I received an e-mail from Sharkey Ward (famed pilot of Falkland Island fame and blogger at the Pheonix Think Tank) and he is going full bore after the Royal Air Force and an upcoming documentary about the Black Buck raid.
I did a little hasty research and I hope that the RAF isn't going to paint the raids as a success. Men put their lives on the line so I won't label them a failure but they did not achieve stated goals and unfortunately it appears that the 'powers that be' in the air service was merely looking for a way to get its forces into the fight.
All that being said, I'm trying to reach Sharkey so that I can print his summary on the raid. Trust me, its fascinating reading and gives an insight into the thinking that goes on in the upper reaches of the British military (but I'm positive that the same thinking exists in any military in the free world).
The Falklands War. 30 years later and it still burns bright for the Brits.
Awesome.
That means they still have a martial mindset.
I think theres a far more human reason behind black buck than simple "pie grabbing"
ReplyDeleteRemember, the assessments before the war were pretty grim
The British, expected the Sea Harriers to be wiped out, by Argentine fighters operating from an expanded airfield.
The Americans, expected the Task Force to be wiped out, by Argetnine fighters operating from an expanded airfield.
I believe "retaking the islands is a military impossibility" was the official line.
The first thing we did after liberating the islands, is build two massive airstrips, from which we could reasonably expect to destroy the Argentine armed forces if they tried it again.
Every military in the world expected Argentina to build a fast jet capable airstrip, something that was well within their capabilities in the time they had available.
So, The RAF, like every other military group, believed Argentina would extend Stanley and they operated on that assumption.
Argentina would extend the airstrip from 4000ft to 8000ft, allowing the operation of fast jets, and an easy win. To counter, the RAF bombed the imagined airstrip, turning the 8000ft strip into 4x2000ft strips, which in reality, meant they bombed a field either end, and the middle.
Viewed in those terms, Black Buck makes a great deal of sense.
Quite why Argentina didnt expand the airfield, I wouldnt speculate. In reality, Black Buck was a complete waste, but the thinking behind it was, at least to mind, fairly sound.
I think its a very important distinction to make.