The Falklands Campaign
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ROYAL AIR FORCE HISTORICAL SOCIETY JOURNAL 30 2 The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the contributors concerned and are not necessarily those held by the Royal Air Force Historical Society. Crown Copyright/MOD. The photographs on pages 15, 19, 22, 31, 52, 56, 64, 78, 86, 89, 93, 104, 105, 107, 108, 116 and 125 have been reproduced with permission of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. Copyright 2003: Royal Air Force Historical Society First published in the UK in 2003 by the Royal Air Force Historical Society All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing. ISSN 1361-4231 Typeset by Creative Associates 115 Magdalen Road Oxford OX4 1RS Printed by Advance Book Printing Unit 9 Northmoor Park Church Road Northmoor OX29 5UH 3 CONTENTS THE VIEW FROM THE MOD by Air Cdre Henry Probert THE ALERT MEASURES COMMITTEE by AVM John Price A VIEW FROM THE HQ AT NORTHWOOD I by Air Mshl Sir John Curtiss A VIEW FROM THE HQ AT NORTHWOOD II by AVM George Chesworth THE VIEW FROM BDLS WASHINGTON by AVM Ron Dick ASCENSION ISLAND – GATEWAY TO THE FALKLANDS by Gp Capt Jeremy Price RAF LYNEHAM AND THE AIR BRIDGE by AVM Clive Evans NIMROD OPERATIONS AT ASCENSION ISLAND by Gp Capt David Pierce MORNING DISCUSSION PERIOD VULCAN OPERATIONS by Air Mshl Sir John Curtiss CHINOOK OPERATIONS – RAF ODIHAM by AVM Sandy Hunter CHINOOK OPERATIONS – No 18 Sqn by AVM Tony Stables MARITIME OPERATIONS FROM ASCENSION by Wg Cdr Derek Straw RAF REGIMENT PARTICIPATION IN OPERATION CORPORATE by Gp Capt Kingsley Oliver LOGISTICS AND THE FALKLANDS CAMPAIGN by Air Cdre Peter Dye HARRIER OPERATIONS – RAF GÜTERSLOH by Air Chf Mshl Sir Richard Johns HARRIER OPERATIONS – No 1 Sqn by Air Chf Mshl Sir Peter Squire AFTERNOON DISCUSSION PERIOD CLOSING REMARKS by MRAF Sir Michael Beetham 4 ROYAL AIR FORCE HISTORICAL SOCIETY President Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Michael Beetham GCB CBE DFC AFC Vice-President Air Marshal Sir Frederick Sowrey KCB CBE AFC Committee Chairman Air Vice-Marshal N B Baldwin CB CBE FRAeS Vice-Chairman Group Captain J D Heron OBE Secretary Group Captain K J Dearman Membership Secretary Dr Jack Dunham PhD CPsychol AMRAeS Treasurer J Boyes TD CA Members Air Commodore H A Probert MBE MA *J S Cox Esq BA MA *Dr M A Fopp MA FMA FIMgt *Group Captain C J Finn MPhil RAF *Wing Commander C McDermott RAF Wing Commander C Cummings Editor & Publications Wing Commander C G Jefford MBE BA Manager *Ex Officio 5 SELECTED ABBREVIATIONS AAA Anti-Aircraft Artillery AAFCE Allied Air Forces Central Europe (NATO command) AAR Air-to-Air Refuelling ABDR Aircraft Battle Damage Repair ACAS(Ops) Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Operations) ACAS(OR) ACAS (Operational Requirements) ACE Allied Command Europe (ie a NATO command) ACTIVE EDGE A NATO-sponsored aircraft generation exercise AD Air Defence AEF Air Experience Flight AEW Airborne Early Warning AGI Intelligence Gathering Auxiliary vessel AIM-9 US designation for the Sidewinder missile AMC Alert Measures Committee ARM Anti-Radiation Missile ASF Aircraft Servicing Flight ASI Ascension Island ASMA Air Staff Management Aid ASW Anti-Submarine Warfare C2 Command & Control CAS Chief of the Air Staff CDS Chief of the Defence Staff CE(RAF) Chief Engineer (RAF) CLFFI Commander Land Forces Falkland Islands COS Chief Of Staff CVS Aircraft Carrier DACT Dissimilar Air Combat Training DCDS(C) Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Commitments) DFGA Day Fighter/Ground Attack DIS Defence Intelligence Staff DOB Deployed Operating Base DWR Duke of Wellington’s Regiment ELINT Electronic Intelligence EWAU Electronic Warfare Avionics Unit FAC Forward Air Controller FAP Fly Away Pack FOB Forward Operating Base 6 FWOC Forward Wing Operations Centre GBAD Ground Based Air Defence GPMG General Purpose Machine-Gun HDU Hose Drum Unit IAM Institute of Aviation Medcine IDC Imperial Defence College IGB Inner (sometimes Inter) German Border INAS Integrated Navigation/Attack System JCS Joint Chiefs of Staff JHSU Joint Helicopter Support Unit JTP Joint Theatre Plan LGB Laser Guided Bomb LI Light Infantry Regiment LRU Line Replaceable Unit MRR Maritime Radar Reconnaissance ORBAT ORder of BATtle PARA The Parachute Regiment PE (MOD) Procurement Executive PJHQ Permanent Joint Headquarters PMO Principal Medical Officer RCDS Royal College of Defence Studies ROE Rules Of Engagement RWR Radar Warning Receiver SAM Surface-to-Air Missile SH Support Helicopter SHAPE Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers in Europe SHORAD SHORt Range Air Defence SOP Standard Operational Procedure SSN Nuclear Powered Attack Submarine STANEVAL 1970s term for ‘Standards Flight’ STC Strike Command TACEVAL TACtical EVALuation TCW Tactical Communications Wing TEZ Total Exclusion Zone TIALD Thermal Imaging Airborne Laser Designator TTTE Tri-National Tornado Training Establishment UOR Urgent Operational Requirement VCAS Vice-Chief of the Air Staff 7 THE RAF IN THE FALKLANDS CAMPAIGN RAF MUSEUM, HENDON, 8th APRIL 2003 WELCOME ADDRESS BY THE SOCIETY’S CHAIRMAN Air Vice-Marshal Nigel Baldwin CB CBE FRAeS Ladies and Gentlemen It is a pleasure to see so many of you here this morning – the first time, I think, that we have had a full auditorium with some 180 members present. Before I introduce our Chairman for the day, let me say my usual thanks to Dr Michael Fopp and his staff here at the Museum, for allowing us to use their excellent facilities and helping us so much with the production of the day. Our Chairman today is Air Marshal Sir John Curtiss. In 1982, he was AOC 18 Group, the maritime Group with its Headquarters at Northwood. During the Falklands campaign, he was the Deputy Commander-in-Chief (deputy to Admiral Sir John Fieldhouse). But he was also the Air Commander, and thus the most senior airman in the operational chain of command. He controlled all of the RAF aircraft assigned to the conflict other than those embarked. We could have no better person to keep today’s disparate crew of speakers under control. Sir John – over to you. 8 INTRODUCTION BY SEMINAR CHAIRMAN Air Marshal Sir John Curtiss Nigel Baldwin and his team seem to have timed this event with remarkable prescience, although I’m not sure that, when they selected the topic for this seminar, they could really have predicted that our Forces would once again be on active service, this time in Iraq. But it is a fact that just twenty-one years ago, on 2 April 1982, Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands. Three days later, the aircraft carriers Hermes and Invincible sailed at the head of what was to become one of the largest Task Forces in recent history, resulting in the recapture of the islands after only seventy days. This indeed was one war that would be over by Christmas. It is one thing to start your life in war, as I did, but it was perhaps even more satisfying to end one’s career, after forty years, following the conclusion of a very different and very successful one. It may be of passing interest to note that, in many ways, I found it a lot easier to fly with Bomber Command during WW II than I did being the Air Commander in the Falkland campaign. In other words, going to war is very much easier than sending others to war. But we must move on, as we have a lot to get through today. We have some sixteen speakers. Most of them played an active role in the campaign and all are distinguished. Indeed we already have two former Chiefs of the Air Staff in the auditorium and our current CAS will be joining us later. We are fortunate indeed. We also have the largest audience ever assembled for any of the Society’s meetings and I know that many of those who are here today served in the campaign. Some of you will, I hope, wish to participate in the question period and I welcome that, but all of this puts considerable pressure on the time available to us, so I do ask you to exercise great discipline: the speakers to stick to their time; everyone to return promptly after lunch and, when it comes to the question period, please make sure that you give your name before you ask your question; keep your question succinct and don’t make speeches. So, having set a good example by finishing well within my own allotted five minutes I will hand over to our first speaker. 9 THE VIEW FROM THE MOD Air Commodore Henry Probert A Cambridge history graduate, Henry Probert joined the RAF Education Branch in 1948. During the 1960s he served in Singapore and on the Staff College Directing Staff before becoming, in 1976, Director of RAF Education. After retirement in 1978 he spent the next eleven years as Head of the Air Historical Branch. He is the author of three notable books, his most recent being his acclaimed biography of Sir Arthur Harris. At the time of the Falklands operation I was running the Air Historical Branch in the MOD and well before it ended in June we had been made responsible for gathering together the more important of the rapidly accumulating documentary records. Subsequently, these needed sorting and indexing and we were then asked to compile a written narrative history covering the RAF’s total contribution to the Falklands conflict – Operation CORPORATE. This would be for official use within the Service and later by official historians; it would be suitably classified.