CANBERRA
SEAN FEAST DISCOVERS HOW AL GREETHURST’S BOMBING AND NAVIGATION SKILLS IN THE ENGLISH ELECTRIC CANBERRA WERE TESTED DURING THE SUEZ CRISIS
CLASSIC JETS
Al Greethurst was lucky to even fly in the Canberra. In fact, he was fortunate not to have been kicked out of the RAF completely, for earlier in his career while with 8 Squadron in Aden in the early 1950s, he had refused to fly [see In Arabian Skies, March issue].
In the five years prior to his posting to RAF Khormaksar in Aden, however, he’d logged hundreds of hours in the Lancaster, Lincoln and his firm favourite, the Mosquito. His logbook includes taking part in Operation Guzzle to ditch the unused Upkeep bouncing bombs into the sea, flying in the same Lancaster Guy Gibson had captained during the now legendary Dams Raid.
<