English Electric Canberra - Survivors

In memory of Les Bywaters, Canberra rigger and all round good bloke

With an enormous production run, it is no surprise that there are a lot of Canberras still hanging on to life out there - though sadly only one flying at the time of writing. Because of the sheer number, we've taken the decision to (at least initially) limit this list to Canberras of any mark located within Europe, and any outside of Europe that have some RAF or RN history (even if it's only having been allocated a UK serial number before sale to a foreign customer). US-produced B-57 airframes are therefore not included, nor are most UK-produced airframes built purely for export, or those licence built overseas (some have snuck through!). This does mean that most of the surviving examples in India and Australia have not been covered. We would welcome, however, individual contributions of photos and histories for any airframe we have skipped.

This list is, as ever, a work in progress and updates to existing entries are welcome via the comments form on each entry.

Finally, on a personal note from the site owner, adding the Canberra to Thunder & Lightning was something I had always intended to do, but there was always a great excuse not to bother - the Canberra Tribute site put together with much love and time by good friend Les Bywaters. Les passed away in 2009, and I hope this section of T&L does justice to his beloved Canberra. Les was a rigger on Canberras through the most dangerous parts of the Cold War, and had many tales of his time on B(I).8s in Germany. I'm glad he never had to put his family on the escape coach to the UK before seeing off his kite to rain nuclear fire upon invading Soviet troops. I'm glad he lived to see the cold war end; to see the Canberra reach the end of its long and varied RAF career, and to see them fly in private hands. Thank you mate, and rest in peace.