The amazing story of a Merlin Engine buried in a bog for almost 70 years, recovered and rebuilt to run.

In 1943 a Handley Page Halifax Bomber JD150 was tasked to attack the German city of Hamburg. For some reason the aircraft strayed away from the main bomber force and was attacked by a night fighter. The Halifax caught fire and crashed into a bog. There were no survivors.

Most of the aircraft and the bodies of the crew were taken away but the four Rolls Royce Merlin XX (20) Engines were left behind. In 2009 they were recovered and taken to the Wings Museum in Sussex. Here over a period of several years one of the engines was rebuilt.

With its unique saxophone style exhaust the engine was run in memory of the crew in front of a gathering of bomber command veterans in September 2018.

Handley Page Halifax Mk 2 JD150 102 Squadron Royal Air Force.