Wg Cdr Roberts said the purpose of bringing the vaccine to Ascension Island, which sitsmidway between central South America and central Africa,was a case of staying ahead of the game.

The island is Covid-free and lets try and keep it that way, he said.

However, after crew on the ground were unable to sort the problem with one of the engines, cargo had to be unpacked and moved into storage, while passengers disembarked, setting the operation back by a whole 24 hours.

The timing of the vaccine is crucial.Once it has been removed from refrigeration it can only be in transit for a maximum of three days; any longer and it will be spoiled.

Packing the flight to carry the vaccine to Ascension Island was meticulous. The cargo hangar at Brize Norton,typically used for shipping out perishables, medicines and blood stocks to different theatres around the world, was rerolled during the pandemic in order to support the movement of vaccines.

Flying Officer George Cox, who helped prepare the aircraft, said: We are always agile and mobile in our responses, repurposing all of the equipment we have for defence and that does extend through to the cargo hangar.

The next morning, with 48 hours left on the clock, military personnel and contractors who work on the islandboarded the same aircraft, the precious vaccines strapped down in a crate on pallets covering the floor, and waited to see if there would be a successful take off.There was.

Despite cutting it fine, Operation Broadshare was back under control, until the plane touched down to refuel in Cape Verde, a group of islands off the West coast of Africa and on the Governments red list, which requires any travellers to quarantine in designated hotels upon arrival in the UK.

After seven hours flying, passengers stayed on board in order to avoid stepping foot on the island and being made to quarantine.However, after a successful refuel there was a problem with the engine once again and rumours started circulating that all on board would be made to vacate the plane and stay overnight in Cape Verde.

Ascension Island was another four and a half hoursflight away and time was ticking. Fortunately, the problem was eventually solved and the vaccines, enough for two doses for each of the 900-person population, arrived in Ascension Island late on Tuesday evening, as seen below.

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Exclusive: RAF's daring race against time to vaccinate Ascension Island in world-first mission - Telegraph.co.uk