A FORMER bomber crewman is looking forward to seeing his plane fly again later this month.

Anthony Lloyd, 66, was a navigator in the nuclear-armed Vulcan XH558 bomber during the Cold War.

It was part of Britain’s deterrent against the nuclear threat from the Soviet Union.

Mr Lloyd, from Kingston Bagpuize, will get to see the plane – the only one of its kind that is still flying – at the air show Fly to the Past on Sunday, August 21 – supported by the Oxford Mail.

Last year, campaigners fought to save the Vulcan from being grounded for-ever.

A total of £400,000 was raised to keep the plane serviced and airworthy so it could be flown in displays.

Mr Lloyd said: “It is going to be fantastic.

“She was a very important part of my youth 50 years ago and it is going to mean a hell of a lot to see her again.”

Mr Lloyd, who is managing director of Fallowfields Hotel in Kingston Bagpuize, joined the RAF in 1961, when he was 17.

He became a Vulcan navigator at the age of 23.

The crew would fly practice missions over snow-covered terrain in Canada to practice for Russian bombing missions and would be on constant readiness to fly out.

But that call never came.

Mr Lloyd said: “There was a very definite threat from the Russians.

“But did one actually believe anyone would be that stupid to launch a nuclear attack on another nation? No.

“It seemed ludicrous, even then, that someone would actually start it. But maybe we believed that to try to relieve the pressure.”

Mr Lloyd said back then he was prepared to launch the nuclear weapons, saying: “It was one’s job.”

But, looking back on the Cold War now, Mr Lloyd said: “I think it was a disgrace. That the western world got themselves in such a position where they had to use the threat of nuclear weapons – ‘mine is bigger than yours’ – to the extent we did, and the billions we spent on it, was a farce.”

He added: “I cannot imagine it happening again, but how on earth did it happen then? We had just been through the horrors of the Second World War.”

After leaving the RAF when he was 25, Mr Lloyd went on to work for IBM before moving into the hotel trade.

  • o see the Vulcan XH558 bomber, visit Fly to the Past at Oxford Airport in Kidlington on Sunday, August 21.

Adult tickets cost £20 in advance – under-16s get in free – and can be purchased by visiting flytothepast.co.uk or calling 0844 576 0136.