139 squadron dropped
the first bombs during World War 2 and took part in the last raid at Kiel,
the picture below is
not 139 squadron, but which squadron did drop the last bomb??
By Ollie Gillman for MailOnline
Published: 18:14, 2 May 2015 | Updated: 23:01, 2 May 2015
This historic photograph shows seven brave RAF airmen posing with a bomb ahead of a daring raid in 1945. Little did they know, it may well have been the last to be dropped on Nazi Germany.
The picture, discovered 70 years on, shows crewmen preparing to load the weapon on board a bomber.
It would later be dropped on the city of Kiel, in the north of Germany, in what would be the final Bomber Command raid on the Nazis, just six days before VE Day.
Photograph shows seven RAF airmen ahead of last bombing raid of WWII
Crew are seen posing with a bomb destined for Kiel in northern Germany
Picture was taken just days before Germany surrendered to Allied forces
It was unearthed by Brian Emsley, whose late father Edward is on the left
Brian Emsley found the picture of the destructive device being loaded on to an RAF Mosquito as he leafed through his late father's old family photo album, the Daily Telegraph reported.
The man on the left is Mr Emsley's father, Edward, who never mentioned the symbolic photograph before his death in 1979.
He was an aircraftman in the squadron and previously worked in a factory which built Mosquitos.
Brian Emsley, 64, said: 'My great regret is that I never had that conversation about it with my dad. He was always very proud of the Mosquitos.
'Of course, there would have been other bombs dropped in that final raid but this comes as close as any to being the last one ‘officially’ by the chalked words on the casing.'
The RAF's Air Historical Branch confirmed that the raid on Kiel was the last by the squadron before the end of the war.
The fact a photograph was taken suggests the men knew the raid would be one of their last.
Mr Emsley said: '[My father] wouldn't have enjoyed the idea of bombing because he was a peaceable, decent man. But he loathed tyranny and, by the courage of RAF aircrew whom he supported, totalitarianism in Europe was avoided.'
By the time of the raid, Adolf Hitler had committed suicide and it was near-inevitable that Germany would fall.
British military chiefs believed the remaining German troops in Kiel would make a break for Norway, so moved to stop them in their tracks.
The Mosquitos damaged airfields near the city before launching a raid on its port, with Kiel falling to the Allies less than two days later.
Days after the picture was taken on May 2, Germany signed the unconditional surrender of all forces, ending the Second World War in Europe.
All information was on the "Mail online webpage". For more info see below