X-Nico

5 unusual facts about Handley Page Hampden


Damned Good Show

Skull Skelton, a character in those earlier novels, is one of the protagonists of Damned Good Show. Like all of Robinson's novels, Damned Good Show points out the inadequacies of the pre-war establishment and the many hurdles that Bomber Command had to overcome during the course of the war, such as inadequate aircraft—in this case the Handley Page Hampden, and the inaccuracy of the night-time bombing raids on Germany.

German destroyer Z8 Bruno Heinemann

After completing her refit, Bruno Heinemann and Paul Jakobi were bound for the Baltic via the Kiel Canal when they were attacked by 11 Handley Page Hampden bombers of No. 144 Squadron RAF on 29 September.

Handley Page Hampden

Interest in the HP.52 by the Swedish for placing a potential order led to the HP.53 prototype, which was subsequently used as a testbed for a pair of 1,000 hp (750 kW) Napier Dagger VIII 24-cylinder H-block air-cooled inline engines.

The HP Hampden had a featured role in the Big Blockade (1941) starring Michael Rennie, a Second World War propaganda film showing "blockade" bombing and its effects on the German war industry.

Robert Kee

His Hampden was shot down by flak one night while on a mine-laying operation off the coast of German-occupied Holland.


Scarff ring

Although a deceptively simple device, later attempts to emulate the Scarff ring as a mounting for the dorsal Vickers K in World War II Handley Page Hampden were failures.


see also