Recovered from a crash site in Russia, the RAF Museum’s dedicated restoration of a Handley Page Hampden has reached a stunning conclusion.
Handley Page Hampen Mk.I P1344 at Cosford’s Michael Beetham Conservation Centre on September 13
All KEY-Jamie Ewan unless noted
Patience and perseverance are undoubtedly virtues. Both are implicit in the work of the master technicians and knowledgeable volunteers at the RAF Museum Midlands’ Michael Beetham Conservation Centre (MBCC). A shining example of their dedication – the astonishing restoration of Vickers Wellington MF628 (see pages 14-15) – can now be seen by visitors within the Shropshire attraction’s War in the Air Hangar.
Another example, one that has required equal patience given that other matters have inevitably taken precedence at various points, is Handley Page Hampden Mk.TBI P1344. At the time of our visit on September 13, this distinctive veteran sat serenely at the heart of the MBCC’s busy workshop. Fully painted in its original 144 Squadron livery, it was enough to make FlyPast stop and stare.
One of only three in existence, the Cosford example is surely the most original, even though the project has inevitably required certain parts from other aircraft, and much fabrication. The aircraft’s entire body, including the tail section, is now ready for transport to its final destination, RAF Museum London in Hendon. MBCC also has the aircraft’s wings, but the sheer span, almost 70ft, has made it impractical to add those to the restoration. Doing so in future is currently unlikely, but certainly not impossible.
Wartime history
You’ve only got to spend a short time in the company of MBCC manager Darren Priday to know that projects both present and future are in exceptionally good hands. Darren’s worked here for 19 years (the centre opened in 2002), and while that long experience will undoubtedly have sharpened his skills and knowledge, it’s gratifying to see that he is still genuinely affected by the stories attached to these aircraft. The knowledge of what previous generations endured is something that motivates not only Darren, but all who perform such dedicated work at the centre. “Every little thing we do here, every rivet we put in, is done with total respect for the crews that flew these aeroplanes,” he says. “It still hits me, every time. When working, we never allow ourselves to forget that this aircraft or this type of aircraft would have been used in war. We never lose that sense of respect.”
The aircraft’s original tail boom is likely to be displayed underneath the restored aircraft
Darren Priday is manager at RAF Museum Midlands’ Michael Beetham Conservation Centre
Hampden P1344 was shot down by Messerschmitt Bf 109s in September 1942 over Russia’s Kola Peninsula. Two of the five servicemen aboard survived and were taken prisoner, but the other three lost their lives. While the experts at Cosford have done a magnificent job on the restoration, it is fitting – and poignant – that several bullet holes linger on the starboard side. A remembrance poppy has been positioned in one of them.
With a typical crew of four, the Hampden could operate for seven or eight hours. On P1344’s final flight there was a fifth person aboard, technician George Shepherd – his main role would be to refuel or re-arm the aircraft at the end of its outbound trip. “A normal operation would see a crew of four man the Hampden – they’d complete the job, come back to the airfield, and the ‘techie’ would do his thing there,” Darren adds. “This was such a long flight that they had to take one with them, as they’d be refuelling somewhere else.” Ambushed by fighters, Sgt James Robertson, the wireless operator and gunner, and Sgt Daniel Garrity, also a gunner, were killed in the aircraft. Pilot Esmond Perry declared that he was losing control and would crash land the Hampden, but in the crash Canadian navigator Flt Sgt Gordon Miller also died. Darren: “Perry survived with shrapnel injuries, so he was wrapped in the flight suits of the dead crewmen to keep him warm. This was September and they were a long way north, so it was very cold.”
A poppy of remembrance has been placed inside one of the bullet holes visible in P1344’s fuselage
Shepherd went on the run and managed to evade capture for about 36 hours. On being caught, he was taken to the Luftwaffe base at Petsamo, which is also where Perry was brought. The three that died were buried in the cemetery at Petsamo – Stalin had the area bulldozed after the war, removing any hope of returning the bodies to their families. The two survivors were then taken to camps in Germanheld territory, with the pilot imprisoned at Camp 3, famous for ‘the great escape’. George was sent to Camp 8 in Poland. “Not too many aircraft technicians ended up in prison camps,” notes Darren, “because they were largely based at Allied airfields and didn’t fly very often. In the latter days of the war, when Hitler had the idea of putting a human shield around Berlin, both men were compelled to take part in the long marches, or death marches as they have become known. So, having already got through around three years of captivity, they then had to survive that.”
The forward section of the project has been largely fabricated in a project led by the museum’s senior airframe technician
George described it as 500 miles and 52 days in temperatures down to -20. “He said he needed to have a kind of tunnel vision, driven towards preservation, just to get through it,” shudders Darren. “Some of them just dropped; they didn’t have the strength to go on, and you usually couldn’t help them. When you stopped at night, you tried to scramble any food you could get from locals. It’s an almost unimaginable scenario, so harrowing.”
Labour of love
The wreck of P1344 was removed from its crash site in 1991, and the RAF Museum acquired it the following year. The initial plan was to rebuild one half to in-service appearance, with the other half depicting something closer to ‘as found’ appearance. Around 2010, a decision was made to fully restore the fuselage as closely as possible to the original. There were a few caveats, such as leaving some of the bullet holes visible as a mark of respect.
Sgt James Robertson, wireless operator and gunner, was killed when the Hampden was attacked by Messerschmitt Bf 109s
Peter R Arnold Collection via RAFM
The restoration wears the original markings of P1344 during its time with 144 Squadron
“It is essentially comprised of four sections, the forward fuselage, rear fuselage, tail boom and the tail section,” Darren explains. “Our rear fuselage section is the original piece of the aeroplane while the forward section is a replica. We do have the original forward part and I’d love to be in a position to display that alongside the finished product, on its own stand. “We looked at incorporating the tail boom into the build but when we started working on it we realised that we’d have to lose so much original material that we had a rethink. We made a replica tail boom but, in this case, the original one can still be seen underneath it, so when she goes on display that will be there too. We have managed to use about 25% of the actual tail section itself.” The team could potentially have rebuilt the Hampden’s wings too, but given the vastly increased workspace this would have required, focus was placed on the fuselage. “It’s something that could potentially be done in the future, given the resources, but the fuselage is nice and thin and will fit very well into its allocated display space in London.”
This has also enabled the team to establish a central ‘walk through’ section for the public, enabling visitors to look inside the body of the aircraft. “You can see the cockpit or you can turn around and look into the rear fuselage,” nods Darren. “It gives you an idea, without physically climbing in or touching anything, of what it would’ve been like to fly in a Hampden.”
Returning P1344 to its current, rejuvenated appearance has involved elements of all key skills used at MBCC – restoration, replication and conservation. “The majority of it has been restoration but we soon found evidence of a small fire on the rear fuselage – you could see the fire marks and damage to the paintwork. Just inside that, we found a wiring loom with scorch marks on it. So, rather than trying to restore those parts, we opted to conserve them.”
The team was tasked with restoring a Hampden, and while those involved were keen to show respect for the fate of its crew, and therefore to tell its story, they did not wish to display a Hampden with lots of components missing. This, inevitably, came with challenges. “Nearly all the wiring was missing for a start – it came down in wartime and desperate locals will have salvaged what they could, or what was of use,” Darren reflects. “They perhaps used the wiring as snares for trapping animals. There’s also a big piece the size of a desk cut out of the wing, and that’s where the fuel tank would have been. When it was finally removed from the crash site, the aircraft was basically a shell. We’ve preserved what we can, but most things have had to be replicated, or partly replicated.”
The restored original port undercarriage leg
An image from Peter Arnold’s archive showing the Hampden’s regular crew. Technician George Shepherd, one of two to survive the September crash, is not pictured in this view. Peter R Arnold Collection via RAFM
Piecing it together
Led by the museum’s senior airframe technician, it’s fair to say that several ‘generations’ of staff and volunteers have contributed to the project. The former, who now works at the RAF Museum’s Stafford establishment, its treasure trove of ‘spares’, masterminded the rebuild on the forward and rear fuselage, plus the tail boom. “I’ve worked quite a bit on the rear fuselage with some of our apprentices,” adds Darren. “The reason it has taken as long as it has is that other bits of work keep arising, and that means it had to be put on the backburner for various lengths of time. Things kept getting put back, but in around 2014 or 2015 our airframe tech noted that we had a relatively quiet period ahead and he asked me if I’d like him to build the Hampden’s forward fuselage. I said ‘yes, please’. A few years later I saw this amazing thing emerge.
We knew we had the skill level – and our man is not only brilliant, but he was quick; he really put everything into it, and the results speak for themselves.”
While the forward section and tail boom are reproductions, the tailplane is approximately 25% original, while the rear fuselage is almost entirely original. Darren shows me some detailed drawings that were put to good use during the work. “We used original components where possible, and Handley Page plans were utilised to help create the rest,” he explains. “We made the control stick but all the gauges in the cockpit come from our Stafford collection.
A view inside the Hampden cockpit.The gauges have been sourced from the RAF Museum’s Stafford collection
“There are certain elements that are not there, and a lot of that is the Perspex. It’s incredibly costly, and because the Hampden is virtually unique, it would be a one-off. The expense comes from the need to manufacture the mould – that’s most of the work, and 90% of the cost. If you want a Spitfire canopy the moulds are out there, so it’s probably quite cheap, relatively speaking.
The original tail boom could not be incorporated into the restoration, but has been retained for display
“I am happy with the aircraft as it is – we would love to have some Perspex fitted and maybe in time the museum will have the resources to do so, but for now the Hampden will go on display as it is. We haven’t left it in a position where it cannot be fitted, so it’d be nice to think that in the future it might happen.”
The team at MBCC has also been in touch with East Kirkby’s Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, which has its own Hampden project. “Ours is ‘PLK’, and theirs is ‘PL-J’,” notes Darren. “The two aircraft are very closely linked and were both lost on the same night.” Hampden P1344 was built at the Handley Page factory in London. There were two other sites undertaking assembly of Hampdens or Hampden components, English Electric at Preston and Short and Harland in Belfast, which mainly worked on the aircraft’s ‘sister’, the Hereford. Close examination of P1344 initially caused some consternation, as it had P2133 written on the wing. Research revealed that the Cosford machine suffered a crashlanding at Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire, in its early days, possibly when it went for its conversion into a torpedo bomber. That change of wing wasn’t the end of the story, as Darren reveals:
“At some point, due to that heavy landing, the wing was swapped, but when this aircraft was located in Russia not long after the Berlin Wall came down, the number it appeared to have was L6012 on the tail boom.
“L6012 was actually a Hereford. Our aircraft is not a Hereford because it’s got radial engines – what had happened was that an Anson once taxied into its tail boom, and it needed a replacement. It’s a real hybrid aeroplane in that respect, and these are the sort of mysteries we don’t necessarily expect when embarking on a restoration project.”
A view from the front cockpit looking back towards the rear
With mysteries solved and work complete, the only remaining task is to safely transport the finished product to its final destination, Hendon. A display space for the Hampden has already been identified. “It’s due to go down there soon; we don’t have an exact date for it yet. Part of me would love it to stay here at Cosford, but moving it to London is a great decision that will open it up to a whole new audience. Plus, with it going on display, it’s likely that even more information about it, and Hampden ‘ops’ in general, will come to light.”
Closing the circle
Over the years Darren has been fortunate enough to have met several men that served on Hampdens and other aircraft during the war, including a 100-year-old veteran with a frankly astonishing 61 ‘ops’, all on Hampdens, in his logbook. You don’t need to know anything about aircraft restoration, or aircraft in general for that matter, to see how inspired Darren and his team have been by these links. He tells stories of meeting elderly gentlemen who had rarely spoken about the war, and listening to them as they suddenly opened up to relive their often-hidden memories in startling clarity. There have also been other visitors to the centre with family links to the aircraft, or aircraft type.
“As much as I love doing the work, meeting the veterans is without doubt very special,” Darren says. “I met Flt Lt Brian Beattie, who flew P2133, at one of our special Open Weeks. He sat very patiently waiting to talk to me, and told me he’d actually taken a photo that I had been showing, and he told me all the names of the crew, who were New Zealanders. There’s also Fred Hill, who departed quite recently aged 102, who completed 32 ‘ops’ in Hampdens and 55 on Mossies. When you meet these guys, it really brings it all home to you.
The project’s distinctive forward section is only lacking Perspex
“I’ve been lucky enough to hear these stories either firsthand or from airmen’s families and at times, it hits me hard. The hardest one I’ve ever had was during Covid with [presenter and historian] Dan Snow. With us was John Watt, whose father was a 144 Squadron wing commander and was lost coming home from an ‘op’ in a Hampden, because they got entangled in the cables of a barrage balloon. We believe they even redesigned the leading edge of Hampden wings as a result of that.
“John, who was 80 at the time of his visit, never got to meet his father. The last phone conversation his mother had with his father was to tell him that she was pregnant. Tragically, John’s father then took off on his next mission and never returned. So, we were able to open the hangar doors and show John a Hampden for the first time in his life. You can imagine the emotions – three of us just stood there weeping. Your heart can only take so much…”