The Avro Vulcan Adventure

The Avro Vulcan Adventure is a book written from a historical perspective and also with personal observations of the author, British military historian Bruce Barrymore Halpenny, based on facts and with unique photographs.
Its uniqueness comes in that the book not only tells of the Avro Vulcan Bomber, but also tries to give a feeling of the atmosphere and thinking behind the events that helped shape and guide the Avro Vulcan through the Cold War.
A total of 134 production Vulcans were manufactured, the last being delivered to the RAF in January 1965. 83 Squadron that re-formed at Waddington was the RAF’s first Vulcan squadron, and a section deals with the Squadron histories of those that had the Avro Vulcan Bomber, including the famous 617 Squadron that operated the Avro Vulcan upon reforming at RAF Scampton on 1 May 1958 as part of the V-Force. The last operational Vulcan squadron was disbanded in March 1984.
As part of Britain's independent nuclear deterrent, The British then embarked on their own hydrogen bomb programme, and to bridge the gap until these were ready the V-bombers were equipped with an Interim Megaton Weapon based on the Blue Danube casing and Green Grass, a large pure-fission warhead of yield. This bomb was known as Violet Club. Only five were deployed before a better weapon was introduced as Yellow Sun Mk.1.. The book also deals for the first time, with where the bombs were kept and the vast network and system of communications that was involved for the V-Force, these are shown in photographs and a series of maps.
Although the primary weapon for the Vulcan was nuclear,(the Vulcan initially carried Britain's first nuclear weapon, the Blue Danube gravity bomb), Vulcans could carry up to 21 x bombs in a secondary role and diagrams are shown of this.
The Book also deals with the combat missions involving the Vulcan that took place in the 1982 Falklands War with Argentina, when Vulcans, in the Black Buck operations flew the from Ascension Island to Stanley. The book also mentions and gives due credit the Victor aircraft that were used for air-to-air refuelling in a complex scheme, which used up their air life and left a gap in the RAF's air to air refuelling capability. As an interim measure, six Vulcan B.2s were converted into air-to-air refueling (AAR) tankers and commissioned into service with 50 Squadron from 1982 to 1984.
The Vulcan is also shown to have also been used as an Air Ambulance, (CASEVAC), this was first used in 1969, at Canadian Forces Station Goose Bay in Canada, when Flight Lieutenant Debenham and his crew were called upon to ferry a Canadian civilian suffering spinal injuries to Montreal. The patient was strapped in the bomb aimer’s position, and the mission was accomplished successfully. The Vulcan was again, ten years later, to be called upon in its Air Ambulance (CASEVAC) role, when in 1977 a critically ill child was flown from Midway Island in the Pacific, to a special Hospital in Honolulu by Flight Lieutenant Hall and his crew. Flight Lieutenant Marman and his crew repeated a similar mission again in 1980.
Bruce Halpenny was RAF Police (RAFPD) on Special Security Duties (Atomic & Chemical Weapons)SS, and was part of a special RAF military police unit, that was responsible for the protection of the nuclear weapons that the V-bombers were to use in time of war, and so was in the unique position of seeing behind the scenes what was being played out at the time.
*Author: Bruce Barrymore Halpenny
*Editor: Baron Halpenny
*Illustrator: Baron Halpenny

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