The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz

Another defensive device of the RAF. Also known as a “silver elephantine,” it consisted of a giant bag of lighter-than-air gas attached to a mile-long steel cable anchored to the ground. It was used by the British in World War II to thwart low-flying German aircraft, forcing them to a higher altitude and thus minimizing surprise and accuracy of bombing. Larson describes the 562 barrage balloons aloft over London, attached to mile-long cables (46). 

The headquarters of Allied codebreaking in World War II, charged with intercepting secret communications of the Axis powers. It was located in a country estate in Buckinghamshire. Crucially in The Splendid and the Vile, code breakers at Bletchley decipher a German radio transmission that alerts Jones to the German knowledge of navigation beams (70). 

A sudden, swift, and overwhelming military attack, usually using tanks and aerial bombardment. The word is a shortening of the German Blitzkrieg, “lightning war,” which denotes a swift, focused attack using maneuverable forces and relying on speed and surprise to overwhelm and produce psychological shock in the enemy. The Nazis relied on this technique for a quick victory over their opponents with minimal loss of soldiers and artillery. “The Blitz” is the popular designation for the Nazi aerial bombardment of Britain during 1940-41 that forms the heart of the book.