Handley Page Harrow
A twin-engine heavy bomber built by Handley Page as a stop-gap for the RAF's rapid pre-war expansion, the H.P.54 Harrow was ordered in August 1936, before the prototype flew, and was superseded as a bomber before the Second World War began. It spent the war as a transport and air ambulance — the converted ambulance form was renamed the Sparrow — and the last Harrows were retired in May 1945.
Why It Mattered
The Harrow was a stop-gap: a heavy bomber the rapidly expanding Royal Air Force could field quickly while more advanced designs were still on the way. The need was urgent enough that the Air Ministry ordered 100 Harrows in August 1936, nearly two months before the prototype flew. One hundred were built, and during 1937 the type entered service with five bomber squadrons. It never flew a combat bombing mission; the longer part of its career was spent as a transport and air ambulance, in service until May 1945.
Design Notes
The Harrow was developed from the H.P.51, a troop carrier that had first flown in 1935. Its layout mixed old and new: a high-mounted wing and fixed landing gear alongside variable-pitch propellers, hydraulically powered gun turrets and steam cabin heating. History of War sums the design up as "a typical mix of advanced and outdated features." The powered turrets were introduced during the production run and retrofitted to Harrows already in service. Even with them, the Harrow was not well armed, with four .303-inch guns spread across the nose, dorsal and tail turrets. Most production aircraft were Mk IIs with the 925 hp Bristol Pegasus XX, which gave a maximum speed of 200 mph; the type could carry 3,000 lb of bombs or, as a transport, 20 fully equipped soldiers.
Operational History
The prototype flew on 10 October 1936, and the type entered service with No. 214 Squadron in January 1937. During 1937 it equipped five squadrons, generally replacing the Vickers Virginia. By the end of 1937, all one hundred aircraft had been delivered. The front-line bomber career was short: the Harrow was replaced by the Whitley and Wellington before the outbreak of war. Withdrawn as a bomber, it remained in RAF service as a transport, most notably with No. 271 Squadron, which retained a flight of Harrows until early 1945. After D-Day, Harrows, which needed only a short runway for take-off, flew a casualty shuttle from forward fighter airfields within 20 miles of the front line to bases near the coast. Converted to carry a mix of stretcher and sitting casualties, these aircraft were renamed Sparrows, and each carried one nursing orderly. Harrows also evacuated wounded during Operation Market Garden, including from the Arnhem operation in September 1944. During the Blitz, six Harrows of 420 Flight, later 93 Squadron, towed Long Aerial Mines into the path of German bombers, a tactic credited with destroying between four and six of them. On 1 January 1945, seven Harrows were destroyed on the ground at Evere airfield during Operation Bodenplatte.
Afterlife
The Harrow left service with the war that had given it a second career: the last examples were retired in May 1945. Seven aircraft had been destroyed in the Bodenplatte attack of 1 January 1945, leaving only five Harrows intact, and those five were retired on 25 May 1945. One hundred Harrows had been built in all. The RAF Museum's published history of the Flying Nightingales recounts the Sparrow shuttle service, Harrows carrying casualties from forward airfields to bases near the coast, in its account of the casualty-evacuation effort after D-Day.