The Avro Vulcan was designed in the late-1940’s to replace the Royal Air Force’s ageing fleet of propeller driven bombers which had served it so well in the Second World War. The new bomber was built by A V Roe & Co at its works at Chadderton, Manchester, and Woodford, Cheshire. The Vulcan served with the Royal Air Force from 1956 to 1984 and was a mainstay of Britain’s independent strategic nuclear deterrent bomber force (the ‘V-force’) during the 1950s and ‘60s. The V-force’s aircraft were kept at constant readiness and could have been airborne in a matter of minutes to strike back against any attack by the Soviet Union.