The Arctic Convoys and a Handley Page Hampden – An Unlikely Pairing
January 23rd, 2025 6:00 PM GMT
On Thursday 23 January 2025 at 6pm, Bruce Hudson (Arctic Convoy Museum) and Darren Priday (RAF Museum) will examine the role of the Handley Page Hampden in protecting the arctic convoys during the Second World War. This presentation is a collaboration between the RAF Museum and the Arctic Convoy Museum. It tells the fascinating story of an aircraft that was sent to Russia to protect Convoy PQ18, crashed en route and has recently been recovered, restored and added to the collection of the RAF Museum.
Talk Outline
The Artic Convoys of World War Two were an important part of the war, which provided aide to the Soviet Block in the war against Hitler. Sailing from allied ports into Northern Russia, they were part of Agreements and Lend-Lease between the East and West.
Convoy PQ17 was one of the great tragedies of WW2, so in preparation for PQ18 the Air Ministry decided to send Handley Page Hampden TB1 (Torpedo Bombers) to Russia to protect the convoy in the deadly waters of the Barents Seas.
This joint talk, between the Arctic Convoy Museum and RAF Museum will start out by covering the story of the convoys, and Operation Orator. The second part of the talk will cover the recovery and restoration of Hampden P1344.
Since 1991 the RAF Museum has been restoring one of the Hampdens of 144 Sqn. This section of the talk will start by giving an introduction to the Hampden, followed by its last journey and what happened to the crew on board. The talk goes on to cover the aircrafts restoration and finishes with a few Hampden crew stories.
Location
This lecture will be livestreamed via the RAF Museum’s Crowdcast channel.
Tickets
This lecture is free but registration is required to attend. Follow this link for quick and easy registration.
