Flying Bombs.

The cover reads “Published December, 1944, by British Information Services (an Agency of the British Government), 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York 20, N.Y.,” and the last page is printed in the U.S.A. A photo-essay of about forty-odd pages opens with a spread headed “Vergeltungswaffe-1,” describing how Londoners heard the sirens and the roar of the flying bombs, and quoting General Sir Frederick Pile, chief of Anti-Aircraft Command, that the flying bomb was “the beginning of a new type of war.” Photographs are credited to Acme Newspictures, British Official, British Combine, International Newsphotos and the Press Association, with one still from the film V-1.

Short illustrated chapters cover the attacks on London and the defences against them. The text records that forty percent of the bombs launched were destroyed in the first month, that the balloon barrage was raised to about 2,000, that five hundred searchlights were set up, and that eleven hundred guns were moved to the coast in two days. A photograph of roof repairs shows rebuilding after the raids, and a closing “How It Works” section giving the bomb’s weight (about 4,700 pounds, with a warhead of nearly 2,000) and its usual height of 2,000 feet. A full-page cutaway, “How the Flying Bomb Works,” labels the warhead, fuel tank, gyro pilot, servo motors and rocket motor on the last page. The N.A.S.C. German Flying Bombs spotters’ guide in this catalog covers the same weapon for an aircraft-recognition audience.