The following images were kindly provided by Howard Mason.The Valiant bomber variant was complimented by a strategic reconnaissance version, designated the B(PR) Mk.1, this variant entering service with No 543 Squadron, also at Gaydon, in July 1955. This reconnaissance platform retained the bombing equipment of the original aircraft and was not the end of the Valiant's capabilities, for two further versions were developed. The B(PR)K Mk.1 could also fill the tanking role, as well as retaining the bombing and reconnaissance capability, along with a more specialised B(K) Mk.1, which lost the reconnaissance capability.
The Valiant was used operationally for the first and only time during the Suez crisis of Oct 1956, deploying to Luqa, Malta, where No. 138, 148, 207 and 214 Squadrons dropped conventional high explosive bombs on targets in Egypt. In late 1956, the Valiant finally achieved its original design goal, when it became the first British aircraft to drop an atomic bomb. The test took place on 11 Oct 1956, over Maralinga, Southern Australia, the aircraft being WZ366, a B Mk.1 of No 49 Squadron. A few months later, on 15 May 1957, another 49 Sqn aircraft, this time XD818, dropped the first British H-bomb on the range at Christmas Island in the Pacific, during Operation 'Grapple' (Source: Official Royal Air Force Website).
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