Military feud finally settled

The bomber squadrons have a long-standing rivalry

A 60-year row between two air force squadrons over who owns a bulkhead from a German battleship has finally been resolved.

Two bomber squadrons, Dambusters 617 Squadron and Nine Bomber Squadron, both claim the honour of sinking the enemy battleship Tirpitz in 1944.

But the two have agreed to end their long-running feud and donate the main spoil from the battle - the ship's steel bulkhead - to an RAF museum in London.

The bulkhead was the object of skulduggery for decades as it was snatched back and forth from one squadron to the other.

Engine cowling

Wing Commander David Robertson from 617 Squadron said the bulkhead was stolen in some daring raids.

"I was originally serving in Nine Squadron and one day I opened the accommodation unit to find the crew room full of bricks."

One bomb landed so close to the battleship that perhaps it is the one that caused the ship to turn turtle

Wing Commander David Robertson

"The hole-in-the-wall gang had broken in overnight and taken it!"

In 1970, the Nine Squadron flew a Vulcan into the Dambusters camp from their base in Cyprus, broke into their accommodation and stole the bulkhead, he said.

They then took the prize down the A1 to a safe house.

"It was later loaded into the plane at RAF Wittering and taken to Cyprus, where Nine Squadron was based."

The wartime prize was first presented to the Bomber Command in 1950 by the Royal Norweigan Air Force, when both squadrons were based in Lincolnshire.

It was finally given to an RAF museum in London last week.

Bomb plot

The Tripitz, a sister ship to the Bismark, harassed British warships in the Strathflow area in the early part of World War Two.

The rivalry between the Dambuster squadron, now located in Lossiemoth in Scotland, and the Nine Bomber Squadron at RAF Marham in Norfolk rumbled on for decades.

Mr Robertson said the five-foot-long bulkhead, which weighed about a hundredweight, was part of the ship's engine cowling.

Mr Robertson said: "A bomb plot shows that of the eight bombs that landed within 200 yards of the ship, seven are credited to 617 and only one to Nine Bomber Squadron.

"But that one landed so close to the battleship that perhaps it is the one that caused the ship to turn turtle."