From modest beginnings as it began its operational career on Wellingtons in March 1942, by the war's end 460 Squadron had carried out the highest number of overall sorties in 1 Group and the highest number of Lancaster sorties in Bomber Command.

When formed in November 1941, 460 became the third Royal Australian Air Force squadron to serve in Bomber Command after 455 and 458 Squadrons. For a brief period between August and October 1942 it flirted with the Halifax, the type which had been intended to replace 1 Group's Wellingtons, but it conducted no operations before a change of policy determined that the future lay with the Lancaster, and once operational from late November 1942, the squadron gradually increased its presence.

As a three-flight unit in a group whose Air-Officer-Commanding believed in loading its aircraft with a maximum bomb tonnage, 460 Squadron regularly put twenty-five Lancasters into the air and elevated itself to the top of most of the statistical ladders. The squadron is credited with delivering 24,000 tons of bombs, the highest total in Bomber Command, and of dispatching the most Lancaster sorties, the latter inevitably leading to the highest number of Lancaster losses in 1 Group and among the highest in the Command, although the percentage loss rate remained average.

Present in all of the Command's campaigns against the Ruhr, Hamburg, Berlin, the pre- and post-invasion Transportation Plan, oil, V-Weapons, tactical support for the ground forces and the second Ruhr offensive in late 1944, 460 Squadron played a full role in Bomber Command's contribution to victory and magnificently represented its proud nation.

Part of the series RAF Bomber Command profiles - #18.

Details: Non-fiction, published 2022.

Format: Soft cover, illustrations (photographs), 398 pages.

Dimensions: 28.0 cm (h) x 21.5 cm (w) x 2.5cm (d) / 1,140 grams.