Target London: Under attack from the V-weapons during WWII

by Christy Campbell

During the darkest days of the Second World War, the Allies listened intently to the messages of the enemy. Every whisper built a picture of the threat to come - weapons that were terrifying in their murderous capabilities.

Target London is the dramatic tale of the inception of the German V-weapons, the Allies' epic race to discover the truth about them and the rockets' effects on the streets of London. Investigative historian Christy Campbell brilliantly interweaves the many strands of this gripping episode. At the heart of this tale is London - the target of Nazi Germany's plan to crush British morale.

Genres: History, Military Fiction, War, Nonfiction, World War II

560 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2012

Reviews

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not one of my favourite ww2 books. Felt it got too bogged down in describing the technology.

[Jeremey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jumped around, far too detailed in many places, no flow.

[Gill · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a detailed account of the development of the V1 doodlebug and V2 rocket, and the British response to the threat that they posed to London and beyond.

In 1944/5, my mum was 11/12 years old and, following the Blitz, had returned to London from evacuation to the countryside. She vividly remembers the fear of the V weapons, especially the V2 which would arrive without even the warning whistle of the doodlebug. Her experiences are what made me pick up Target London and persevere with it.

It's not a light read - there are perhaps too many details about the politics and hierarchies on both sides - but it's surprisingly entertaining nonetheless. The most interesting parts for me were about Bletchley Park and the Ultra intelligence that emerged from the breaking of the German Enigma codes - and how few people were authorised to know about the existence of the Ultra programme; and the critical input of a handful of brave men and women - from Resistance fighters to neutral attaches - whose information enabled the Allies to piece together the technical details.

I was shocked to learn that Churchill was in favour of first-use of chemical weapons in retaliation but was talked down by his chiefs of staff and the disapproval of the USA.

[GrabAsia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing story of Hitler's flying bomb (V1) and rocket (V2) attacks on London. The British knew about these secret weapons being developed, but not enough. So when the first bombs started flying in June 1944, they came as a surprise. Even more so was when the rockets started later, as by then the Allies had already landed in Normandy and moving towards Germany. The story is replete with strong characters & Whitehall intrigue. What struck me most was how decrypted messages about mundane things all contributed to filling in the British intelligence picture of what the Germans were up to.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I rate this very highly, but acknowledge that some here have found it too dry or detailed. This is, ij many ways, a tribute to the tremendous research that has been undertaken. The account follows a linear chronology and tells the parallel stories: the German attempts to develop revenge weapons versus the British effort to find our what was going on and take counter-measure. I found this a great read.

[Brad Kirbyson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tried to read this book for over a year but I'm finally forced to concede defeat. In that time I made it as far as page 83. Too many arcane details whose only purpose seems to be to show off the author's ability to assemble arcane details

[john smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Read

Very detailed and a good source of information! This is a book for anyone who wants to know the history of rockets!

[Monika · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5* actually. Very informative for anyone interested in V-weapons and battles of London.

[James Stirling · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit all over the place but stopped halfway through but a great read on the v1 and v2 weapons.

[Rob Kitchin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Between mid-1944 and the end of the war, Christy Campbell documents that 10,492 V1 flying bombs were launched, of which 2,419 reached London killing 6,184 and injuring 17,981, and 1,402 V2 rockets reached the UK killing 2,754 and injuring 6,500. 107,000 houses were destroyed in the city and 1.5 million damaged. While the flying bombs could be intercepted and shot down and gave a brief indication of its arrival via its noisy jet engine, the V2 arrived unexpectedly at six times the speed of sound. Hitler’s terror weapons were indeed terrifying, but they were nowhere near as effective as the German leader hoped and stood little chance of turning the tide of the war.

Target London tells the story of the V1 and V2, focusing for the main part on how the British came to learn of their development and set about trying to gather intelligence, formulate a response in advance of them being used, and cope with them while in operation. As such, while the book does cover their development and rollout in Germany and their deployment in France and the Netherlands, in the main the narrative concentrates on machinations in Whitehall and the Armed Services, and the various scheming and in-fighting between departments, politicians, officers, intelligence operatives, scientists and allies. Far from being a united and coordinated effort various factions manoeuvred to claim authority over the intelligence and response to V-weapons.

Campbell tells this story by weaving together the biographies of key individuals and documenting the work of various committees and the policies and actions they produced. It gets off to a somewhat rocky start, with a timeline that jumps around, moving from Germany 1943, then 1929, then Britain in 1958, followed by 1939 and 1942. Then it settles into a set timeline moving from 1943 to 1945, with each chapter covering one or two months. It would have been better to have had a linear timeline throughout and the 1958 chapter could have been a postscript or dropped altogether. Once it becomes linear, the story is more coherent and there’s a wealth of detail, though it’s a little confusing to follow the various spats and threads at times. Nonetheless it makes for fascinating reading. Overall, an interesting book that could have done with an edit to strengthen its narrative flow and clarity.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ambitious but overwhelmed. Primarily an account of the infighting in the British intelligence, civil servant and political community over how to fuze and distill the increasingly ominous signs of the German flying bomb and rocket effort.

While supported by a wealth of evidence and primary - now declassified sources - the author is the victim of the sources rather than the skillful orchestrator leading to both tedious repetitions, loose ends and lack of consolidating analysis.

Worthwhile to have available, but probably not the definitive account

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reasonable pop-history of the V1/V2 attacks on London. Perfectly readable, dragged on a tad, but enjoyable nevertheless.