Fly Past

100 YEARS OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE

BOMBERS RAF CENTENARY CELEBRATION 81

BOEING WASHINGTON

Above left

Washington B.1

WF549 alongside

another of the big

Boeing bombers. This

machine served at

Marham as ‘M-for-

Mike’ with both

90 Squadron (1951

to 1953) and 207

Squadron (1953 to

1954).

Above

Washington fl ight

and ground crew

members plus

support vehicles in an

offi cial photograph at

Coningsby in 1950.

Left

A trio of Washingtons

of Marham-based

115 Squadron in

December 1950. In

the foreground is

WF446 which served

the unit from July

1950 to April 1953.

ALL KEC

Left

Washington B.1

WF553 was issued

to 15 Squadron at

Coningsby on June

13, 1951. After several

attempts to land in

very bad weather at

Coningsby on January

5, 1953, this aircraft

hit the ground south

of Horncastle. Five of

the crew were killed,

one was seriously

injured fi ve others

scrambled from the

wreckage unhurt.

PETE WEST

“The Washingtons provided a stopgap

before the planned V-bombers entered

service. Their appearance was fortuitous,

fi ve months later the Korean War broke

out...”

35 perilous missions against Japan
before being retired in the autumn of

1945. The rapidly changing political
      situation meant that ‘Six-Eight-Zero’
      was reactivated, joining Strategic Air
      Command in 1948.
      Earmarked for the RAF, the veteran
      was based at Marham for all of
      its service life. After the WCU, it
      transferred to 207 Squadron in July

1951 and joined 35 Squadron in

December 1952. It was returned

to the USA in 1953 and, like the

bulk of the RAF’s Washingtons, was

scrapped, in 1954.

Among the dignitaries at the

reception of the RAF’s latest bomber

was Maj General Leon W Johnson,

commander of the USAF’s Third

Air Division. He was well versed

with Britain and the RAF, having Above leftAbove leftAbove left

commanded the Consolidated

B-24 Liberator-equipped 44th

Bombardment Group ‘The Flying

Eightballs’ at Shipdham in 1943 and

later the 14th Combat Bombardment

Wing. He summed up the role of the

Washingtons – and the V-Bombers to

come – as follows: “They will never

strike out, they will only strike back”.