Book Review of
We Were Never There
Vol. 1: CIA U-2 Operations Over Europe,
The USSR & the Middle-East, 1954-1960
Author: Kevin Wright
Europe@War Series No. 14
Helion & Company
ISBN: 978-1-914377-12-9
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright 2021
MSRP: $24.95
ISBN: 978-1-914377-12-9
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright 2021
MSRP: $24.95
THE BOOK:
Helion & Company is based in England.
The Europe@War series provides revealing accounts and new insights into armed conflicts and military forces in Europe since 1945.
Devised by Kelly Johnson and initially operated by the CIA, the U-2 is the world’s most famous spy plane. It flew at unprecedented altitudes and carried the most sophisticated sensors available, all in the greatest secrecy.
Operating from remote locations and without markings they often took off before first light. Ostensibly operated by civilians flying meteorological research missions, their bold overflights took them far across Eastern-Europe, the USSR, Middle and Far East.
However, many details of the aircraft’s operational history remain vague and a considerable amount is still classified. Continuing national political sensitivities have meant that much about these early operations has still not been fully revealed, even after 60 years later.
The book utilizes a large number of recently declassified documents to explore the remaining hidden details. It provides, in depth, examinations of some missions not previously fully described and includes more about Norway’s role in U-2 operations, and a breakdown of British U-2 overflights of the Middle-East, using recently released files from the British Ministry of Defence.
It examines some of the U-2’s extensive efforts to collect intelligence on Soviet ballistic missile test launches and space programme, on “Fast Move” staging operations and lots more from these missions up to May 1960.
Chapters explore some of the ground-breaking technology employed by the U-2 to photograph and eavesdrop on Soviet Nuclear, military and industrial activities. These include revealing secrets of the Fili Heavy Bomber production plant, just 3 miles from the Kremlin Overflights of the “Arzamas-16” closed nuclear city, Vozrozhdeniya biological warfare centre in the Aral Sea and the mystery that was Mozhaysk.
Over 90 photographs, maps and illustrations provide details of the aircraft, the cameras and electronic defensive and eavesdropping systems. The specialised nuclear fallout sampling role is explained and the “weather packs” installed to substantiate the wafer-thin false cover story of the U-2’S role as a “meteorological research” aircraft. Maps, most never seen before, record the detailed routes flown by U-2 pilots deep into denied airspace to reveal the secrets of Soviet Military, nuclear, scientific and industrial sites.
The book is soft-cover of 82 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¼” page format. Two pages are blank.
The cover art shows a color photo of a dark-grey U-2 that is unmarked, flying above the clouds.
Below it is a color side profile of a U-2 that is overall bare metal, with a yellow horizontal band around it’s rudder over black serial no. NACA 163.
The book begins with CONTENTS , ABBREVIATIONS, Introduction and Acknowledgements and a list of 6 chapters, a BIBLIOGRAPHY and NOTES page and information about the Author.
There are 66 black and white photos in the book. 24 of them are photos of terrain. a photo of a C-124, 4 photos inside a U-2 factory, 3 photos of it’s camera equipment, a photo of U-2 pilota “Robbie” Robinson and Gary Powers, 33 maps, 6 data lists, a data recorder, the U-2’s cockpit control unit, the film processing storage unit, a C-54, 3 photos of the U-2’s cockpit interior, a photo of a Sea-Brine EA-3B, a photo of a RB-47, a photo of a C-124C, a photo of the Lincoln Plant and Kodak’s Hawkeye plant, a photo of a Niagra high-quality printing machine, a photo of the Stewart building and 3 line drawings.
This book will be of interest to modelers planning on building a U-2 and to aviation historians alike.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the North American distributor of Helion & Co. books and all their titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
Helion & Company is based in England.
The Europe@War series provides revealing accounts and new insights into armed conflicts and military forces in Europe since 1945.
Devised by Kelly Johnson and initially operated by the CIA, the U-2 is the world’s most famous spy plane. It flew at unprecedented altitudes and carried the most sophisticated sensors available, all in the greatest secrecy.
Operating from remote locations and without markings they often took off before first light. Ostensibly operated by civilians flying meteorological research missions, their bold overflights took them far across Eastern-Europe, the USSR, Middle and Far East.
However, many details of the aircraft’s operational history remain vague and a considerable amount is still classified. Continuing national political sensitivities have meant that much about these early operations has still not been fully revealed, even after 60 years later.
The book utilizes a large number of recently declassified documents to explore the remaining hidden details. It provides, in depth, examinations of some missions not previously fully described and includes more about Norway’s role in U-2 operations, and a breakdown of British U-2 overflights of the Middle-East, using recently released files from the British Ministry of Defence.
It examines some of the U-2’s extensive efforts to collect intelligence on Soviet ballistic missile test launches and space programme, on “Fast Move” staging operations and lots more from these missions up to May 1960.
Chapters explore some of the ground-breaking technology employed by the U-2 to photograph and eavesdrop on Soviet Nuclear, military and industrial activities. These include revealing secrets of the Fili Heavy Bomber production plant, just 3 miles from the Kremlin Overflights of the “Arzamas-16” closed nuclear city, Vozrozhdeniya biological warfare centre in the Aral Sea and the mystery that was Mozhaysk.
Over 90 photographs, maps and illustrations provide details of the aircraft, the cameras and electronic defensive and eavesdropping systems. The specialised nuclear fallout sampling role is explained and the “weather packs” installed to substantiate the wafer-thin false cover story of the U-2’S role as a “meteorological research” aircraft. Maps, most never seen before, record the detailed routes flown by U-2 pilots deep into denied airspace to reveal the secrets of Soviet Military, nuclear, scientific and industrial sites.
The book is soft-cover of 82 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¼” page format. Two pages are blank.
The cover art shows a color photo of a dark-grey U-2 that is unmarked, flying above the clouds.
Below it is a color side profile of a U-2 that is overall bare metal, with a yellow horizontal band around it’s rudder over black serial no. NACA 163.
The book begins with CONTENTS , ABBREVIATIONS, Introduction and Acknowledgements and a list of 6 chapters, a BIBLIOGRAPHY and NOTES page and information about the Author.
There are 66 black and white photos in the book. 24 of them are photos of terrain. a photo of a C-124, 4 photos inside a U-2 factory, 3 photos of it’s camera equipment, a photo of U-2 pilota “Robbie” Robinson and Gary Powers, 33 maps, 6 data lists, a data recorder, the U-2’s cockpit control unit, the film processing storage unit, a C-54, 3 photos of the U-2’s cockpit interior, a photo of a Sea-Brine EA-3B, a photo of a RB-47, a photo of a C-124C, a photo of the Lincoln Plant and Kodak’s Hawkeye plant, a photo of a Niagra high-quality printing machine, a photo of the Stewart building and 3 line drawings.
This book will be of interest to modelers planning on building a U-2 and to aviation historians alike.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the North American distributor of Helion & Co. books and all their titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
Highly recommended.