No. 1321 Bomber (Defence) Training Flight RAF was first formed at

RAF Bottesford Royal Air Force Bottesford or more simply RAF Bottesford is a former Royal Air Force station located on the Leicestershire-Lincolnshire county border, north west of Grantham, Lincolnshire and south of Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire and about ...

on 1 September 1944Lake 1999, p. 85. as a fighter affiliation unit to train bomber crews from No. 5 Group Bomber Command how to defend their aircraft. The Flight was disbanded two months later on 1 November 1944Sturtivant and Hamlin 2007, p. 119. and absorbed by the units they trained before, 1668 Heavy Conversion Unit and 1669 Heavy Conversion Unit. No. 1321 (Valiant/Blue Danube Trials) Flight RAF was reformed at

RAF Wittering Royal Air Force Wittering or more simply RAF Wittering is a Royal Air Force station within the unitary authority area of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire and the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire. Although Stamford, Lincolnshire, Sta ...

on 3 August 1954 as a

Vickers Valiant The Vickers Valiant was a British high-altitude jet bomber designed to carry nuclear weapons, and in the 1950s and 1960s was part of the Royal Air Force's "V bomber" strategic deterrent force. It was developed by Vickers-Armstrongs in response ...

unit to integrate the Blue Danube nuclear weapon into

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

service. It was commanded by

Squadron Leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also ...

D. Roberts, formerly commanding officer of No. 617 Squadron. Squadron Leader Roberts had earlier reported to

Wisley Airfield Wisley Airfield is a former wartime airfield located in the Parish of Ockham near Wisley in Surrey, England. Originally a grass airstrip, the runway was converted to tarmac in 1952 and used to test aircraft built at Weybridge by Vickers. Flying ...

, the

Vickers-Armstrongs Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927. The majority of the company was nationalised in the 1960s and 1970s, w ...

flight test airfield in Surrey, expecting to take a three-week conversion course to the Valiant. Instead he remained there for 15 months until he reported to Wittering to command 1321 Flight. 1321 Flight's first aircraft was Valiant WP201. Roberts and his crew flew it from Wisley to Wittering on 15 June 1955 to begin an intensive program of integration tests. The tests had two main separate components: # Ballistic performance of the bomb casing at various altitudes and speeds # Testing of the equipment from the

Atomic Weapons Research Establishment The Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) is a United Kingdom Ministry of Defence research facility responsible for the design, manufacture and support of warheads for the UK's nuclear weapons. It is the successor to the Atomic Weapons Research ...

under operational conditions A variety of BTV (Ballistic Test Vehicle) drops were carried out at various heights and speeds at the experimental Bombing Range on

Orfordness Orford Ness is a cuspate foreland shingle spit on the Suffolk coast in Great Britain, linked to the mainland at Aldeburgh and stretching along the coast to Orford and down to North Weir Point, opposite Shingle Street. It is divided from the m ...

. The ballistic performance of the weapon was found to be so good that there was a risk of it not leaving the slipstream of the bomber and consequently flying along with the aircraft. Retractable spoilers were fitted to the underside of the fuselage, just forward of the bomb bay in order to induce turbulence within the bomb bay enabling the bomb to fall away. All the live nuclear weapons dropped at

Maralinga Maralinga, in the remote western areas of South Australia, was the site, measuring about in area, of British nuclear tests in the mid-1950s. In January 1985 native title was granted to the Maralinga Tjarutja, a southern Pitjantjatjara Aborigi ...

(Australia) and

Christmas Island Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an Australian external territory comprising the island of the same name. It is located in the Indian Ocean, around south of Java and Sumatra and around north-west of the ...

(Pacific Ocean) were assembled, pre-drop tested and loaded on to specially prepared Valiant bombers of 49 Squadron and 138 Squadron by the small team of technical specialists from 1321 Flight. The life of 1321 (Valiant/Blue Danube Trials) Flight came to an end on 15 March 1956 when it became 'C' Flight of No. 138 Squadron, the first regular Valiant unit. The flight was reformed, once again, by the merger of the

Avro Lincoln The Avro Type 694 Lincoln is a British four-engined heavy bomber, which first flew on 9 June 1944. Developed from the Avro Lancaster, the first Lincoln variants were initially known as the Lancaster IV and V; these were renamed Lincoln I and ...

element of 199 Squadron, called Arrow Squadron and Antler Squadron, to become No. 1321 (ECM) Flight RAF at

RAF Hemswell Royal Air Force Hemswell or more simply RAF Hemswell is a former Royal Air Force (RAF) station located east of Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Located close to the village of Hemswell in Lincolnshire, England the disestablished airfield i ...

on 1 October 1957, disbanding on 31 March 1958 and absorbed by the Bomber Command Bombing School.

Aircraft operated

Flight bases

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Delve, Ken. ''The Source Book of the RAF''. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1994. . * Lake, Alan. ''Flying Units of the RAF''. Shrewsbury, Shropshire, UK: Airlife Publishing, 1999. . * Sturtivant, Ray,

ISO ISO is the most common abbreviation for the International Organization for Standardization. ISO or Iso may also refer to: Business and finance * Iso (supermarket), a chain of Danish supermarkets incorporated into the SuperBest chain in 2007 * Iso ...

and John Hamlin. ''RAF Flying Training And Support Units since 1912''. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd., 2007. . {{DEFAULTSORT:No. 1321 Flight RAF 1321 Flight Military units and formations established in 1944

Aircraft operated

Flight bases

See also

References