Message from the author
Following the Nassau meeting between President Kennedy and Prime Minister Macmillan in 1962, the cancellation of the Skybolt air-launched missile and the offer of the submarine-launched Polaris promised the British a modern deterrent based on long-range ballistic missiles carried by a near-invulnerable launch platform.
This outcome was ideal from the British standpoint. The UK would be freed from reliance on a small group of subsonic bombers, armed with inadequate weapons and uncomfortably exposed to destruction on the ground and in the air. The Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile was (and, for the moment, is) the near-perfect small nation deterrent, but the problem was the inevitable wait. It would be at least seven years before British Polaris submarines would begin their lone patrols. What could be done, over this period, to stretch the capability and credibility of the V-bombers, to bridge the gap in a world already dominated by inter-continental missiles?
This book is about the efforts made to bridge this gap, until Britain’s strategic nuclear frontline passed to the submarines in mid-1969. It is also about much more: the dedicated aircrew and ground personnel, the aircraft, equipment and weapons and, of course, the V-bombers’ long period of supplementary service alongside the submarines, ending, somewhat ironically, in the Black Buck conventional raids of the Falklands War in 1982.
The V-Force was the cutting edge of UK military posture and international political presence in the very dangerous world of the 1960s and beyond. I hope this book goes some way towards placing on record the immense efforts made to keep us safe during the Cold War years.
Dr. Tony Redding
About Tony Redding
V-Bombers: Britain's Nuclear Frontline
Britain’s Nuclear Frontline is the first detailed account of the operational capability and credibility of Britain’s airborne nuclear deterrent during the peak years of the Cold War.
Bombing Germany: The Final Phase
The Destruction of Pforzheim and the Closing Months of Bomber Command's War.
Flying for Freedom: Life and Death in Bomber Command
A personal view of life and death in Bomber Command at the height of the bombing offensive against Germany and targets in Occupied Europe.
War in the Wilderness: The Chindits in Burma 1943-1944
War in the Wilderness is the most comprehensive account ever published of the human aspects of the Chindit war in Burma.
Best Endeavours: Inside the world of marine salvage
This book provides a unique insight into the challenging and often dangerous business of marine salvage.
On the Street Where You Live: Growing Up in 1950s London.
Why was growing up in the 1950's so different and special? If you are in your early 60's you will know the answers.Dr. Tony Redding is a military historian and author with a particular interest in RAF Bomber Command. Following the publication of two books on Bomber Command in World War 2, Dr Redding began a seven-year research programme on the British airborne nuclear deterrent, leading to a PhD from King’s College, London (War Studies) and this latest book, on the operational capability and credibility of the V-Bomber force during the Cold War.
Tony Redding and his wife, the artist Philippa Redding, live in a village close to Sandwich, in East Kent. Tony has lectured and broadcast widely on Bomber Command and other military subjects. He is also a founder member of The Chindit Society. His father, John “Jack” Redding, took part in Operation Thursday, Orde Wingate’s 1944 campaign behind Japanese lines in North Burma.
