Cold war history

Russia's 'plan to drop nuclear bomb on London' in attack that could kill millions exposed

A plot from Russia to drop nuclear bombs on London in a bid to wipe out the capital city has been exposed.

William Penney, a British atomic expert who helped develop the UK's first atom bomb, warned the Atomic Energy Authority chairman Edwin Plowden in 1954 that the eastern European giant was prepared to drop several "very powerful" bombs.

He added in the top-secret letter that the bombs would fall all across London during the Cold War, with Croydon in south London, Uxbridge in the west, and Romford in the east all suffering from a catastrophic nuclear fallout.