Fly Past

82 RAF CENTENARY CELEBRATION BOMBERS

ENGLISH ELECTRIC CANBERRA

Below

Close formation of B.2s

of Wittering-based 100

Squadron, 1955.

PETER GREEN COLLECTION

A

ll eyes turned skyward. The

personnel gathered witnessed

a brief, impromptu flying

display followed by a spirited beat-

up of the airfield. After landing,

test pilot Wg Cdr Roland Beamont

got out and was greeted by the

Station Commander, Gp Capt

Sheen, and the Wingco Flying,

Wg Cdr Connelly. The brand-new

aircraft was signed over – Bomber

Command had entered the jet age.

It was May 25, 1951 and Beamont

had flown Canberra B.2 WD936

across the Pennines from its

birthplace at Warton to Binbrook on

the Lincolnshire Wolds, the home of

101 Squadron. Bomber Command

was changing over from the stately

four-engined, piston-powered Avro

Lincoln and Boeing Washington to

the sprightly twin-jet.

The story of the type’s first ever

delivery does not end with that

anecdote. Two days later a letter

from the Air Ministry landed,

on Beamont’s desk at Warton,

expressing the displeasure of the

‘Bomber Barons’ at the manner in

which the Canberra had arrived.

Bombers were not expected to

be flown in that fashion and, in

future, were to be delivered without

aerobatics!

The Canberra’s bombload was

modest despite its radically greater

performance than its predecessors.

With a crew of only three, it was

set to cause a major change in the

aircrew establishment. As a single-

pilot bomber, there was a problem of

conversion. The dual-control trainer

T.4 was not due to enter service until

mid-1953.

In the meantime, the Jet Conversion

Unit (JCU) at Binbrook used Gloster

Meteors for basic conversion and

handling, together with Canberra B.2s

for on-type instruction with an over-

the-shoulder “watch what I do and

then do it yourself ” technique.

In early January 1952 administration

of JCU was handed over to the next

Canberra unit, 617 Squadron, its first

aircraft (WD961) arriving on the 21st.

As the numbers of aircraft increased

and demand for crews grew, JCU gave

way to 231 Operational Conversion

Unit (OCU) in the latter part of 1951,

at Bassingbourn. Eventually Canberra

B.2s equipped 23 Bomber Command

squadrons within Britain.

TOSS-BOMBING

The basic Canberra B.2 had been

a modified concept from the

blind bomber/target-marker first

specified, but work continued to

fulfil

the

original specifications, including

a crew of two. The development

prototype, the one-off B.5 VX185,

incorporated extra fuel uprated

Rolls-Royce Avon 109s; but the

radar bombing system was still

not available, so the crew of three

stayed. This variant went into

production as the B.6 and began

re-equipping units from June 1954,

the first being 101 Squadron.

For use with the Near East and Far

East Air Forces, the B.15 and B.16

versions of the B.6, respectively,

were developed.

Canberras were in action in

Malaya during Operation ‘Firedog’,

countering communist insurgents.

In October and November 1956,

Canberras took part in the Suez

conflict, units being based at Luqa

on Malta and Nicosia on Cyprus.

For Bomber Command’s deterrent

role, it was soon realised that a

more survivable technique was

required for the delivery of nuclear

weapons. In the early 1950s the

USAF had perfected the Low

Altitude Bombing System (LABS)

and, in 1955, work was urgently

progressing to introduce it to the

RAF. This technique of low-level

1951 TO 2006

CANBERRA

ENGLISH ELECTRIC

1918 2018