A historic photograph but unfortunately, for me, its impact is somewhat overshadowed by its similarity to many other photographs that were similarly posed; still, I suppose that is what victory looks like.

And do the Air Historical Branch really have to crib their information from ‘The Bomber Command War Diaries’ by Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt?

I don’t see a problem with it, they have used a source and attributed it. It would have been much quicker to reference the book than go through the archives surely. The worse thing would have been if they’d not attributed it.

An interesting photo, thanks for posting.