Flying bombs over England

the long version

A new object appeared in the sky above England on the night of 12th June 1944, its noisy, fiery passage above the fields and orchards of Kent watched in amazement by a war-hardened people. It was the first attack by Hitler's long trumpeted secret weapon: the pilotless flying bomb. For the following 18 months, southern England was subjected to a steady rain of missiles. One of the young bomber pilots whose mission was to seek out the launching sites was H.E. Bates. His remarkable account is a wonderful tale of people in adversity, and of the courage of the airmen who faced a new weapon.