An Empire of Stars

[Dave Monroe]

A cold autumn day was dawning as the German soldiers of the Altenwalde
Versuchskommando prepared their V2 rocket for launch. They'd done this
a hundred times before, but when the V2 finally roared up into the sky
over the North Sea, the men of the AVKO couldn't help but smile and
cheer. Soon the rest of the soldiers and officers around the launchpad
were cheering as well. British officers and soldiers. Because this was
Operation Backfire, the beginning of something that most people don't
even know existed - the British Space Programme.

[...]

http://www.metafilter.com/119469/An-Empire-of-Stars

Thanks, Doug Millison!