RAF Harrier Ground Attack: Falklands

Author: Jerry Pook
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1848845561
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 255

Book Description
During the Falklands war Jerry Pook, a pilot in No. 1(F) Squadron RAF, flew air interdiction, armed reccon, close-air-support and airfield attack as well as pure photo-reccon missions. Most weapons were delivered from extreme low-level attacks because of the lack of navigation aids and in the absence of Smart weapons. The only way he could achieve results was to get low down and close-in to the targets and, if necessary, carry out re-attacks to destroy high-value targets. Apart from brief carrier trials carried out many years previously there had been no RAF Harriers deployed at sea. The RAF pilots were treated with ill-disguised contempt by their naval masters, their professional opinions ignored in spite of the fact that the RN knew next to nothing about ground-attack and reccon operations. Very soon after starting operations from the aircraft carrier HMS Hermes the squadron realized that they were considered as more or less expendable ordnance. The Harriers lacked the most basic self-protection aids and were up against 10,000 well-armed troops who put up an impressive weight of fire whenever attacked.

Her Majesty's Top Gun: and the Decline of the Royal Navy

Author: 'Sharkey' Ward
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781631298677
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 516

Book Description

Sea Harrier Over the Falklands

Author: Commander 'Sharkey' Ward, DSC, AFC, RN
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 0850523052
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 326

Book Description
Sharkey Ward commanded 801 Naval Air Squadron, "HMS Invincible", during the Falkland War of April to June 1982, and was senior Sea Harrier adviser to the command on the tactics, direction and progress of the air war. He flew over 60 war missions, achieved three air-to air kills, and took part in or witnessed a total of ten kills; he was also the leading night pilot, and was decorated with the Distinguished Service Cross for gallantry. But what, after all, could 20 Sea Harriers, operating from a flight-deck bucketing about in the South Atlantic, do against more than 200 Argentine military aircraft flown by pilots who, as the raids against the British shipping proved, displayed enormous skill and almost suicidal gallantry? The world knows the answer - now. What is puzzling, therefore, is this book's truthful depiction of the attitudes of some senior non-flying naval officers, and of the RAF, towards the men (and indeed the machine) that made possible the victory in the Falklands. This first-hand account charts, in detail, the naval pilots' journey to the South Atlantic, and how they took on and triumphantly conquered the challenges they faced. It is a dramatic story, leavened with accounts of the air-to-air fighting and of life in a squadron at sea and on a war footing. But it is also a tale of inter-Service rivalry, bureaucratic interference, and the less-than-generous attitudes of a number of senior commanders who should certainly have known better; indeed, some of them might even have lost the war through a lack of understanding of air warfare. The author attempts to put the record straight.

Imperial Island

Author: Charlotte Lydia Riley
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674258495
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 329

Book Description
After the Second World War, Britain's overseas empire disintegrated. But over the next seventy years, empire came to define Britain and its people as never before. Drawing on a mass of new research, Riley tells a story of immigration and exclusion, social strife and cultural transformation. It is the story that best explains Britain today.

Three Days In June

Author: James O'Connell
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 1913183823
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 567

Book Description
*** 'If you only read one book about the Falklands make sure it's this one.' - Soldier magazine 'An extraordinarily detailed account of the bloodiest battle of the Falklands war.' - Major General Jonathan Shaw CB CBE When 3 Para began their assault under cover of darkness on Mount Longdon in June 1982, nobody knew what to expect. The three platoons of B Company each approached the mountain silently, treading carefully through a series of defensive minefields. But following an explosion, fighting quickly escalated with shocking speed and severity, resulting in some of the bloodiest close hand fighting, terrible injuries, and shocking loss of life experienced by British troops since the Korean war. Recreating 3 Para's bloody Falklands battle from multiple angles, James O'Connell - who fought there and was seriously injured himself - has written a gut-wrenching 360 degree classic. Frustrated by highly inaccurate books about the battle, O'Connell decided to set the record straight. What he did next was extraordinary - he revisited the Falkland's five times with comrades and Argentine soldiers and literally walked through the battle with them, step-by-step, creating an unprecedented masterpiece of immersive military publishing. Combined with rare access to the Battalion's records and radio logs, the resulting book is the last word on Mount Longdon, and might be the most harrowingly realistic description of modern warfare you will ever read.

Confessions of a Phantom Pilot

Author: Tug Wilson
Publisher: Fonthill Media
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 344

Book Description
‘The Confessions of a Phantom Pilot’ is the true story of a young RAF pilot who gets his dream to fly the old dirty workhorse fighter of the Cold War. From the first flight where he thought the jet was trying to kill him, through to his final trip of leading eight aeroplanes on a front line fighter squadron, you will relive his thoughts, feelings and anxieties as he stumbles his way through each flight relying on a bit of skill and a lot of blind luck. In essence, it is a love letter to the Phantom from a star-struck boy who felt like he was way out of his depth at the beginning of their affair. You will share stories of the outrageous drinking culture that was a major part of Cold War front-line operations, and marvel at how he didn’t do himself some serious damage either in or out of the cockpit. This is how it feels to be a front-line fighter pilot – the triumphs and the disasters are all laid out here in a completely open and honest way as the author looks back with a certain sense of nostalgia and mild embarrassment. What a blast though!

Air Power in the Falklands Conflict

Author: John Shields
Publisher: Air World
ISBN: 139900753X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 463

Book Description
A Royal Air Force veteran of the Falklands Conflict presents a comprehensive, myth-busting study of the air campaign. In the spring of 1982, Argentina and the UK engaged in tense combat over control of the Falkland Islands. The ten weeks of fighting are often portrayed with a decidedly one-sided narrative: either heroic Argentine pilots relentlessly pressing home their attacks, or the Sea Harrier force utterly dominating its Argentine enemies. In Air Power in the Falklands Conflict, RAF veteran John Shields presents a detailed and even-handed analysis of the Falkland Islands air war. As an RAF officer, John Shields spent two and a half years in the Falklands as an air defense navigator. Using recently released primary source material, Shields looks at the air campaign at the operational level. He develops a considered view of what should have occurred, and contrasts it with what actually happened. In so doing, John Shields has produced a comprehensive account of the air campaign that has demolished many of the enduring myths of this Cold War conflict.

The Battle for the Falklands

Author: Max Hastings
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
ISBN: 0330536761
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 460

Book Description
The Battle for the Falklands is a thoughtful and informed analysis of an astonishing chapter in modern British history from journalist and military historian Sir Max Hastings and political editor Simon Jenkins. Ten weeks. 28,000 soldiers. 8,000 miles from home. The Falklands War in 1982 was one of the strangest in British history. At the time, many Britons saw it as a tragic absurdity - thousands of men sent overseas for a tiny relic of empire - but the British victory over the Argentinians not only confirmed the quality of British arms but also boosted the political fortunes of Thatcher's Conservative government. However, it left a chequered aftermath and was later overshadowed by the two Gulf wars. Max Hastings’ and Simon Jenkins’ account of the conflict is a modern classic of war reportage and the definitive book on the conflict.

The Chinese Navy

Author: Institute for National Strategic Studies
Publisher: Government Printing Office
ISBN: 9780160897634
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 348

Book Description
Tells the story of the growing Chinese Navy - The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) - and its expanding capabilities, evolving roles and military implications for the USA. Divided into four thematic sections, this special collection of essays surveys and analyzes the most important aspects of China's navel modernization.

Logistics in the Falklands War

Author: Kenneth L Privratsky
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473823129
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 321

Book Description
While many books have been written on the Falklands War, this is the first to focus on the vital aspect of logistics. The challenges were huge; the lack of preparation time; the urgency; the huge distances involved; the need to requisition ships from trade to name but four.??After a brief discussion of events leading to Argentina's invasion the book describes in detail the rush to re-organise and deploy forces, despatch a large task force, the innovative solutions needed to sustain the Task Force, the vital staging base at Ascension Island, the in-theatre resupply, the set-backs and finally the restoring of order after victory.??Had the logistics plan failed, victory would have been impossible and humiliation inevitable, with no food for the troops, no ammunition for the guns, no medical support for casualties etc.??The lessons learnt have never been more important with increasing numbers of out-of-area operations required in remote trouble spots at short notice. The Falklands experience is crucial for the education of new generations of military planners and fascinating for military buffs and this book fills an important gap.