Halifax Na 337
The Story of Halifax Na 337
In the early morning of April 24, 1945, 16-year-old Tore Marsoe was living in the town of Hamar on the shore of Lake Mjøsa, Norway, when he heard an aircraft overhead on its landing approach to the lake. That aircraft was a Halifax Bomber, flown by the Royal Air Force. It crashed into that lake, killing five of the six aircrew on board.
Years later, accompanied by his friend Rolf Liberg, the pair set out to locate the aircraft that was lost so many years before. In 1991, they were able to locate Halifax NA 337 at a depth of 250 m (750 ft).
Halifax NA 337 was eventually raised from Lake Mjøsa and brought back to Canada, where it took over ten years to restore it to its original glory. It is now proudly exhibited at the National Air Force Museum of Canada and is the only fully restored Handley Page Halifax on display in the world.
The History of NA 337
Halifax Mk VII, serial number NA 337 was delivered to RAF’s 644 Squadron at Tarrant Rushton, Dorset, England on March 5, 1945 and was given the squadron’s identification code 2P-X.
On March 24, 1945 the aircraft took part in the last large-scale allied airborne operation of the Second World War: Operation Varsity. Towing a Hamilcar glider loaded with a Dodge truck and artillery, NA 337 crossed the Rhine River to deliver much needed supplies to Allied troops on the ground.
Between March 30 and April 24 1945, NA 337 successfully completed three supply drops to resistance forces in Denmark and Norway. On April 23, 1945 Halifax NA 337 and her crew took off for what would become their final mission.
The Final Flight
April 23/24, 1945 - Tarrant Rushton
Halifax NA 337 is one of two planes that was assigned to the fateful mission the night of April 23, 1945. Flying to Norway on a Special Operations Executive (S.O.E.) operation, on board was her regular aircrew from 644 (RAF) Squadron: Flight Lieutenant Alexander Turnbull DFC (pilot), Flight Lieutenant Walter Reginald Mitchell (navigator), Flight Sergeant Gordon Russell Tuckett (bomb aimer), Flight Sergeant Goronwy Amman Bassett (flight engineer), Flight Sergeant Alec Naylor (wireless operator), and Flight Sergeant Thomas Weightman (rear gunner).
At 19:51 hrs NA 337 and her crew took off from their base at Tarrant-Rushton, England to drop arms, ammunition, and other supplies to the Norwegian resistance. After completing the mission and while heading back to base, at approximately 01:45 hrs on April 24, NA 337 is hit with German anti-aircraft fire flying over the railway bridge in Minnesund, Norway. A 20-mm shell pierced the starboard wing, igniting the fuel tank and starboard engines. Flight Lieutenant Turnbull, turned north and tried to find a place to land, but visibility was hampered by thick fog, and the aircraft ended up ditching in Lake Mjøsa about a kilometer from shore at about 02:00 hrs The rough landing on the water shattered the nose and snapped off the tail section.
The crew survived the crash into the frigid waters of the lake, but the life raft failed to deploy. The tail gunner, Flight Sergeant Weightman, was knocked unconscious during the crash and woke up in chest-deep water inside the plane.
He was able to manually release a life raft and crawl out of the plane and onto the capsized dingy. When morning arrived, he was seen and rescued by a member of the local Norwegian resistance, but German troops marched into the village and took him prisoner. Two weeks later, with the War drawing to a close, a British aircraft landed at the base where he was being held and the Germans surrendered. Weightman and two other British flyers being held there were freed and flown back to England.
The rest of the crew did not survive the night. The bodies of the pilot, navigator Flight Lieutenant Walter Mitchell, bomb-aimer Flight Sergeant Gordon Tuckett, and wireless operator Flight Sergeant Alec Naylor were found in the water, but the body of the flight engineer, Flight Sergeant Goronwy Bassett, has not been recovered. He was thought to have still been inside when the Halifax sank to the bottom, 240 meters down.
Weightman, who had survived a previous crash in England in 1944 that injured him and killed his five crewmates, not only made it through the War, he also lived to see the Halifax recovered from the lake. The recovery team even found his thermos full of coffee, which was still inside the turret, and returned it to him. However, due to poor health, Weightman was unable to attend the unveiling ceremony at the Museum. He passed away in England in 2007.
The Restoration
Halifax Mk VII, serial number NA 337 was delivered to RAF’s 644 Squadron at Tarrant Rushton, Dorset, England on March 5, 1945 and was given the squadron’s identification code 2P-X.
On March 24, 1945 the aircraft took part in the last large-scale allied airborne operation of the Second World War: Operation Varsity. Towing a Hamilcar glider loaded with a Dodge truck and artillery, NA 337 crossed the Rhine River to deliver much needed supplies to Allied troops on the ground.
Between March 30 and April 24 1945, NA 337 successfully completed three supply drops to resistance forces in Denmark and Norway. On April 23, 1945 Halifax NA 337 and her crew took off for what would become their final mission.
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