Welcome to the Avro Heritage Museum podcast. The museum is located at Woodford near Manchester in the UK and you can find more details at https://www.avroheritagemuseum.co.uk/

The English Electric Canberra was designed as a direct replacement for the wartime de Havilland Mosquito and entered service with the RAF in 1951.  In total, Avro built 75 Canberras at Woodford during the 1950s

We speak with Squadron Leader John Robinson AFC (retd) was an RAF pilot who was tasked to fly Canberras into the mushroom clouds of nuclear bomb tests to capture samples at Operation Buffalo at Maralinga in 1956, and Operation Grapple, at Christmas Island in 1957.

He tells of his recruitment into RAF, initial training and his cloud sampling missions his experiences as well as watching the tests from as little as five miles away.

I was honoured that the British Nuclear Test Veterans Association (BNVTA) invited me to their annual reunion and enabled me to capture John’s story.

I’m delighted to welcome Squadron Leader John Robinson AFC to the Avro Heritage Museum Podcast…