0:00:02 > 0:00:04In August, 1945,
0:00:04 > 0:00:06for the first time in human history,
0:00:06 > 0:00:09civilisation stood vulnerable to total annihilation.
0:00:13 > 0:00:14In an instant,
0:00:14 > 0:00:17the accepted conventions of warfare were brushed aside.
0:00:19 > 0:00:25The modern battlefield would now be 50,000 feet above us,
0:00:25 > 0:00:28and death would travel these new frontiers
0:00:28 > 0:00:29on the wings of a jet bomber.
0:00:31 > 0:00:33As Britain prepared for peace,
0:00:33 > 0:00:36the country was thrown into a different kind of conflict -
0:00:36 > 0:00:40one that forced the nation to learn a new language of war.
0:00:42 > 0:00:46As soon as we'd be called upon to be used, it was nuclear war.
0:00:46 > 0:00:48The Third World War - nuclear.
0:00:49 > 0:00:55One bomb was approximately equivalent to all the bombs dropped
0:00:55 > 0:00:59by the Allies on Germany in World War II.
0:01:00 > 0:01:05Our mission was a one-way ride, and you were going to blow up the world.
0:01:05 > 0:01:07And no-one knew about it.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10To maintain its position in the new world order,
0:01:10 > 0:01:15and meet the exacting standards of this new technological warfare,
0:01:15 > 0:01:18Britain once again turned to its aviation industry,
0:01:18 > 0:01:21to the next generation of war machines.
0:01:22 > 0:01:26There was no other country in the world, who could produce
0:01:26 > 0:01:29an aircraft like the V-bombers.
0:01:29 > 0:01:33They were, for the day, like spaceships almost.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36As the platform for delivering nuclear Armageddon,
0:01:36 > 0:01:41the role of the jet bomber was set to dominate the political landscape
0:01:41 > 0:01:44for the next two decades.
0:01:44 > 0:01:49Aviation was the delivery system for the nuclear deterrent.
0:01:49 > 0:01:51I remember thinking that,
0:01:51 > 0:01:54"Gosh, you've got to be a brave man to do that,
0:01:54 > 0:01:57because if you're doing it for real,
0:01:57 > 0:02:00you've got nowhere to come back to.
0:02:01 > 0:02:05This is the story of how Britain embraced, adapted and improved
0:02:05 > 0:02:10its jet technology to face up to the terrifying realities of the new era,
0:02:10 > 0:02:13and to define how the Cold War was fought.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37NEWSREEL: Cut off from the other western zones of Germany
0:02:37 > 0:02:39by the Russian blockade...
0:02:39 > 0:02:44In June, 1948, Berlin became the first flash point of the Cold War.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50In a blatantly aggressive act to control the entire city,
0:02:50 > 0:02:53Stalin blocked rail, road and canal access to the West.
0:02:55 > 0:02:57There was only one way open to the beleaguered capital - by air -
0:02:57 > 0:03:00and at Western Zone airfields,
0:03:00 > 0:03:02supplies were loaded aboard transports,
0:03:02 > 0:03:04which had been rushed to the scene.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09In a single year, 200,000 flights delivered
0:03:09 > 0:03:12nearly 5,000 tonnes of supplies into West Berlin.
0:03:14 > 0:03:17A point had been proved - the aeroplane was king.
0:03:19 > 0:03:21And while there was nothing to match
0:03:21 > 0:03:24the vast numbers of Soviet troops on the ground,
0:03:24 > 0:03:26superiority in the skies belonged to the West.
0:03:29 > 0:03:34By the end of the war, Britain led the world in aviation technology,
0:03:34 > 0:03:37but the old certainties of the empire were gone,
0:03:37 > 0:03:41and by the late '40s, the country was forced to align itself
0:03:41 > 0:03:44with America and the bomb, in the new ideological conflict
0:03:44 > 0:03:46between East and West.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51And, of course, we were conscious at the time,
0:03:51 > 0:03:58that the Soviet army - the romping, stomping Red Army, as they'd call it,
0:03:58 > 0:04:03was five times bigger than the NATO forces.
0:04:03 > 0:04:09They had millions of troops under arms, well-trained, efficient...
0:04:09 > 0:04:13They had some of the best tanks in the world,
0:04:13 > 0:04:14and lots of them.
0:04:15 > 0:04:20They had their tails up because they'd conquered the Germans.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23As tension between the superpowers intensified,
0:04:23 > 0:04:27a US nuclear strike force became a permanent fixture on British soil.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32This force is a combat-ready offence force.
0:04:32 > 0:04:33It is a deterrent force,
0:04:33 > 0:04:38dedicated to the prevention of war - any war, large or small.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42This offence force is complemented by the joint allied early warning
0:04:42 > 0:04:44air defence system.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48Britain was, for the Americans, an unsinkable aircraft carrier
0:04:48 > 0:04:51moored off the northwest coast of Europe.
0:04:52 > 0:04:57It's a great deal easier to fly from Lincolnshire to Leningrad
0:04:57 > 0:05:00that it is America to Leningrad.
0:05:00 > 0:05:04You know, range was the thing.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07Shorter range, bigger payload. All those things.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11As America's foremost ally in Europe,
0:05:11 > 0:05:14Britain would be squarely in the Soviets' cross hairs,
0:05:14 > 0:05:16if World War III started.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18Of course, Europe was the primary target,
0:05:18 > 0:05:22because United States surrounded Soviet Union with their air bases.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28And they easily can reach
0:05:28 > 0:05:31most of the political and industrial centres.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37In 1949, confounding all expectation,
0:05:37 > 0:05:41the Soviet Union exploded its first atomic bomb.
0:05:41 > 0:05:43BOMB EXPLODES
0:05:43 > 0:05:46HOWLING WIND
0:05:46 > 0:05:49This was quite shocking because the expectation was
0:05:49 > 0:05:53that the Soviet Union was not capable
0:05:53 > 0:05:57of developing hi-tech weapons at this rate.
0:05:57 > 0:06:01The stage was now set for the next world war.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04A climate of suspicion, fear and mutual menace
0:06:04 > 0:06:06had begun to develop between the superpowers,
0:06:06 > 0:06:09and Britain as the non-nuclear piggy-in-the-middle,
0:06:09 > 0:06:12had nothing with which to retaliate.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16After the war, there was a feeling that...
0:06:16 > 0:06:18that was the end of war.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20And it was suddenly realised,
0:06:20 > 0:06:24that we have to prepare ourselves for this Russian threat.
0:06:25 > 0:06:30In 1951, Churchill spelled out the country's vulnerability
0:06:30 > 0:06:31in the House of Commons.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37"We must not forget," he said...
0:06:37 > 0:06:40"that by creating the American atomic base in East Anglia,
0:06:40 > 0:06:42"we have made ourselves the target,
0:06:42 > 0:06:46"and perhaps the bull's-eye, of a Soviet attack."
0:06:46 > 0:06:50"On the 28th March last year,
0:06:50 > 0:06:54"I said in Parliament, if for instance the United States
0:06:54 > 0:06:58"had a stockpile of 1,000 atomic bombs,
0:06:58 > 0:07:00"and Russia had 50,
0:07:00 > 0:07:06"and we got those 50 fearful experiences,
0:07:06 > 0:07:11"far beyond anything we have ever endured,
0:07:11 > 0:07:13"it would be our lot."
0:07:14 > 0:07:17BOMB EXPLODES
0:07:18 > 0:07:22Our only option was the nuclear option.
0:07:22 > 0:07:25That was the quickest and easiest way
0:07:25 > 0:07:28to give a credible opposition and deterrence.
0:07:28 > 0:07:32Churchill argued the country must continue to develop
0:07:32 > 0:07:37its own independent nuclear deterrent, regardless of the cost.
0:07:37 > 0:07:41This was a generation of politicians, you must remember,
0:07:41 > 0:07:43who had seen what appeasement did in the '30s.
0:07:44 > 0:07:49They were dammed if they were going to appease the Soviets.
0:07:49 > 0:07:52The prospect of Britain developing an atomic bomb,
0:07:52 > 0:07:56had received a blow in 1946 when the American McMahon Act
0:07:56 > 0:08:00unanimously refused to share any atomic secrets
0:08:00 > 0:08:02with its wartime allies.
0:08:04 > 0:08:09That stupid McMahon act, prevented us acting fully with them,
0:08:09 > 0:08:12and, in a way, at the time -
0:08:12 > 0:08:16they were apt to think they were the big boys and we were the small boys -
0:08:16 > 0:08:21we'd just got to show them that they didn't know everything.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23To have influence in the new world order,
0:08:23 > 0:08:26Britain would need its own atomic bomb,
0:08:26 > 0:08:28and without the help of the Americans
0:08:28 > 0:08:30the country would have to go it alone.
0:08:32 > 0:08:34If you want to be involved in the deterrent,
0:08:34 > 0:08:37you have to be able to do your own deterring.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40And that's a powerful bargaining tool.
0:08:40 > 0:08:44If you can start World War III, you have to be listened to.
0:08:44 > 0:08:46As work got under way building the bomb,
0:08:46 > 0:08:49the Ministry of Supply started to draw up requirements
0:08:49 > 0:08:51for a new jet bomber.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55A plane that could fly higher, faster, and further
0:08:55 > 0:08:58than any bomber of the past.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07In January, 1947,
0:09:07 > 0:09:12the Ministry of Supply issued this specification tender number B-35-46.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15It was an order for an urgently needed jet bomber -
0:09:15 > 0:09:17one that would set challenging new hurdles
0:09:17 > 0:09:19for Britain's aviation companies.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23They were asking for a bomber that could fly at least 50,000 feet -
0:09:23 > 0:09:26that is out of range of any Soviet missiles.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30It also had to have a long-range cruising speed of 580mph.
0:09:32 > 0:09:37Finally, it had to be capable of carrying a five-tonne atomic bomb.
0:09:38 > 0:09:40BOMB EXPLODES
0:09:40 > 0:09:46It was an extraordinary sense that you could do what you set your mind to.
0:09:46 > 0:09:47It was an extraordinary sense, too,
0:09:47 > 0:09:50that the resources would be available
0:09:50 > 0:09:54to carry through extraordinarily ambitious projects
0:09:54 > 0:09:56of aeronautical design.
0:09:56 > 0:10:00The first successful bid came from AVRO, based in Manchester.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02This was a company with pedigree,
0:10:02 > 0:10:06responsible for bombers like the Lancaster and Lincoln.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17AVRO's bid was radical, to say the least.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20The young designers of the Special Projects department,
0:10:20 > 0:10:21known as the AVRO babes,
0:10:21 > 0:10:24had borrowed the idea from a glider they'd discovered
0:10:24 > 0:10:27on a scouting mission to Germany in 1945.
0:10:27 > 0:10:29This is the incredible first sketch
0:10:29 > 0:10:32drawn by an young designer called Bob Lindley.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39Initially it was met with derision,
0:10:39 > 0:10:44but what would emerge from this was a truly astonishing aircraft,
0:10:44 > 0:10:47the fantasy of every schoolboy in Britain.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12Tony Blackman was a Vulcan test pilot.
0:11:12 > 0:11:14It must've looked incredible when the first designs were drawn up
0:11:14 > 0:11:18and when it first emerged from the hangar.
0:11:18 > 0:11:19Oh, yeah, absolutely.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22Something completely different.
0:11:22 > 0:11:24But it was right on the edge of technology at that time.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27They really did a superb job.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30No-one's done this delta wing like this, have they?
0:11:30 > 0:11:32Certainly not on this scale.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34Well, at that time, no.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37we knew very little in the UK about wing design, at all -
0:11:37 > 0:11:40or delta wing design - and we had to get help.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43The Germans had done a lot more work on it.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46When they flew the aircraft, they discovered that it buffeted
0:11:46 > 0:11:48at high speed.
0:11:48 > 0:11:53If you look up here, the outer leading edge on the Mach 1
0:11:53 > 0:11:57had to be drooped to get rid of the buffet,
0:11:57 > 0:12:00but it took several years to actually find the solution.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03So, presumably, there were a number of advantages
0:12:03 > 0:12:05to having the delta wing.
0:12:05 > 0:12:07Oh, yeah. Apart from the strength - it's very strong -
0:12:07 > 0:12:11of course, you can accommodate the engine, which is very important.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14And as you can see, the engines don't show at all.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17They're completely buried in the wing.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19But a very tiny cockpit. Ah!
0:12:19 > 0:12:23The cockpit was minute, and the view out of it's appalling!
0:12:23 > 0:12:25I went up there quite recently, and I looked and thought,
0:12:25 > 0:12:29"How on earth did I ever manage to fly that?!"
0:12:31 > 0:12:34The second company to win a contract was Handley Page,
0:12:34 > 0:12:37arch rivals of AVRO.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40The company had built the World War II Halifax bomber,
0:12:40 > 0:12:43and were working on crescent-shaped wings,
0:12:43 > 0:12:46designed for high-altitude cruising.
0:12:49 > 0:12:53The design was the brainchild of the chief aerodynamicist - a German.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59The plane's development, however, was dogged with accidents and delays.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03The Government decided another less advanced aircraft
0:13:03 > 0:13:06was required as backup.
0:13:06 > 0:13:10The third company to be awarded a contract was Vickers Armstrong.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14The banker as far as the Ministry of Supply were concerned.
0:13:14 > 0:13:17Vickers promised a new jet bomber that met all the criteria,
0:13:17 > 0:13:21but didn't push the technological envelope quite so far.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24More importantly, they also claimed that they would come in
0:13:24 > 0:13:26under budget and on time.
0:13:26 > 0:13:30You might think it's odd that you should build three bombers.
0:13:30 > 0:13:32Why not just build one?
0:13:32 > 0:13:35The reason is that experience from the Second World War,
0:13:35 > 0:13:40showed you couldn't tell which kind of aeroplane would do best.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42So they built three in the expectation
0:13:42 > 0:13:45that some will be better than others.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50True to their word, on 18th May, 1951,
0:13:50 > 0:13:54the Vickers Valiant was the first of the new jet bombers
0:13:54 > 0:13:55to lift off the runway.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00Two years later, it went into full production.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03I couldn't believe it, because I'd been flying
0:14:03 > 0:14:07piston-engined aircraft, exclusively, up till then.
0:14:07 > 0:14:11The Valiant just took off and went up like a homesick angel.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14I was watching the altimeter and it was going
0:14:14 > 0:14:17round and round and round and round really fast -
0:14:17 > 0:14:19trying to catch up with the aircraft.
0:14:20 > 0:14:24Determined not to be overshadowed by the Valiant,
0:14:24 > 0:14:27AVRO pulled out the stops to get the Vulcan airborne.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31In August 1952, here at Woodford,
0:14:31 > 0:14:34the Vulcan was finally rolled out from its hangar.
0:14:34 > 0:14:39Approaching the aircraft was an urbane figure in a pinstriped suit.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42This was Roly Falk, the test pilot,
0:14:42 > 0:14:46who had flown a captured German aircraft at Farnborough during the war.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50Falk oozed self-confidence and calm imperturbability.
0:14:50 > 0:14:54but no-one had ever flown a plane like this before,
0:14:54 > 0:14:56and as he stepped into the cockpit,
0:14:56 > 0:14:59I can't help thinking he must have had just a few nerves.
0:14:59 > 0:15:03Tony Blackman was Roly Falk's friend and protege.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06Couldn't have been a better guy to develop the aircraft.
0:15:06 > 0:15:08He was absolutely perfect.
0:15:08 > 0:15:10Not only was he a wonderful demonstration pilot,
0:15:10 > 0:15:12but he was a great salesman.
0:15:12 > 0:15:15Politicians and the air staff had to be persuaded
0:15:15 > 0:15:19that we were going to make a success of the aircraft,
0:15:19 > 0:15:21and Roly had to chat all these people up,
0:15:21 > 0:15:24have lunch with all the important people,
0:15:24 > 0:15:27and he'd rush out in his grey pinstriped suit
0:15:27 > 0:15:29and fly the aircraft immaculately.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32Within weeks of its first test flight,
0:15:32 > 0:15:35the Vulcan was unveiled at the Farnborough air show.
0:15:35 > 0:15:39NEWSREEL: The new AVRO 698 four-engined jet bomber!
0:15:43 > 0:15:45As the plane thundered past the runway,
0:15:45 > 0:15:48the crowd were transfixed by a vision of the future.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53And at the top of the take-off climb,
0:15:53 > 0:15:57Roly Falk did something no bomber had ever done before.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00He barrel-rolled the aircraft.
0:16:00 > 0:16:01Those sort of manoeuvres
0:16:01 > 0:16:04could hardly fail to impress anybody
0:16:04 > 0:16:06who had any interest in aviation.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09A bomber barrel-rolling was unheard of!
0:16:09 > 0:16:13That was the show-off antics of the fighter boys.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16Roly Falk was later reprimanded - not on safety grounds,
0:16:16 > 0:16:20but because it was considered "unbecoming behaviour" for a bomber.
0:16:20 > 0:16:24At any rate, there's no denying his joyful pirouette through the sky
0:16:24 > 0:16:28had changed the image of the slow, lumbering bomber for ever,
0:16:28 > 0:16:29and, of course, the crowd loved it.
0:16:32 > 0:16:37Two months later, the third plane in the V-force - the Victor -
0:16:37 > 0:16:39took to the skies at Boscombe Down.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43This was the most electronically and aerodynamically advanced bomber
0:16:43 > 0:16:46the world had ever seen.
0:16:46 > 0:16:50It could go faster, higher and with greater destructive power,
0:16:50 > 0:16:53than all the Lancaster bombers of World War II combined.
0:16:53 > 0:16:57They were, for the day, like spaceships, almost.
0:16:57 > 0:16:59The same with the Vulcan.
0:16:59 > 0:17:01I mean, they were so far advanced.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05You have got to think of the Victor or the Vulcan,
0:17:05 > 0:17:09beside a Lancaster or a Shackleton
0:17:09 > 0:17:11to see the huge step forward
0:17:11 > 0:17:14that had been made.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17This generational advancement was considerable.
0:17:17 > 0:17:21A year later, the Victor appeared at the Farnborough Air Show,
0:17:21 > 0:17:24with a flamboyant paint job.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27Yes, I first saw it in the strange colour scheme
0:17:27 > 0:17:29it had at first at Farnborough -
0:17:29 > 0:17:31the black fuselage and silver wings.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35Even then it was an impressive aeroplane.
0:17:35 > 0:17:37Though, I can remember the Vulcan coming across,
0:17:37 > 0:17:39and it came over at fairly low level and reasonably fast,
0:17:39 > 0:17:43making a lot of smoke and a lot of noise, and disappeared.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46And then the Victor appeared and it came across fairly sedately
0:17:46 > 0:17:50at about 1,500 feet or so, and we thought, "Hm, different."
0:17:50 > 0:17:52And then he barrel-rolled -
0:17:52 > 0:17:56and, of course, that word got back to Manchester pretty quickly.
0:17:56 > 0:17:59I think the Vulcan had to do it the next day.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02It became a sort of battle between the two companies at that time.
0:18:05 > 0:18:07The following year,
0:18:07 > 0:18:10Russian MiG fighters shot a Lincoln out of the sky
0:18:10 > 0:18:12as it flew down the Berlin corridor.
0:18:22 > 0:18:26The days of the propeller-driven bomber, were over.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36Right on cue, the Royal Air Force
0:18:36 > 0:18:38unveiled its new jet bomber squadrons -
0:18:38 > 0:18:40the hi-tech nuclear-strike force.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44I went on one occasion with my grandfather
0:18:44 > 0:18:47when he was Ministry of Defence to RAF Cottesmore.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50It was a V-bomber base,
0:18:50 > 0:18:54and we actually set off a scramble.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57SIREN WAILS
0:18:57 > 0:19:00And we saw this black trails going off into the sky.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03And this THUNDEROUS noise!
0:19:03 > 0:19:07I mean, so your chest shook with the sound waves hitting it.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10I remember thinking, you know, I don't know if they scare the enemy,
0:19:10 > 0:19:13but, by God, they frighten me!
0:19:17 > 0:19:20Britain was also catching up in the arms race.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22By 1952, Churchill's government
0:19:22 > 0:19:26had tested the country's first atomic bomb.
0:19:26 > 0:19:31But that same year, the stakes had been raised even higher.
0:19:31 > 0:19:36The Americans exploded a thermonuclear device.
0:19:36 > 0:19:40It was quickly followed by a Russian megaton bomb.
0:19:40 > 0:19:45The A-bomb had been superseded 1,000 times by the H-bomb.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59Churchill demanded that Britain keep pace, and to hell with the cost.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01It was the price to be paid for a seat at the top table,
0:20:01 > 0:20:04and a chance to influence superpower aggression.
0:20:06 > 0:20:10In the 1957, Britain went thermo nuclear.
0:20:12 > 0:20:17NEWSREEL: The Valiant swung into a 1.8 G turn, through 140 degrees,
0:20:17 > 0:20:20on its planned escape course.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24DEEP RUMBLE
0:20:33 > 0:20:36Why does Britain do it? Well, because it's a great power.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39It needs the H-bomb to remain a great power.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41But there is another important reason.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44And that is that the H-bomb, like the A-bomb,
0:20:44 > 0:20:47is seen as a relatively cheap way of fighting war.
0:20:47 > 0:20:51You need hi tech, relatively cheap warfare,
0:20:51 > 0:20:55and that's what the bomb does for Britain.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58We believed that we were preventing war from happening,
0:20:58 > 0:21:01by being prepared for war.
0:21:01 > 0:21:03Wasn't it Theodore Roosevelt who said,
0:21:03 > 0:21:07the man who wants peace prepares for war?
0:21:07 > 0:21:10I believe that to be true.
0:21:10 > 0:21:12Or the other thing he came up with was,
0:21:12 > 0:21:14walk quietly and carry a big stick.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17As far as we were concerned, we had a big stick.
0:21:17 > 0:21:21Now armed to the teeth, with the technology to deliver,
0:21:21 > 0:21:23Britain needed men prepared to take on the burden
0:21:23 > 0:21:26of the independent nuclear deterrent
0:21:26 > 0:21:29and risk all in a third world war.
0:21:33 > 0:21:38The RAF began the search for chaps with the right stuff.
0:21:44 > 0:21:48I was personally interviewed by Air Vice Marshal, as he then was,
0:21:48 > 0:21:50in 1958, Bing Cross.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54I don't think I'd ever spoken to an Air Vice Marshal before.
0:21:54 > 0:21:56Do you go to church?
0:21:56 > 0:21:57Do you play rugby?
0:21:57 > 0:21:59Do you have a mess kit?
0:21:59 > 0:22:02Those with three of the standards Bing Cross was looking for.
0:22:02 > 0:22:03He was looking for character.
0:22:03 > 0:22:08I had to go through what was called personal vetting - PVT clearance.
0:22:08 > 0:22:12This went into finding out what my uncles and aunts did.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15It was quite intense.
0:22:15 > 0:22:21This was to ensure, I guess, our family and I was a true Brit.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24The V bombers were so advanced
0:22:24 > 0:22:27it took a crew of five highly-trained men to fly them.
0:22:27 > 0:22:31Five people - first pilot, co-pilot,
0:22:31 > 0:22:34navigator-radar, navigator-plotter,
0:22:34 > 0:22:36air electronics officer -
0:22:36 > 0:22:38and you were a team.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40The expression we used to use as the bomber crew
0:22:40 > 0:22:43is "marriage without sex".
0:22:43 > 0:22:46After 18 months of rigorous training,
0:22:46 > 0:22:50the RAF was ready to launch the country's nuclear capability.
0:22:51 > 0:22:54It was a point that government was keen to emphasise.
0:22:54 > 0:22:58World leaders were invited to V-bomber bases, not to buy,
0:22:58 > 0:23:00but to be impressed.
0:23:00 > 0:23:03And in some cases, to be warned.
0:23:05 > 0:23:09Even the new Soviet Premier, Nikita Khrushchev, got an invite.
0:23:09 > 0:23:14He didn't want it to show the British strength
0:23:14 > 0:23:17and British technological capability,
0:23:17 > 0:23:19and I was most impressed.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22I was a young man and for me at that time,
0:23:22 > 0:23:27all these planes were like from the future.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31And these planes in Great Britain, especially the Victor,
0:23:31 > 0:23:35there was more futuristic than the Soviet planes.
0:23:35 > 0:23:37To be credible as a deterrent,
0:23:37 > 0:23:39you have to demonstrate to your public
0:23:39 > 0:23:42and, of course, to the potential aggressor,
0:23:42 > 0:23:44that you do indeed have this capability.
0:23:45 > 0:23:51American strategic air command was also intrigued by Britain's V force.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53The same year the Victor had first flown,
0:23:53 > 0:23:56they had tested their own bomber -
0:23:56 > 0:23:58the B-52.
0:23:59 > 0:24:00We'd watch them go down the runway,
0:24:00 > 0:24:05making a lot of smoke out the back, and they'd then disappear.
0:24:05 > 0:24:09Eventually, after three or four minutes, you'd see it creep up above the smoke cloud...
0:24:09 > 0:24:11and it WAS climbing away -
0:24:11 > 0:24:15but nothing like our capability!
0:24:15 > 0:24:18The B-52 was no match for versatility,
0:24:18 > 0:24:22but how did the V bomber square up for accuracy?
0:24:22 > 0:24:26To find out Valiants and Vulcans were invited Stateside
0:24:26 > 0:24:29to take part in bombing competitions.
0:24:48 > 0:24:52The whole thing about the Americans was "big".
0:24:52 > 0:24:54Their bombers were big,
0:24:54 > 0:24:57their stations were big
0:24:57 > 0:25:01and everything about it was... kind of size and money.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05The United States Air Force guys were obviously paid
0:25:05 > 0:25:07considerably more than we were.
0:25:07 > 0:25:09They were highly regarded -
0:25:09 > 0:25:12got all sorts of privileges that we never saw here.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15They had their own, effectively, supermarkets on base,
0:25:15 > 0:25:17that were tax-free.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20So quite often an aircraft would come back
0:25:20 > 0:25:23with a lot of stuff in the bomb bay - particularly mowers.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26Petrol lawn-mowers in those days were a ludicrous price over there.
0:25:26 > 0:25:28Samsonite suitcases!
0:25:28 > 0:25:31I think, virtually everyone in the V force had at least three
0:25:31 > 0:25:34by the time they'd done a couple of trips to America.
0:25:34 > 0:25:36As the American public slept,
0:25:36 > 0:25:40the bombers would fly target runs over their cities,
0:25:40 > 0:25:42and simulate nuclear warfare.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50The mission was that one would fly for four or five hours
0:25:50 > 0:25:53and then drop a bomb at the end of the mission.
0:26:02 > 0:26:04Tucson and Salt Lake City
0:26:04 > 0:26:07were probably the main targets.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09One or two occasions in Los Angeles.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15They'd set up electronics so they could tell when we'd "released" our bomb,
0:26:15 > 0:26:20and then they could work out, using the various trajectories,
0:26:20 > 0:26:23where the bomb would actually land,
0:26:23 > 0:26:25and give you an assessment of your target -
0:26:25 > 0:26:28500 yards from the target, or 100 yards...
0:26:30 > 0:26:33All our missions were all very good.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36I think they were all within 500 yards of the target.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40Whereas the Americans were getting much bigger errors.
0:26:49 > 0:26:51As the Cold War progressed,
0:26:51 > 0:26:54the destructive power of the H-bomb kept an uneasy peace
0:26:54 > 0:26:56between the superpowers.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59The bomb had become a bargaining tool -
0:26:59 > 0:27:01a tool most successful when held in reserve.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08It's hard to get it into perspective,
0:27:08 > 0:27:12but one bomb that was carried by say a Vulcan
0:27:12 > 0:27:17was approximately equivalent, in explosive power,
0:27:17 > 0:27:23to all the bombs dropped by the Allies on Germany in World War II.
0:27:23 > 0:27:27Which is mind-blowing, if you think about it.
0:27:27 > 0:27:32The heady days of daredevils flying victory rolls over Farnborough were over.
0:27:32 > 0:27:34Pilots and crews were now living permanently
0:27:34 > 0:27:38on the front line of MAD - mutually assured destruction.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44In those days, one had to sign the Official Secrets Act anyway,
0:27:44 > 0:27:47to become a member of the Air Force,
0:27:47 > 0:27:50but when you joined the V force,
0:27:50 > 0:27:55now things became Top Secret and Top Secret Atomic.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58We didn't discuss it with our families.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00My wife and family had no idea
0:28:00 > 0:28:04of what I might be called upon to do.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07Our mission was a one-way ride.
0:28:07 > 0:28:09And you are going to blow up the world.
0:28:09 > 0:28:11And no-one knew about it.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16That one-way mission would be triggered
0:28:16 > 0:28:19if the country's eyes and ears at Fylingdales in the North Yorkshire,
0:28:19 > 0:28:21detected a Soviet attack.
0:28:27 > 0:28:30Russian nuclear missiles were becoming more accurate
0:28:30 > 0:28:33with increasingly long-range capabilities.
0:28:34 > 0:28:38The early warning radar system would give the V force
0:28:38 > 0:28:41just enough time to get airborne and retaliate.
0:28:43 > 0:28:46The famous four-minute warning being the minimum time
0:28:46 > 0:28:48they expected ever to get.
0:28:48 > 0:28:52So, that virtually all 200-odd of V bombers
0:28:52 > 0:28:55would get launched within the four minutes, if necessary.
0:28:58 > 0:29:00Never before in the history of warfare,
0:29:00 > 0:29:03had minute-by-minute timing been so crucial.
0:29:05 > 0:29:09Pilots and their crews would live in a permanent state of emergency,
0:29:09 > 0:29:11waiting for the call to arms.
0:29:13 > 0:29:17This was QRA - quick reaction alert.
0:29:19 > 0:29:23The plan was that every squadron provided
0:29:23 > 0:29:26one aircraft and crew on QRA.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29And that aircraft would be bombed up
0:29:29 > 0:29:31and you were in your flying kit ready to go,
0:29:31 > 0:29:33and you'd cock the aircraft
0:29:33 > 0:29:36so you could be off the ground in a matter of minutes.
0:29:49 > 0:29:53QRA crews were separated from the distractions of normal life on base.
0:29:55 > 0:29:58They'd live in cabins close to the runway,
0:29:58 > 0:30:01within easy reach of their aircraft.
0:30:01 > 0:30:04We spent an awful lot of time as a crew locked
0:30:04 > 0:30:06in a very small room,
0:30:06 > 0:30:10studying the target, and all that went with it.
0:30:10 > 0:30:13The routing to get there, the fuel to get there,
0:30:13 > 0:30:15the defences we might meet on the way,
0:30:15 > 0:30:17the weapon we were carrying,
0:30:17 > 0:30:20and the target itself.
0:30:20 > 0:30:23St Petersburg was one. Kaliningrad.
0:30:23 > 0:30:25And all the capitals in the Baltics.
0:30:26 > 0:30:30The crews lived with three states of readiness -
0:30:30 > 0:30:32the normal 15 minutes alert,
0:30:32 > 0:30:35and occasional five minutes,
0:30:35 > 0:30:38and the highest of all, just two minutes.
0:30:40 > 0:30:43The men were constantly tested at each level, day or night.
0:30:43 > 0:30:46We would've each, by this stage, been given a car.
0:30:46 > 0:30:47If we got a call -
0:30:47 > 0:30:51which would come out over Tannoys across the whole station -
0:30:51 > 0:30:54a red to state 5 call - we'd all, the crews, clamber in these cars,
0:30:54 > 0:30:56rush out to our aircraft,
0:30:56 > 0:30:59get in the cockpit, shut the door.
0:30:59 > 0:31:01Or else, actually start the engines,
0:31:01 > 0:31:03and taxi to the end of the runway
0:31:03 > 0:31:06and be plugged in at the end of the runway.
0:31:06 > 0:31:08There were several codewords -
0:31:08 > 0:31:09one was to start engines,
0:31:09 > 0:31:12one was to take off, one was to coast out,
0:31:12 > 0:31:15and the final one was eight east.
0:31:15 > 0:31:17If that came through, that was irrevocable.
0:31:17 > 0:31:19You did not come back.
0:31:21 > 0:31:23We assumed, at that stage,
0:31:23 > 0:31:26there were weapons falling on the United Kingdom.
0:31:26 > 0:31:29And so we were being released to do the job.
0:31:31 > 0:31:34These exercises went on 24/7,
0:31:34 > 0:31:39so there was, in the back of your mind, the thought,
0:31:39 > 0:31:42"This might be the one where we're actually going..."
0:31:42 > 0:31:45It might have been half an hour later,
0:31:45 > 0:31:48when we're at height and on our way,
0:31:48 > 0:31:54that you began to think, "Oh, my goodness me. This is for real."
0:32:27 > 0:32:30The prospect of prolonged international tension
0:32:30 > 0:32:34fundamentally changed the basis of military planning.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37The country's war chest was bursting at the seams.
0:32:37 > 0:32:40Britain no longer required forces stationed throughout the globe,
0:32:40 > 0:32:42armed with conventional weaponry.
0:32:42 > 0:32:44The peace of the world now depended
0:32:44 > 0:32:48on the efficacy of the nuclear deterrent.
0:32:48 > 0:32:51Britain was spending more than 10% of gross domestic product
0:32:51 > 0:32:54on warfare in the early 1950s.
0:32:54 > 0:32:55Quite extraordinary.
0:32:55 > 0:32:58Historically unprecedented for peacetime.
0:32:58 > 0:33:01And right across the political spectrum, from right to left,
0:33:01 > 0:33:03it's recognised that Britain simply can't afford
0:33:03 > 0:33:06to maintain this level of defence expenditure in the long run.
0:33:06 > 0:33:09It's undermining the civilian economy.
0:33:12 > 0:33:15The time had come to revise not only the size
0:33:15 > 0:33:17but also the character of the defence plan.
0:33:17 > 0:33:19A new approach was needed.
0:33:20 > 0:33:21I remember my grandfather,
0:33:21 > 0:33:25early on in his prime ministership asking Duncan Sandys,
0:33:25 > 0:33:27who was then the Ministry of Defence,
0:33:27 > 0:33:32to do a review of defence capability, costs,
0:33:32 > 0:33:35operational requirements, likely future costing.
0:33:35 > 0:33:39It was quite clear from that that Britain could not afford
0:33:39 > 0:33:44to have the commitment that she'd had
0:33:44 > 0:33:46up till then.
0:33:50 > 0:33:54On 4th April, 1957, the Ministry of Defence, Duncan Sandys,
0:33:54 > 0:33:56rose to his feet in the House of Commons
0:33:56 > 0:34:00to present his White Paper - Outline Of Future Policy.
0:34:00 > 0:34:01Despite the sense of expectation,
0:34:01 > 0:34:04the speech was for the most part rather dull.
0:34:04 > 0:34:07But then came the sting in the tail.
0:34:07 > 0:34:09Hidden under the section Research and Development
0:34:09 > 0:34:11Sandys spelled out his decision
0:34:11 > 0:34:13to cut off the aviation industry at the knees.
0:34:13 > 0:34:18But Sandys had targeted the jet fighter, not the jet bomber.
0:34:18 > 0:34:21Fighters, he believed, now played a limited role
0:34:21 > 0:34:24in modern hi-tech warfare.
0:34:24 > 0:34:25They were expensive to develop,
0:34:25 > 0:34:30and there were too many private companies building them.
0:34:30 > 0:34:34Sandys' vision focused on a cheaper, more effective Cold War weapon,
0:34:34 > 0:34:38a weapon that would eventually seal the fate of the V bomber -
0:34:38 > 0:34:42the intercontinental ballistic missile.
0:34:42 > 0:34:45In America, as in Australia and Britain,
0:34:45 > 0:34:49the guided missile has grown from prophecy to fact.
0:34:49 > 0:34:51These things exist.
0:34:57 > 0:34:59No more aeroplanes.
0:34:59 > 0:35:01We'll do it all with rockets.
0:35:01 > 0:35:06And I remember the newspaper hoardings and everything and thinking,
0:35:06 > 0:35:10"Argh, that's rather screwed my career prospects!"
0:35:10 > 0:35:14But it's a sign of Britain's commitment to modernity,
0:35:14 > 0:35:16especially in warfare,
0:35:16 > 0:35:20that you can have a White Paper of that radical a nature.
0:35:20 > 0:35:22The nation's romance with the jet fighter
0:35:22 > 0:35:25had had its wings clipped.
0:35:26 > 0:35:29But there was one experimental plane,
0:35:29 > 0:35:31that escaped the clutches of the White Paper.
0:35:31 > 0:35:36An aircraft with a spine-shattering rate of climb,
0:35:36 > 0:35:38and a top speed of Mach 2.
0:35:38 > 0:35:42The RAF's first operational supersonic jet -
0:35:42 > 0:35:45the English Electric Lightning.
0:35:54 > 0:35:57The Lightning was capable of outmanoeuvring
0:35:57 > 0:35:59anything the Russians could throw at it.
0:35:59 > 0:36:01And only the very best pilots got to fly it.
0:36:03 > 0:36:07Martin Bee was just 23 when he was sent to fly Lightnings
0:36:07 > 0:36:09at RAF Coltishall.
0:36:15 > 0:36:18Gosh, well, look at that! That some...
0:36:18 > 0:36:20Bigger than I thought!
0:36:20 > 0:36:23I mean, this must have been every young pilot's dream.
0:36:23 > 0:36:25Isn't it? To fly on this?
0:36:25 > 0:36:29I think so, because it was the first supersonic aeroplane in level flight,
0:36:29 > 0:36:31that we had in the Royal Air Force.
0:36:31 > 0:36:33It really was a bit of a hot rod.
0:36:38 > 0:36:41We could go supersonic in the climb -
0:36:41 > 0:36:43couple of minutes up to 36,000 feet.
0:36:43 > 0:36:46Pretty quick going, from takeoff! That's pretty impressive.
0:36:46 > 0:36:48And it just moves fast,
0:36:48 > 0:36:50everything happens fast.
0:36:50 > 0:36:53And look at the sweep - 60 degrees of wing sweep.
0:36:53 > 0:36:57You really are being a bit of a birdman there, so it's good fun.
0:36:57 > 0:36:59We had a simulator.
0:36:59 > 0:37:01So we did all our training in the simulator.
0:37:01 > 0:37:04And then, one day they strapped you in and said, "Go."
0:37:04 > 0:37:07It's a very dense aeroplane - all the pipes sit next to each other -
0:37:07 > 0:37:10so you've got hot engines, hydraulic pipes, fuel pipes -
0:37:10 > 0:37:12so we had an awful lot of fires.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17And often the fire resulted in loss of control,
0:37:17 > 0:37:19and then the pilot would eject.
0:37:19 > 0:37:23But it didn't kill a lot of people. But we lost a lot of aeroplanes.
0:37:23 > 0:37:25One of the Lightning's key roles,
0:37:25 > 0:37:28was to intercept Russian bombers in the North Atlantic.
0:37:28 > 0:37:31The Russians might be going to Cuba,
0:37:31 > 0:37:34they come down on an exercise with their fleet in the Atlantic,
0:37:34 > 0:37:37but most of the time they were probably practising
0:37:37 > 0:37:39their war mission against us.
0:37:39 > 0:37:42That's one of the reasons, why we would intercept them so far out.
0:37:42 > 0:37:46Because we knew, they had a capability to launch
0:37:46 > 0:37:48a stand-off weapon against the UK.
0:37:48 > 0:37:51And what would those encounters be like?
0:37:51 > 0:37:54I think probably the very first one was apprehensive.
0:37:54 > 0:37:56You wonder what you're doing,
0:37:56 > 0:37:58if he's going to do something to you,
0:37:58 > 0:38:00or if you may be asked to do something to him.
0:38:00 > 0:38:02But on the other hand fascinating.
0:38:02 > 0:38:06You actually see the opposition for the first time face-to-face.
0:38:08 > 0:38:10Well, that's the thing about the Cold War, isn't it?
0:38:10 > 0:38:12Most people never saw the enemy.
0:38:12 > 0:38:17But you are absolutely on the coalface - the front line ` aren't you?
0:38:17 > 0:38:20Yes, but, after a few interceptions you would find you could get up
0:38:20 > 0:38:22fairly close to the bomber
0:38:22 > 0:38:25and you might be 100 metres away,
0:38:25 > 0:38:27and you could see a chap in the rear,
0:38:27 > 0:38:30tail-gunner's position waving at you.
0:38:30 > 0:38:33And you would wave back. It was the Cold War.
0:38:41 > 0:38:44Pilot John Ward decided to take the Lightning out
0:38:44 > 0:38:46to give me a sense of its sheer power.
0:39:30 > 0:39:33Just amazing, isn't it? My goodness me!
0:39:37 > 0:39:38John.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43That was absolutely amazing.
0:39:43 > 0:39:45It really was incredible.
0:39:45 > 0:39:48And just to see that immense power and speed.
0:39:48 > 0:39:50It was a blur going past me.
0:39:50 > 0:39:52It's something you never get over.
0:39:52 > 0:39:53I'm still hooked on the adrenaline.
0:39:53 > 0:39:55You can see it dripping out of me now!
0:39:56 > 0:40:00What was it like to fly? Well, it's a Mach 2 aeroplane.
0:40:00 > 0:40:01Faster than a rifle bullet.
0:40:01 > 0:40:03Yeah, that's saying something, isn't it?
0:40:03 > 0:40:09First time I flew one of these solo, I was changing the radio channels in the climb, out over Norfolk,
0:40:09 > 0:40:11and I saw a little flicker on the instruments
0:40:11 > 0:40:14and suddenly realised, that even though I was climbing
0:40:14 > 0:40:16I was supersonic.
0:40:16 > 0:40:18That's just absolutely ridiculous!
0:40:18 > 0:40:221950s technology. Yeah. You know, this is...
0:40:22 > 0:40:27When British industry was producing some awesome pieces of kit.
0:40:27 > 0:40:29An "awesome piece of kit" indeed!
0:40:29 > 0:40:32The Lightning was retired in 1988,
0:40:32 > 0:40:35one year before the Berlin Wall came down.
0:40:55 > 0:41:00Britain was a country about to experience rapid social change.
0:41:00 > 0:41:04Gone were the days of doffing your cap to patrician leaders.
0:41:04 > 0:41:09Government was about to discover the public had a voice.
0:41:09 > 0:41:11On Good Friday, 1958,
0:41:11 > 0:41:14a group of academics, scientists and religious leaders
0:41:14 > 0:41:16gathered in Trafalgar Square to march in protest
0:41:16 > 0:41:19against the escalating arms race.
0:41:19 > 0:41:24PA: "..and this business of hydrogen bombs and nuclear weapons
0:41:24 > 0:41:26is supremely a moral issue."
0:41:28 > 0:41:31They'd have been happy if 50 people had turned up,
0:41:31 > 0:41:35but instead 10,000 braved the rain and the snow.
0:41:35 > 0:41:38Over the next four days they walked 60 miles to this place,
0:41:38 > 0:41:41the atomic weapons establishment at Aldermaston -
0:41:41 > 0:41:44the Campaign For Nuclear Disarmament had begun.
0:41:48 > 0:41:50Britain's bomb has no deterrent value,
0:41:50 > 0:41:51it can make no difference at all
0:41:51 > 0:41:54to the situation between America and Russia.
0:41:54 > 0:41:57I think we should ban it. Definitely.
0:41:57 > 0:41:59Because somebody has got to make the first move, haven't they?
0:41:59 > 0:42:03They all thought, I'm sure, that they were doing good,
0:42:03 > 0:42:06or trying to stop what was happening.
0:42:06 > 0:42:07But this had already happened.
0:42:07 > 0:42:10We'd already exploded an atom bomb in Japan,
0:42:10 > 0:42:14we'd already exploded in Christmas Island,
0:42:14 > 0:42:19the Americans had worked out thermonuclear weapons in Nevada desert.
0:42:19 > 0:42:22So, really, it's like the moment you invent something
0:42:22 > 0:42:24you can't de-invent it. Can you?
0:42:26 > 0:42:31It was an argument that would be brought into sharp and terrifying relief.
0:42:33 > 0:42:35On 14th October 1962,
0:42:35 > 0:42:37a U2 spy plane flew high over Cuba
0:42:37 > 0:42:40to see if there was any truth to the rumours
0:42:40 > 0:42:43that the Russians were building missile bases on the island.
0:42:43 > 0:42:47The pictures they brought back would take the world to the brink of Armageddon.
0:42:48 > 0:42:52CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS
0:42:54 > 0:42:58Do you, Ambassador Zorin, deny that the USSR
0:42:58 > 0:43:02has placed, and is placing, medium and intermediate range
0:43:02 > 0:43:05missiles and sites in Cuba?
0:43:05 > 0:43:06Yes or no?
0:43:10 > 0:43:13You will have your answer in due course.
0:43:15 > 0:43:18I am prepared to wait for my answer until hell freezes over,
0:43:18 > 0:43:21if that's your decision.
0:43:21 > 0:43:26Americans were lucky being protected by two oceans.
0:43:26 > 0:43:28So, for them, enemy at the gates,
0:43:28 > 0:43:34or technical capability to reach the territory, generated this fear -
0:43:34 > 0:43:38if they technically can do it, they will do it tomorrow.
0:43:38 > 0:43:41As Kennedy and Khrushchev squared up to each other,
0:43:41 > 0:43:45it was clear to the Prime Minister Harold Macmillan,
0:43:45 > 0:43:49that despite the conflict taking place over 4,000 miles away,
0:43:49 > 0:43:52it was Britain that was on the front line.
0:43:54 > 0:43:57I remember one afternoon,
0:43:57 > 0:43:59my grandfather was having a meeting
0:43:59 > 0:44:01with the head of the Chiefs of Staff,
0:44:01 > 0:44:05and the Permanent Secretary of the Foreign Office,
0:44:05 > 0:44:08and his Foreign Secretary, and I was in the room.
0:44:08 > 0:44:10And the Permanent Secretary said,
0:44:10 > 0:44:14"Prime Minister, your grandson is in the room, he shouldn't be listening.
0:44:14 > 0:44:17"This is classified."
0:44:17 > 0:44:22And my grandfather looked at him and said, "If we get it wrong,
0:44:22 > 0:44:25"it's going to have far more impact on him than on us."
0:44:25 > 0:44:33President Kennedy told my father in Vienna that we can destroy you many times.
0:44:33 > 0:44:37Khrushchev answered, "There is no difference.
0:44:37 > 0:44:43"I am not so cannibalistic as you. I can destroy you only once."
0:44:43 > 0:44:46It shall be the policy of this nation
0:44:46 > 0:44:49to regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba
0:44:49 > 0:44:52against any nation in the Western Hemisphere,
0:44:52 > 0:44:56as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States
0:44:56 > 0:45:00requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union.
0:45:03 > 0:45:08On 22th October, Strategic Air Command went to DEFCON 2,
0:45:08 > 0:45:11one notch away from war itself.
0:45:13 > 0:45:17And a naval blockade was set up around Cuba.
0:45:17 > 0:45:21These were the most dangerous days in human history.
0:45:24 > 0:45:26On the 27th, Black Saturday,
0:45:26 > 0:45:30as the British public prepared for a weekend of football,
0:45:30 > 0:45:34the RAF prepared for world destruction.
0:45:37 > 0:45:41They brought up to the highest possible state of readiness,
0:45:41 > 0:45:4302, engines running on the end of the runway,
0:45:43 > 0:45:45guzzling fuel,
0:45:45 > 0:45:49whilst they finally made up their mind - whether we scrambled
0:45:49 > 0:45:54or reverted to readiness state 1-5, literally, in minutes.
0:45:56 > 0:45:59I remembered saying to Mary,
0:45:59 > 0:46:01to my wife,
0:46:01 > 0:46:04if anything happens when you see us take off,
0:46:04 > 0:46:06if we've been called in,
0:46:06 > 0:46:07what I would like you to do is
0:46:07 > 0:46:09take the children, put them in the car,
0:46:09 > 0:46:12and then drive up to west Scotland,
0:46:12 > 0:46:15and I think you'll be safe there.
0:46:15 > 0:46:19If war began, 150 V bombers would follow
0:46:19 > 0:46:21a preordained flight path east.
0:46:21 > 0:46:23We would go in first,
0:46:23 > 0:46:27take out all the targets in the Baltics
0:46:27 > 0:46:29and the western part of Russia,
0:46:29 > 0:46:33which would allow the Americans to come in with their B-52s,
0:46:33 > 0:46:35to follow us.
0:46:35 > 0:46:38All the targets were strategically placed apart,
0:46:38 > 0:46:44so they would be flying between the blasts of actual bombs going off.
0:46:44 > 0:46:47So they could go in and attack the cities further into Russia.
0:46:50 > 0:46:52Initially we had fighter defences,
0:46:52 > 0:46:54obviously we'd got to worry about,
0:46:54 > 0:46:56and we were jamming against those.
0:46:56 > 0:46:58But, of course, they started deploying large numbers
0:46:58 > 0:47:02of surface-to-air missiles - what were called SAM-1 and SAM-2.
0:47:02 > 0:47:06As long as you kept turning, about every minute-and-a-half,
0:47:06 > 0:47:09so you did a weaving attack, in effect,
0:47:09 > 0:47:15they would not be able to get the missile to predict well enough to hit you.
0:47:15 > 0:47:16And we'd level out, literally,
0:47:16 > 0:47:19with hopefully no more than four or five miles to go
0:47:19 > 0:47:21for me to finally be able to correct on the target position
0:47:21 > 0:47:24and drop the weapon.
0:47:39 > 0:47:42Now a spent force, the V bombers would head home.
0:47:45 > 0:47:51But, in all practicality, there would be nothing to come home to.
0:47:51 > 0:47:53I mean, Britain would have been laid waste.
0:47:53 > 0:47:56It doesn't bear thinking about, really. It's awful.
0:47:56 > 0:47:58It's too awful for words.
0:48:03 > 0:48:07At the last minute, Khrushchev ordered his ships to turn away
0:48:07 > 0:48:09from the American blockade.
0:48:09 > 0:48:11The crisis had been averted.
0:48:13 > 0:48:17We credited our politicians with being rational people.
0:48:19 > 0:48:23We credited the Soviets with being rational people.
0:48:23 > 0:48:26And Khrushchev, for all his bluster,
0:48:26 > 0:48:29and his shoe-tapping in the United Nations,
0:48:29 > 0:48:33at the end of the day, when confronted by Kennedy's blockade,
0:48:33 > 0:48:35proved to be rational.
0:48:36 > 0:48:39But if Britain's deterrent had been launched,
0:48:39 > 0:48:43it was unclear just how effective it would have been.
0:48:43 > 0:48:47Two years before Cuba, there was another missile crisis.
0:48:50 > 0:48:53A U2 spy plane, piloted by CIA operative Gary Powers,
0:48:53 > 0:48:56was shot out of the sky whilst photographing military sites
0:48:56 > 0:48:59in Soviet airspace.
0:48:59 > 0:49:03What was shocking was the U2 was flying 13 miles high.
0:49:04 > 0:49:09If Soviet surface-to-air missiles could hit a plane at that altitude,
0:49:09 > 0:49:12they could also destroy a V Bomber.
0:49:12 > 0:49:14The first reaction, I suppose,
0:49:14 > 0:49:17was perhaps Duncan Sandys was right after all.
0:49:17 > 0:49:21The V Force had become the vulnerable force.
0:49:23 > 0:49:26The only option was to go under the radar.
0:49:29 > 0:49:30Suddenly, overnight,
0:49:30 > 0:49:37all the tactics changed to a high-level flight over Western Europe
0:49:37 > 0:49:39and, as you approached Eastern Europe,
0:49:39 > 0:49:43you then dive down and fly as low as you can to the ground.
0:49:43 > 0:49:47And then when you approached the target, you would climb up
0:49:47 > 0:49:51to altitude, release your bomb
0:49:51 > 0:49:55and then turn away and try and get home.
0:49:55 > 0:49:57V Bombers were given new war paint.
0:49:57 > 0:50:01The anti-flash white was replaced by the more prosaic camouflage.
0:50:05 > 0:50:09The pilots were also provided with an additional piece of equipment.
0:50:09 > 0:50:13We were given an eye patch as well, and the reason for that was
0:50:13 > 0:50:17if we were near an explosion,
0:50:17 > 0:50:20the rays would take out one eye.
0:50:20 > 0:50:25You could then take off your patch and continue with the good eye.
0:50:25 > 0:50:27That was the thinking at the time.
0:50:27 > 0:50:32It beggars belief, doesn't it? But this was... We used to practise this.
0:50:32 > 0:50:34We would cover up the aeroplane and put on an eye patch
0:50:34 > 0:50:39and fly with one eye and then take it off and fly with the other eye.
0:50:39 > 0:50:42Well, I have to say, that wasn't a very comforting philosophy.
0:50:42 > 0:50:47And I suspect had we been that close to a nuclear detonation
0:50:47 > 0:50:50that we were blinded, that was the end of the game in any case.
0:50:50 > 0:50:54But the bombers hadn't been designed for low level
0:50:54 > 0:50:58and they didn't adapt well to their new environment.
0:50:58 > 0:51:01It was extremely bumpy.
0:51:01 > 0:51:04I mean, I know navigators that as soon as they went low level
0:51:04 > 0:51:09they started being sick. And they stayed being sick for...
0:51:09 > 0:51:11two hours at low-level. It was pretty awful.
0:51:11 > 0:51:13The heavy, turbulent air
0:51:13 > 0:51:16was playing havoc with the integrity of the Valiant.
0:51:16 > 0:51:20Cracks in the rear spar of the wings began to appear.
0:51:20 > 0:51:24In the end, the entire Valiant fleet had to be scrapped.
0:51:24 > 0:51:29A sad ending to a plane that had served its country well.
0:51:29 > 0:51:32The Victor fared better, but the only V Bomber
0:51:32 > 0:51:36robust enough to thrive at low level was the delta wing Vulcan.
0:51:40 > 0:51:42With great foresight, the Air Ministry
0:51:42 > 0:51:46had already started designing the next generation of jet bomber.
0:51:46 > 0:51:50Their most advanced yet, the TSR2.
0:51:55 > 0:51:58It was another generational jump,
0:51:58 > 0:52:00almost as significant if not quite,
0:52:00 > 0:52:05as was the V Bombers beyond the piston-engine era.
0:52:05 > 0:52:08And I thought to myself,
0:52:08 > 0:52:13"My word, if that continues in development successfully,
0:52:13 > 0:52:16"we've got a world-beater here."
0:52:18 > 0:52:21This is a specification for TSR2 and, frankly, it's a
0:52:21 > 0:52:23pretty long list.
0:52:23 > 0:52:24It had to have a high-altitude,
0:52:24 > 0:52:28long-range nuclear strike capability so, rather like the V Bombers,
0:52:28 > 0:52:32but it also had to perform like a fighter at low altitude.
0:52:32 > 0:52:35On top of that it had to be able to fly in all weather conditions
0:52:35 > 0:52:38and to be able to carry the latest,
0:52:38 > 0:52:40most sophisticated radar system in the world.
0:52:40 > 0:52:42As if that wasn't enough,
0:52:42 > 0:52:46it also had to be able to fly at supersonic speeds of up to Mach 2.
0:52:46 > 0:52:49If it could achieve all this it would ensure Britain's
0:52:49 > 0:52:52supremacy in world aviation for years to come.
0:52:55 > 0:52:58One aeroplane to do everything was great.
0:52:58 > 0:53:03And not only was it so technically advanced, the engines
0:53:03 > 0:53:06and all the electric equipment were brilliant.
0:53:06 > 0:53:10It had everything that the Vulcan had plus everything a fighter had
0:53:10 > 0:53:12combined into this aeroplane.
0:53:13 > 0:53:18In September 1964, the first TSR2 prototype began testing
0:53:18 > 0:53:22at the Jet Development Centre at Boscombe Down, Wiltshire.
0:53:24 > 0:53:29The test pilot was Roland Beamont, a World War II fighter pilot.
0:53:29 > 0:53:32But Beamont and his team were already under pressure.
0:53:32 > 0:53:35They had been delayed due to problems with undercarriage
0:53:35 > 0:53:39vibrations, and a hostile press were moaning about the money being
0:53:39 > 0:53:41poured into the plane's development.
0:53:43 > 0:53:47The Labour Party promised if it won the General Election
0:53:47 > 0:53:49it would make further cuts to the defence budget.
0:53:51 > 0:53:54The TSR2 was firmly on their radar.
0:54:02 > 0:54:04There is one basic fact.
0:54:04 > 0:54:08Labour has a clear majority, we have a Labour government.
0:54:12 > 0:54:16You know what? This truly would have been an amazing aircraft.
0:54:16 > 0:54:22It's the culmination of 20 years of being at the top of their game.
0:54:22 > 0:54:24And it all gets ploughed into this one aircraft
0:54:24 > 0:54:26and then they go and axe it. It just...
0:54:28 > 0:54:29..makes you want to weep.
0:54:31 > 0:54:36As one aeronautical engineer put it, "All modern aircraft have
0:54:36 > 0:54:41"four dimensions - span, length, height and politics."
0:54:42 > 0:54:46The TSR2 had got the first three right.
0:54:50 > 0:54:54The Labour government is cutting back on Britain's hi-tech projects,
0:54:54 > 0:54:59the projects inherited from the Tory governments of the 1950s,
0:54:59 > 0:55:01and is seeking to replace those
0:55:01 > 0:55:04with a new kind of technological revolution.
0:55:04 > 0:55:09Less military, less prestige-oriented, more concerned
0:55:09 > 0:55:15with economic development, more concerned with people's daily lives.
0:55:18 > 0:55:21We ended war...
0:55:21 > 0:55:24technologically rich.
0:55:24 > 0:55:28We were the world leaders in jet propulsion.
0:55:28 > 0:55:33Nobody else, not even the Americans, had gone as far as we had
0:55:33 > 0:55:38with serviceable, working, capable jet engines.
0:55:38 > 0:55:40But we gave it all away.
0:55:40 > 0:55:43We frittered it all away. What do we have today?
0:55:44 > 0:55:51We have a conglomerate BAE Systems, which builds bits of aeroplanes.
0:55:51 > 0:55:55Everyone of those model aeroplanes that you see on that desk
0:55:55 > 0:55:58is British, purely British.
0:55:58 > 0:56:00You can't point to that nowadays.
0:56:01 > 0:56:06By 1969, the V Force had been superseded as the delivery vehicle
0:56:06 > 0:56:08for World War III.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11Britain's strategic nuclear deterrent was handed
0:56:11 > 0:56:13to the Royal Navy.
0:56:14 > 0:56:17The Government had decided to opt for a submarine-launched
0:56:17 > 0:56:21ballistic missile called Polaris, an American design.
0:56:23 > 0:56:24It made sense.
0:56:25 > 0:56:29We were vulnerable, a submarine was invulnerable.
0:56:29 > 0:56:30It just was a superior system.
0:56:30 > 0:56:35Because ours, I suppose, was becoming increasingly vulnerable
0:56:35 > 0:56:38and penetrating was going to be more difficult with each year
0:56:38 > 0:56:40that went by.
0:56:42 > 0:56:46Just one year earlier, the Americans orbited the moon
0:56:46 > 0:56:48and, for the first time in our history,
0:56:48 > 0:56:51we clearly saw our world for what it was.
0:56:54 > 0:57:00We moved from being the wide open spaces of the ocean
0:57:00 > 0:57:04to being very conscious that we live on a small dot
0:57:04 > 0:57:10on the infinity of space and we are all in it together.
0:57:10 > 0:57:15And the jet age brought us together in a way almost more than
0:57:15 > 0:57:18the wireless age did, or the television age.
0:57:18 > 0:57:21The jet age had made the world a smaller place,
0:57:21 > 0:57:25but it changed our perceptions of our planet and of ourselves
0:57:25 > 0:57:29and it defined where we lived and how we lived and, for 20-odd years,
0:57:29 > 0:57:31it helped make the world a safer place.
0:57:31 > 0:57:36Britain's contribution had been one of technological genius, bravery and
0:57:36 > 0:57:39visionary creations that amply met the terrifying realities
0:57:39 > 0:57:40of the day
0:57:42 > 0:57:46Yet the country's lead, a dream of a world-beating aviation industry,
0:57:46 > 0:57:49were ultimately brought back down to earth.
0:57:51 > 0:57:53An opportunity lost.
0:57:59 > 0:58:02We probably attempted to do too much.
0:58:02 > 0:58:05We spread our resources perhaps too thinly.
0:58:05 > 0:58:07Never again, I think
0:58:07 > 0:58:11do we have the overall capability to go it alone.
0:58:11 > 0:58:14And that was a proud boast, I think, we had in the '50s and '60s.
0:58:18 > 0:58:22Yes, I am proud, because we kept the peace all that time,
0:58:22 > 0:58:25for 15 years.
0:58:25 > 0:58:28And a lot of people said we couldn't do it, but we did.
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