Editing Handley Page (section)

===World War II===
With the [[Second World War]] looming, Handley Page designed and produced the [[Handley Page Hampden|HP.52 Hampden]] bomber, which took part in the first British raid on Berlin.

In response to a 1936 government request for heavier, longer ranged aircraft, Handley Page tendered the HP.56 design powered by twin [[Rolls-Royce Vulture]]s and this was ordered, along with what became the [[Avro Manchester]]. However the Vulture proved so troublesome that – years before the engine was abandoned by [[Rolls-Royce Limited|Rolls-Royce]] in 1940 – the Air Staff decided that the HP.56 should be fitted with four engines instead. Therefore, before reaching the prototype stage, the HP.56 design was reworked into the four-engined [[Handley-Page Halifax|HP.57 Halifax]].<ref>Buttler p102-104</ref> The Halifax became the second most-prolific British heavy bomber of the war after the [[Avro Lancaster]] (itself essentially a four-engine development of the Manchester). Although in some respects (such as crew survivability) better than the Lancaster, the Halifax suffered in terms of altitude performance<ref>Buttler p129</ref> and was redeployed toward the end of the war as a heavy transport and glider tug, with several variants being specifically built as such, including the HP.70 Halton.