Like many others who have commented in this thread, I have great respect for Ward’s skill as a pilot (F-4 and SHAR) and it is a shame he appeared to appreciate the efforts of others so little. His book is all me, me, me (he must have met Clive Loader somewhere).
Not everyone realises one aspect of the war that only came to light when the official history of the Falklands Campaign written by Sir Lawrence Freedman was published. As well as providing help in many areas, Chile also collected information on Argentinean air movements, using a powerful radar supplied by Britain that was sited near the border with Argentina. Although it has never been exactly confirmed, Britain probably supplied the S259 radar used by 1 Air Control Centre (1ACC) to Chile. The information obtained by the radar was quickly relayed back to the UK via a satellite link and then onto the Task Force, enabling the air defence Sea Harriers to anticipate the eventual arrival of Argentinean aircraft in the Task Force area of operations.
Presumably Sharky had access to this information which allowed him to know when the Argentinean jets would arrive over East Falkland, so did he arrange the flying programme to give himself the best opportunity to mount a successful engagement in an attempt to rack up the highest score?
Heimdall
Chile