Aerial view of RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus, April 1960

RAF Akrotiri became a functional operation airfield in July 1955.

In 1956, plans began to be developed for Akrotiri to serve as a forward base for V-bomber detachments and as a permanent home for English Electric Canberras. A permanent deployment of nuclear weapons to Akrotiri did not take place until the early 1960s. This glass plate negative is from the Charles Brown Collection