LONDON, April 3 (UPI) -- Newly declassified documents show British leaders were appalled the United States was prepared for nuclear war over Cuba in 1962 and didn't consult with them.
The documents said Prime Minister Harold Macmillan was so concerned with President John Kennedy's strategy, he immediately notified Queen Elizabeth, The Telegraph reported.
The warning to Macmillan came from Maj. Gen. Kenneth Strong, the director of the Joint Intelligence Bureau, who had been Gen. Dwight Eisenhower's intelligence chief at the time of D-Day.
The report said Macmillan was horrified that their allies, who had appeared to consult them from the early stages of the crisis, were only paying lip-service to the idea.
The crisis began in late September 1962 when the CIA learned that Soviet technicians were installing nuclear missiles on the northern coast of Cuba. After six days of stand-off as U.S. navy vessels blockaded Cuba, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev agreed to dismantle and remove the missiles and bombers in exchange for U.S. disarmament in Turkey.
