London-born 'Dickie' Gunning trained as a pilot in 1936 and in March the following year he joined 107 Squadron, based at Harwell, Berkshire. With the gathering of war clouds, 107 exchanged its delightful, but out-dated, Hawker Hinds for Blenheims. Initially, the unit was equipped with Mk.Is but, with a move to Wattisham, Suffolk, in July 1939, they were replaced by Mk.IVs. As tension increased at the end of August, there was apprehension among the aircrew, together with the realisation that the performance of their 'wonder bomber', advertised as 'faster than the fighter', left something to be desired.
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