Source : Dick Allen (News & Star)
WHEN a Canberra jet bomber was carted into Carlisle airport in three separate trucks, it brought back memories to Thursby postmaster Bill Jackson.
The Solway Aviation Society had bought the T4 from British Aerospace for just £1, and is preparing it for permanent display.
Word got around that ex-RAF sergeant Bill had “batted it in” when the Canberra broke the world record in 1952 by crossing the Atlantic twice on the same day.
So the society invited him to bat it in again at Crosby airfield.
It has taken several weekends for the society to dismantle the 65-foot-long aircraft at a military base near Preston.
One of our postmen, John Kerr, is a member of the society, and he knew I was interested in the Canberra. He mentioned my name, and they invited me out
Bill Jackson
Team leader Tom Stoddart said British Aerospace were planning to scrap six planes, and offered them for a nominal charge to preservation societies.
He said: “It will be put alongside the Meteor jet fighter and the Vulcan bomber already on static display.”
Bill Jackson said: “I was at RAF Aldergrove, Northern Ireland, the day the Canberra made the double-crossing.”
“I batted it out at seven in the morning and batted it back in the late afternoon.”
“It was, in fact, the first jet to fly the Atlantic, a few weeks before it did the double-crossing.”
“The pilot, a Wing Commander Beaumont, kept coming nearer and nearer as I was signalling, and I had to dodge out of the way, otherwise I would have been mixed up with the starboard engine.”
“One of our postmen, John Kerr, is a member of the society, and he knew I was interested in the Canberra. He mentioned my name, and they invited me out, even though I am not a member of the society.”
