Original colour photo of a Hampden of No 455 Sqn, RAAF, the first Australian squadron in RAF Bomber Command. At this time, the unit had just been transferred to Coastal Command and from Wigsley to Leuchars to train for torpedo bombing. AT137 had been delivered to the squadron in November 1941. The aircraft bunt at Leuchars on 8 June 1942. It had flown 20 operational missions, initially coded UB-O and UB-C. Photo from: Imperial War Museums

A Vampire of No 501 (County of Gloucester) Sqn, presumably at Filton. Royal Auxiliary Air Force squadrons used squadron codes RAA, RAB etc. in the late 1940s. Photo published in December 1949. VF271 overshot landing at Filton on 5 March 1950 and was a write-off.

Accommodation for the four-man crew was cramped in the Hampden, a disappointing medium bomber which entered RAF service in 1938. This one was probably built in January 1942. Photo from: Nederlands Instituut voor Militaire Historie

Vampire FB.5 of 613 (City of Manchester) Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force, based at Manchester Ringway and wearing the unit's Q3 code on its nose plus individual code 'C' on its boom. Built by English Electric at Preston in April 1949. Served 613 Squadron from 12.02.51 until crashing near Harrogate Yorkshire on 22.02.53.

The fifth production Vampire soon after completion by English Electric at Samlesbury near their Preston works complex. EEC built nearly 1300 Vampires between 1945 and 1952. The Goblin in TG278 was replaced by a Ghost and extended wings fitted. On 23 March 1948, DH test pilot John Cunningham set a world altitude record of 59,446 feet. Obtained from EEC over 50 years ago.