‘The V-2, on the other hand, is a very different beast. It’s a rocket rather than a pilotless aircraft. One of our boffins has come up with a term to describe it: a guided missile. It’s launched high into the sky, possibly as high as seventy miles. Its engine is then cut at a crucial moment by means of a radio signal from the ground and this causes the rocket to fall onto its target. Like the V-1 it carries a one-ton warhead, and it has a similar range, around two hundred and twenty miles, but it travels a great deal faster – possibly around three and a half thousand miles per hour. Mr Gilbey’s report was able to furnish us with considerably more detail than we’d had up to now.’

Lord Swalcliffe was coughing vigorously, clearly impatient to make his case.

‘One moment, Edward,’ said Pearson. ‘I have one question: if we are to believe what we’re being told, what are the implications for Britain?’

‘Potentially devastating,’ said Hamilton. ‘While we’d stand a reasonable chance of intercepting a V-1 rocket, I doubt we’d get much of a shot at a V-2, not going at that speed. Our Spitfires are being updated all the time, but their top speed is currently not much more than four hundred miles an hour.’

‘Which is a flaw, isn’t it?’ Lord Swalcliffe spoke with the air of a barrister at last allowed to begin his cross-examination. ‘Why bother with the so-called V-1? If this V-2 rocket is so bloody good, they ought to be putting all their resources into that, surely? All this rivalry nonsense we’re expected to buy…’

‘The V-1s would be much easier and certainly cheaper to produce,’ Hamilton replied. ‘They’ll be able to fire far more of them at us.’

The young wing commander chipped in. ‘And also, who knows how the technology would work out? The rockets are still being developed, after all. This is an area we really need to know far more about. The report says the Oberst implied that both weapons are proving problematic in their development stage. This is something we’d really like to have far more detail on.’