Page 71 - Bomber Command News Today

When you look up at the night sky on Sunday, think of a flaming Lancaster and a 19-year-old from Torontos Balmy Beach, swinging in his parachute

MORE than 50 people, including a Canadian commanding officer, joined an online ceremony on Wednesday night to remember the Second World War pilot who sacrificed his own life to save the people of Darlington. Pilot Officer William McMullen, from Toronto in Canada, could have jumped from his burning Lancaster bomber on January 13, 1945, but instead chose to stay with it, steering the stricken craft away from the houses until, at 8.49pm, it crashed into farmland on the east side - now McMullen...

These Cold War-era planes were meant to deliver atomic bombs just like the American B-52. Key point: The RAF invested heavily in these platforms and used them in the 1950s and 1960s. Here is their story. During World War II, the Royal Air Force’s (RAF) Bomber Command deployed huge strategic bombers on a massive scale to bombard German cities at night. Postwar, the RAF sought to evolve its bomber fleet to the jet and nuclear age. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki demonstrated tha...

Striding Into The New Year With The Lancaster Challenge Striding Into The New Year With The Lancaster Challenge PRESS RELEASE -The Royal Air Force Museum is striding into the New Year with a brand-new virtual challenge, where participants can choose whether to complete 80K, 150K or even 500K. Registrations for the Lancaster Challenge opened on Saturday 9 January 2021, exactly 80 years since the first test flight of the Avro Lancaster. Whether you need to walk off the Christmas calories, or get ...

Major Sam P. Bakshas woke up that morning with the secrets in his head. Bakshas was one of the men flying B-29 Superfortress bombers from three Pacific islands—Guam, Saipan, and Tinian. A writer dubbed these men “the thousand kids.” There were actually several thousand, and they were giving heart and soul to bombing the Japanese home islands—what they called “the Empire”—with no success. They were dropping bombs from high altitude and not hitting much. The air campaign against Jap...

Bombers Often Dont Work - 5 Worst Ever The very best aircraft have been those that could not only conduct their primary mission effectively, but that were also sufficiently flexible to perform other tasks that might be asked of them. Heres What You Need To Remember: Many bombers have limited roles, but fill them excellently. The Ju-88 Stuka, for instance, had virtually no capacity for fighting - but it was still one of the most feared aircraft of the Second World War. Others, such as the B-52...

Flying Officer Roberts Dunstan, c. 1944. AWM SUK12067 Flight Lieutenant Roberts Dunstan was born in Bendigo, Victoria, on 5 November 1922. He lied about his age in order to join the army when he was just 17, and was posted to the 2/8th Field Company. In January 1941 he was wounded in the knee by a shell splinter outside Tobruk, Libya. Though it did not appear to be especially serious, the wound soon became infected and his leg was amputated. After recovering in Egypt, Roberts returned to Melbou...

Jim Bird, known as Dickie, died peacefully on November 23, aged 90. Born in Wales, Jim moved to Ryedale as a young boy with his parents, brothers Stuart and Joe, along with sister Rose. The family lived at Swinton Grange where his dad was a stockman. After leaving school Jim completed an engineering apprenticeship, before he was called up for National Service. Based at RAF Scampston in Lincolnshire, home of the Dambuster Squadron, Jim, who played a variety of instruments, including th...

A FORMER Whalley woman who served in the WAAF during the Second World War will be celebrating her 100th birthday tomorrow. Mrs Evelyn Armstrong, born in Whalley but now living in Duns in the Scottish Borders, has received a letter of congratulations from Station Commander RAF Boulmer, Group Captain David Keighley, on behalf of the Royal Air Force. Evelyn attended Clitheroe Royal Grammar School but declined to go on to university in preference to contributing financially at home. She worke...

By Readers letter WITH regard to the correspondence on Bomber Command, yes, we bombed German cities and maybe if we had had the luxury of precision bombing techniques and equipment available now, things may have been different. But we should not forget the German mass bombing and dive bombing in the Spanish Civil War and in Europe and Russia. There have always been civilian casualties in war, but many of these people would have been ...