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More nonsense from Nigel - who has written a new book!

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More nonsense from Nigel - who has written a new book!

Old 23rd Jun 2020, 16:00
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More nonsense from Nigel - who has written a new book!

https://hushkit.net/2020/06/23/myths...#comment-54258Snippets:

Q: If you could have changed one thing about British air operations in the Falklands what would it have been?


“There are two subjects that continue to leave a bad taste in my mouth.

"One is the completely disingenuous propaganda campaign conducted by the Royal Air Force immediately after the war which sadly persuaded the gullible British public that they, the RAF alone, had won the air war over the Falklands. The full story of this deception and attempt to rewrite history is told in detail in my new book, soon to be published......"

"All the air to air combat kills were achieved by naval aircraft (indeed, it is worthy of note that all air to air kills by British forces since 1948 have been achieved by naval aircraft – not one by RAF aircraft – and yet they claim they won the air war in Operation Corporate, the Falklands war).

"Adding insult to injury, the propaganda campaign glorified the small but extremely expensive part that RAF Vulcan bombers played in the conflict. The real facts are that of the 63 bombs dropped by the Vulcan in three missions against Port Stanley runway, only one bomb was on target and that only damaged the side of the runway which was repaired on the same day. The four other Vulcan missions delivering anti-radar missiles only managed to hit one small radar emitter, that of a radar-controlled anti-aircraft gun on the outskirts of Port Stanley. These seven missions had no material effect whatsoever on the course of the Falklands conflict. To claim otherwise is wishful thinking."


"The suggestion that the Nimrod aircraft played any effective part at all in or near the combat zone is also facetious propaganda."

"In relation to the Falklands War, the Royal Navy made no big mistake. They and the Amphibious Brigade land forces contrived and achieved a remarkable victory against all odds. The only major failure was that of the Royal Air Force who, despite their earlier outrageous claims to Ministers, were unable to provide the Task Force with any air defence or antisubmarine capability en route to the conflict or during combat operations. They have not yet been held accountable for this abysmal failure.


My new book attempts to rectify this.”
No-one claims that the RAF won the Falklands Air War alone or unaided, and I’ve never heard any RAF officer deny the tremendous contribution of the Royal Navy. His contention that “They proclaimed loudly and strongly to the British public that the Royal Air Force had won the air war over the Islands” is deluded.

On the other hand, Nigel Ward himself has spent most of the past 38 years trying to deny that the RAF made any contribution, and has consistently denigrated and rubbished its personnel and aircraft. (That’s when he hasn’t been vociferously shouting down the other Sea Harrier squadron in the Falklands – you know, the one that scored more kills than Ward’s…..)

Ward claims that “all air to air kills by British forces since 1948 have been achieved by naval aircraft – not one by RAF aircraft.” That ignores the kills scored by RAF pilots in RN and USAF aircraft, not least one Flt Lt Dave Morgan – the leading scorer in the Falklands War.

Moreover he picks the 1948 date very carefully, as, on 22 May 1947, the RAF did shoot down four Egyptian fighters (Fg Off Cooper and Fg Off Bowie both shot down one REAF Spitfire each and Fg Off McElhaw got the other two), all while flying Spitfire XVIIIs with 208 Squadron).

Some reports suggest that the Tempests of No.6 Squadron downed an Israeli Spitfire. There are also persistent rumours that certain 208 Sqn pilots later extracted their revenge on the IAF by shooting down any IAF aircraft they later encountered, including a number of transport aircraft, and that this was subsequently hushed-up to avoid escalating the situation.

In Korea, a Flight of RN Sea Furies did down a MiG-15, while RAF pilots, including Sqn Ldr John Merrifield, Flt Lts John Nicholls, John Granville-White, RTF Dickinson, John Lovell got MiG kills while flying Sabres in Korea, with Nichols claiming a Mig on his 99th mission. Squadron Leader Graham Hulse got three kills in Korea. A further 4 kills were made by Canadian nationals who were still in the RAF and flying USAF Sabres in Korea.

Some sources also list Alan Jenkins, and Dennis Dunlop.

With regard to Black Buck, Ward repeats the tired old ‘only one bomb on the runway’ trope, when the plan – to drop a stick diagonally across the runway meant that this was exactly what was intended. Black Buck was also intended to demonstrate that the mainland was ‘at risk’ and this was achieved.

Ward’s slur on the Nimrod ASW effort is unworthy even of him, but I was pleasantly surprised that his Hush Kit piece was at least less full of lies, exaggeration and nonsense than his recent evidence to the House of Commons Select Committee.

Ward’s visceral hatred for the RAF is such that you’d almost think that someone in RAF blue had slapped him in his pram, or that he’d been failed by OASC...
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Old 23rd Jun 2020, 16:20
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Wait till he starts on the effectiveness of the RAF in Gulf War One.......
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Old 23rd Jun 2020, 16:48
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It would appear that his publisher finds that controversy sells more books.
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Old 23rd Jun 2020, 17:29
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...and that his doctor thinks the local mental health services are already severely stretched.
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Old 23rd Jun 2020, 17:32
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Oh dear.

Well, we need to bear in mind that 21 of the 63 bombs delivered against Stanley weren’t aimed at the runway - they were meant to be airburst, but the old adage that the 90 way selector gave 89 opportunities to get something wrong kicked in, and they ended up impact-fused. Two of the four SEAD missions didn’t reach the islands (BB3 was cancelled and didn’t launch because of adverse headwinds and BB4 because one of the tankers’ HDUs went US and the refuelling plan was scuppered, leading to an air abort) so he’s twisting the figures again to suggest that a single radar was struck out of 4 sorties, when it in fact saw one radar struck out of two.

His claims about the Nimrod are quite untrue - while the files show a number of problems, he’s clearly not bothered to read them and is regurgitating the same inaccuracies about the Nimrod that he has been for the last ten years at least.

As I’ve said numerous times before, I yield to nobody in my admiration for him as the boss of 801 Sqn, or his development work on the SHAR before that - but his ludicrous attempts to reframe history based upon his perceptions and recollections, despite literally tons of evidence to the contrary is execrable and can only be regarded with dismay at best...
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Old 23rd Jun 2020, 17:55
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Also, counting 1,000 lb bombs on Stanley, let’s not forget the psychological impact on those poor Argentinian conscripts in their tents. The craters from Martin Withers’ stick are still clearly visible on Google Earth.
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Old 23rd Jun 2020, 18:04
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Wasn't this the same person, who IIRC, (according to Rowland White's book - Vulcan 607,) compromised COMSEC on BB1 by trying to contact the Vulcan? By all means have a different viewpoint on another Sevice's contribution, but to knowingly put that crew at risk is, at best, unprofessional to say the least. Clown.
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Old 23rd Jun 2020, 18:32
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Having worn both shades of Blue, I do find this inter-Service rivalry rather sad. I thought we were all on the same side?
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Old 23rd Jun 2020, 18:53
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Originally Posted by MPN11
Also, counting 1,000 lb bombs on Stanley, let’s not forget the psychological impact on those poor Argentinian conscripts in their tents. The craters from Martin Withers’ stick are still clearly visible on Google Earth.
Blimey! So they are.
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Old 23rd Jun 2020, 19:24
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Originally Posted by MPN11
Having worn both shades of Blue, I do find this inter-Service rivalry rather sad. I thought we were all on the same side?
Sharkey Ward would not agree.
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Old 23rd Jun 2020, 19:24
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Mad, Sad or Bad.....take your pick...
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Old 23rd Jun 2020, 19:33
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Originally Posted by Archimedes
Oh dear.


As I’ve said numerous times before, I yield to nobody in my admiration for him as the boss of 801 Sqn, or his development work on the SHAR before that - but his ludicrous attempts to reframe history based upon his perceptions and recollections, despite literally tons of evidence to the contrary is execrable and can only be regarded with dismay at best...
Totally agree, he did a hugely impressive job down there.
But since then, his rantings are not worthy of him and his slurs on the professionalism and sacrifices of so many, especially those no longer with us, make him a very sad figure.
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Old 23rd Jun 2020, 19:46
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I never met the gentleman, nor do I particularly want to after hearing some of the stories here and from other people who actually know him.

Maybe he is annoyed about the new Harrier 809 book that is coming out (not to hijack the thread)

https://www.waterstones.com/book/har.../9781787631588

Looking forward to reading that one, mostly because I have a family member who server on 809 NAS in the Falklands.
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Old 23rd Jun 2020, 19:55
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Looking at the link above, they need a number of pre-orders to actually publish the book, I doubt many here will be buying it.
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Old 23rd Jun 2020, 20:17
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That's for Joe Coles' 'Hushkit' book, which will be an entertaining read, not for Nigel Ward's latest piece of self aggrandising apoplexy-inducing nonsense, and certainly not for Rowland White's superb Harrier 809, which I've read, and which is astonishingly good.
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Old 23rd Jun 2020, 20:25
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Now come on children, play nicely. Just think of your index linked pensions....
Now run along with you calculators.
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Old 23rd Jun 2020, 20:39
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So, for balance, are any fisheads stepping up to support Mr Ward?
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Old 23rd Jun 2020, 21:13
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Originally Posted by Jackonicko
Ward claims that “all air to air kills by British forces since 1948 have been achieved by naval aircraft – not one by RAF aircraft.” That ignores the kills scored by RAF pilots in RN and USAF aircraft, not least one Flt Lt Dave Morgan – the leading scorer in the Falklands War.

Moreover he picks the 1948 date very carefully, as, on 22 May 1947, the RAF did shoot down four Egyptian fighters (Fg Off Cooper and Fg Off Bowie both shot down one REAF Spitfire each and Fg Off McElhaw got the other two), all while flying Spitfire XVIIIs with 208 Squadron).

Some reports suggest that the Tempests of No.6 Squadron downed an Israeli Spitfire. There are also persistent rumours that certain 208 Sqn pilots later extracted their revenge on the IAF by shooting down any IAF aircraft they later encountered, including a number of transport aircraft, and that this was subsequently hushed-up to avoid escalating the situation.

In Korea, a Flight of RN Sea Furies did down a MiG-15, while RAF pilots, including Sqn Ldr John Merrifield, Flt Lts John Nicholls, John Granville-White, RTF Dickinson, John Lovell got MiG kills while flying Sabres in Korea, with Nichols claiming a Mig on his 99th mission. Squadron Leader Graham Hulse got three kills in Korea. A further 4 kills were made by Canadian nationals who were still in the RAF and flying USAF Sabres in Korea.

Some sources also list Alan Jenkins, and Dennis Dunlop.
To be pedantically correct, the last RAF air to air kill was 25th May 1982 in RAFG.

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Old 23rd Jun 2020, 21:16
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"In relation to the Falklands War, the Royal Navy made no big mistake."
Switching off air defence radar to make radio calls, failure to adjust EW database to recognise Exocet as hostile were obviously minor errors then, losing more than one ship and many lives.
I realise that this sounds awful; it is not aimed the RN, who were constrained by technical details, but to Ward himself.
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Old 23rd Jun 2020, 21:41
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"I never met the gentleman"

I have and he is not a gentleman..........................
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