I did try to stay off of this thread - honest!
1. Whatever your views of Sharkey Ward, he DID successfully command 801 NAS during
Corporate and bore much responsibility for defending the task force. He had also been responsible for much of the introduction into service of the Sea Harrier. The alleged attempts by some in the RAF to undermine the Sea Harrier and its capabilities and achievements, together with the hand of the Air Marshals in the decision of axe the Fleet carriers in the sixties probably made him a little bitter, frustrated and maybe paranoid. Likewise the lack of recognition given to the FAA and the RN ever since. But to call him a Crab hater is simplistic. He speaks highly of 1 Sqn RAF, and does mention the Harrier experts at Wittering.
2. Read
One Hundred Days by Admiral Sandy Woodward, the task group commander. He comes to many of the same conclusions. Woodward's book was published first, and should convince the reader of the importance of carrier aviation
per se and of organic air defence.
3. Anyone who writes a book based on their own experiences is influenced by their own prejudices and limited by what they know. Can anyone be 100% objective when writing about something they were personally involved in?
4. Many of the lessons learnt in 1982 have been forgotten, as shown by the
premature axing of the Sea Harrier and the delays to the
Future Carrier. I've listened to people talking about their experiences of being subject to air attack and being in a burning and sinking ship. Not at all nice.
5. One lesson so painfully evident that does appear to have be learnt and remembered is the need for the services to work together.
6. Why do threads like these end up as light blue versus dark blue, when we needed both to win in 1982 and do now?