 102 feet
• Empty weight of 36,457 lb.
• Maximum takeoff weight: 68,000 lb.
• Max airspeed: 282 mph (246 knots)
• Armament:
  • Eight x .303 caliber (7.7mm) Browning Mk II machine guns (two in the nose turret, two in the upper turret, and four in the rear turret)
  • Bomb payload of 14,000 lb. (standard); 22,000 lb. when retrofitted for “Grand Slam”

The warbird conducted its first true bombing mission over the German city of Essen on March 10, 1940. It ended up being primarily used as a night bomber (while the U.S. Army Air Forces conducted daylight precision bombing, hence the concept of “round-the-clock bombing“), but it also excelled in daylight bombing, especially the legendary Dambusters raids of 1943 and the sinking of the Kriegsmarine battleship Tirpitz in 1944; these were accomplished with the 22,000-lb. Grand Slam and 12,000-lb. Tall Boy bombs respectively.

As my National Interest colleague Robert Farley writes, “From 1942 until 1945, the Lancaster would anchor the British half of the CBO [Combined Bomber Offensive], eventually resulting in the destruction of most of urban Germany and the death of several hundred thousand German civilians.”

7,377 Avro Lancasters airframes were built, seventeen of which survive today, including two airworthy specimens: Tail No. FM213, affectionately nicknamed “Vera,” operated by the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Mount Hope, Hamilton, Ontario; and PA474, which is operated by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight out of Coningsby in Lincolnshire, England.

As for the static display Lancasters, I can personally vouch for R5868, aka “S-for-Sugar,” at the RAF Museum in the Hendon section of London; she is quite an impressive sight to behold up close and personal.

The Case for the Handley Page Halifax

The Halifax actually predated the Lancaster, making its maiden flight on October 25, 1939, and entering into official RAF operational service on November 13, 1940. Tech specs and vital stats included:

• Fuselage length: 71 feet 7 inches
• Wingspan: 104 feet 2 inches
• Height: 20 feet 9 inches
• Empty weight: 38,870 lb.
• Maximum takeoff weight: 65,000 lbs.
• Max airspeed 282 mph (245 knots)
• Armament
  • Eight x Browning .303 machine guns (evenly divided between the tail turret and dorsal turret) and one x .303 Vickers K machine gun in the nose
  • Bomb payload of 13,000 lbs.

The Halifax ended up flying 75,532 bombing sorties during WWII and accounted for over 25 percent of the bombs dropped on Germany by the RAF. One of its most notable accomplishments took place on Jul 24, 1941. As military aviation historian Guy Davey writes in an article for Plane Historia:

“No. 35 and No. 76 squadrons of the RAF flew to the port of Brest in Northern France to bomb the German battleship, Scharnhorst … Although the Scharnhorst was not sunk during the attack, it sustained heavy damage and had to be moved to a safer location as a result.”

6,176 Halifaxes were produced, but sadly, only three of these underappreciated warbirds survive today, none of them airworthy: Tail No. W1048 at RAF Museum London; HR792 at the Yorkshire Air Museum in Elvington, North Yorkshire, England; and NA337 at the National Air Force Museum of Canada in Trenton, Ontario.

And the Winner Is…?

Well, if fame and name recognition were the sole—or at least the primary—determining factors for the winner, then the Lancaster would be the clear victor over the Halifax (to draw an American heavy bomber analogy, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress would be the clear winner over the Consolidated B-24 Liberator by that same rationale).

What’s more, the Lancaster did indeed have the advantage over the Halifax in terms of speed and bomb payload capacity, a differential of 25 mph and 9,000 lb., respectively. The Lancaster’s bomb load also exceeded that of the B-17 and B-24.

However, there are the intangibles to consider. As Jane Gulliford Lowes wrote in her excellent 2020 book Above Us, The Stars: 10 Squadron Bomber Command – The Wireless Operator’s Story:

“Just never mention that to anyone who actually flew a Halifax … an aircrew’s chances of survival were slightly greater if they were in a Halifax rather than a Lancaster … The Halifax was also structurally stronger, designed to break into sections in the event of a crash-landing, which saved the lives of many a crew … In reality the Halifax played an equal part in the vast majority of Bomber Command operations, and was very much the ‘workhorse,’ despite the fact that [Sir Arthur] Harris despised it. The fact is, without the Halifax, Bomber Command would have achieved very little.”

As a side note, the book’s protagonist and wireless operator referenced in the subtitle, Jack Clyde, was the author’s granduncle.

That said, statistically speaking, and in terms of sheer epic missions, I still have to give a very slight nod to the Lancaster. But the Halifax definitely deserves more love than she typically gets.

About the Author: Christian D. Orr

Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor for National Security Journal (NSJ). He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He has also been published in The Daily Torch, The Journal of Intelligence and Cyber Security, and Simple Flying. Last but not least, he is a Companion of the Order of the Naval Order of the United States (NOUS). If you’d like to pick his brain further, you can ofttimes find him at the Old Virginia Tobacco Company (OVTC) lounge in Manassas, Virginia, partaking of fine stogies and good quality human camaraderie.

Image: Pawel Bednarski 303 / Shutterstock.com

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