We Were Never There Volume 3

By the early 1950s, Britain had become the base for over half of the US Strategic Air Command’s bomber fleet. In the event of war, Soviet nuclear weapons would have rained down upon bases and cities in Britain. Accurate maps and targeting information were needed in order to maintain a credible deterrent of being able to strike Soviet cities and bases. The only way to obtain the necessary information was to conduct deep penetration reconnaissance overflights of the USSR.

As American and British nuclear strategy developed, it became apparent that there were likely to be many more targets in the USSR than there were nuclear weapons available to strike them. In addition, existing maps – largely based on wartime German aerial reconnaissance – were now partially obsolete and would not show the most recent Soviet developments. In an era before the existence of satellite mapping, manned overflights of Soviet territory became a dangerous necessity of the early Cold War.

Using a combination of new research, previously unpublished material and first-hand accounts, Higher, Further, Faster shows how US and British aircrews worked with their aircraft and struggled to outpace Soviet air defences. This third volume in the We Were Never There mini-series, continues the story of clandestine US and British missions over Europe and Asia. Higher, Further, Faster will appeal to enthusiasts and students of Cold War history, military aviation and aerial espionage.

We Were Never There Volume 3 is extensively illustrated throughout with original photographs and the @War series’ signature colour artworks.