Including the facts behind the most serious military explosion within the UK, when a plane crashed into a nuclear weapon store, nearly wiping out most of East Anglia.
On 27 July 1956 at 1439hrs A B47no 53-4230 Stratojet from Lincoln AFB Nebraska lost control and slid off the runway at Lakenheath straight into the Nuclear weapon store, containing three Mk 6 atomic weapons . Its fuel tanks exploded, killing the crew and ensuing fire enveloped a storage igloo containing several weapons Details of this incident were not released until 1979. Piloted by a Capt Russell R Bowling. co-pilot 2/Lt Carroll W Kalberg: Observer 1/Lt Michael J Selmo TSGT John Ulrich a A&E Technician. Total loss of plane 2.07m dollars Igloo Building destroyed no 162 cost 1.0 million dollars.
Aug 1957 A B47 Crash at Greenham Common causing a large Fire and closure of base.
31 January 1958 B-47 no 52-0242 French Morocco Plane crashed on take-off carrying a weapon in the strike configuration. Plane was participating in a Coco alert.
28 February 1958 B47E No53-6216 379 ( Known as Granville 20) flown by Capt Hopkins. Bomber Sqn 310 bomb Wing at RAF Greenham Common. At 1616 the B47 took off from Greenham common An emergency developed aprox one minute after takeoff and at 1623 a external fuel wing was dropped, the tanks struck a main hanger no 02 which was an apex roof type with a height of 60 feet and 320 feet long with a width of 160 feet. and a parked B47. Due to heavy concentration of smoke billowing from fire, the runway was not visible and the aircraft was diverted to RAF Brize Norton.
26 February 1958 A convoy from AWRE set of for RAF Wittering by lunch time it was snowing and the snow was starting to drift. As the convoy started up the Wandsford Hill (A1), the convoy became stuck in a snow drift and one lorry turned over. Because of bad light and extreme weather conditions a decision was made to leave the lorry in situ until the next morning. RAF armed guards where called out to secure the area for the night. Personnel turned out from RAF Wittering the next morning to assist in righting of the unit. And at 12.00am the convoy entered the main gate.
14 October 1958 Convoy to Cottesmore from SSA Gaydon, Officer in Charge was a Flt Lt J. Newbould, during return journey a motor cycle being ridden by Corporal RJ White no 4160522 was in collision with a agricultural tractor in Manton on the A6003 nr Oakham. He received a broken leg and was taken to RAF Cottesmore hospital
October 1958 In October 1958 Master Sergeant Leander Cunningham locked himself in the nuclear weapon store at RAF Sculthorpe Norfolk and threatened to detonate an atomic warhead with his hand gun, he later gave himself up.
5 May 1959 RAF Wittering: A Valiant landing from exercise Mayflight carrying a 2000lb nuclear weapon crashed. Plane no WP210 Flown by Sqn Ldr D.C. Gordon with FL Higgs.
8 July 1959 A convoy left Gaydon for Finningley, during the trip one of the convoy lorries was in collision with a civilian car. It would seem that whilst the convoy lorry was stationary a car struck the unit from behind. The Officer in charge was a Master Technician W William’s.
February 1963 B-47 Crashed on landing at Greenham Common.
7 May 1964 Two F-101C Voodoo Aircraft from RAF Bentwaters were flying at 23,000ft over West Highlands of Scotland. One suffered a flame out and went into a dive, crashed into the mountain Maol Odhar . Possibly carrying a nuclear weapon due massive search operation.
17 January 1966 B52 Palomares Spain. At 9.17 Am local time a B52G returning to Seymour Johnson AFB near Goldsboro North Carolina collided with a KC-135 Tanker from an airbase at Moron near Seville in south west Spain during a routine high altitude air refuelling operation at 31,000 ft over the Med, 245 miles south of Madrid when the B52 overran the fuelling boom on the KC 135. The boom penetrated the bombers fuselage just aft of the wing trailing edge, in effect breaking the aircraft’s back, causing the plane to pitch down and left. Both aircraft exploded and crashed spreading about 250 tons of wreckage over a wide area. All of the crew from the tanker died, four of the seven bomber crew also died. The B52 was on a standard SAC airborne alert mission and was carrying four unarmed MK28FI nuclear weapons, each with a yield of 1. 1Mt.Bomb No1 landed intact and was found eight hours after the crash. Bomb no2 was found the following morning, on impact a one point detonation of its primary occurred which ruptured the weapon and blew plutonium and plutonium oxide into the air and onto the ground. The explosion produced a crater six feet deep and 20 feet in diameter. Bomb no3 landed violently and also underwent a one point explosion, dispersing uranium, plutonium. Bomb no4 was blown by high winds for eight miles until it fell into the sea. The weapon still attached to the parachute descended to a depth of 2160 feet. It was salvaged intact on April 7th from a depth of 2850 feet 12 miles of the coast of Palomares. 1400 tons of slightly contaminated soil and vegetation from a 558 acre area were removed .
21 January 1968 B52 Thule Greenland. At 9.29am a B52G from Pattsburgh AFB New York departed for a 24hr airborne alert mission, at 3.20pm in the area of Greenland a fire started in the lower crew compartment .The pilot declared an emergency about 42 miles from Thule AFB after smoke filled the cockpit and all power was lost. The crew bailed out , six of the seven crew survived. The B52 plunged into the ice seven miles south-west from the Thule base The plane crashed at 560mph and on impact the primaries of all four MK28 nuclear weapons detonated, blasting plutonium and uranium over a wide area. Most bomb fragments were subsequently destroyed by a fire fed by 35,000 gallons of jet fuel, the fire burned for twenty minutes with a 2200 feet long smoke plum, which covered an area of 2000 feet wide. A complete MK28 secondary assembly melted through the ice and settled on the sea floor. It has never been retrieved. Aprox 237,000 cubic feet of contaminated ice, snow, and water and crash debris were removed from a three square mile 26 acre during a years clean up operation.
May 1969 In May 1969 Sergeant Paul Meyer based at RAF Mildenhall got drunk and homesick at a party near to the base. He returned to the base and climbed on board a C130 Hercules transport plane and although not a pilot he succeeded in taking off. He flew south over Essex and Kent and shortly after passing over the town of Brighton the plane crashed into the sea.
1980 Fire in Secure Store at RAF Mawgan
Saturday 10th January 1987 A Mammoth major turned over on Ice on the way to Dean Hill.