Taranto 75
 

This week marks the 75th anniversary of operation JUDGMENT the Battle of Taranto. To tell the story we put this short film together.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/49UJmraQlc0


Before the spelling pedants try to correct me, that is the correct historical spelling of the operation codename.

Very nicely done. Fisheads need reminding of that Cunningham quote......

Thought the diary entry was poignant - and a pleasant change to put Judgment in its own context rather than 'it proved Pearl Harbor was possible'.

BZ

Great job, RHNF and the FAAM. A story that needs to be told regularly, with a key message - the Royal Navy understands 'Air Power', is skilled at 'Air Power' and can deploy 'Air Power' to the nation's advantage.

Best regards to all those who work so hard to keep the Swordfish flying

Engines

Nice piece RNHF_Pilot :ok:

Best ...

Coff.

What an amazing short film that is.

Great story, great filming - well done everyone involved.

BTW - for more detail read 'War In a Stringbag' by Charles Lamb as he was one of the flare-droppers on the raid .................

Arc

Must not forget the contribution of the RAF's No. 431 General Reconnaissance Flight (including some early missions for Adrian Warburton who would later be described by Tedder as the "Most valuable pilot in the RAF") flying Martin Marylands from Malta. The excellent quality photographs, seen on the film, provided the intelligence to plan the successful raid.

Great short video and reminder of what could be achieved with such aircraft.
Also a warning of the present gap in British naval aviation and land based maritime capability.

p.s. Wasn't aware that Dan Snow was a Lt Cdr in the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Air Force ;)

Basil, If the suit fits - wear it :}

actually I expect he borrowed it locally.

I thought the 'in cockpit' footage in the film was great. Well done again RNHF.

Arc

Thanks for all the positive feedback everyone.

We gave Dan Lt Cdr rank tabs because he is an Honorary Lt Cdr in the RNR.

Brilliant video, congratulations on a good job.

Nice video. :ok: Was invited to a Taranto Night by an RN friend, and enjoyed it immensely
We have the same problem discussing this with the USAF in the USN, to the point that an idiot CoS of the USAF (McPeak) claimed that sea power was a subset of air power. :ugh:

. As to the raid itself, pretty awesome work by all concerned. Can't recall the book's name, but I read an account of Taranto /Judgment in a paperback about 25 years ago that I think was written by a participant. I was at sea, at the time ...

Ah, "Tony" McPeak, aka "Skeletor" to many of the hired help. Wasn't he the genius who removed "Tactical" from wing/squadron designations and set the stage for ACC and AMC?


Or was that some other VS nitwit?

Not a lot of people know that - well, I didn't.

I think it was around that time if not on his watch. Sigh. VS nitwits seem to be in abundance in most nations' services ... thank goodness for the more junior sorts who get the mission done, like the crews of the Swordfish at Taranto! :ok:

Very true, sir.

Well done RNHF for posting this; it’s a well put together piece and perfect timing with Taranto Night about to be celebrated in many wardrooms and messes.

Churchill described the RN’s performance as a ‘glorious episode’; indeed it was.

Wensleydale also reminds us of the supporting role played by the ‘light blue’ in the days before and after Taranto. In Cunningham’s despatch on the operation, published in 1947, he said ‘the success of the Fleet Air Arm attack was due in no small part to the excellent reconnaissances carried out by the Royal Air Force Glenn Martin Flight (No 431) from Malta, under very difficult conditions and often in the face of fighter opposition.’ Unfortunately, many of the aircrew involved, in their varying shades of blue, did not live long enough to read Cunningham’s fine words concerning the battle.

This year has been very much one to mark some significant 75th anniversaries such as Taranto, Dunkirk and the Battle of Britain. Another that marks great heroism, both civilian and military, is the commencement of the Siege of Malta in June 1940. A new book about those times, Malta’s Greater Siege & Adrian Warburton DSO* DFC** DFC (USA), is due to be released within a few days.

To tell the story we put this short film together.

....for which the RNHF deserves a big BZ.:ok:

Before the spelling pedants try to correct me, that is the correct historical spelling of the operation codename.

....and to save them from themselves, "In British English the normal spelling in general contexts is judgement. However, the spelling judgment is conventional in legal contexts, and in North American English." - Oxford Dictionaries.:=


We gave Dan Lt Cdr rank tabs because he is an Honorary Lt Cdr in the RNR.

....and he's wearing them the right way round!:D

Reminds me of Taranto Nights in OMs at Watton, Worthy Down and Wyton - and of a group of very brave men and an iconic aeroplane

There used to be a Taranto Night dinner at Farnborough when there was still an RAF Officers Mess. I still have a set of place mats used at the last one.
Some years the RNHF Swordfish attended; it was hauled up onto the OM lawn through a gap in the fence. One year, presumably as a 'thank you', it stayed for several weeks, eventually emerging from 'A' Shed with a new set of wings. They had been re-covered in Farnborough's fabric shop - I'd seen them through the window some weeks previously.

BZ.

Duncs :ok: