Originally Posted by
BEagle
at the 'post-release' segment about getting back to the UK was obviously filmed in a Jet Provost!
I flew with Pete West for a period. Getting back to the UK was a euphemism for post-flight recovery.
Some aircraft had routes that were sufficiently short so they could recover direct but most had recovery bases in Norway, Denmark and Turkey.
Certainly in the 50s and early 60s crews carried the addresses and telephone numbers for the embassies on each country and were instructed to phone home. I think the expectation early on was that the nuclear strike would not have been an absolute as overkill had yet to be established.
They were quite right that nuclear gave more bang for the buck, who could argue at £1/ton?