49 Squadron

While Britain became the third nation to develop and test nuclear weapons in October 1952, the country would have to wait a further four years before a Vickers Valiant, operated by No. 49 Squadron, became the first British aircraft to drop a live atomic bomb over Maralinga in South Australia. 

The Blue Danube device deployment came 39 years after an aircraft of No. 49 Squadron dropped its first bomb in anger—very much conventional in nature—from an Airco DH.4 operating in France during WWI. The unit played a key role in the Battle of Cambrai, with November 1917 seeing their aircraft in action hitting enemy supply and communication centres.

Formed at Swingate Down, near Dover, midway through WWI in April 1916, No. 49 was an aircrew training unit for its first 18 months before transferring to France late in 1917 to play a more hands-on role in the war effort. No. 49 dropped more than 118 tonnes of bombs and destroyed 56 enemy aircraft during the Great War. Following the Armistice, the unit was one of the few stationed in Germany, spending several months at Bickendorf before it was disbanded in July 1919.

It would be 17 years before No. 49 Squadron reformed in February 1936 at Bircham Newton in Norfolk. This new iteration was created from "C" Flight of No. 18 Squadron, initially operating Hawker Hinds before later transferring to Scampton, where they became the first operational squadron to receive Handley Page Hampdens. 

            Scrampton June 1940

Within literally minutes of war being declared on 3 September 1939, the Hampdens of No. 49 were airborne to attack the German Navy at Kiel, with early wartime missions including minelaying, reconnaissance, and propaganda leaflet drops. The squadron was re-equipped with Lancasters in 1942, taking part in the 1,000-bomber raid on Cologne in May of that year and continuing as a frontline bomber unit for the remainder of the war. 

Post-war, the unit was re-equipped with Avro Lincolns, carrying out two tours of duty during the Kenyan Mau Mau Uprising from 1953 through to 1955. An infamous event while serving in Kenya saw one of their Lincolns crash in bizarre circumstances, killing all six crew and four civilians on the ground. Returning from an operation on 19 February 1955, SX984 carried out several low-level passes over a police hut at Githunguri, just north of Nairobi, where a number of RAF personnel were on an official visit. Tragically, on the third pass, the Lincoln hit the roofs and chimneys of several buildings, breaking off part of the wing, and the aircraft crashed near the police station. 

The Board of Inquiry found the accident was caused by unauthorised low flying, and a memorial window to all those killed was later created at St Leonard's Church in Sandridge, Hertfordshire.

Returning to England, No. 49 was disbanded at RAF Upwood in Cambridgeshire on 1 August 1955. While the squadron had been heavily involved in bombing raids throughout WWII and post-war in Kenya, it is perhaps best known for its peacetime bombing activities—notably its involvement in the British nuclear testing programme of the late 1950s in South Australia and the Pacific islands.

The unit was reformed on 1 May 1956 at RAF Wittering with personnel from "C" Flight of No. 138 Squadron, alongside additional crews from No. 214 Squadron and No. 232 Operational Conversion Unit (OCU). No. 49 was supplied with the first of the new V-bomber force: Vickers Valiants. 

Over the next few months, the squadron was involved in highly secretive nuclear work, taking part in an intensive training programme that included regular bombing runs at Orford Ness off the Suffolk coast, dropping inert devices and perfecting the escape manoeuvre worked out by former RAF man and Vickers-Armstrongs test pilot Brian Trubshaw. The method involved rolling the Valiant into a steeply banked turn immediately after the bomb drop to escape the upward rush of the explosion.

The squadron and its aircraft were key in both Operation Buffalo and Operation Grapple, Britain’s nuclear testing programmes that ran from 1956 through to 1958. On 11 October 1956, Valiant B.1 WZ366 of No. 49 Squadron became the first RAF aircraft to drop a live atomic bomb, released at 30,000 ft and detonating at around 490 ft (150 metres) over the Maralinga test range in South Australia. 

Early in 1957, No. 49 Squadron’s Valiants were treated with highly reflective anti-flash white paint ahead of their departure in March of that year for Christmas Island in the Pacific, south of Indonesia and around 1,200 miles northwest of the Australian mainland, for further nuclear tests as part of Operation Grapple. Arriving at their destination on 12 March 1957, No. 49 Squadron dropped seven of the nine nuclear bombs, including the first British hydrogen bomb. The test was carried out by aircraft XD818, which now resides at the RAF Museum in Cosford. 

The strong link between the unit and the Valiant, however, would prove to be their Achilles' heel. After returning to Britain, the squadron relocated to RAF Marham in Norfolk in June 1961, joining three other Valiant units—Nos. 148, 207, and 214—to form part of a Tactical Bombing Force allocated to the NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR). 

                                   49 Squadron badge

                                                  

All appeared in order as No. 49’s Valiants continued operating as high-altitude bombers, but that changed in 1962 with defence chiefs reassessing the aircraft’s role. Deciding that improvements in Soviet air defences would easily counter high-altitude bombers like the Valiant, the decision to move to low-level tactical operations was made. This shift proved problematic, as the harsher air conditions and turbulence exposed structural limitations in the Valiant design. In August 1964, the crew of WP217 of No. 232 OCU recorded what they thought was a large impact during a training mission. 

Despite WP217 landing safely, the starboard wing’s rear spar had fractured and was visibly sagging. An instruction was immediately issued to inspect all aircraft. The problem was widespread, and the entire fleet was retired shortly after this close call. No. 49 proved to be the last Valiant squadron when it officially disbanded in January 1965.