List of V Bomber dispersal bases

In its early years, the British V bomber force relied on the concept of aircraft dispersal to escape the effects of an enemy attack on their main bases.

[1] In times of heightened international tension the V bomber force, already loaded with their nuclear weapons, could be flown to the dispersal bases where they could be kept at a few minutes readiness to take-off.

The bases were situated around the United Kingdom in such a way that a nuclear strike by an attacking state could not be guaranteed to knock out all of Britain's ability to retaliate.

During the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, Prime Minister Harold Macmillan declined to order the dispersal of the V-Force because he believed the Soviets would view this as provocative.

The dispersal bases are mentioned in the opening titles of the 1965 Peter Watkins documentary The War Game.