Operation Big Ben The Anti-V2 Spitfire Missions 1944-1945

by Cabell, Craig; Thomas, Graham A.; Baxter, Raymond

• ISBN13: 9781862272514
• ISBN10: 1862272514
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-10-01
• Publisher: Spellmount

Summary

Operation Big Ben was one of the best kept secrets of World War II. Through Squadron histories, log books, official reports, and interviews with the people who flew clipped winged Spitfire to dive-bomb VI and VII rocket sights towards the end of the war, the story is at last fully told. The book includes detailed squadron histories as well as clear details of the strategies employed and missions executed by the Spitfire squadrons that flew. It has firsthand recollections of the men who completed the dive-bombing raids, and the cutting edge technology they used.

Author Biography

Craig Cabell is the author of Ian Fleming's Secret War and the coauthor of Snipers: Profiles of the World's Deadliest Killers.

Table of Contents

Dedication	vii
About the Authors	viii
Author's Note	ix
Acknowledgements	xii
Foreword by Raymond Baxter	xiii
Introduction	xv
Memories by a Child of the Second World War	xvii
Chapter I Fearsome Silhouette	1	(2)
Chapter II Anti-V2 Sorties	3	(10)
Chapter III Early Days	13	(16)
Chapter IV Operation Big Ben	29	(52)
Chapter V Success or Failure?	81	(24)
Chapter VI Where was the Luftwaffe?	105	(4)
Chapter VII The Men Who Flew	109	(3)
Afterword Those Magnificent Men	112	(1)
Appendix A 303 Polish Squadron History	113	(26)
Appendix B 124 Squadron History	139	(17)
Appendix C 229 Squadron History	156	(20)
Appendix D 603 Squadron History	176	(7)
Appendix E A Tribute to 453 Squadron	183	(5)
Annexe A 602 City of Glasgow Squadron	188	(2)
Annexe B List of Spitfires that flew with 602 Squadron	190	(1)
Annexe C 603 City of Edinburgh Squadron	191	(1)
Annexe D List of Spitfires that flew with 603 Squadron	192	(1)
Annexe E 124 Baroda Squadron	193	(2)
Annexe F List of Spitfires that flew with 124 Baroda
Squadron	195	(2)
Annexe G 229 Squadron	197	(1)
Annexe H V1, V2 Target Statistics	198	(1)
Source Material	199	(2)
Index	201