Operation Backfire: Britain’s Cold War Guided Missile Programme

The ballistic missile age dawned in September 1944, when Germany began its V-2 campaign against Great Britain and Western Europe.As the war in Europe drew to a close, and during its immediate aftermath, the Allied powers scrambled to acquire highly valued German technology.This included examples of the V-2 rockets themselves.While the United States was foremost in this, General Eisenhower permitted Britain to gather enough parts to assemble eight rockets. Under the codename Operation Backfire, the British launched three of these rockets near Cuxhaven, which was within the British occupation zone in Germany.The tests, undertaken by experienced German staff, were well ahead of the Americans at their much-vaunted Army Launch Area No.1 at the White Sands Missile Range in southern New Mexico.These tests, and the work around them, also ensured that, in a little over twelve months, Britain had gone from being a victim of long-range guided missiles, to a wielder of this impressive new military