SECOND WORLD WAR | BOMBER COMMAND
THE RAF’S 51 SQUADRON TOOK THE WAR TO THE HEART OF HITLER’S GERMANY, FROM THE FIRST DAY OF WORLD WAR TWO’S BOMBER OFFENSIVE TO THE LAST, AS ANDREW THOMAS DESCRIBES.
Halifax II HR952 ‘MH-X’ is loaded with 500lb MC bombs and incendiaries at Snaith in August 1943.
Sqn Ldr Hill was flying Halifax III LV777 ‘MH-F’ when he was shot down on the Nuremberg raid.
Number 51 Squadron first came into existence in 1916, protecting Britain from the menace of Germany’s deadly Zeppelin raids, its presence over home skies greatly reassuring the frightened population. The unit’s work was soon done, and after the Armistice it was stood down.
