BBC get it wrong again?
 

I've just watched the BBC Six o'clock News. During the first Falklands themed report (Thatcher radio broadcast and HMS Ark Royal sailing up the Thames), I'm sure I heard the reporter say something like "Ark Royal is of course the Navy's most illustrious veteran of the conflict." Was I hearing things?

I've just sent a comment to the BBC advising more time spent be on research. :ugh:

(my italics....given the context, to name (one intentionally, one unintentionally) two carriers that were not involved in the war is rather crass.)

Don't be to surprised if no one is surprised!!

Infact a reasonably correct statement.
The definition:

illustrious
adjective, well known and highly respected

But not a "veteran of the conflict".

Well spotted BP.

It would have been difficult - the current Ark Royal was accepted into service on 1 July 1985.

Exactly. She might well be known and respected, but also three years premature it seems.

Three years premature? Was their another Falklands War in 1988 that no one talks about?

No, I meant the other way around. :}

But Gonzo, they got it wrong on the news again last night when they reported that Gordon Brown, whilst on his whistlestop tour of Baghdad, was flown around by an Army helicopter...Since when did the Army equip with Pumas? Maybe this is why the RAF are trying so hard to waste money on new logos etc on the aircraft.:ugh:

Perhaps the RAF should resort to "Nose Art", then perhaps the beeb would not be confused. :E

Bob C

Nope, heard the same thing, and was chastised by SWMBO as I muttered round the kitchen about bloody BBC

Ark Royal was one of the 3 "Illustrious" class carriers
Illustrious, Invincible, Ark Royal
I think she meant Illustrious, but she didn't try to 'spin' as her mind was probably spinning at the time and she was getting on a bit
BTW, I had cocktails on the 'old' steam catapult Ark in 72 and got "steaming" in the CPO's Mess - happy days
Gonzo
While your there, can you ask BBC to stop flashing up pics of MR1 Nimrods when MR2 are conducting vital SAR Ops in the N Atlantic

Our CVS are known as the Invincible class, after the first of the class (and actual Falklands veteran :E), despite the fact she's now in mothballs :(

Can't believe that standards at the Beeb have dropped so low (well, actually I can, unfortunately) that they can't get the names of the carriers at the Falklands right - after all, it's not like there were that many to remember. :ugh:

- ATCO - they have been 'Army' for years - right through the NI troubles - for good reason.

Theres also an article in todays Daily Express, under the headline "A Falklands Hero Returns" and a picture of Ark Royal on the thames. The article says an important componant of the ship is missing , and explains that there are no Sea Harriers on the vessal at the moment, as they are all away either training for, or actually in Afghanistan..

A scrap yard on the outskirts of Kabul presumably.

Nice to see that the RN PR team are doing their usual stirling job in briefing the press. :rolleyes:

You should all be emailing BBC and newspaper editors urging them to recruit more specialist defence correspondents, and give big pay rises to those they already have.
;)

Thanks to Ark's crew who took time to show a few of us around this morning.

I met a real gem of an '82 veteran Sea Harrier pilot, whom I'm sure many of you will know. Now flies for Branson. Was whisked off to Hermes from Yeovilton in '82 without having finished his training, and came back with five (I think he said) kills.
Told us a great story about the Heath-Robinson contraption they rigged up on the way south to dispense chaff from SHARs which didn't have chaff dispensers, to defeat Mirage's radar-guided missiles.
For those who weren't there at the time, think chaff tucked into air brake and bits of string flapping around in the airstream, which snapped at the appropriate moment when air brake was deployed to fling out chaff. Somehow, it worked.

With equipment like that how did we win?
With ingenuity like that, how could we lose?

To those who were there 25 years ago, I salute you all.