I recall posting this somewhere else on here some time ago, but Sir Michael's recollection is not backed up by the record in the 10 Sqn F540 for October 1962. If that is accurate - and it refers to Bomber Command and not simply squadrons at Cottesmore - there was only a partial increase in readiness, starting on Saturday 27 October. (President Kennedy's TV broadcast and the imposition of a naval quarantine on shipping to Cuba had been on Monday 22 October. A USAF U-2 was shot down over Cuba on 27 October.) On Monday 29 October a second aircraft and crew was brought to 15 minutes, with others held at 2, 3, 4, 5 and 12 hours readiness. That condition was held till the following Monday, 5 November, when it was relaxed to normal - but Khrushchev had agreed to withdraw the missiles on 28 October. So, since seeing this, it has seemed to me that Bomber Command was not moved to higher alert till the worst of the crisis was past, and it does not look as if all V-Force crews were at 15 minutes readiness. I was at University at the time and, whilst I recall a degree of concern on the day after Kennedy's broadcast, there was no sense of panic. Edinburgh was, of course, some distance from the V-Force bases! And as far as Cottesmore was concerned, the record also notes the "The normal flying programme continued uninterrupted where crew and aircraft availability allowed."