Fog. Overkill.
All military Seniors, 6/52, had survived 2 Wars of Attrition, last man standing wins. None was wed to ardour - our men are better than theirs: they all knew it was what lies to the other side of the hill...git thar fustest with the mostest. It's kit, stupid, lots in the right place, right time - NOW! They had trained for CBW, had seen squib HE grow to Earthquake, range from throw to very remote. AW was just a Bigger Bang. CASs LeMay and Slessor knew some hundreds of Bombers in inventory becomes some dozens over, then a few on target - GC Cheshire had observed the Nagasaki miss by 4nm, clear blue sky, no opposition. So: 2,496 RAF B/ECM/PR for 31/3/53 (!?! on 30/6/52 83 Valiant, 513 B, 114 T/PR Canberras were on order, part-US-funded).
None of NOM's Plans here was funded to deployment, crewed, AW armed. Peak V-Force by MT was 1/1-1/5/65: 104 (64 Yellow Sun 2, 40 Blue Steel); peak by a/c was Berlin Wall, 8/61 (58, UK Bombs, 72 US, plus 59 Thor). SecDef McNamara was briefed 18/6/62 that UK had 8 Bombs "certainly opnl": that day we had 75 YS 1/2 (+34 Red Beards on Canberra B.15/16 and Scimitar - plus 64 US Bombs in RAFG, 48 on 24 Valiant/Marham - which would have been briefed to McN, with Thor, as "US").
These Plans were for nuclear war-fighting. Churchill settled 15/7/52 for CoS Global Strategy Review: Massive Deterrence, and set about clawing USAF/AW into E.Anglia, more $-subsidy, plus ops. integration, RAF Medium Bomber Force+USAF/SAC. He hoped to extract from his friend Ike US AW Art and Articles - loan Bombs. Cabinet 21/6/54 took Ike's offer of B-47/Mk.5, available before Valiant, long before Blue Danube, so the Air Minister was supportive. 1 Minister stopped it, as it “would have the most serious effect (on Aero) making such an important contribution to (exports)” J.Engel, Cold War @30Kft,HUP,07,P.185.
Even when that Minister went to Defence he was presented 27/7/57 with an AW shopping list of “c.100xMt, 1,500xkt Bombs (again, 17/12/59 for 1970) “200xMt, 850xkt, 1,300xsub-kt” I.Clark,Nuc.Diplomacy,Clarendon,94,P385. He caused UK to buy, crew and operate Force sufficient to Deter. Does anybody here still accept the wrecker fallacy of the Sandys Storm?
