No. 617 Squadron RAF that New Zealand film director Peter Jackson and David Frost would co-produce a re-make of the film. It has been scripted by Stephen Fry and will be directed by Christian Rivers. The last living Dam Buster pilot at the time, New Zealander Les Munro (1919-2015), offered his services as a technical adviser. In 2010 the National Archives released documents that showed it was considered using 617 Squadron to target the Italian leader Mussolini in July or August 1943. The British believed if Mussolini was killed it might take Italy out of the war. It would have been a flight carried
No. 617 Squadron RAF to above 12,000 ft for safe release of Blue Steel Vulcans were configured for the Blue Steel stand-off bomb and 617 Squadron was the first to be declared operational with it in August 1962, until in January 1970 the squadron's eight Vulcan B2 aircraft were re-equipped with the new strategic laydown bomb, WE.177B which improved aircraft survivability by enabling aircraft to remain at low-level during weapon release. Following the transfer of responsibility for the nuclear deterrent to the Royal Navy, the Squadron was reassigned to SACEUR for tactical strike missions. In a high-intensity European war the Squadron's role was to