Guy martin Vulcan bomber

[Scuffers]

Max_Torque said:

I've never heard it said, but i wonder if the effect was also to un-nerve the Argies, into considering that their mainland could also be bombed by a nation thousands of miles away?

that was said at the time, the effect on their planning was similar to what the sinking of the Belgrano was to their navy's involvement.

The very idea we could mount heavy bomber raids was not even a wild thought before then, to say it was a wakeup call to the Junta would not be over-stating it.

Yes, militarily, they were hardly going to have a huge impact, but the simple fact we could mount raids over that distance was hugely significant.

[RizzoTheRat]

Yeah, there's always been a bit of a debate about whether that second mission was supposed to hit the runway and missed, or if it was deliberately targeted at that area. The British crew that repaired the runway after the war took a couple of weeks to get it open though.

And don't forget that it was about a lot more than putting a crater in the runway. Demonstrating the ability, capability and intent to do something is significant part of warfare. When the Argentineans originally took the island they didn't think the UK had the will to take them back. Blackbuck showed that they not only had the will to try and retake the islands, but had the capability to strike the Argentinian mainland if they wanted to.

Apparently the Argentinians had been practicing short field operations with a view to basing aircraft at Stanley but the idea wasn't popular within their air force, however hindsight is a wonderful thing.

98elise said:

Ignoring the fact that the Harriers needed to be shipped to the Falklands

Good point, Black Buck 1 went in the same night Hermes and Invincible reached the area didn't it? Which was a couple of weeks before the extra Harriers turned up on Atlantic Conveyer.

[gareth_r]

No argument about the possible deterrent/political/psychological effects.

It's interesting to look at the RAF and RN web sites, though. The RAF has a large "History" section, including a lot of information about the RN/FAA role in the Falklands. As far as I can see, the RN site has nothing.

[RizzoTheRat]

Finally managed to watch this, I see what you all mean about the over dramatisation with the voice over, quite annoying in otherwise excellent program.

I particularly loved the the bit with the nose wheel incident "We asked if there were any RAF aircraft available and they scrambled a Spitfire"

[Martin_Hx]

RizzoTheRat said:

Finally managed to watch this, I see what you all mean about the over dramatisation with the voice over, quite annoying in otherwise excellent program.

I particularly loved the the bit with the nose wheel incident "We asked if there were any RAF aircraft available and they scrambled a Spitfire"

Haha yes that was good, I really enjoyed the programme and I like Guy as a presenter. Bet it was very moving for the guys in the plane doing the last rounds with all the crowds around the county!