Former navigator Graham Pitchfork describes his experience as one half of the first RAF exchange crew on Royal Navy Buccaneers.
Above: XN951/101 is tensioned on the waist catapult of Eagle ready for take-off. The aircraft is carrying 1,000lb bombs on the four wing stations. An airburst fuze is fitted to the starboard inboard bomb.
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Early in 1965, I was approaching the end of a three-year tour on a Germany-based Canberra photographic reconnaissance squadron, when my boss called me into his office to tell me of my next posting: “The Royal Navy have offered a slot for an RAF crew on their new Buccaneer aircraft – you are to be the navigator and you report to Lossiemouth in April.”
