The Politics of Rockets

A small but very important anniversary passed almost unnoticed amidst the world's preoccupation with the problems of peace in Europe. One year ago last week the first three buzz-bombs fell on England. They injured 52 people, killed eight. They meant that Britain in a military (and hence in a political) sense had almost ceased to be an island, that the North Sea, Dover Strait and the English Channel, which for centuries had served England "in the office of a wall, or as a moat defensive to a house," had for purpose of war shriveled to a trickle. Henceforth, unless a defense as effective as rocket bombs could be developed, Britain was within shattering range of any aggressive European power.

If reports were true that the Nazis had already blueprinted an explosive rocket with a 3,000-mile trajectory, Britain's first three buzz-bombs also shattered another historic isolation--that of the U.S.--more effectively than any possible barrage of political argument.

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