Flying Bombs Over England

This work tells the story of Germany's vengeance weapons, the V1 and V2 (flying bomb and rocket). It was written by the late novelist, H.E. Bates, in 1945 suppressed for 30 years and locked away in the British Public Records Office. The publication of the book coincides with the 50th anniversary of the start of Hitler's terror campaign, for it was on June 13, 1944 that the first ungainly monster made its appearance. Speeding across the skies just above tree-top height and spitting red flames from its tail, the missile crossed the coast at Dymchurch and crashed in Kent. The vengeance weapons were designed to turn the tide of war - and they nearly did. As they roared overhead, causing death and destruction in Southern England, H.E. Bates - the Air Ministry's "writer-in-residence" - was instructed to prepare a book on their concept, development, launching sites and the indiscriminate nature of their use. The novelist, with a wide knowledge of his subject, distilled a vivid portrait - only to see it become a victim of the 30-year rule. Bates recreates the atmosphere of life, explains the brilliant German engineering skills behind this last-ditch orgy of terror, and describes how they were finally repulsed by the front-line boys and girls in this new Battle of Britain. The book was edited by Bob Ogley, who published "Doodlebugs and Rockets" last year. It was Bob who found the Bates manuscript while researching in the Public Records Office.