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+6.

0030 hours GMT, 27^th April. Outside, Esashi, Hokkaido, Japan.

As the part of Japan closest to Soviet territory the island of Hokkaido was most vulnerable to attack. Air attacks and sabotage by Spetsnaz had already occurred against Japanese and American military facilities and in response the Japanese Defence Agency had decided to reinforce the Northern Army, just in case.

Units of the 6^th and 9^th Divisions from the North Eastern Army had joined the 2^nd Division, 7^th Armoured Division, 5^th Brigade, 11^th Brigade, 1^st Artillery Brigade, 1^st Antiaircraft Brigade and the 3^rd Engineer Brigade, which were already in place to defend the island.

American reconnaissance satellites had spotted that the Soviet airborne division in the Far East had been deployed to a number of airfields, as if it was being prepared for deployment. A build up of naval infantry, 'Ekranoplans' and conventional landing craft had also been spotted.

However American and Japanese intelligence agencies were divided as to what the purpose of this build up. The CIA, for example, believed that it was probably a strategic bluff intended to divert American and Allied forces from Korea, though they believed that it was possible that some of these forces might be introduced to the Korean Theatre of Operations.

Conversely the DIA and their Japanese counterparts believed that it might be a potential threat to northern Japan. The Defence Agency had decided to be cautious and take the potential threat seriously; they would not lose anything if they turned out to be wrong.

*

While the Americans and Japanese tried to decide whether the threat was real across the other side of the Sea of Japan Soviet Naval Infantry were boarding troop carrying Ekranoplans, while their heavy equipment was being loaded aboard Pomornik, Aist and Lebed class hovercraft. Equipment from two motor rifle divisions was being loaded aboard more conventional landing craft and cargo ships, and the paratroopers of the 6^th Guards Airborne Division were boarding their aircraft.

Tactical aircraft from Frontal Aviation and bombers from Long Range Aviation were already heading towards their targets and would soon appear on Japanese radar screens. Japanese and American fighters would soon be locked in combat over the Sea of Japan and Hokkaido.

*

Oblivious to what was about to happen a patrol from the 1^st battalion, 25^th Infantry Regiment, part of 2^nd Division, was making its way along the coastal road, checking for any potential Soviet infiltrators. The patrol did find the enemy, but not quite as it had expected.

As it turned a corner it was just in time to see the first troop carrying Ekranoplans touch down in front of it and unload BTR-80s. The patrol managed to get off a quick radio message to battalion H.Q before it was locked in a fire-fight with the Soviet Naval Infantry.

The patrol found itself cut-off with no line of retreat, but like Japanese soldiers of the past chose to fight rather than surrender. While the fought bravely the Japanese soldiers were picked off one by one; the final soldier, with only half a dozen rounds of ammunition left, fixed his bayonet to his Type 89 rifle and charged the nearest group of naval infantrymen, managing to shot two and bayonet a third before he was brought down by a barrage of gun fire.

The Invasion of Japan had begun.

0330 hours. RAF Bentley Priory, Harrow, London.

Air Vice Marshal Sir John Hazel had started his day early, as he had done since the first day of mobilisation. Unlike their counterparts at RAF High Wycombe the staff of 11 Group's main task was the administration of the group, rather than control of the air defence of the UK, apart from a few hours when a Soviet attack had cut communications from the ADOC.

On his way to his office in the bunker he stopped off in the Standby Air Defence Operations Centre to speak to the duty controller. At this time of the morning it was Wing Commander Sarah Stapleton.

"Morning, Sarah, anything interesting happen during the night?"

"It's been pretty quiet, Sir. Apart from monitoring our own aircraft flying out and returning from missions over the Continent the only things of note that have happened were Typhoons from 56 Squadron shot down a Foxbat-R, and Tornados from 603 Squadron shot down what they believe may have been some sort of supersonic recce drone.

"The detachment at RAF Aldergrove is now fully operational and flying Combat Air Patrols over the Irish coast. To make up for the transfer of those aircraft CINCUKAIR has transferred the 527^th Aggressor Squadron at RAF Bentwaters to our control.

"There is one interesting bit of intel that has been passed to us from High Wycombe. A Septic satellite caught a glimpse of two 'Blackjack' bombers at Engles being readied for a sortie, of course it could just be a training flight and sadly the next satellite pass won't be for some hours yet."

Hazel took all of this information in.

"Pass my congratulations on to 56 and 603 for a job well done.

"That last bit of information is interesting; however the 'Blackjack' force is primarily committed to nuclear alert duty, just as the B-2s of SAC are. I think that is likely that it is just a training mission, but keep me posted."

"Of course, Sir.

"There's some fresh coffee in the canteen if you're interested." Stapleton replied.

"Now there's a good idea. I'll go and see if there's anything to eat as well, I think."

"I believe you have something of a busy day ahead of you, Sir"

"Yes, I'm planning to visit a couple of air stations in the morning, followed by a helicopter flight up to RAF Holmpton to meet with AOC Support Command with regards to some supply issues."[i]

"That's as far east in Yorkshire as you can go without getting wet, as I recall, Sir." Stapleton observed.

"Yes, any further east and it would be in Holland." Hazel replied with a smile.

As Hazel got up to leave one of the communications staff called out a report.

"Ma'm, message just in from ADOC. ELINT has picked up signs of Soviet bombers taking off from Baltic airfields."

"Boy, do I miss the extended warning time from Continental radars." Stapleton remarked. "Still AWACS should pick them up pretty soon."

"I think I'll stick around for the moment." Hazel observed. "I think that RAF Wattisham and Conningsby can do without an AOC's visit right now."

*

On the surface the change over between watches at RAF Bentley Priory's Defence Fire Service station was taking place. As a non-flying station the fire section in peacetime consisted of two Volvo water ladders tenders, similar to those used by local authority fire brigades, however taking advantage of the fact that many RAF reservists had been in the RAF Fire Service the air force had chosen to augment the strength of a number of stations manned both by the DFS and the RAF Fire service.

RAF Bentley Priory had gained an extra Volvo appliance from reserve stocks and two Green Goddess self-propelled pumps.[ii]

"Right that's everything, I think." The Sub-officer who was handing over said. "Everything is up and running okay now, though we had a little bit of trouble with that reserve Volvo tender, it needed a new battery. Haven't had a minutes trouble with the Goddesses, though, they start every time and anyway if anything does go wrong with them all you need are a pair of pliers, a hammer, and bosh, you're back in business."

"Yeh, they're pretty solid machines." The incoming Sub-officer agreed. "I'll be sorry to see them go.

"Anyway everything looks to be in order, so I'm happy enough to take over here. You get off and get some kip."

"Right, oh, John, I'll see you tomorrow."

Once the mixed watch of Defence Fire Service and RAF Fire Service firefighters had been assembled for their parade the Sub-officer let them know what additional duties they would be carrying out in addition to their routine ones.

"We've been very lucky here compared to most other sections, we've not been bombed and we haven't even had a domestic fire. I don't think that our luck will hold out much longer.

"Just to keep us on our toes the Boss wants us to carry out an exercise today. As part of that exercise we are to assume that the water mains on the station have been put out of action, so we'll get a chance to use the Goddesses in their intended role."

0401 hours GMT. H.Q 3^rd Brigade, north of Pusan, Republic of Korea.

Brigadier Mark L. Bailey, commander of the Australian Army's 3^rd Brigade, paced up and down in his headquarters as he awaited news of the convoy carrying his brigade's heavy equipment. At the moment the only combat he had under his command was part of B Squadron, 3^rd/4^th Cavalry Regiment in its ASLAVs, the 2^nd/17^th Battalion of the Royal New South Wales Regiment, who were currently acting in the Force Protection role, and some of his engineer, signals and support battalion personnel.[iii]

Everybody else was sitting at Australian airports awaiting the signal that would tell them that their equipment was only 24-48 hours away from ports in Korea. In addition to his Australian troops he would also have a battle group of New Zealand troops under his command, at least until the 2^nd Land Force Group of the New Zealand Army became operational, whenever that might be.[iv]

"Any news about the convoy yet?" Bailey asked impatiently.

"Nothing yet, Sir; I think that it will be a couple of days yet before we hear anything new. Their last position report put them off Guam, where they were RV'ing with a Seppo convoy."

"Humph!" The brigadier replied, dissatisfied.

The continual reports coming into his headquarters from H.Q Eighth Army chronicling the fighting to the north had not done anything to improve Brigadier Bailey's mood. They told of heavy fighting by American and South Korean troops as they fought to hold back the invading North Koreans.

The brigadier looked across at the map set up in his H.Q which showed the progress of the war. In the eastern sector the Allied forces were holding their ground, the mountainous terrain being an advantage to the defender. It was a different story in the West; the North Koreans were slowly pushing forward and looked like they might soon threaten Seoul with either capture, or encirclement.

It made Brigadier Bailey feel very frustrated that his brigade was sitting about doing nothing while Allied forces were fighting what sounded like very bitter battles.

"AIR RAID WARNING RED, AIR RAID WARNING RED!" Suddenly blared out from the tannoy.

"Not again." Bailey muttered, picking up his respirator and helmet and making his way with the others to the shelter.

For the last six days North Korea had been regularly firing No-dong medium range ballistic missiles at the port of Pusan, along with numerous other targets in South Korea and Japan for that matter. They were not the most accurate of weapons, seemingly landing at random across the city, or if the North Koreans were actually lucky, within the port itself.

The unpredictability of where the incoming No-dong missiles would land meant that every military unit in the area was under orders to take cover until either the incoming missiles had been shot down, or had hit their targets. At least the warheads had so far only consisted of High Explosive and cluster munitions; perhaps seeing how rapidly the Americans had retaliated had put the North Koreans off from using their substantial chemical arsenal.

'KARUMPH!'

One of the No-dong missiles had landed a couple of miles away, having managed to get through the Patriot missiles fired at it, rather close to the Australian brigade headquarters for comfort.

0559 hours. Charlottenburg, West Berlin.

Acting Lance-Corporal Lucy Hargreaves squinted down the SUSAT sight fixed to the top of the L110A1 'Minimi' light machine gun, which she had acquired when its previous owner had been wounded by a shell fragment during the night. It did not look like there was much going on out there, maybe even the vaunted Soviet troops were having trouble in this environment.

One other change that had happened during the night was that her command of the infantry section had been formalised and Hargreaves had been promoted to acting 'lance-jack'. She had not yet noticed that the rank tab handed to her by Captain Shaw was blood-stained.

Hargreaves leaned back into her fox-hole, wondering what was going on. She had noticed that the tank troop supporting them had been withdrawn, as had the two Scimitars and some of the infantrymen of the Gloucestershire Regiment. There was bound to be another Soviet attack soon, so why withdraw the armoured vehicles, without which she doubted that the company could hold its positions.

It did not make any sense, but then she was a mere Lance-Corporal, and an acting one at that, so what did she know?

"Have you got that brew going yet, Spike?" She asked.

"Sure, Corp." The AGC clerk turned infantryman, who had been struggling with the Hexamine stove replied. "Just give me a couple of more minutes and I'll have breakfast ready."

"About bloody time." Another member of the section, a loggie, complained. "I'm starvin'."

*

Major James Saunders checked his watch as he stood in the commander's hatch of his Challenger 2; it was almost time for THUNDER ONE, the codename of the armoured column he was to command to move out. In front and behind of him were a mixture of British Challengers, Scimitars, FV432/30s, American Abrams, Strykers and M728 engineer vehicles and, French Leclercs, VBCIs and AMX-10RCs, their engines revving impatiently as they waited for the signal to move.

Saunders hoped and prayed that the Soviets did not spot this collection of armoured vehicles before the attack was launched.

'THUMP!'

There it was, that was the signal. The six remaining American M109A6 Paladins and as many 120mm and 81mm mortar tubes as could be found had begun firing a short, but intense barrage at the Soviets and East Germans.

"All stations this is Tango One Actual, move out." He said into his headset.

*

'WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!'

Lance-Corporal Hargreaves instinctively crouched down in her hole, trying her best to protect the mess tin that contained curry she was eating for breakfast. Shell fragments and pieces of dirt would surely ruin what little flavour it had.

It took her a moment to realise that the shells were not aimed at her, but at the Soviets.

"Bloody hell, that's our artillery!" She exclaimed. "I didn't know we had any left."

"Yeh, get some you bastards!" A member of her section yelled towards the Soviets now taking cover from the exploding 155mm shells.

"Hey, what's that?" Someone else asked.

Hargreaves noticed that the ground underneath them was vibrating and that she could just make out a low rumbling over the shell fire. She could also soon hear the squeak of large number of tracked vehicles. However it was not coming from in front of them, but from behind.

"Look at that!" Someone shouted.

The first tank, a Challenger 2 fitted with a dozer blade, appeared from out of the early morning mist. The armoured vehicles carefully filed past the dug in infantrymen, before fanning out, taking advantage of the full width of the street.

'BOOM!'

The report of an L30 cannon reverberated down the street, the sound waves bouncing off what walls remained. The next sound could be heard over the sound of the advancing vehicles was that of R Company's cheers.

*

Colonel General Yazov had decided to see how things were going at the front, so he had decided to visit the headquarters of the 24^th Motorized Rifle Division. He could already sense that the commanding officer of the semi-ready division was somewhat uncomfortable, he had also noticed that soon after his arrival several staff officers had started talking nervously by the communications tent as messages from the front line came in. Yazov wondered what might be going on and what was being kept from him.

0645 hours. Over Schleswig-Holstein, West Germany.

'BLEEP! BLEEP!'

Major Yefim Gordon briefly glanced down to check the threat display in the cockpit of his Tu-160 'Blackjack'. As with the previous warnings from the RWR, it was nothing to worry about; several radars had apparently detected the two Tu-160s as they transited across Schleswig-Holstein in the wake of a large raid of Tu-22M 'Backfires', though no fighters, or SAMs were taking an interest in the two high-flying bombers.

Satisfied that all was well he shifted in his ejection seat, trying to get comfortable again.

"Damn these seats, whoever thought that they were suitable for a long-range bomber should be shot." He remarked.

While the Zvezda K-36DL zero-zero ejection seat was an excellent piece of engineering, a fact that could be backed up by all of the lives saved by the seat, it was essentially a fighter seat and not at all suitable for a bomber like the 'Blackjack' where the user might be sitting in it for up to fifteen hours. Consequently Tu-160 crews tended to feel very uncomfortable.

"You want to be careful saying things like that, Comrade Major." Captain Dmitriy Komissarov, the co-pilot replied jocularly. "You never know who is listening."

"What away up here?" Gordon replied. "Okay, who is the party stooge then?"

"Not me."

"Nor me." The two WSOs said one after the other.

"And I know it is not me." Komissarov said.

"So it must be me, then." Gordon concluded. "In that case I'll make a full report on myself when we get back."

"Should be crossing the coast in thirty seconds, Comrade Major." The WSO acting as navigator for this mission reported, returning the mood to serious professionalism again.

"Roger. I'm going to take her up to near full speed once we're over the North Sea, so make sure that everything back there is properly secured."

'BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEP!

"Looks like a British AWACS has picked us up, Comrade Major."

"That was probably inevitable; in fact she's probably been tracking us from the other end of the Baltic. Well now we get to see how well the Tu-22 and Frontal Aviation Comrade have distracted the British."

0650 hours. Metropolitan Area UKWMO Sector Control, Horsham.

The sector control, which was co-located with the Royal Observer Corps 2 Group H.Q, sat behind a TA Drill Hall, which meant that it did not need to worry too much about security, in the Sussex town of Horsham.[v] Metropolitan Sector covered London and much of the southeast of England and parts of East Anglia, Oxfordshire and Hampshire. It was divided into five sectors, Colchester, Maidstone, Horsham, Winchester and Oxford, all with their own protected accommodation.

Below Group level there were clusters of three-man ROC posts, each cluster being made up of three posts, one of which was a Master Post equipped with a radio. The posts were now supplemented by a network of automated sensors that were positioned on top of government buildings; however these sensors, designed to carry out all the functions of an ROC post were phenomenally expensive, so nowhere near enough had been procured to replace the post network. They were also inherently less flexible than the manned posts, for example an automated sensor could not send someone out to take a remote reading away from the post. It also could not repair itself if something went wrong.

*

The BBC producer finished looking over the fact sheet that the Home Office had provided on the United Kingdom Warning and Monitoring Organisation and the rather more interesting leaflet giving a short history of the Royal Observer Corps that the organisation had provided him with. He doubted that he would be able to use it in the programme, but the background information was useful to have.

Around the turn of the century the BBC had gained the government's agreement that the next time Britain was involved in a war it would be able to film it from the inside. Already a film crew had sat in on a couple of war cabinet meetings, and another was attached to H.Q I (UK) Corps.

*

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, I glad you could make it here so early." Robert Fox, the Sector Controller, said to the BBC team as they entered the bunker. "If there is anything you need don't hesitate to let me know."

"Thank you, Mr Fox. We'll be content just to hang around in the background and film what goes on, if your people want to explain what they are doing to the camera then so much the better."

Fox led the producer and the film crew through to the Control Room, which was already a hive of activity.

"The UKWMO was originally set up to warn the public and the military of a nuclear attack and the resultant fall-out such an attack would create." Fox said to the camera. "We're spread out across the country with posts in every part of the UK and we've got links to the military and the emergency services."

"How effective do you think the system would have been?" The producer asked.

"Oh, very, we could have gotten a warning out to the entire country within a minute, which would have been more than enough time for most people to take cover.

"Of course it is all different these days. The system has been modified to take into account that the main threat now comes from conventional attacks; come on I'll show you."

Fox took the film crew to a desk which had a long console with numerous switches on it. Above each switch was the name of a town.

"As you can see here each of the groups under us is divided into a number of siren areas. We can either sound every siren in the sector by pushing this switch, or sound individual areas; pushing the buttons the opposite way sounds the 'All Clear'. The UKWMO liaison officer at RAF Strike Command can still sound every power siren in the country if necessary."

"Excuse me, Sir." Another member of staff interrupted. "It looks like their might be a raid coming in."

"Anything we need to worry about?" Fox asked, concerned.

"It may affect No. 4 Group."

"Right, I suppose we better sound the sirens there if Colchester hasn't done it already."

Fox turned to the BBC producer.

"Oh, I was forgetting; you wouldn't like to do it would you?"

"Um…okay. Which one is it?"

"The one in the second row marked COL…that one there…no, that one."

The BBC producer, looking a bit sheepish to be in front of the camera, leaned forward and pushed the relevant switch forward, sounding every power siren in No. 4 Sector, and sending a signal to everybody who had a hand powered siren.

0705 hours. RAF Neatishead, Norfolk.

As the southern Sector Operations Centre, RAF Neatishead was already busy dealing with the raid by 'Backfires' and tactical aircraft from Soviet Frontal Aviation. The station had itself come under attack from Su-24s and Su-34s twice already that morning and while some damage to surface buildings the Fighter Controllers and radar operators were safe in the concrete R3A bunker.

The Type 91 and Type 93 radars that were directly under the station's command were mobile and had already been moved twice in the last two days, so were still operational and still feeding their data to both the SOC and the wider Air Surveillance and Control System that covered the UK.[vi]

The station also received radar information, via data link, from RAF Sentry aircraft. What it was not receiving anymore, however, at least not reliably, was data from much of the NATO Air Defence Ground Environment, NADGE. Many of the fixed radars that fed it had either been destroyed, or overrun, while the mobile radars were often on the move, and when operational often had trouble getting reliable data links.

At least the remaining NATO and USAF E-3 Sentries operating over the Central Front and Northern Flank were still providing reliable information.

*

"Hey, take a look at this." One of the operators said as he spotted two fast moving traces on his central computer screen.

He used his mouse to highlight both traces so that they would be more noticeable on other radar screens. The Unified Command and Control System console quickly passed his actions onto the rest of the system.

"They're doing near on Mach 2." His assistant commented glancing across to take a look at the geographic display. "What are they, missiles?"

"I doubt it, not at that height. The only thing they can be are Blackjack bombers."

The operator's fingers danced over the keyboard as he designated both traces as priority targets for the Fighter Controllers, who immediately ordered the nearest pair of fighters, two Typhoon FGR.2s from 74 (Tiger) Squadron, to intercept and destroy both targets.

0710 hours. Over the southern North Sea.

Flight Lieutenant David 'Sweeny' Todd, a pilot in 56 (Tiger) Squadron, ached all over. He had just spend the last forty minutes locked in combat against Soviet tactical aircraft, a job not made any easier by the fact that the enemy had somewhat un-sportingly sent over Su-27 'Flankers' to escort the 'Fencers' and 'Fullbacks'.

Part way through the last engagement he had lost sight of his wingman, and had not seen him since. There was no indication that the other Typhoon had been shot down, but had probably gotten involved in another engagement. His other problem was that he was down to two ASRAAM missiles and his internal cannon.

"Delta three five tango, Delta three five tango, Neatishead. Intercept and destroy priority targets marked Quebec One and Quebec Two. Over."

"Roger, Neatishead. Please be aware that I am down to two India Romeo Mikes and internal cannon and Delta three six tango is not with me. Over."

"Ah, roger that…you are the nearest to the targets…do your best and we will send some help your way. The bogies are suspected 'Blackjacks' Over."

"Roger, Neatishead. I'll get your 'Blackjacks' for you. Out."

Todd glanced down at the CRT display showing JTIDS data. Sure enough he could see two targets highlighted and designated Q1 and Q2. They were going pretty fast and were at high altitude, though accelerating and climbing rapidly was one of the Typhoon's fortes.

Now that the Typhoon had fired off most of its missile complement and had jettisoned its two big 'Hindenburger' fuel tanks, though it still had its belly tank, it could operate at pretty much its optimum performance.

Todd pushed the throttle forward to the stops, engaging full reheat, and pulled back on the stick. The Typhoon rocketed up almost vertically, putting the old Lightning to shame. Once at the same altitude as the 'Blackjacks' Todd throttled back to full military power, allowing the Typhoon to decelerate down to around Mach 1.2.

"Neatishead, Delta three five tango, targets are accelerating. I'm going to full reheat again, but I don't think I can catch both of them before they cross the coast.

"Can a Broadsword flight get the other? Over."

"Negative, Delta three five tango, the nearest Broadsword flight is currently reloading. QRA at Manston and Northolt is being scrambled to assist you. Over."

"Roger." Todd replied curtly.

He risked a quick glance down at the CRT display. He decided not to energise his CAPTOR radar as that would only alert both bombers to his presence, and anyway he did not have any Meteor missiles left that could have taken advantage of the information. Instead he would rely on the JTIDS data to get him within range of the aircraft's PIRATE Infra-Red Search and Track system which would in turn guide him into a good position to get an ASRAAM shot at the targets.

Even at Mach 2.2 the Typhoon only had a very marginal overtake speed over both 'Blackjacks' and getting within range of his ASRAAM missiles was taking an agonisingly long time, especially since he could now see the English coast on the horizon. Todd puzzled over the fact why these bombers had not yet launched their weapons, after all the 'Backfires' always launched well out over the North Sea, only 'Fencers' and 'Fullbacks' attempted to penetrate the defences.

Finally the continuous tone of a missile lock-on sounded in his headset.

"Fox two!" He announced.

Normally the ASRAAM is a very reliable weapon, but no missile is 100% reliable and as luck, or misfortune would have it Todd had a missile with a manufacturing fault in its rocket motor.

Todd watched as the missile began to accelerate, seeking its target, only for the motor to cut off prematurely. The ASRAAM's computer chip 'brain' valiantly tried to pursue its quarry, even as it began to descend on a ballistic arc, eventually impacting on a beach near Clacton on Sea.

"Damn it and #+%#!" Todd swore, having now expended half of his remaining missile armament. "Fox two!" He said again, firing the remaining missile.

This time the missile ran straight and true this time, well not actually straight because it had to alter course as the Tu-160 took evasive action, releasing flares as it did so. However the ASRAAM was not fooled by the decoys, its powerful warhead blowing off the bomber's tail.

The 'Blackjack' went into a steep dive, spinning as it lost altitude at supersonic speed. It finally slammed into the ground almost vertically between Churchend and Courtsend on Foulness Island, exploding and digging an impressive crater in the field it hit.

*

As Major Gordon began his run in to the target he descended from high altitude down to around one hundred meters. One of the other reasons he and his crew had been chosen for this mission was that they were one of the few crews in the Tu-160 fleet who were current in low-level flying.

In front of him Gordon could see the northeast suburbs of London laid out in front of him. At the aircraft's current speed they were only a few minutes away from their target - RAF Bentley Priory.

*

Flight Lieutenant Todd realised that he had lost sight of the bogie. He looked at the JTIDS display once again and saw that it was now crossing the boundary of Greater London.

Where were those fighters from Manston and Northolt? There they were, still climbing. He could see that he would be in cannon range long before those Tornados would be in AMRAAM range.

He throttled back to full military power as he now had a high overtake rate over the 'Blackjack' and he was using a phenomenal amount of fuel at full reheat. Looking ahead Todd could see his target, the white colour of the 'Blackjack' standing out against the city below. He lined up his aircraft carefully and once in range pushed the firing button twice, sending a couple of two second bursts of 27mm shells at the 'Blackjack'.

*

"One minute to target, Comrade Major."

"Roger." Gordon replied, holding the Tu-160 steady.

"Bomb bay opening, weapon armed."

'BANG!'

Gordon felt the Tu-160 suddenly lurch as it was hit by multiple impacts. The warning panel lit up like a Christmas tree and the two port Kuznetzov engines failed. The bomber began to roll into its damaged engine and port wing.

Gordon could feel that his aircraft was dying, but at least he was close to his target.

"Release the weapon!" He yelled, hoping that the loss of weight might buy him a few more minutes of flying time. He certainly did not want to be anywhere near it when it went off.

The Tu-160 lurched again as the bomb dropped away. The bomber's nose suddenly dropped and Gordon knew that he could not save it this time.

"Eject! Eject! Eject!" He said before pulling the handle on his Zvezda ejection seat.

0725 hours. Park Crescent, Harrow Weald, London.

Like the majority of Harrow Weald Park Crescent and the surroundings were a quiet residential neighbourhood. Those not coming off from night shift had been getting ready for work when the air raid sirens had sounded and as many people as could took shelter; of course there were those who decided to ignore the sirens, reasoning that Harrow had not been bombed before, so why now?

The Soviet bomb was set to burst a few meters above the ground and it detonated almost above the centre of Park Crescent. Houses immediately below it disintegrated as the bricks they were made of exploded in the extreme temperatures and the surface of the road and anything made of metal melted.

The fireball and blast wave expanded outwards, destroying everything within 300 meters of Ground Zero and causing widespread damage beyond that and starting numerous fires.

London's emergency services were about to face their toughest test yet.

***

Typhoon FGR.2 of 56 Squadron.


Tornado F.3 of 603 (City of Edinburgh) Squadron.


Volvo water tender ladder of the Defence Fire Service.


Green Goddesses.



Metropolitan Area UKWMO Sector Control, Horsham.


UKWMO Sector and Group boundaries.


ROC post clusters in Suffolk and Essex.


Cut-away of an R3A bunker.


Type 91 radar.


Upper Operations Room, Air Surveillance Suite (RAF Boulmer, but RAF Neatishead is similar).


UCCS console in the lower operations room of RAF Boulmer (RAF Neatishead is similar).


Typhoon FGR.2 of 74 (Tiger) Squadron.


FOAB at point of detonation.