Canadian Halifax “Nose Art”

At the end of World War Two, the majority of No. 6 (RCAF) Group (Canadian flown) Handley-Page Halifax aircraft were ferried to two large “Graveyards” in England. The largest group of Canadian bombers were stored at No. 43 Group, the former Handley-Page Halifax repair depot, located at Rawcliffe, Yorkshire, and the second graveyard became No. 41 Group, formerly No. 48 Maintenance Unit, at High Ercall, Shropshire. This marked the end of the line for the once proud Canadian bombers, complete with Canadian Nose Art, which was now forgotten.

Thanks to the efforts of one RCAF officer, some of the Canadian art was saved and shipped back to Canada in 1946. F/L Harold H. Lindsay was the former RCAF operations Officer stationed at High Wycombe, RAF Bomber Command. With the end of the war in Europe, he realized it was extremely important that some of the “Canadian” aircraft Nose Art painted on the British Halifax aircraft should be saved for historical merit. F/L Lindsay was granted approval by Wing Commander W.R. Thompson (A.O.C. in C. of RCAF Operations Overseas) to photograph and save some of the art.

Lindsay attended No. 43 Group (Rawcliffe) where he recorded 49 photos on the Halifax aircraft and another 22 photos were taken at No. 41 Group at High Ercall. In total, at least ten rolls of black and white film (eight prints per roll) recorded the Canadian “Nose Art”. In all, 71 Nose Art photos were taken, of which 62 were Canadian flown Halifax aircraft. The last photo shows F/L Lindsay standing under Halifax Mk. III, serial MZ655, No. 431 (Iroquois) Squadron.

After the photos, Lindsay arranged for 16-17 panels to be cut from the Halifax aircraft and shipped back to Canada. Of these panels, 13 were removed form Rawcliffe and at least one came from High Ercall (Dragon art – LK941). This salvage operation was completed by Mr. Robert Goodwin, with panels arriving in Ottawa on 7 May 1946. 

Today, fourteen of these original panels are in the collection at the War Museum in Ottawa. From available records, it appears that there are 2-3 missing. The Halifax Nose Art collection has never been viewed by the Canadian public in one total exhibit and, in fact, is still unknown to many RCAF veterans.

Halifax aircraft bearing the 14 original panels flew over 700 operations in World War Two. 300 different RCAF crews climbed into those Halifax aircraft. This adds up to over 2,100 aircrew that flew with “their” Canadian Nose Art.

“We owe it to our future – not to forget our past.”