The incredible success of the english electric canberra jet bomber can be gauged by the length of time it remained in service with the royal air force with the first canberras arriving at raf no 101 squadron in early 1951 the last photo reconnaissance pr 9 machines were only withdrawn in 2006 a remarkable 55 years in service when the canberra entered raf service in the early 1950s it was truly a ground breaking aircraft in every respect possessing performance superior to that of many f