Bruce Barrymore Halpenny
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Bruce Barrymore Halpenny (1937 – 3 May 2015)
Early life
Halpenny's father was a Canadian
Military career
Halpenny served in the Royal Air Force Police (RAFP) in specialist units, often overseas.[3] After being wounded, he moved across to the RAF Police on Special Security Duties (Atomic & Chemical Weapons), and was part of a special RAF military police unit in the Nuclear Division,[3] responsible for protecting the nuclear weapons used by the V bombers in times of war.[4]
Literary career
In the 1950s, whilst in the Royal Air Force, he was wounded and had to undergo several operations to save his hand and arm.[citation needed] In rehabilitation, he started writing and research as a hobby, before turning it into his profession in later years after leaving the forces.[5]
Early years
In the early period of his writing career, Halpenny started out by writing love stories and cowboy stories for the American market under pen names.[citation needed] Because of his specialist knowledge of the Royal Air Force, he began to focus on military history, especially that of the RAF in World War Two, often with deep insights, facts, and personal human interest stories.[6] At one time, he was writing articles for up to 14 military journals around the world, when he was approached by the publishers Patrick Stephens to write the Airfield books due to his vast knowledge and authority.[5]
Military history
When he researched the British RAF airfield histories, particularly those of London, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, Halpenny found that public records held very little, if any, information so he had to do all the research himself going back to the very beginning. This helped to unearth a rich source of information, which others have since used, and made Halpenny an undisputed RAF expert.[7] For his research on the airfields, Halpenny interviewed 1,400 people, researched records and letters, and traveled thousands of miles.[8] Halpenny visited each and every airfield he wrote about (some of which he had prior knowledge of from his military days) to ensure accuracy.[9]
His books quickly became essential reference books for all aviation historians.[10] Virtually all of the information was new, in the sense that it had not appeared in the dozens of books which had been written about the RAF, new too were the many photographs that were just a selection of the thousands he collected and commissioned.[11] In the opening chapters of his book Action Stations 2 Wartime Military Airfields of Lincolnshire and the East Midlands, there were a selection of control tower photos – this was the first time this had been done in any book.[12]
He also wrote various military themed books from such as English Electrical/BAC Lightning to Wartime Poems.[13] He specialized in the British jets, English Electric Lightning, English Electric Canberra and Avro Vulcan.
Ghosts and mysteries
Halpenny had been writing
Halpenny's unique knowledge and position meant that he was also known for accessing and finding information generally closed to the general public and media, especially Ministry of Defence (MoD) material concerning UFOs.[18]
Halpenny always maintained that all airfields are haunted.[19] Over the years, he uncovered a wealth of material about ghostly experiences on wartime airfields.[15] "The evidence of ghosts keeps popping up and is so rich that it cannot be ignored," he said[15] continuing, "You have to remember that 55,000 men of Bomber Command died while operating from Britain in World War Two, and almost all of them met a violent end, so it isn't surprising that dozens of earthbound spirits have been left behind."[15]
Games inventor
Halpenny was also a games inventor, and created
Charities, causes and animal rights
Halpenny was always vocal in his campaigns for numerous organizations and causes, especially concerning
Because the bottle is unique, it seemed a waste to just drink it without using it to gain some benefit for others.
He also long campaigned for the Government to do their part and preserve a 1939-45 War airfield in its original condition; to let future generations see how the RAF operated during those dark days.
If something isn't done to preserve one of them soon, we'll get to the silly situation where one is built from scratch as a memorial to the RAF's effort in the last war.
— Bruce Barrymore Halpenny[8]
He was a long-term supporter for animal welfare, especially dogs and wolves, and was the president of the Wolf Preservation Foundation.
Family
Bruce and his wife, equestrian writer and horsewoman, Marion Rose Halpenny, have a son, Baron Barrymore Halpenny, a commercial artist.
Books
- Action Stations 2: Military Airfields of Lincolnshire and the East Midlands. Patrick Stephens Ltd. 1981. ISBN 978-0-850594-84-3.
- Action Stations 4: Military Airfields of Yorkshire. Patrick Stephens Ltd. 1982. ISBN 978-0-850595-32-1.
- Action Stations 8: Military Airfields of Greater London. Haynes Publishing Group. 1984. ISBN 978-0-850595-85-7.
- ISBN 978-0-85045-562-5.
- ISBN 978-0-85059-678-6.
- Fight for the Sky: True stories of wartime fighter pilots. Patrick Stephens Ltd. 1986. ISBN 978-0-85059-749-3.
- Wartime Poems. Casdec Ltd. 1990. ISBN 978-0-907595-69-4.
- An English Town: Market Rasen. Anzio Group. 2004. ISBN 978-0-9547774-0-1.
- Bullets in the Morning...Bullets at Night: The Italian Campaign. Anzio Group. 2004. ISBN 978-0-9547774-1-8.
- ISBN 978-1-84415-242-1.
- The Avro Vulcan Adventure. Anzio Group. 2007. ISBN 978-0-9547774-3-2.
- Ghost Stations (book series) 1986–2012
References
- ^ "Bruce Halpenny death notice". Market Rasen Mail. 27 May 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2020 – via Legacy.com.
- ^ a b Framlington Times - Journal of the 390th Bomb Group Memorial Air Museum – ISSUE 21, September 1989 - page24
- ^ Nottingham Evening Post. 28 March 1981.
- ISBN 978-0-9547774-3-2
- ^ a b "Author wants to preserve airfield". Yorkshire Evening Press. 6 March 1982.
- ^ Hamburg Raid 1943 – WAR monthly – September 1981 - pages 14–17
- ^ "Reaching for the skies". Lincolnshire Standard. 21 February 1986.
- ^ a b "Bruce sends airfield mayday". The Northern Echo. 5 March 1982.
- ^ "Where war wings come home to roost". Nottingham Evening Post. 6 May 1991.
- ^ "Recalling airfields in the bomber county". Lincolnshire Echo. 3 April 1981.
- ^ "When Gable went to war – in Lincs". Grimsby Evening Telegraph. 8 April 1981.
- ^ Aviation Bookshelf – Action Stations 2 Wartime Military Airfields of Lincolnshire and the East Midlands – Air Pictorial – September 1981
- ^ Peter Tory (18 January 1991). "The aviators' timeless anthem". Daily Express.
- ^ "Ghosts of the old airfields". Daily Mirror. 16 August 1984.
- ^ Titbits– Summer Special 1984, pages 42–43
- ^ Steve Anderson (14 November 1986). "BOOKS – Ghostly deeds". Hull Daily Mail.
- ^ "The eerie mystery of Lightning 894". Grimsby Evening Telegraph. 9 September 1988.
- ISBN 978-0-684-85829-6.
- ^ Halpenny, Bruce Barrymore – Ghost Stations
- ^ ANZIO Board Games
- ^ "School Action Stations". Lincolnshire Echo. 8 June 1981.
- ^ Regione Abruzzo. Servizio Sviluppo del Turismo - 1943/44: War in Abruzzo - Acknowledgements Archived 22 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Come la vedo io ... e grazie – La Sveglia - Periodico Indipendente Ortonese – ANNO XI - N. VIII - 2 Ottobre 1971
- ^ a b "Help us to uncork the wine mystery for Mencap fund". Lincolnshire Echo. 19 August 1987.