SPECIAL NEWS RELEASE – OCTOBER 21, 2011
Huge cache of Bristol Hercules engines with spare parts discovered and recovered from a World War 2 bunker.
HALIFAX 57 RESCUE (CANADA) is pleased to announce that, in its world-wide search for all things Halifax for the BOMBER COMMAND MUSEUM of CANADA in Nanton, Alberta, a major collection of 4 Bristol Hercules engines and several tons of spare parts were discovered and recovered from a bunker built in World War 2 in Terrace, B.C.
Thanks to the generousity and cooperation of Hawkair management and staff a deal was worked out for the Bomber Command Museum to receive all their Bristol Hercules engines, parts, and tools as a major contribution to the museum’s HALIFAX PROJECT.
Over the past 4 weeks a special operation to bring these rare engines and parts to the Bomber Command Museum of Canada was directed by Karl Kjarsgaard and his Halifax 57 Rescue crew, who travelled 3 times to Terrace to gather, box, and prepare these rare engines and parts for shipment to Nanton, Alberta. This shipment arrived and was unloaded today at our museum.
See below the first view of our Halifax 57 Rescue crew to see the BRISTOL BUNKER in Terrace – member Jonathan Kjarsgaard inspecting !
This is no ordinary collection of Bristol Hercules engines nor ordinary gathering of Hercules spare parts!
Even in England where these 1700 horsepower monsters were built to power the Halifax , Stirling, and Wellington bombers, as well as post-war transports like the Hastings, Bristol Freighter, and Vickers Varsity it is only rarely seen that a single complete Hercules comes available for sale.
See below the photo of all the spare parts gathered just before boxing and shipping to Nanton – H57R(C) member Clint Cawsey and Karl Kjarsgaard survey the goodies.
The numerous spare cylinders, heads, pistons, and sleeves are in great shape and we are taking stock of numbers and condition for future use in rebuilding these engines. Also, we will be trading with Bristol engines restorers, collectors, and museums of the world in order to maximize our Halifax Project inventory and resources at the Bomber Command Museum of
Canada.
Along with the 2 Bristol Hercules engines recovered from the scrapyard in Malta in July 2011 our Nanton museum (now with a total of 6 Hercules) must arguably have the biggest collection of Bristol Hercules engines in North America. Now with the several tons of spares we recovered this week we certainly could be called “Hercules heaven”, if you were in need of a reliable source when looking for rare or missing Hercules engine parts.
Not only will we begin rebuilding the wing sections and landing gear recovered from Malta with our new manufactured Halifax main spars but we have already started to form a “Hercules engine rebuild team” at the Bomber Command Museum.
With our Merlin engine rebuilding team leading the way at Nanton (they are all ready to run their 3rd Merlin for our Lanc) we will begin the new project of rebuilding our batch of Bristol Hercules engines to running standard. We hope to have the first Hercules running by the summer of 2012 as we have some fine engineers volunteering for such a unique task with Hercules experts in the UK standing by to advise us in our refurbishment efforts.
We will do whatever it takes to get the job done. This “Herculean gift” will not be taken for granted as we move forward in the HALIFAX PROJECT.
Currently, there are only 3 restored or intact Halifax bombers in the world out of the 6,100 built. One is at the National Air Force Museum of Canada in Trenton, Ontario, the second at the Royal Air Force Museum in London, England, and the third at the Yorkshire Air Museum in York, England.
Since the inception of Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada) this historic group has been dedicated to preserving the Handley Page Halifax bomber and the heritage of this historic heavy bomber. The registered charity’s goal is to locate and recover lost Halifax Bombers or their components, and to bring them back home to Canada to be restored and displayed to the general public at the BOMBER COMMAND MUSEUM of CANADA in Nanton, Alberta as a true symbol of excellence, honour, and sacrifice of our Bomber Command warriors and veterans.
Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada) urgently needs your donations to support the rebuilding phase of the wings and engines for the HALIFAX PROJECT. See our contact information below for all who wish to support this worthy cause.
Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada) has the ultimate goal to locate and recover the only RCAF Halifax bomber known to have survived the war, HALIFAX LW170, which ditched and sank in deep waters off the coast of Ireland in 1945. More important news on this quest will be reported in the weeks to come as great plans are being made for 2012.
Canada and the RCAF used 1,230 Halifaxes during World War Two with 70% of all RCAF combat operations on the Halifax.
See below as the first of four Hercules engines is unloaded for display and restoration in the BOMBER COMMAND MUSEUM of CANADA.
[Photo courtesy of Doug Bowman]
For more information about these projects and Halifax 57 Rescue (Canada) contact:Karl Kjarsgaard - Project
Manager57rescuecanada@rogers.comwww.57r ... nada.comIn Ottawa, Ontario:Unit 31C-174 Colonnade RoadOttawa, ON K2E 7J5Phone: 613-863-1942 or 613-226-4884 In Nanton, Alberta:PO Box 606Nanton, AB T0L 1R0Phone: 403-603-8592
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