WONZ 256 - Falklands Air War

[Dave Homewood]

Today is the 40th Anniversary of the start of the Falkland Islands war, 2nd of April 1982. The WONZ Show is commemorating this witha Falklands Air War special episode.

Don Simms, who has appeared on the show several times and is a longstanding member and moderator here on the forum, has had a fascination with the 1982 Falklands War since he was a teenager when the war erupted. And he is particularly interested in the Falklands Air War. He has read every book he can find on the subject, and has a vast knowledge of the conflict.

In this episode he presents a talk that he gives on the Falklands Air War, especially recorded and released here to mark the 40th Anniversary of the Falklands War (2nd of April 1982 to 14th of June 1982).

This is a video episode as Don uses photos and maps, etc, to tell the story.

Don served in the Royal New Zealand Air Force from 1986 till 2001, as an Avionics Technician. He served with No. 3 Squadron RNZAF working with Iroquois and Sioux helicopters at Hobsonville, and most of his career was spent at Ohakea working on the Skyhawks of No’s 2 and 75 Squadrons, and the Avionics Squadron. He also served at RAN Base Nowra in NSW, Australia, with No. 2 Squadron. He co-wrote the book “Skyhawks: The History of the RNZAF Skyhawks” which was published in 2011.

To listen to or download just the audio version go to the show page here:
cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/2022/04/wonz-256-the-falklands-air-war/

To watch the video click here:

[mcmaster]

Thanks Don and Dave great presso to revisit an amazing time. I got fascinated with it at school too and have Sharkey Wards book and Alfred Price’s somewhere gathering dust. Didn’t know about NZ offering a frigate!

[nuuumannn]

Good synopsis and a lot of pertinent research done, Don. A few minor points to add to your excellently detailed script.

Operacion Azul was drawn up by C-in-C Armada Jorge Anaya a few years before the war and he assumed overall command of the action, which was renamed Operacion Rosario, which involved Ejercito and Armada assault units, with Armada surface vessels and submarines in support, a rare example of inter-cooperation between the Argentine armed forces. The FAA played no role in the direct invasion of the islands, but went into preparation at the time by moving combat units to air bases south.

FAA A-4Ps of V Brigada Aerea were converted from US A4D-2s and were commonly referred to as A-4Bs, IV Brigada Aerea's A-4Cs were formerly US A4D-2Ns. The Armada A-4Qs were a mix of A4D-2s and A-4Es. Before the Armada chose the A-4, Hawker Siddeley attempted to sell Harrier GR.1s to the navy, even landing an example aboard the carrier 25 de Mayo on its delivery voyage from the Netherlands to Argentina in 1969. HS offered six Harriers with an option of six more, but Douglas offered a greater number of refurbished A-4s for less.


Before the Vulcan strike on BAM Malvinas, the name the Argentine forces gave Stanley airport, the first air actions of the campaign took place. Aside from the Argentine Puma losses on South Georgia, in the following weeks, the Royal Navy helicopter assets were busy in direct contact with Argentine navy units, damaging patrol boats, including the ARA Alferez Sobral, that was fired on by Lynxes (and whose conning tower survives at the Argentine naval museum outside Buenos Aires) and the submarine ARA Santa Fe, which you mention, also attacked by Lynxes.

A sixth crewmember was crammed into each Vulcan for IFR duties during the Black Buck raids.

Regarding the Exclusive Zone around the islands, this was imposed by the British Task Force, which came with the warning that any hostile vessel within will be attacked. That the Belgrano was not within it has been controversial, but because it was imposed by the British nullifies many of the objections to the sinking simply because it was an arbitrary delineation; imposed by the British for the purposes of defending their interests.

Before the 25 de Mayo returned to Argentina following the sinking of the Belgrano, Armada A-4s were prepared for interceptor duties and were fitted with AIM-9B sidewinders and sat at "Interceptor On Deck" state of readiness. Several sorties were flown before the ship returned to port.

San Carlos Water became known as "Bomb Alley", the attackers having only a few minutes over the island owing to their lengthy transit from the mainland.

The pilot that hit the Antelope's mast was 1st Lt Luciano Guadagnini of Escuadron II, V Brigada Aerea FAA, flying A-4B C-242, which had been struck by AA fire on approach to the Antelope. He died when the A-4 plummeted into the sea. Simultaneously, Antelope was struck by an Armada A-4's bomb as well, but post-war research agrees that it was Guadagnini's bomb that detonated and killed disposal engineer James Prescott.

On 8 June, the landing craft F4 from HMS Fearless was also sunk, taking 6 lives with it as it went down. The 48 lives lost were aboard Sir Galahad alone.

The Glamorgan was nicknamed "the Glamorous Organ"!

Loss figures differ slightly from Argentine sources, which record 23 A-4 losses in total, 20 FAA, 10 from each Brigada and 3 Armada, 20 Pucaras and 3 MB.339s lost. One T-34 was captured and taken back to the UK, it's in store at the Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton.

Peru supplied Daggers to the FAA.

Argentina has retired its A-4Bs, Cs and Qs, the only A-4s in operation are secondhand A-4AR Fighting Hawks, which were former A-4Ms that had a similar upgrade to the Kahu upgrades to our A-4s.

I've written a few articles on the air war over the Falklands for NZAvNews, including a detailed look at the Argentine use of the A-4, to be published.

A-4Q 3-A-304 took part on the attack against HMS Ardent and is located outside the Argentine Navy HQ Edificio Libertad in Buenos Aires.

3-A-304

[skyhawkdon]

Thanks for the feedback. Some details and mention of the smaller actions had to be left out due to time constraints. Looking forward to reading your A-4 story in a future NZ AvNews.

[Antonio]

There was a Chris Wren cartoon from the era showing:
1st Box: Mirage behind Harrier
2nd Box: Harrier lifts up, Mirage flys underneath
3rd Box: Harrier has destroyed Mirage (Splat!)
Briefing Officer with pointer to assembled pilots, "Any Questions?"

I couldn't find it so here's another

[nuuumannn]

Apr 6, 2022 10:06:58 GMT 12 skyhawkdon said:

Thanks for the feedback. Some details and mention of the smaller actions had to be left out due to time constraints. Looking forward to reading your A-4 story in a future NZ AvNews.

No worries and thank you, Don. Understandably so that you left a lot out; your compilation is very comprehensive. Mine is more analytical (and shorter) and isn't presented linearly. The first half was published today.

www.nbr.co.nz/story/falklands-air-war-40-year-retrospective

The Argentine A-4 article is also split into two sections and will hopefully be published over the next few weeks. During my visit to Argentina I bought some Spanish language books on the A-4 (and other types), which have proven very helpful. Hopefully John'll include this shot of A-4B C-207 that dropped the bombs that sank the Coventry.

C-207

[planecrazy]

Really enjoyed your presentation Don, never knew much about this conflict till now. I knew they
had lost a Type 42 and the freighter, didn't realise the British lost as many ships as they did.

I also found it interesting the comment you made at the very end when the Harrier equipped
carrier visited Auckland not long after the Falkland's war. You mentioned the RNZAF A4's
greeted them with a surprise mock strike which was considered quite successful.

Not for this thread but perhaps for another, I can remember reading somewhere that the A4s
went really well against the RAAF Hornets, actually defeating them in mock combat.

[Dave Homewood]

Here is an article on New Zealand Sir Kenneth Hayr, who was one of the RAF's key leaders and planners in the war. This comes from The Press, dated 13th of October 1982:

Honour for N.Z. airman

By

DIANA DEKKER

London

"It was highly frustrating not being down there flying and fighting," said Air ViceMarshal Kenneth William Hayr, a New Zealander, in London yesterday. Although Air Vice-Marshal Hayr’s contribution to the Falklands war came from outside the field of battle, he was among the heroes who have received awards for their courage during the conflict.

Air Vice-Marshal Hayr, aged 47, yesterday became a Companion of the Order of the Bath (C.B.) for his “out of theatre" heroism. Be was responsible, as Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Operations) for “developing the special additional capabilities required of the Royal Air Force in the South Atlantic” — getting the aircraft away to the war and making sure they could do the job when they got there.

It was, he said yesterday, a frustrating position for a fighter pilot to be in, but it did have its compensations. Air Vice-Marshal Hayr attended a daily, meeting for Chiefs of Staff at Whitehall, “and whatever the press has said about inter-Service rivalry, it was very much a team effort”

“Our first problem was that we could not see how we could project air power to the Falklands without having an airfield there. The Argies, of course, would not let us use theirs,” he said.

“From Britain to the Falklands is an awful long way. We did a lot of brainstorming. There were many ideas. We just had a go at it and just about all of them' came off."

A high spot of the war for Air Vice-Marshal Hayr was “actually getting a bomb on to the runway at Port Stanley, actually getting one on our first sortie. That was pretty amazing.”

Another triumph was “getting the Harriers on to the Hermes with no alternative airfield, in horrid weather.” Successful air-to-air refuelling and an impressive delivery of weapons were also “interesting problems we put our minds to.”

Air Vice-Marshal Hayr is now based at Bentley Priory, near Stanmore, North London, and is Air Officer Commanding 11 Group. Another New Zealander, Sir Keith Park, ran 11 Group during the Battle of Britain in 1940.

Air Vice-Marshal Hayr was born in Auckland, where his parents still live, and was educated at Auckland Grammar School.

In 1954, at 18, he left for Britain and spent three years at Cranwell. From 1958 until 1964 he served with the R.A.F.’s Hunter and Lightning squadrons. He later commanded the R.A.F.'s first Harrier squadron, No. 1 Squadron.

He was instrumental in developing Sea Harriers, “the concept of which we resurrected with no difficulty 11 years later.”

“I hardly got away from Whitehall for three months after the trouble blew at the end of March,” he' said. “Being a Harrier man myself it was frustrating not being able to go south.”

[Dave Homewood]

And this about another Kiwi in the RAF, from the Press, 2 May 1983:

Falklands medal for N.Z. man

A New Zealander who flew Harrier jets with No. 1 Squadron of the Royal Air Force, during the Falklands war, Flight. Lieutenant Ross Boyens, has just had his Atlantic Medal and rosette presented to him by his air officer commanding, another New Zealander, Air Vice-Marshal K. W. Hayr. Both men are from Auckland.

The presentation had been delayed because Flight Lieutenant Boyens, aged 32, had been on holiday in New Zealand. He has been in the Royal Air Force for 10 years.

To take part in the conflict, he flew from Ascension Island to the deck of H.M.S. Hermes non-stop in nine hours, including air-to-air refuelling, a record for the Harrier and made without any diversion airport being available. He had never landed on a ship before. During the war, he flew six sorties in the ground attack role. He later returned to the tactical weapons unit at the R.A.F. base, Chivenor, and is an instructor in tactical combat.