The original order for 15 A models was placed in 1965 as a Belvedere replacement on 66 at Seletar. It was a stupid bit of determined association by HM Treasury that lead to their cancellation in 1967 as part of the strategic announcement to bin any major UK mil presence East of Suez ( and the demise of the new CVA01 carriers too... The 1st HMS Queen Elizabeth BTW)... the logic went... Disband 66 ... Cancel CH47. No one seems to have spoken loud enough about NATO ops needing a few too! Even the resurrected buy in 1978 was squeezed through on "Addback" funds. Such was the tortuous and procrastinating birth into UK ownership of the most capable and versatile battlefield rotorcraft ever built.... And we wonder why Britannia weeps!
