Project Emily: Thor IRBM and the RAF

by John Boyes

Overview

This is a history of the period from 1959 to 1963 when RAF bomber command operated 60 Thor Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles as part of the UK nuclear deterrent force. In 1956, the US approached the UK to explore the possibility of basing IRBMs on UK soil amid growing concerns over Soviet missiles. Keen to reestablish a relationship which had suffered after Suez, Macmillan and Eisenhower met in Bermuda and seeds were sown for the RAF to become sole operator of 20 squadrons with 3 missiles each. However, once their own bases were established in continental America the US considered the IRBM obsolete and it was decided to draw down the Thor force in 1962, 5 years earlier than originally planned. Though 59 of the 60 missiles were brought to operational readiness during the Cuban Missile Crisis and despite acknowledgement of their efficiency at that time, the squadrons were disbanded by summer 1963 and subsequent UK plans for a follow-on program were also scrapped.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780752446110
Publisher:	The History Press
Publication date:	03/01/2008
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.50(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

John Boyes, a chartered accountant, has been fascinated by Thor for many years and has had various articles published on this and related subjects. He has given three papers on various aspects of Thor at the annual conference of the British Rocketry Oral History programme and has been consulted by BBC2 for a documentary on Thor and the Cuban Missile Crisis. He lives in Essex.

Table of Contents

Foreword 6

Acknowledgements 7

Introduction 8

Glossary of Terms 9

Missiles 12

The Birth of Ballistic Missiles 13

Early Disappointments and Successes 39

The Thor Agreement - Finding the Bases 45

Building The Infrastructure 73

The First Thor Arrives 87

Training and Squadron Operations 99

The Cuban Crisis and the End of Project Emily 129

Appendix 1 146

Appendix 2 146

Appendix 3 148

Appendix 4 149

Appendix 5 150

Appendix 6 150

Appendix 7 152

Appendix 8 153

Appendix 9 155

Bibliography 157

Index 158