Burke - TSR2: Britains lost bomber

Other titles in the Crowood Aviation Series

Damien Burke

The Crowood Press

First published in 2010 by
The Crowood Press Ltd
Ramsbury, Marlborough
Wiltshire SN8 2HR

www.crowood.com

This impression 2011

This e-book first published in 2014

Damien Burke 2010

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 1 84797 791 5

Acknowledgements

I have been repeatedly impressed by the time and effort that so many people have spared to assist with my research for this book. My grateful thanks are therefore extended to: BAE Systems Warton Heritage Group for unprecedented access to its TSR2 archives, including much material that was previously classified, in particular to Dave Ward, Tony Wilson, the late Keith Emslie, Keith Spong, Peter Hardman, Dave Hutton and the late Bob Fairclough; the Brooklands Museum at Weybridge for similar access to its own TSR2 and Hawker archives, in particular to John Pulford, Julian Temple, Jack Fuller, Albert Kitchenside, Chris Farara, Geoff Burchett and Michael Goodall; Barry Guess and Trevor Friend at BAE Systems Farnborough; Guy Revell and Peter Devitt at the Department of Research and Information Services at the RAF Museum, Hendon; the RAF Museum, Cosford for access to XR220, particularly Clare Carr and Keith Woodcock; the Imperial War Museum at Duxford for access to XR222; Barry and Dianne James at the Midland Air Museum; the staff of the National Archives at Kew; and the staff of the Coventry City Council History Centre. Thanks also to Ivan Yates, the late Wing Commander Jimmy Dell OBE, Don Knight, Air Commodore Dennis Reader, Glenn Surtees, Matin Hale, Alan Mansell at Solent Sky and, finally, to Ronnie Olsthoorn for his stunning, and chilling, cover artwork. Any errors are mine; sadly the uneven nature of much surviving TSR2 documentation does not lend itself to firm statements in some areas, but with the valuable assistance of several people who worked on the designing, building and testing of TSR2 I hope I have at least addressed many of the misunderstandings and errors that can be found in other publications on the subject, without introducing too many of my own. Any errors found after publication will be addressed on a dedicated website to be found at www.tsr2.info.

DAMIEN BURKE
March 2010

Websites of organizations that assisted with research for this book:

BAE Systems Heritage www.baesystems.com/heritage

Brooklands Museum www.brooklandsmuseum.com

Coventry History Centre www.theherbert.org/index.php/home/history-centre

Imperial War Museum Duxford www.duxford.iwm.org.uk

Midland Air Museum www.midlandairmuseum.co.uk

National Archives www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

RAF Museum Department of Research and Information Services www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research

RAF Museum Cosford www.rafmuseum.org.uk/cosford

Contents

Abbreviations