Britain on the brink : the Cold War's most dangerous weekend, 27-28 October 1962

221 Pages·2014·10.97 MB·English

by  Wilson

For Jonathan and Christopher

Contents
Foreword
Introduction
Chapter 1. The Unthinkable
Chapter 2. America’s Front-line
Chapter 3. Jigsaw Puzzles
Chapter 4. ‘Tit-for-Tat’
Chapter 5. Castro’s Concerns
Chapter 6. The View From Moscow
Chapter 7. Sunday, 14 October–Monday, 22 October
Chapter 8. Tuesday, 23 October–Wednesday, 24 October
Chapter 9. Stretched Nerves
Chapter 10. Thursday, 25 October–Friday, 26 October
Chapter 11. ‘Black Saturday’ 27 October
Chapter 12. Burlington ‘Berties’
Chapter 13. Britain’s ‘Gods’ of War
Chapter 14. Looking Back
Chapter 15. Sunday, 28 October
Chapter 16. ‘Near The Edge’
Chapter 17. The Penkovsky Factor
Chapter 18. Post Cuba Review
Chapter 19. Last Word
Chapter 20. And Still The Facts Were Witheld
Appendix. Crisis Timeline
Bibliography
Foreword
Most of us who lived through the Cold War became used to the threat of
nuclear conflict hanging over us. The policy of ‘Mutually Assured
Destruction’ was of little comfort, as the arguments raged for and against
the policies of governments both sides of the Iron Curtain. We got on with
our lives. But the possibility of war was never too far away.
For several days in October 1962, and one dangerous weekend, that
possibility was closer than at any other time during all the Cold War
years. Most people in the United Kingdom did not realise how close. The
Macmillan Government was desperate not to panic the public, and
desperate not to inflame an already terrifying situation.
The Cuban Crisis put the UK squarely into the front-line had the
confrontation, centred on Washington and Moscow, led to nuclear
conflict. And it so easily might have done, either as a result of a
misjudgement or a mistake.
The British public was largely unaware of the appalling dangers they
faced. The fact that British nuclear forces went to the highest level of
operational alert at any time during the Cold War years, was not even laid
clearly before the British Parliament, nor amazingly was it debated by the
British Cabinet.
Britain on the Brink attempts to put the British dimension of the
Cuban Crisis into context, and records the memories of some of those in
Britain’s V-Force and missile squadrons who bear personal witness to
how close the generation of the 1960s came to facing the awful prospect
of nuclear warfare.
I am particularly indebted to former RAF personnel who set down
their memories of that grim weekend when the V-Force went to a few
minutes readiness, in some cases with crews waiting in their cockpits for
the order to take off, and RAF launch crews on ballistic missile bases
down the east coast of England waiting for the orders to launch.
My thanks to all at Pen & Sword who have overseen this book to
publication. Grateful thanks too to my wife Judith for her patient support
and understanding.
Jim Wilson OBE
Carleton Rode, Norfolk
Foreword