'Falklands' Most Daring Raid'
 

Just a heads-up that Channel 4 will be broadcasting an hour long dramatised documentary based on the first Black Buck bombing mission carried out 30 years ago next month. The programme airs at 2000 on Sunday 18 March. The programme was made by Darlow Smithson Productions and features, among others, Martin Withers, David Thomas (as technical adviser) and our very own XM655 at Wellesbourne (playing her rather more famous sister XM607!).

Here is an excerpt from the press release:

"Falklands’ Most Daring Raid brings alive a fast-paced, funny story of true grit and classic British derring-do to create a thrilling and uncharacteristically upbeat account from the Falklands War.
This gripping film tells the humorous yet heroic account of how a crumbling, Cold-War era Vulcan flew the then longest range bombing mission in history and how a WW2 vintage bomb changed the outcome of the Falklands War.
Astonishingly, this story of one of the RAF’s greatest modern feats has been downplayed into near obscurity by history.
On 30th April 1982, the RAF launched a secret mission; to bomb Port Stanley’s runway, putting it out of action for invading Argentine fighter jets. The safety of the British Naval Task Force, steaming towards the islands, depended on its success.
But the RAF could only get a single Vulcan bomber 8,000 miles south to the Falklands and back again and even that was going to take a 16 hour continuous flight from Ascension Island and an aerial refuelling fleet of thirteen Handley Page Victor tankers.
At the heart of the RAF’s plan was the iconic but ageing Avro Vulcan bomber. But as Britain’s original Cold War nuclear deterrent, the ‘Tin Triangles’ were in the process of being scrapped. Now, just months from being decommissioned, three of the surviving nuclear bombers - one to fly the mission and two as reserve - had to be kitted out for war and retro-fitted to carry 21 x 1,000lb WW2 iron bombs. Crucial spare parts had to be scavenged from museums around the world and whilst others were found in scrap yards – one vital piece was discovered being used as an ashtray in the Officer’s Mess.
In just three weeks, the Vulcan crews had to learn air-to-air refuelling, something the Vulcan hadn’t done for 20 years – and described by one pilot as like ‘trying to stick wet spaghetti up a cat’s backside’ –and conventional bombing, which they hadn’t done for ten. The RAF scoured the country to find just enough WW2 bombs and refuelling calculations were done the night before on a £5.00 pocket calculator.
With a plan stretched to the limit and the RAF’s hopes riding ultimately on just one Vulcan, the mission was flown on a knife-edge; fraught with mechanical failures, unreliable navigation, electrical storms and empty fuel tanks. Of the Vulcan’s 21 WW2 bombs, only one found the target. But that was enough to change the outcome of the war…
Based on Rowland White’s best-selling book, Vulcan 607, the documentary uses strong first-hand testimonies from the original Vulcan and Victor crews and stylised drama filmed in and around a surviving Vulcan Bomber.
It is the Dambusters for the 1980s generation."

I'm sure that a one hour film on commercial television (in other words just over 40 minutes of programme) won't do justice to the wonderful efforts of everyone involved in Black Buck, but let's be thankful that Darlow Smithson and Channel 4 have at least given it a go....

I'm looking forward to it.

I was always taught that a Ram's Horn Vortex was a bad thing. Seems the RAF lied to me again. :ok: Thanks for the heads up. Having counted it all out and counted it all back again (apart from a diversion to visit Ronie Biggs), I shall certainly be viewing.

It was doubtless a feat of incredible planning, human determination and resilience but.....didn't the runway at Stanley still remain fully operational?
I recall pictures of a sideways swipe of the airfield resulting in a lone crater to one side of the runway.
The Pucaras and C130s which were using Stanley remained fully operational, albeit using the right hand side of the runway.
Basically, a brilliant effort but.....er....they missed.

Stands back, pop corn at the ready. :E

I'm not trying to take anything away from an impresive effort to get a strategic bomber in heatre but I think that the insrtion of special forces by a strped down seaking that the flew on to Chile and was destroyed by the aircrew would also be a good documentary....






...Are we allowed to talk about that yet?

So, is there a Black Labrador in this version,and if so, what's it called?

The dog will be called WELLARD, obviously!:ok:

I think we've covered all this before, but... They not have closed the runway, but it demonstrated our ability to reach them in the Falklands, whcich made them think we could hit mainland Argentina. That made them divert forces away from the Falklands to defend the fatherland, hence decreasing their offensive war effort.

WELLARD's not a Lab's name, really. I think we need to think of something better.

Honkie...?

Fair's fair, I suppose.

Not really. They destroyed a perfect serviceable helicopter thinking they were in Argentina.

A340YumYum - File:Stanley runway craters.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Ignore the penned circle, the crater is 1/2 way along and near-enough on centreline. A 2nd bombing run can also be seen to the LHS)

C4/DS filmed at Waddington last year (you might even seem me in the background). I put them in touch with a Victor Nav who took part. I'll even be in FI for this years anniversary.

C'mon admit it, that is the crater left after the attack by the Harriers.;)

Respect to ALL military types that fought in that conflict :ok:


This image is titled Blackbuck and Sea Harrier bomb damage

http://i1258.photobucket.com/albums/...BombDamage.jpg

In case you can't see it in that image, this is the crater made by a Wetjet, complete with warning marker:

Hello everyone.

Pre-amble: I was nothing more than a fascinated school boy at the time but my admiration for the FRS 1, GR3 and Vulcan aircrew has always been stratospheric. So much so that you can probably trace my career back to watching the jets depart Yeovilton to go south.

I buy the plausibility of the Argentines moving assets to defend the homeland as a result of Blackbuck. But I also know that the Argentine radar unit (VYCA-2 from memory) saw the first inbound raid, and they could all count bombs, and see that it was single stick stuff, so they would have known that all we could muster at that range was a single bomber. They would also know what accuracy it was capable of - and could have made an informed decision on whether or not it would be used in downtown BA. I personally don't think that this would significantly alter strategic thinking.

I have a genuine question.

Do we have any proof that the Argentines planned to use Stanley for fighters throughout the conflict but changed the plan as a result of Blackbuck? Do we have any proof that aircraft types were taken from OCA/ strike/ ASuW and made to do DCA of the mainland instead? Did the Argentines really believe the UK would go nuclear over the FI? I have oft heard the arguments but they've always been British interpretations of what happened - and you never lose a single type debrief!

Does anyone have any Argentine input? Documented squadron moves, ATO changes (I know - ATO existence doubtful...but you get the point), briefing boards etc etc?

Please enlighten me, I would be very interested.

Thread Title - 'Falklands' Most Daring Raid'

At the risk of being contentious here, I would say that the SAS raid on Pebble Island was much more 'daring!'

Are we allowed to talk about that yet?
 

The pilot did so as he (Richard Hutchings) wrote a book about it - "Special Forces Pilot"

If it bears any resemblance to the excellent Vulcan 607 book, it will be a good watch :ok:

As I've noted elsewhere on PPrune, Admirals Leach, Lewin and Fieldhouse, subsequently supported by Admiral Woodward were keen on the idea of Blakcbuck because it would keep the Argentines guessing. This is a matter of public record (the seminar at the Staff College in 2002 at which Admiral Leach revealed that he was a bit more enthusiastic about the raid than MRAF Beetham, a point supported by the latter, who was also present). It didn't mater whether the Argentines thought we might come with one Vulcan or a bomber stream, the point was the possible effect of bombs landing on the mainland.

There is some evidence that they offloaded PSP to extend the runway from their first lift of stores to the islands, and post-Blackbuck never bothered to put it back onto a ship.

Yes - the source being the Argentines themselves. The Mirages of 8 Grupo had additional DCA taskings added; this reduced their ability to fly sweeps over the islands even further - as well as lack of persistence, lack of numbers became an issue.

No. There was no desire that they should think that we would - the issue (as above) was getting them to worry that Mrs T might be mad enough to have Vulcan rock up over the mainland dispensing HE, with major consequences for opinion towards the junta.

There is some input from Argentine veterans into a couple of sources, notably Martin Middlebrook's book on the Argentine experience of the war which tends to support the view that BB1 contributed to a reduction in Mirage III OCA sorties until late May 82 (by which point the Argentines had concluded that we weren't going to raid the mainland).

Dog's Name?
 

BLACKDOG?:ok:

This is a good thread with some great input. But I don't thank anyone that is sitting in an armchair 30 years later questioning what was done or asking for evidence of its effectiveness. We all did the best we could with what we had and it worked. I wasn't all the way down down south during the war, I was in Ascension; I'm not claiming to be a real war vet here. But it's not for any of us to question the actions of those that were really in the thick of it.

Sorry to sound like I'm coming on strong, but I feel pretty strongly about this one.

Ready to accept backlash.