Think that WV787's last work at Boscombe was the Bae 146 icing trials. I was there 77-87 and it rarely flew. Made an airshow trip towards the end of its career to i think Greenham . Worked on WJ865 at the end of its time with ETPS.

Afternoon all,

this is a mix of an update on things and blatant thread bump. Firstly, apologies for not posting much on here of late, but things have been going very well in terms of research and contributions. The book is progressing well, and I have a lot of superb material from kind folks around the world who have taken the time to share their Canberra experiences.

That said, I am still gathering more stories and anecdotes, so if you are new to this thread and had some Canberra experiences you might like to relate, I am still all ears.

There is a good chance this project may go into a two volume approach or after the first I might make a few smaller books on more specific areas such as the US and South America.

Regards to all,

Steve

BSweeper,

I could be wrong, but at one time in the late 60s, early 70s,WV787 (the all black version) was in storage at R.A.F. Wroughton, Swindon. Either that, or there was another black one there. In the same hanger was the all white one which set a U.K. to Australia record.

Luke - I flew WD935 to Wroughton in about 1967 - that was in black and grey. Nose is now in a museum somewhere. Reckoned to be sixth Canberra built and at one time was a LABS and missile test aircraft

Wander00,

I noticed it when I went to collect a B6 from Wroughton. You're obviously right about the colours. For some reason, there was also a U.S.A.F. B57 next to the white version. From dim recollection, it had belonged to the 488th or 498th Bombardment Squadron.

Ah!.... LABS runs, remember them well!

Bumping this thread. I'm approaching the final stages of story hunting for my book but am still light in a few areas. If anyone out there has experience in the following and interested in contributing some anecdotes or stories, I'd be grateful for your help:

• Flying the Canberra in the FAP, FAV or FAE
• Navigators with experience bombing in anger. This is a long shot, but it would be Suez or Malaya for RAF operators. Any other AFs welcome too.

Regards to all,

Steve

Flt Lt Dave Lord, RIP
 

The main military thread has announced the passing of Flt Lt Dave Lord, a Canberra QFI on 31 July 2013.

My logbook records two flights with Dave as Captain in 1975 on the Canberra OCU and my recollection of him is as a smiling gentleman and fine pilot, with many a good tale (and a somewhat ruddy complexion).

RIP Dave.

Steve, looking forward to the book! Hope you include the WB57!

Some good pictures of a "recycled" and now flying WB57 at this link:

NASA?s new WB-57F, N927NA, flies for the first time in 41 years | GAR

Steve,

WRT 'bombing in anger', have you made any contacts in the air forces of India, Pakistan or Australia?

I believe that the RAAF Canberra's were appreciated in Vietnam because, unlike the USAF B-57's, they had optical bombsights.

Ian

I have not yet made any inroads with India or Pakistan, and truthfully, unless a gem of a contact landed in my lap at this point, I will probably not include their usage in my book. I realise that India especially, was a big operator, and that might seem crazy to leave them out of the book when I after 'bombing in anger' stories. The reason is essentially one of space. I have so much material from other nations that I am already at the limit of what I can include, at least in one volume. But yes, I do have Australia fairly well covered including plenty of Vietnam era material.

Rory
The WB-57F, being such a far-removed bird from the original design, features only very briefly in my book so far. I doubt that will change at this point, as I have to say, narrow-minded as I am, I am not a big fan of that variant! I understand the impressive performance etc, and that NASA still uses them, but I've kept it to a minimum at present. Thanks for the interest though, and I have plenty of other B-57 related material in there if you are a fan of that type in general.

Hello all,

as I enter the final leg of research for my book, I would like to put feelers out again for anyone here with Canberra experience during the Suez Crisis or during the Malayan Emergency. It's a bit of a long shot, but I recently have had some success with former 15 Sqn men who flew during Suez and am hoping to shake the tree for some more. It would be great to include more of these stories if possible.

It doesn't necessarily have to be a Canberra crew itself, you could have worked on them, or witnessed an incident/have a distinct memory of the aircraft from another perspective at the time.

If anyone is interested or can help, please get in touch.

Kind regards,
Steve

Hi Steve, Looks as though you are almost finished however have you covered 1323 Flt in 1954?
I met an ex- Canberra B.2. pilot in N.Ireland about 24 years ago who was
then employed with a holiday airline flying as a Captain on B.757 aircraft.

Briefly he had flown to the Pacific in 1954 with 1323 Flt. to monitor nuclear tests however worryingly found himself as the sole survivor when two fellow Canberra's were lost, one without trace.
The second aircraft force landed on an atoll enabling a forensic examination of the airframe and engines and concluding ( I think) that the engine generators had suffered corrosion in over-water salt laden conditions.

I've never seen any published articles regarding the above circumstances.
Look forward to reading your book.

Hi Preon,

I had read about that somewhere in one of my reference books, but I forget which one now. I'll see if I can dig up something on it. Others may also know about it and can advise.

Argentine Canberras suffered the same salt-water corrosion problems when flying low-level over the South Atlantic during the Falklands War. A few suffered flame outs and had to abort. I think some Peruvian Cans also had the same problems operating from the coastal base at Pisco over the years.

Will keep you posted on the book, thanks for getting in touch.

Steve

1323 Flight Canberras
 

"Sniffing and Bottling" (available from lulu.com) has the full story of 1323 Flt including loss of the Canberras in Pacific; recollections of aircrew who served during the US nuclear trials on Kwajalein; and photos of the attempted salvage of the Canberra ditched on an atoll.

Hello all,

This is an appeal to the collective resources of the forum again. I'm approaching the final stages of the book which has gone very well. There are a couple of weak areas however, one being RNZAF usage of the Canberra. If anyone here has contacts within veterans groups for 14 and 75 Sqns (RNZAF) I would be very grateful if you could connect me. I had some marginal success with 14 Sqn a couple of years ago, but would very much like to flesh out this part of the book, as I feel the New Zealand experience is significant. In particular, I would love to talk to anyone that either flew or maintained RNZAF Canberras during the Malayan Emergency.

The other request is a rather specific one, but if you don't ask you never know. I'm looking for anyone that might have contact details for a Sqn Ldr David E. Dowling, or his family members. I'm not sure if he is alive, but Sqn Ldr Dowling was involved (as a then Flt Lt) in training Peruvian pilots to fly their newly acquired B(I).8s in 1956. Later he went on to fly Lockheed U-2s on covert ops for the CIA via Mi6 but that is another story. If anyone could help with information on him or his family, I would very much like to get in touch.

Thanks all for your time.

Kind regards,

Steve

EE Canberra
 

Hi Nazca Steve!
Sadly I've stumbled across this thread far too late, and thoroughly enjoyed it even though there are few posts from the era whose tail I just caught, when the Canberra formed what our Grandads called the 'main force', split between the First Division and the Third Division South - unkind perhaps, but of course we thought this fair. Publication date please!

We had a flt cdr pilot on 360 in the late 60s, whom I have subsequently learned was on nuclear sampling, and allegedly committed suicide as a result of radiation sickness. His widow has been seen in the media as one of the leading "nuclear test victim" campaigners. Are there any other instances of aircrew casualties as a result of nuclear testing/sampling duties?

I would think there are lots of instances. I have spoken with a man who suffered numerous illnesses throughout his life as a result of radiation exposure flying Canberras on Operation Grapple. He indicated his colleagues did as well, and I think one of them was interviewed by the BBC (at least on their web site) talking about this in the last couple of years.

I had not heard about the man you mention Wander00. There are some very interesting accounts on the page below recalling the tests, flying into the clouds, and the levels of exposure here:

About Christmas Island (Kiritimati), Kiribati, And* Bomb Tests

It's a long (but interesting page) so if you are pressed for time, start at the paragraph beginning: "There is no question that a radiation hazard was created by the 'sniffer' aeroplane which flew through the H-bomb clouds minutes after detonation."

Binbrook There is no publication date, at least a firm one, as I'm still working on it, but I hope, all going to plan, to be ready to either self publish or approach publishers later this summer. I'll keep you posted. You can also follow details of the book here:https://www.facebook.com/TheCanberraExperience


Steve

Hope all goes well with the publishing Steve. Really looking forward to reading the book.

Thanks Goudie, it's been a good few years of work but feels good it's approaching completion. I think it makes one heck of a story.