Online Talk: Operation Black Buck 1

Join us on Zoom for a new Online Talk and discover the story of the Vulcan raids during the Falklands War!

This talk will be presented by Sqn Ldr Bob Tuxford AFC and is available to join FREE through funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Black Buck was the code name given to the Vulcan raids against Port Stanley Airfield in East Falkland Island. Flown on the night of 30th April/1st May 1982, Black Buck 1 was the first of seven planned Vulcan raids, and established a record in the history books at the time of the longest bombing mission in the history of air warfare.

The airfield was occupied by the Argentine Military in early April 1982, and the RAF’s task was to bomb the runway and deny its use to the enemy fast jets on the Falklands, and hamper the resupply of the invasion forces.

The Vulcan bomber would need to be refuelled eight times by an outbound wave of 11 Victor K2 tankers to reach the target some 3600nm from Ascension Is. A further 7 Victors would be required to ensure the safe recovery of the bomber post strike.

The enormity of the task, and the air-to-air refuelling support required with an unfamiliar receiver led to many difficulties and changes to the original refuelling plan.

By Sqn Ldr Bob Tuxford AFC RAF Ret’d

About the Speaker

Bob Tuxford graduated from the RAF College Cranwell in 1970. His first operational tour was on No 214 Sqn on the Victor K1 three-point tanker in the air-to-air refuelling role.

Following tours in the USA and UK, flying the Victor K2 in support of the South Atlantic Operations during the Falklands War, he participated in the iconic first ‘Black Buck’ mission for which he was awarded the Air Force Cross for gallantry.

On leaving the RAF in 1987, Bob flew as a commercial pilot for Monarch Airlines, retiring in 2010 with close on 19,000 hours and 70+ types in his logbook.

In his spare time when not playing golf, he re-acquainted himself with Victor K2 XM715, and became one of its taxy pilots at the Bruntingthorpe Cold War Jet collection. Bob has also found time to write a book of his flying experiences ‘CONTACT!”, which chronicles his 20-year diverse flying career within the Royal Air Force.

Joining the Talk

The talk will be held online on Zoom at 11am on Friday 28th May. Limited places are available.

Book your free ticket online here. One ticket per Zoom screen is required.

The Zoom joining details (ID & password) will be emailed to you shortly before the start of the talk. Please log on at 10.50am, ready for a prompt start at 11am.

During the talk, you will see and hear the speaker, but you will not be heard or seen on screen yourself. There will be the opportunity to ask questions via the Q&A function.

About the Cold War Talks Series

Bentley Priory Museum is delighted to be running a series of online talks exploring the Cold War, to complement our current project, Bentley Priory Bunker: Defending Britain from Nazi and Nuclear Threat.

These special talks are free to all, thanks to the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund. If you enjoy the talk and would like to support the Museum with a donation, any amount great or small is hugely appreciated!

DONATE HERE

A team of volunteers have been recruited to work on the project which aims to record and share the memories of RAF, ROC and WAAF personnel who worked in the Top Secret Bunker at RAF Bentley Priory, focusing on the key historical periods of the Battle of Britain in 1940 and the Cold War from 1945 to 1991.

A temporary exhibition is running at the Museum on open days throughout 2021, and a permanent exhibition is being created – we look forward to sharing it with you soon!

Our ongoing podcast series brings to life the experiences of those who worked in the Bunker during WWII and the Cold War through fascinating oral history interviews. Please listen to the podcasts via our website here: Bunker Podcasts