We have to listen to what this gentleman says about the morale effect and if I was based anywhere near that airfield or radar installation then I would also be concerned, or worried.
We have heard how aircraft leaving Ascension were identified and their course logged so did this information get to the radar operators at Stanley?
I see one of the posts answers that query:
Originally Posted by reydelcastillo
For what I have read the next Vulcn Missions were flown at hire altitudes , regarding the Shrikes , that was a head ache in its self .- It was able to hit a Triple AAA Skyguard , and we knew they were going to come after us .- The Vulcan misions oth shrike became more simple to detect , they flew in an oval patern waiting to engage its target .- In some cases we were advice of its approach in others the airplane in the oval patern was seen and inmidiatly you must turn off the Radar until the threat is gone .-
I have asked elsewhere a question regarding the altitude of the first BLACK BUCK missions and it looks to a degree that this has been halfway answered by the statement that the SHRIKE missions were flown at a higher altitude but reading that reply it really hammers home my observation about team work regarding those latter missions. With hindsight is it a possibility that the radar would have remained switched off because they knew the weaponry being carried aboard those bombers. was this an opportunity missed for the Harriers to come in whilst our enemy was blind? (polite, inquisitive question and NOT a statement)
Did Commander Air have pre warning of these missions and was the group ever asked to join in? I accept there was overhead night fighter support but I am thinking more along the lines of taking advantage of that radar equipment being switched off, or.... If the SHRIKE attacks had been successful, then instead of self congratulations, would it have been better for Harriers to have mopped up?? When a man is down, far better to hit him rather than wait for that person to get back up onto their feet!
For the information of reydelcastillo
We were tracking Glanmorgan the night it was hit and updating its position every 15 seconds when we got hit with naval artillery from another ship , which left only the Rasit ground base radar to do the last tracking before the exorcet was fired .
Regarding being shelled on the night Glamorgan got hit, the chances are that this was compliments of the Yarmouth. On that specific night she was in the same area as Glamorgan carrying out NGS and that ship fired over 260 rounds of 4.5" calibre ordinance just on that one specific night!!! I have no idea how much Glamorgan fired, she had the same type weapons although slightly larger magazines\shellrooms, or indeed the third ship on station. Bottom line however was that there was an awful lot of high explosive raining down on those unfortunate soldiers. The third ship had to retire during the night due to a mechanical breakdown but she may have fired the relevant rounds.
Incidentally the British were aware of the approximate location of that Exocet launcher and Glamorgan should NOT have put herself in harm's way
Groups of warships would take turns going onto the gun line which would always mean going close in-shore and exposing themselves to enemy gunfire which regularly would exchange rounds with our ships so I would suggest this was also somewhat daring\risky. Especially as there was always the added risks of the area having been mined.
Two days prior to that specific shoot, Yarmouth had fired off 174 rounds and on that occasion she had come under fire from at least one shore based battery..
I have mentioned this just to let folks know that this naval gunfire support role was real, it was a nightly occurrence unless there were hurricane force winds which would rule out this nightly excursion. I cannot begin to imagine what the effects of multiple warships continually firing high explosive ordinance night after night for hours on end must have been, but to face that EVERY night and then during the day be on alert for incoming Harrier attacks must have been nerve shattering and quite literally soul destroying! ...