Operation Black Buck: The UK's Mega Bombing Runs in the Falklands War
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
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As an American, I was interested in learning more about the Falkland War because of James, Jeremy and Richard 😂
982-FKL
Mate there are some great documentaries out there.
@@chriswall27 nothing beats the petrolheads Old Lady, Hamster and Orangutan
@@happalula I thought you meant on the Falklands War but LOL, my favourite was the north pole special or maybe the Burma special or maybe ...........
Me too...🤫
One of the greatest success's of Black Buck was probably not the actual damage caused, but rather the psychological. "We can reach out and touch you...even there."
literally the harriers had attacked the airfield before, there is not diference to the psychological panorama
Falklands stranger danger? xD
@Foxtrop13 the point the Vulcan made was "we can reach the Falklands and so we can reach Buenos Aires. No distance is too far."
This caused Argentina to pull back half of its airforce to defend its own country in fear Britain would strike the mainland with a nuclear capable aircraft without difficulty.
This opened the skies over Falkland and freed up movement of British troops.
The Vulcan that completed the first mission XM607 is still at RAF Waddington from where it was based. It's right in the roadside, I drive past it every day
Got a photo of her with XH558 flying in the background
@@Tigermoto I've got that one too! Waddo air show 2013 👌
Cool stuff!
There is one at Solway Air Museum just 20 miles west of Carlisle. Amazing how tiny the cockpit is in relation to the immense wingspan.
Missing the fact that they were a waste of taxpayer money and a risk for the crews. Just to please the RAF, so they can tick the box they contributed to the war.
Millions of taxpayer money to deliver ONE bomb and ONE missile. Something the Harriers could do more effectivley. Not my opinion...read Dave Ward book topgun...al the numbers are there.
Been there 3 times myself, twice in the British Army and again as a civilian. Despite it's harsh nature and remote location, it holds fond memories to me!
The more I learn about those islands, the more I'd like to visit.
I sometimes zoom in on random tiny rocks on google earth and see that they have whole island communities in the middle of nowhere, I do like my comfort zone and being close to home but I'd love to explore some of those communities.
Thanks for your service mate 👍 🤝
for a small island, I think it is going to become a massive part of UK exports...........cause.......oil
Here is the important question... How's the beer?
I'm in the British Army. I loved going there too, it's just like home.
Bad luck
When I was in elementary school our Spanish teacher got super pissed when I called them the Falkland islands. She insisted they are Las Malvinas. Ever since then I've never referred to them as anything but the Falklands.
Maybe start calling Argentina "continental Falklands" ;D
You sound lovely...
@@trent_k So do you, in the UK it's called the falklands, it shows the Spanish teacher's bias, if she's from this country she is obviously a Corbynista, or idiot, if she's from another country she should go back there and cry that the FALKLANDS belong too the UK.
@@ryanthompson5761 Corbyn still living rent free in your tiny little mind...
@@RichO1701e No, just i can tell the sort of people that would of voted for him, you obviously one of those far left scumbags.
The raids had _significant_ tactical and strategic effects. Tactically, the damage to the runway prevented it's use by fast jets; strategically the raids convinced the argentine junta that the UK could attack the Argentine mainland, which made it divert all Mirage III interceptors to mainland defence... leaving the islands with no air cover.
Precisely! The raids played a key part in the operation to retake the Falkland Islands. Had the Argentinians been able to base flights of their Mirage fighter jets and Dagger or Skyhawk fighter bombers at Stanley, the British fleet would have been forced to stay at greater distance or risk sustained attacks to get in close. Argentina would have likely held overwhelming air superiority over the islands. Had that happened the operation would undoubtedly have been made much more difficult. Not enough credit given to the success of the Black Buck raids.
@@pbainbridge5
The Mirage/Dagger couldn't have operated from Stanley, the runway wasn't long enough, if they could have then they'd have been stationed there before the fleet arrived. As far as the Mirages Daggers and Etendards were concerned Stanley was just an emergency diversion field.
It also wasn't just the Black Buck raids that incentivised the FAA to pull back the Mirages, on their first two active engagements with the Sea Harriers the Mirages had their asses handed to them.
I'd argue the raids were entirely strategic as the actual damage inflicted by 607 and half the RAF's Victor tanker fleet could have been achieved far more easily by 800/801 NAS Sea Harriers, no tankers required and very likely more bombs on target. It was all about sending a message, if the aim was merely to take out the runway then they went with the least efficient and most complex solution possible.
not to mention the wtf factor that must have ensued, i assume they thought they would be pretty safe from heavy bombing, must have been a big oh fuck we underestimated that
The other thing that wasn’t mentioned was the small point that the navy were in the fight with ships, boats(subs(another story to be told there! Skull and crossbones!)) and harriers, the army sent its troops down but the RAF need this brilliant but mad plan to be part of the party they didn’t want to miss out...
@@alanfisher9316 There were also the Harrier GR.3's of 1(F) Sqn aboard Hermes, Nimrod R.1's flying from Chile, and a single Chinook (the rest having gone down with Atlantic Conveyor).
On that note Atlantic Conveyor's rapid conversion into a quasi MAC Carrier might be worth some attention.
Honorable mention to the Canberra PR9's that very nearly operated out of Chile - staged out as far as Belize and were a day or two from transiting into Chile before that operation was scrubbed.
14:11 Did I hear "HMS CANTALOUPE?"
and HMS Argent? x'D
Yes. Yes, you did.
Yes you did.
Wasn’t just me then :)
I thought it was Antelope?
You miss the point of the raids. They were a demonstration that it could be done. It allowed to world, and especially Argentina, to understand that any 'escalation' could lead to a British escalation which could include raids pretty much on any target north of the south Pole. The damage was minor, but the demonstrated potential was enormous.
It should not be legal to show video of a Vulcan without the accompanying audio of a Vulcan.
The thing hardly needs to bomb anyone, just be airborne near them and they'll surrender...
Having heard a Vulcan flying on several occasions I can only agree, the snag is anything really representative would break your speakers as well as your ears.
Awesome sound
I used to live close to RAF Cosford & when they had the air show there a vulcan turned over my house. The backwash made your cheeks shake, a literally awesome sound.
1983 Finningley Air Show, near Doncaster.
Low level pass over the runway.
Every Oxygen molecule in your Lungs Vibrating.
Hmmm Avro Vulcan B2
Agreed...I saw 1 at Farnborough a few years ago. My organs were vibrating that much I nearly threw up. Can't even imagine how it felt to hear that thing coming at you and knowing it's not on your side 😳
If you haven't started already, and I've seen others reccomend it. But you should do a video on the Arecibo radio telescope. It's in ruins right now but its construction and history is a mega project worth exploring.
next week ;)
@@megaprojects9649 yess
@@megaprojects9649 omg I can't wait!
Simon, you make fair points. I would suggest though that the raids while not physically effective were however a psychological blow to the Argentines moral. On the point of the war, two things spring to mind. The Islanders will never forget that the UK kept faith with them despite the massive undertaking required to reestablish control. Secondly, a knock on effects was the collapse of the military junta dictatorship a short time after the war shouldn't be forgotten. Finally, it demonstrated back then that we as a country had the resolve to stand and fight. If one was to attempt something similar now I would be highly doubtful if we would achieve the same today. A good video but it is without doubt facinating but plagued with controversy.
more good points
i wouldn't underestimate our capabilities now though... i think they are stronger
Only controversial to argentinians or people who hate the UK and do not understand the history of the Islands. Very interesting points you made there.
@@DarkShroom the (hopefully hypothetical) outcome of a Falklands 2 all depends on having a very good grasp of each sides actual capabilities and being brutally honest about likely outcomes. From all that I have read of first hand accounts and well researched work, it was a damn close run thing. But that is in the finest traditions of old Blighty.
@@dorrisgonnawreckyou7111 it's sort of funny that you say that. I happened to be talking to a 20something journalism student who reckoned it was all imperialist and terrible until I pointed out those two things: the Islanders refuse to accept Argentina's claim and that it helped end an awful dictatorship in Buenos Aires. She didn't have much to say after that... pity it was going so well up till then 😉
Had Rabid Thatcher waited for the negotiations by the Reagan Administration the war would have been adverted:
The Argentine Junta needed to claim a victory but couldn't support the occupation needed to keep the Falklands. They did need to obtain American made parts for their American made Military Technology...
Britain needed to claim a victory by having the Union Jack flying over the Falklands once again. Allowing the US to work out the details wouldn't have resulted in damage to Britain's standing as a nation as the Occupation of Northern Ireland already damaged that...
More importantly, the population of the Falklands would have seen their island quickly de-mined by those in the Argentine Military who planted them in the first place. Instead many of the men who were involved in planting those mines & their landmine maps were destroyed when the British bombed a troop transport that was evacuating them from the Islands, in an act of retaliation...
Megaprojects suggestions: V force, Britain's three nuclear bombers; Victor, Valiant and Vulcan
Yes please! Great idea.
Awesome idea!
Victor, Vulcan and the other one. Lol
@@Tigermoto Sperrin, the ugly one that didn't get made.
@@Tigermoto victor, Vulcan and the one nobody makes a model of, thereby foiling my v force diorama!
Simon, I don't believe the "HMS Cantelope" was one of the four British ships that were sunk during the war. Rather, you'll find that it was the "HMS Antelope" instead.
I'm glad that it wasn't just me who noticed that!
Lol. 🍉
Whistlerspeak. LOL
Or HMS Argent / HMS Ardent ?
Cantaloupes are people too!
Simon, no one thinks you don't make enough stuff.
Yeah Simon
Lol
It’s getting hard to find YT channels WITHOUT Simon on them.
Simon is a one man content farm
😂😂😂... true
I went to a talk with Barry Mansfield, he was electronics warfare Officer on a Vulcan during black buck. The story’s he has are fantastic. He’s said part of the air to air refuelling probe was being used as a ashtray in the officers mess and the bomb racks needed for the mission were scrapped, they went back to the scrap yard and hope they were still there and hadn’t been melted down then buy them back off the scrap dealer. The Calculator used for working out the mission was brought from Swaffham market in Norfolk.
Yep true, went to talk by Martin withers it was great
At the time, I was attached to a unit that had a 'bang seat' for instructional purposes. A very worried armourer arrived and asked to see it, and then whipped out paperwork to explain that he was taking it away as it might be needed, it was from a Vulcan.
Ahh, I've just seen your comment after writing mine. It seems you remembered the stories a little better than I did...
@@bimblinghill It may be just as well that the 'great British public' doesn't know exactly how touch and go the whole effort was. Don't forget, both our 'carriers' were proposed for disposal, and all 'assets' were looked at to see if they could be used.
Yes, all detailed in the excellent book, Vulcan 607
It's easy to say the raid -- indeed the conflict itself -- was a pointless waste of life, but that misses the bigger picture. Had Britain not stood up to defend its island, it would've been seen across the world as a sign of British military and political impotence. It would've invited other tinpot dictators to do the same as the Argentine junta. Better a small, pointless war than a much larger, much more dangerous war -- or series of wars -- across the world.
It also saved Chile from an Argentine invasion, Galtieri said openly they'd finish off outstanding matters (the Beagle Channel) once they'd defeated Britain. Argentina came close (literally a few hours) of invading Chile in 1978, before US intervention stopped them (with the Pope as cover).
Some people forget that back in the 70s, the UK was sometimes called 'The Runt of Europe'; A once powerful nation of rotting post-industrial decline, stagnant politics, a self-destructive version of unionism and plummeting international importance (France actually argued against the UK joining the EEC).
But if a failing military Junta deciding to distract it's people by occupying a UK territory with a force of miserable, poorly trained, poorly equipped conscripts, and _succeeded_ what shattered, shredded remains of respect the UK still desperately clung to around the world would be gone.
Love her or hate her, when Thatcher was asked 'Why?', the answer was simple: 'Because we *must* '
Absolutely. It also saved Argentina. The Junta, after years of a disastrous government, started the war as a last desperate attempt to remain in power. And it worked, a vast majority of Argentinians supported the war, and suddenly were cheering for the government they abhorred just a few weeks earlier. Had they been allowed to keep the Islands, the dictatorship would have continued, instead of collapsing like it did. It also likely prevented a war with Chile. As an Argentinian, I can't believe many of my fellow countryman have actually been brainwashed into being proud of such a cowardly attack on what was mostly a civilian population.
Hear, hear. You, sir, just nailed the point!
dont mess with maggie. i think most PMs at that time, would have bottled it, but she had the balls to stand up to them!
The Vulcan is a beautiful beast, indeed.
It was a hideous beast made to destroy humans by the metropolitan area...
@@davidhollenshead4892 and?
Agreed. The sexiest plane ever built by anyone. Had curves in all the right places 😂😏
@@davidhollenshead4892 Grow up!
The planning and organization that went into those bombing raids was incredible. Also, those British pilots had to be very brave souls to venture out in those outdated aircraft.
nah, they took a few rolls of gaffer tape and a flask of tea! all ok, nothing to see here!
Outdated! The Americans still fly the B.52, which the Vulcan would still fly rings round
yeah 5 pound calculator LOL, not planning or organisation but people !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you for pointing out the even the captain of the Belgrano, Hector Bonzo, spent the last decade and a half of his life trying to set the story straight - That YES, his ship was a legitmate military target and sunk legally within the rules of war.
The Argentine military actually have been very honest about this for a long time, much to the disgust of the politicians. What also is ignored, even in the UK, was that the exclusion zone was for all non-British ships, any there, regardless of whether they were military or not, or Argentinian or not (one assumes any US ship would have been safe) then they would have been treated as hostile and dealt with as such. The British always considered all Argentinian military/naval ships to be fair game outside of territorial water and the latter exception was for international political reasons.
Plus IIRC the ship had to turn away from her target to use her launcher.
Pedantic I know ; but he didn't mention that the CAPTAIN of the Belgrano stated this, what he actually says is
"An Argentine Commander has Claimed"
YOU have pointed it out, so thank YOU
With due respect to Simon's point that the raids had little strategic or tactical effect, the same can be said of the Doolittle raid in WW2. There is something to be said about putting warheads on foreheads in a supposedly impregnable or unreachable stronghold.
Mors Ab Alto and all that.
Yep, a lot of effort, and a quickly-repaired runway crater. It seems to have been a prestige mission for the RAF. With 1950s bombers using salvaged parts. Jeez. As Simon said, pure bloody-mindedness. Well, at least there was the Royal Navy which forced the Argentine Navy back to port, and various parts of the armed forces, including Commando and Parachute regiments, Welsh Guards, Scots Guards, Harriers at ground-attack, and other elements, not all succesful, to force capitulation. I can't criticise the original engineering of the Vulcans and Victors, but their time was long gone by then.
But like the Doolittle raid it had a good morale effect.
Well, the Doolittle Raid did lead to Midway....
Actually it did, and just like the Doolittle raid, it showed an enemy, that one of their biggest assets, distance, was actually not a thing for the people they had attacked. That and that their enemy had the capacity to come knocking on their door, something they hadn't envisioned. That puts a new kind of fear into you.
It's a psychological thing. Telling your enemy that no matter where you are we can and will deploy the resources to attack you.
Victors were some of the coolest aircraft ever
yeah, how come 50's british planes still look futuristic?
I wonder what will happen to the one at Brunty.
Yeah, all the early to mid cold war UK aircraft looked like something out of the TV show "The Thunderbirds." The Lightning, Nimrod, Buccaneer and of course, the V-bombers. Beautiful, futuristic and very cool. Too bad all that expertise and ability were scrapped due to ever increasing social spending. Now the UK can barely design and build a glider.
@@billrhodes5603 I just had a Britbox advert featuring the 5,4,3,2,1 Thunderbirds are go sequence just after reading your comment. Coincidence or RUclips spying on me more than I thought?
@@billrhodes5603
Take a look at the Typhoon then take a look at the BAe AEP...
We absolutely can design and build new aircraft... the trick is finding a government in Westmonster willing to pay for it... we'll see what if anything comes of Tempest.
Megaprojects suggestion: Operation Chariot (The raid on the dock at St. Nazaire that is referred to as the ‘greatest raid of all time’)
Check out the video by Jeremy Clarkson. Doubt you'll ever find a better one.
Also Jeremy Clarkson's documentary on Convoy PQ17
He is a superb historical journalist with a genuine understanding of his subjects.
@@karenblackadder1183 and his one on his father in law who won the VC at Arnhem, Clarkson might be a bit of a twat, but he is our twat and when he does stuff like that he is really really good
I've been waiting so long for this. As mentioned above, Clarkson did an amazing job - but I want to hear MORE about it lol
Prior to the B-2, the B-52 superseded the Vulcan with the longest bombing raid in history when 7 of them flew for 35 hours to launch 35 AGM-86 CALCM's against Baghdad in the opening night of 'Desert Storm' in 1991.
thefrecklepuny where did the crew go to the head? Did someone bring some empty Snapple bottles?
@@Wppk765 exactly. If they've been flying for that very long...they're gonna need to take a piss, their bladders would be hurting if they don't.
Vulcan pilots during Op Black Buck did carry something very handy that helped them on their 16 hour round trip from Ascension to the Falklands and back. The "piss bag". I think was explained that on the show *"Guy Martin: Last Flight of the Vulcan Bomber".*
About that title "A long way for so little"......well, in the Iron Lady movie is well represented, "We stand on principle or we don't stand at all". And as futile as it may seem the point was clearly stated, do not mess with Great Britain because Great Britain does not mess around.
Perfectly summarised 👍🏻
Did she say the Falkland Islands are as British as Finchley?
Lol GB is a island of tossers these days
The missions were a terrible waste of money, accomplished little that couldn't have been accomplished by other means and if anything was only effective as psychological warfare since it was very concerning to see bombers that weren't supposed to be there
@@francopetre6171 The Reagan Administration was close to negotiating a peaceful withdrawal as the Argentine Junta got what it needed, to claim a victory against the Britan. More importantly, Argentina needed spare parts for their American-made Military Technology, something they couldn't afford to lose...
I do not know if the subject fit in the title, but The Falklands/Malvinas war have more curiosities, like it was the first time Harriers were used, and consequently the first time the Carrier 'Invincible" was used too .
Falklands.🇫🇰
@@AtheistOrphan Thanks... and corrected .
1:55 - Chapter 1 - War begins
4:10 - Chapter 2 - The task force
5:10 - Chapter 3 - Black buck
5:50 - Chapter 4 - Logistics
6:45 - Chapter 5 - The vulcans
7:50 - Chapter 6 - The victors
9:05 - Chapter 7 - Black buck 1
11:40 - Chapter 8 - Black buck 2/7
13:55 - Chapter 9 - The war
15:25 - Chapter 10 - A long way for very little
Simon Whistler: "I expect the dislikes to be high on this video."
RUclips likes to dislikes (as this is written): 6.1k vs 69. lol
RUclips probably removed the thousands of dislikes... go ask Joe Biden. 😅
Simon overestimated his Argentine viewership ( one Argentine here)
The "superiority" of british forces was not why they won but rather the shortcomings of the Argentine leadership. From a military point of view reclaiming the Malvinas from Argentine forces, had their resources been properly used, would be next to impossible. Despite all the self inflicted harm on the Argentine side the British obtained victory with a very slim margen, had for example the Argentines : instead of conscripts from the warmer north sent the career soldiers (payed professional units) from the southern bases more familiar and better trained for the weather on the islands ( this was not done do to the continuing conflict with Chile seen by the leadership as a more likely conflict scenario than the British attack as well as some tension with Brazil), or delayed the attack until summer as opposed to fighting in winter 1000 kms from antarctica (the original operation was planned for summer and advanced due to internal political conflicts), or delayed the attack until they fully stocked their excocet missiles many of which were not delivered by France after the conflict began, or stationed the fleet's on the islands simultaneously with the land invasion, or managed to stretch the runway and infrastructure to accommodate the more powerful jets and operate from the islands as opposed to the mainland that left the pilots less than 3 minutes average of fuel once they reached the target area this also ment the British always knew what general direction the air attacks would come from, the heart of these pilots is admiral. The point is this was far from a clear victory when the conflict began and many of the British command had serious doubts as to it's success.
No, this Irish man says the British destroyed you in battle full stop. they can fight hard and well. RIP to the conscripts. Against Paras and Marines, no chance.
@@francopetre6171 Your soldiers were no match for para's, your navy was obsolete and your airforce ineffective. The only thing in your favour was the distance to the UK. This was a huge advantage and your inept government decided to gamble that there would be no retaliation. Honestly I'm very glad the UK won, because we also took a huge gamble: had we lost a war to an invading force, we may have been compelled to use the nuclear threat, or else it is not a viable threat in future. A terrifying prospect.
As an aside - I've travelled extensively in Argentina and found the country exceptionally beautiful and the people most gracious and welcoming. Not once did anyone raise an eyebrow when we said we were British, it was a fantastic time and I'm glad there is no more fighting.
Black Buck One is best compared the US Doolittle Raid on Tokyo. Yes the damage was insignificant in physical terms but the phycological toll was major. After both raids Argentina and Japan both held much more forces in reserve close to their main territories than they had before. In the case of Argentina their air force had to operate from the main land and this greatly reduced their time and reach over the Task Force. If they had been able to base long range aircraft at Port Stanley they could have attract the Task Force days in advance of their arrival to the Exclusion Zone. Black Buck One changed the war disproportional to its real damage on the ground. Keep up the great work Simon.
Even though the bombs mostly missed their targets, the fact that the UK could send bombers all the way to the islands, and thus proved that they could also easily bomb the Argentine capital-- this probably won the war. Argentina pulled most of their air force back to protect the mainland from a possible attack, and left the islands largely unprotected from the air for the entire war.
Do the inhabitants of the Falklands think it was an absurd waste? How much is one's personal and national liberty worth? Given the Junta's record on human rights I would have welcomed the British soldiers as liberators. Isn't that why countries have armed forces?
The Falkland Islanders are unbelievably grateful for the sacrifices of British Servicemen during the conflict. Two exiled Falkland Islanders spoke at the UN and one was asked why they're so bothered about it; the reply was, it's our home.
The resolve of the Argentine forces was also affected by the complete hostility they recieved from the locals that they were told they were coming to liberate. They flew Union Jacks and spoke English, they were not repressed Argentinians.
@@Petriefied0246 And the islanders drove on the wrong side of the road, the left...
@@ronclark9724 that's the correct side for civilised people.
@@Petriefied0246 were all mixed nuts, some good, some with amazing property's, some rotten. As long as theres good ones along side ones with amazing property's we will be alright.
The big issue was that Argentina's Junta got what they wanted, seizing the Falkland Islands. However, they were not willing to pay the price of staying, as it alienated Argentina from the United States, at the cost of losing support for spare parts for Argentina's American Made Military Technology...
So it was a Totally Absurd War, as Prime Minister Thatcher was unwilling to let diplomacy work, which would have resulted in almost no loss of life, and without the UK having to De-Landmine the Islands without a Landmine Map. The Reagan Administration was making headway on a negotiated peace and demilitarization of the Falklands, something Thatcher was absolutely unwilling to participate in...
So 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel, and three Falkland Islanders died. This clearly makes it an absurd war, but then most wars are absurd. The bombing of an Argentine Troop Transport Ship that was evacuating their personnel off of the islands was a very sick thing okayed by a very sick government, namely Thatchers...
I highly recommend the book 'Vulkan 607'. It goes into significant detail of the whole of Black Buck, which only serves to highlight how difficult this operation was.
Most of the pilots had never performed air-to-air refueling as the Vulcans didn't even have their fueling pylons anymore; a part of one was found serving as an ashtray in an officer's mess.
The EMCs were all geared to USSR tech, not the French kit the Argentines used, so the crews had to completely relearn all the frequencies, tactics and other details in a matter of days. Radar jamming units were literally glued to the tails of the Vulcans.
Not to mention that there was no such thing as GPS. They couldn't fly down the whole coast of South America; they had to fly straight across the featureless South Atlantic by the means of accelerometers to keep them on course.
I'm from Switzerland,
and one day I disrespected a science teacher in 8th grade. As a punishment i was to teach the class for 1 and a half hours.
I talked about this exact bombing run, the falkland war and the political struggles around it. but focussing on the technical and military hardware aspects of the operation since, to me at least, an excoset missile is more interesting than maggie thatcher.
I did well, my mates found it very interesting or at least acted that way since they had my back in this endeavour.
And my teacher was ashamed to say the least. For he did not know about the huge extent of this operation even though he lived through it and he was impressed that i could teach a class with ease.
Thank you for making me remember this moment, i almost forgot.
Cheers
Would love to see some Australian Megaprojects, say Sydney Harbour Bridge?
Or the Perth Pub? ;)
Bridge no, Snowy Hydro yes
@@jjr6286 which one doofus
Rabbit / Dingo proof fences? You could toss the Emu war in there as a bonus.
It might be historical, but it's definitely not a mega project.
I have had the pleasure of talking with Martin Withers's (pilot of Vulcan 2) a number of times I have to say he is one of the most interesting people I have met. He tells his story so well, what a guy he is.
I love your videos, but you somehow made this amazing event sound like it was straight forward although a very long trip. This is a courageous story in which the crew of the Vulcan thought they were never going to have enough fuel to make it back but decided the mission was worth their lives and carried on anyway. There is a great doco on black buck that obviously had more time to go into the details, but this mission was far more intense than just a complex fuel relaying exercise.
Only time i saw and "Experienced" the noise of a Vulcan was in 81 at RAF St Mawgan in Cornwall Airshow day. One thing a Vulcan always did at an Airshow was to fly low over the Runway and go into a vertical climb on full thrrust, a "Full Thrust" that ones chest will never forget. Anyone that has experienced this will know exactly what i mean. What mission was it that saw the last refueling from a Victor realise that the Vulcan was "shy", not enough, fuel? This mission the Victor Tanker pumped some of his own Aircrafts fuel into the Vulcan so it could complete its mission. An amazing and unique piece of Military Logistics never to be seen again.
Have to admit I love the design of both aircraft. Very futuristic looking for something from the 50/60's.
40s actually
I served during the Falklands war and was stunned by the strength of the task force sent down south. Not that long previously the government had decided that it was withdrawing its presence from the far east. This meant that HMS Ark Royal (R09) was no longer needed. The Ark was scrapped.
Had the Ark not been scrapped it could have brought to the fight a squadron of Phantom interceptors, a squadron of Buccaneer Fighter bombers, a wing of Gannets for long ranger radar coverage, Sea King helicopters for antisubmarine warfare & troop transport. All in all that one ship would have "owned" a thousand miles around the Falklands.
HMS Hermes (R12) did a magnificent job, but it was a job she wasn't designed for.
I personally believe that, had the Ark not been scrapped then the war would never have happened.
Megaprojects suggestion: Buran shuttle.
This this this this!
@@trstock7760 I'm going to keep making this suggestion until it happens.
I think he did it all ready idk tho
That's been done
@@joshfloyd691 No it hasn't. He made a video for the plane that was made for Buran, but not a video on the shuttle itself.
According to Martin Wither`s book on the raid, "Vulcan something or other, it was he who dropped the bomb on the runway, there were about 9 Vulcans and 5 Victors needing to be re-fuelled on the bomb-run. The decision to who was going to do the bombing was a last-minute thing. It was far more complicated than described here.
Superfuse baby...
Also part of the Vulcan refuelling kit was being used as an ashtray.
Edit: Also the Vulcan bomb aiming and navigation kit was still WWII era, the "computers" were chain driven.
How about the British project to build the abomb? Tube Alloys... that’d be a good one.
vulcan, one of the best aircraft ever made. what a beast
Imagine if britain did what the Americans have been doing to their aircraft and update them, they would be awesome
great sound
The Victor was never a conventional bomber, it was designed and built as one of the three Nuclear bombers for the RAF, the other two being the Vulcan and Valiant. After it was withdrawn from the nuclear role it was converted to being a tanker. Valiant was retired after just 10 years of service due to metal fatigue in the main spar.
My uncle flew Victors, both before and after they lost their nuclear role. He has always maintained they were the best of the V-bombersin terms of flexibility.
"Argentina", excuse me, I think you meant to say "Western Falklands", thankyou very much!
Mainland Falklands!
I think you mean, "The Falkland Mainland".
I know the brits kinda have a taste for shit deals lately but do you really want a country in which the main activities are going bankrupt, the main export is just steak and the star is a coked up footballer known for cheating? and really bad weather down south too.
*M U S T C O L O N I Z E A L L L A N D*
@@jamesharding3459 lol
The Black Buck raids and the Falklands War itself was during the height of the Cold War. Bombing the runway from that distance and then successfully recapturing the Falkland Islands, islands that were over 8000 miles away from the UK, forced the USSR to change their view and strategy towards little old Britain. They had to take us more seriously now.
Argies: “Caramba Pablo! If that is the size of their aircraft just how big is their aircraft carrier?”🇬🇧
Argentines don't say "caramba" so no
@@francopetre6171 it's from a famous cartoon at the time
I have the privilege of knowing Martin withers well he is the most humbling person I know.
He's a sweet nice man for sure.
The Falklands War started just before my 6th birthday. I have an uncle and aunt named Aubrey and Tina, with my uncle's name often shortened to "Aub." So every evening when my dad would watch the news, they'd repeatedly mention Argentina, only to my 5-year-old ears, they were saying "Aub and Tina." So I ate dinner every night with my family, genuinely confused, and wondering what happened to Aub and Tina, and why the people on the news kept mentioning them.
True story.
Simon “square space, king of RUclips” whistler
He's a (raid shadow) Legend
Sparesquace
andrew buckley
Allegedly
When you talked bout refitting the refueling systems, I remember a documentary with a personal account of someone grabbing a part that they saw being used as an ash tray, dumping out the ashes, then walking off with it because that was the only way to get some parts.
Interesting vido Simon, the attacks on the radar sites were to help disable the Argentinian air defences. They had many dual 35mm Oerlikon cannons which were radar controlled by Skyguard radar and if the radar was out of action the guns weren't as effective. Some of the radars and guns were brought back to the UK and were used by an Auxiliary RAF Regiment squadron to guard RAF Waddington
My Favourite little titbit of info on this Operation was that the re-fueling plan was calculated On a Casio Caculator that someone bought in WHSmith and not on some massively complex Computer
Black Buck 1, whose first bomb put a crater squarely in the middle of the runway, caused Argentina to pull back from using the airport for fast jets (Mirages & Skyhawks) which from then on had to make long and dangerous flights from mainland bases, often getting intercepted by British Harriers before they even got there. Just as the sinking of the General Belgrano caused the entire Argentinian Navy to be withdrawn. So the psychological effect of these raids was actually massive, due to the fact that military governments fear to lose the war machines they need to menace their own people and their neighbours. Britain made clear with those raids "we're coming and we mean it" and it meant that Argentina fought the entire Falklands War on the back foot.
Winning the Falklands War in general showed that Britain would defend its many other outlying territories on principle, so other 2nd & 3rd World governments should not go getting any funny ideas. Besides, the Falklands today are doing very well due in large part to cruise ship visits, which almost double the local population you sniff at when they're in port. And as Antarctica gets eyed (and populated) by a resource-hungry China in this decade, Britain has a solid base very nearby. Methinks you brush the significance of all of this away too quickly.
"Hold my tea and watch this shit"
-Thatcher, probably talking to the late Queen
Argentina: hmm those islands look tasty
the royal air force: allow us to introduce ourselves
Next Megaproject suggestion: The American Seabee bases in the Pacific.
Simon: will you do an episode about the German Autobahn? A true mega project... Thanks!
The German Autobahn inspired the U.S. interstate system. Thanks IKE.....
This was a good summary of the operation, given in a larger context. Nicely done.
There is an excellent documentary of this specific operation that I've watched a few times that goes into greater detail as to what occurred during the lead up and execution of Black Buck 1.
Search: "XM607 Falklands' Most Daring Raid. (Operations Black Buck)"
.......................................
Black Buck 1, and its successor missions, were the British equivalent of the US' Dolittle Raid against Japan in April, 1942.
Norwich Air Museum has one of the surviving Vulcans from Black Buck on display, you can pay a fiver to sit up on the flight deck. They represent the apex of British aviation design and are quite remarkable aircraft.
7:42 "and a whole lot of British bloody mindedness".... And, vast quantities of tea no doubt.
The reality of the bombing raids was that a response was needed ASAP and just like the Doolittle raids in WW2, this was all about messaging and much less about the actual targets.
This is best demonstrated by the fact that one British SSN sent the entire Argentine fleet back to home port. As you stated, long term, there was no winning. But where the Falklanders were staunchly pro UK, there was nothing but support from them to be saved by whatever the "empire" could send.
I'm not even at work.
Gotta watch this one.
Please can we have a megaprojects: dam busters
to bad with the current situation (and may be financial wise), that simon can't travel there and you can still see where the hole was today www.deviantart.com/enisrabowman/art/Edertalspeere-790635221
Please do the English electric lighting
That and the F-104 Starfighter would be good in this series.
Yes its stunning!
Why does a lightning have wings?
To keep the nav lights apart.
@@jdreyes3745 The widowmaker, Yes that would be very interesting, especially if Simon included the bribery and corruption involved in selling it to Germany
BRO. Did you just call the HMS Antelope the "HMS Cantaloupe?" Business Blaze is bleeding over...I hear simon's cocaine calling him!
Yeah, heard that too...
@@clancyjames585 Me also, Had to rewind twice to make sure.
Yes.....yes he did. Lol
I listened to it repeatedly, I clearly heard cantaloupe.
5 times I’ve rewind it’s too funny HMS CANTALOUPE 🍈
one vulcan spare part was an ashtray in the break room and had to be grabbed , cleaned machined and fitted etc, see the documentary from the bbc on that raid and interviews with the pilots. balls of steel.
Rideau Canal and the St Lawrence Seaway please.
Sandy hows it going??!
@@nikolaaswright6028 it goes ok bro, I suppose
Well I definetly know the winter blues well! Hows the weather out east?
@@nikolaaswright6028 was not bad until last night when the grass disappeared
aww s*it .. here it was -15 for about a week... I feel your pain... Where abouts are you?
Minor point but at 8:03 the white Victor shown when explaining that the K2s were built as bombers is actually a Victor B1, XH588 (not to be confused with it's more famous Vulcan cousin, XH558). This one did however end up as a Victor K1a tanker.
At 8:09 another K1a is shown, I can't make out a full serial but it begins with XH
HMS Cantelope?!? Thank god HMS Honeydew & HMS Watermelon made it through...
Brilliant!😂
Robert Deal and people said it was a fruitless war....
The task force itself is a mega protects with the ships taken up from trade, refits/ reactivations, and ships that were on exercise or just returned with crews going through maintenance periods/ crew leave
When this war started, the usa diverted a ship full of fuel to that island and filled up all the tanks. U win a war with logistics.
and sidewinders hhaha
Actually, the account from one of the pilots who was flying the Vulcan that had to turn back totally contradicts whats stated here, he stated the seal problem prevented the fuselage from pressurising for altitude, they tried to plug it but failed and that's why they turned back.
It was about keeping air IN and not about keeping air OUT.
Yeah that's what I was thinking as well. Vulcans would extremely high up and the pressure difference caused by a leak could be fatal
@11:20 Simon - The Black Buck Raids were ABSOLUTLY worth their weight in gold and critical to UK's victory. In fact, I will argue they were the cornerstone of British victory, or at least the ease of British victory.
The Black Buck Raids weren't meant to cause significant damage at all. This was a UK territory with UK Civilians all over the place. Plus, the sole stated objective of Black Buck 1 was to knock out the runaway at the airport to prevent airborne relief operations to the Argentine Forces - this it was successful in, as The UK pretty much had assumed correctly the Argentines would have trouble repairing the runway quickly given the limited materials and and competent manpower on the island (Megaproject Idea - Modern Runway Engineering, it isn't like paving an M road).
BUT FUTHERMORE. the Black Buck Raids said to the Argentine Junta, "Hey, we can reach out and touch you." And the psychological & political effects of knowing they could hit the Argentinian homeland was immeasurable. Remember, the Junta was teetering already and would ultimately fall as a result of the loss of the war they so foolishly started. And thus, almost immediately military support amongst the bickering and rival Argentine branches of service began to crumble.
With the one bomb hit that counted on that runway, the Argentine forces on the Falklands were doomed with no practical or political means for relief/resupply/reinforcement or even... escape. There morale began to dwindled, and while they did put up a competent defense against the Scottish Dragoons* (ERROR - see below), ultimately the bulk of their forces were conscripts with no will to fight a hopeless cause.
P.S. - Ronnie and The Old Iron Box in the golf cart... Priceless!!!
*ERROR - Thanks to Steve for the correction. It was 5 Commando Brigade of the Royal Marines backed up by 3 Infantry Brigade of the British Army. The Royal Scottish Dragoons are a mechanized light line calvary unit. And land vehicles did not play a large part in the Falklands War, as made famous by the 50 km march over open terrain to reach Port Stanley after the loss of all but one chinook helicopters on the Atlantic Conveyor to Exocet missile strike.
The Victor tanker pilot at the last outbound fill-up was Bob Tuxford, he sacrificed his own fuel and risked crashing on the return leg by giving the Vulcan as much fuel as he could and more. The Vulcan pressed on regardless. They couldn't call for a back-up tanker until the bombs had been dropped due to radio silence. Simon misses this completely. When I drive up the A1 in England though a village called Tuxford, I always check my fuel gauge and range in honour of that pilot. The missions meant that the runway at Stanley couldn't be extended for fast jets also messed up the Junta's plans and caused them to redeploy Mirages as Argentina was also in the range of the Vulcans.
The Belgrano was a warship of a nation that was at war with British after attacking them. It could have been giving its crew a vacation cruise on the opposite side of the planet and would still have been a completely valid target.
It was a hospital ship, with clear red crosses all over the place. It had no weapons at all.
Whatever that general said later to sink any British ships is a lie. The ARA Belgrano was carrying wounded people from the conflict area to the main land. It was sunk way outside the area designated by the British as the "Conflict Area".
I do understand that Story is made by the victor so there you go.
@@nicolastorres5945 Don't try to claim any moral high ground here. If you don't want your ships sinking don't go round invading things that don't belong to you. It's that simple. To expect anyone to believe that a WW2 Cruiser is in any way a hospital ship is complete nonsense and you know it.
@@nicolastorres5945 Yeah, it was totally a hospital ship, because old light cruisers with 150 mm guns (which are still there, sitting on the bottom of the ocean) are normally used as hospital ships. And it was totally carrying wounded from the conflict , because it sank 3 week before the British even landed on Faklands. Sure. (end of sarcasm) The only true stuff you are telling is that it was sunk outside of the Conflict area, it was. However the British send a warning to Argentina (week before), that if there is a Argentinian warship, they don´t care. And Belgrano had order to attack British fleet (which the British knew about, that´s why they attacked). And the death toll would be lower if the 2 destroyers, that were accompanying Belgrano found out what happened sooner than the next day.
@@nicolastorres5945 ... Why can you see the 6" gun turrets in the photos of it sinking?
@@1993Crag - And no red crosses. ✖️
Cam Rah Bay. Vietnam. Built by the US, now leased to Russia. Not many people know about it nowadays, so it may be fitting for Side Projects, but building it required disarming boobietraps and clearing land similar to the Korean DMZ
THANK YOU for pronouncing “Junta” correctly!
Are there people who use the hard ‘j’?
@@thomasstack4119 Aye, quite a few as they read it in a more English manner rather than its Iberian-Latin.
@@thomasstack4119 People who know someone called John for example probably.
thank you viewer for suggesting this amazing operation !
How Argentina could possibly think that they could screw with the British. The moment I heard that the Falklands had been invaded I determined that they had made a monumental miscalculation of Britlsh capabilities and resolve.
Another side story from this could be on Bravo November. A Chinook helicopter that was the only one to make it in to action during the Falklands conflict and seen active duty in Afghanistan. In afghan, presenter Mike Brewer (wheeler dealers) was onboard when under fire it’s pilot was hit in the side of the head but still managed to land the A/C back at camp bastion.
When you said the distance from Ascension to the Falklands you actually said the distance from the UK to the Falklands
Can you please place a timestamp for when he mentions the distance between the ascension and the falklands? I only heard him make mention of the distance from the uk to the falklands. I think he said that the uk-falkland distance was over 12,000 km.
@@ritual64 About 1:20, maybe a few seconds earlier. The map says about 6-7 thousand kms, but the overlaid text on the map, and Simon's voice, says about 12 000km.
@@clancyjames585 yeah, got it, thanks. Don’t know how I missed that one. Definitely a Doh! moment. Had he said a return journey from Ascension to the Falkland’s, that would have added up but he didn’t. Doh!
Actually it was the round trip distance between Ascension and the Falkland Islands, and it was nautical miles not miles. The 6300 km distance is not correct (it's from Wikipedia), it should be 6100 km.
@@Hi11is I was using approximations to give him the benefit of the doubt. It's not as though I access to where he gets his data from, I made an approximation on a return trip. I didn't get the distance from Wikipedia (if his researchers did well professional researcher's should know better than just taking from one source). Personally I approximated from Google maps which takes it from one point on the Ascension Islands to one point on the Falkland Islands.The actual distance, according to google maps, from the English air base in the Ascension's to the Capital Port Stanley, in the Falkland's (Islas Malvinas), is distance: 6,263.33 km (3,891.85 mi), from their measure tool. I'm sure that doesn't factor in anything remotely like what route the pilots actually took but that's the distance according to Google maps measure tool, point to point. It's only one source but I cannot be arsed finding another. Maybe his researchers were in the same frame of mind.
On this topic, I recommend the book: "Vulcan 607". I would like to know where you found the detail of the damaged fuel probe during the last Victor to Victor fuel transfer. Not questioning the accuracy but that was never mentioned in either books or interviews with the crew. The "official version" was always that they had insufficient/inaccurate data on the real fuel burn figures for the Vulcan. That in conjunction with forcing a formation of different aircraft, with different speeds for fuel efficiency, flying at similar altitude all the way reduced the total amount of available fuel in the Victor formation to be transferred to the Vulcan before the bomb run. That issue was corrected in subsequence missions.
Credit where credit is so. The Vaulcan’s are pretty aircraft. And who can hate a flying wing .
The Vulcans were Delta-Wing Aircraft, not "flying wing" aircraft...
I recalled a journalist or maybe someone that refers the Falkalnds or Malvinas war as "Bald men's war for a comb"
Side projects - things which aren’t mega enough. So, Kiloprojects...?
Should we be expecting Gigaprojects sometime then?
@@AvoidTheCadaver speak to Slartibartfast about that one.
The Black Buck Raid was basically Britain asking Argentina "Do you feel lucky, punk?"
G'day Simon, you're too young to remember the Falklands war. The destruction of HMS Sheffield was a big headline grabber as were the other sinkings. The rescue of British sailors was live on TV as were the small Argentine fast jets that were seen attacking the fleet. The sinking of the General Belgrano was the most controversial only because from the moment of the sinking the Argentine government swore the ship was heading away with no intent to return to battle. Yes, it was found out, later, to be a lie, but rightly, the RN took no chances. They couldn't have a heavy, big gun ship stalking the British fleet so a RN submarine did a sterling job and sunk it.
As to Operation Black Buck, there was sufficient damage to the airstrip at Port Stanley that the small fast jets and the Mirages could not use the strip without unnecessary danger. They were forced to make sorties from the mainland decreasing their times over targets and, therefore, their effectiveness. This also had the effect of keeping Argentine aircraft away from the large bodies of troops making their way, on foot, towards Port Stanley. The RN's Harriers also did fantastic work protecting fleet assets over the water and land.
It was patently obvious that the rank and file of Argentine troops had little enthusiasm for a fight. They were cocksure when they first invaded, then clean underwear became problematic when they heard that the British Army, the Paras and the Gurkhas were on their way to shoot at them and kill them. Many downed arms even before such a logical course of action was suggested by the British. Skirmishes with Argentine troops did cause British casualties and there were problems for detachments of the Paras but that was mostly a night engagement and the enemy that fought hard were experienced career soldiers where the large part of the enemy force were raw trainees and conscripts.
One lost life in war is one too many, however, war is war and if you choose to do it, it has to be done properly with overwhelming force on your side. Given the poor on the ground communications, the appalling weather conditions the British forces did an outstanding job. Battle casualty predictions were way above what they actually were on the British side. Had not the less experienced Argentines surrendered; it would have truly been a bloodbath.
Britain was lucky they had a strong leader in Maggie Thatcher; although not a fan of her myself, she was the kind of Churchillian leader one needs when an armed conflict is going on. Zoom forward 20 to 30 years and the professionalism and prestige of the British Army was still on the rise as a direct cause of the Falklands war. Indeed, all three services benefited just by being there and then reaping the reward of worldwide respect. Dictators, terrorists and other lunatics were forced to think again before assuming Britain was a spent military force after WW2. They don't have the mammoth numbers that the US or Russia has but they are an incredibly high-tech set of armed forces and their training is top-notch. It was incredibly sad that so many British lads died in action but that's what those of us who have worn a uniform have to expect. We know that even before we sign on the dotted line. Simon, you skimmed over some important points but given the passage of time and the possibility of your writer being as young as you are, I'll let this one slip. You were right though; it is a fascinating slice of British military history and those like you should read up on it. There are some excellent documentaries on this topic right here on RUclips. Cheers, BH
Ah, beautifully put! My answer was shorter but like you, I was annoyed by the glib brush-off this vid gave to the Falklands, the Black Buck Raid and the War:
"Black Buck 1, whose first bomb put a crater squarely in the middle of the runway, caused Argentina to pull back from using the airport for fast jets (Mirages & Skyhawks) which from then on had to make long and dangerous flights from mainland bases, often getting intercepted by British Harriers before they even got there. Just as the sinking of the General Belgrano caused the entire Argentinian Navy to be withdrawn. So the psychological effect of these raids was actually massive, due to the fact that military governments fear to lose the war machines they need to menace their own people and their neighbours. Britain made clear with those raids "we're coming and we mean it" and it meant that Argentina fought the entire Falklands War on the back foot.
Winning the Falklands War in general showed that Britain would defend its many other outlying territories on principle, so other 2nd & 3rd World governments should not go getting any funny ideas. Besides, the Falklands today are doing very well due in large part to cruise ship visits, which almost double the local population you sniff at when they're in port. And as Antarctica gets eyed (and populated) by a resource-hungry China in this decade, Britain has a solid base very nearby. Methinks you brush the significance of all of this away too quickly."
@@videowilliams G'day Video, Great reply! A tiny bit more savage than I. I wish I had gone in harder; upon reflection; what is Simon on about? A Brit who lives in Europe, somewhere obscure, or so I've read. He played fast and loose with his 'facts', or his writer did, about one of the UK's most strategic military operations since WW2 or the Malayan conflict.
You make a good point about the future of the Antarctic region. Apart from us Australians and New Zealanders, who are 'the good guys' in the region? I'm so glad that the UK stated its case, clearly and backed it up with military action. You'll no doubt know that since the Falklands war no more 'land grabs' have occurred south of the Equator. South Africa is on 'our' side in that it has little interest in Antarctica but would probably back us if push came to shove. A quick change of regime in Argentina could see the old yearning for 'The Malvinas' go to the top of their agenda, again.
Luckily, the UK is still rotating troops through the Falklands and in these more technological times, assets of a UK force could react to any future invasion much more swiftly.
Given the similarities of our reactions to this video, I reckon you probably lived through those times as I did. I got out of the ADF only four years before this happened and I can recall being somewhat 'disappointed' that the UK didn't ask for Australia's help... but as it turned out they didn't need our assistance. Looking at the distance between Sydney and the Falklands, it would have been just about as difficult for us to get a force there quickly as the UK found it was.
It's a shame that the younger generations think that wars only happen in the Middle East. There is the potential for despots to pop up almost anywhere in the world.
Summing up, I reckon the worst of the whole situation back then, before the shooting started, was how the US tried to take an 'each-way bet' on the outcome. The so-called, world's policeman, was decidedly reluctant to jump in with the UK and rattle their military might. Sure, they didn't try to stop Britain, apart from some half-hearted diplomatic double-talk, but they didn't say a word that might have made the Argentines back off. The sudden presence of a US Carrier Task Force in the region would have had a devastating effect on how the Argentine military junta played out its strategy. They had all those weeks to deter Argentina from their invasion while the UK fleet was making its way south. President Reagan wasn't the most 'switched on' leader of the US, yet he knew Maggie Thatcher personally enough to know she wasn't the bluffing type. Of course, I detested the loss of life, any military person would. Still, Argentina rolled the dice and lost the game. It's a pity that the writer(s) of videos like this are so out of touch with the real history of that unfortunate, and for a time, avoidable war. Cheers, BH
@@BillHalliwell Well, I'm honoured that a military man agrees, since apart from getting as high as Corporal in the Air Training Corps in High School days I've never served, so am purely a keyboard warrior and armchair historian. I did not know that "since the Falklands war no more land grabs have occurred south of the Equator" but that's a very major effect! You say "I reckon you probably lived through those times as I did" which is true, though I was in my mid-teens watching it on TV. "It's a pity that the writer(s) of videos like this are so out of touch with the real history" is true- it's been written from a mood of pure 21st century smug, as if the Falklands and its British citizens and meeting fire with fire when nations are attacked is just what dumb old people did. I've subscribed to your channel where you have some interesting playlists 👍
@@videowilliams G'day, thank you for your kind words. I am blown away by your phrase, "...a mood of pure 21st Century smug," I love a well-turned phrase! You're 'an armchair historian' who should write more! In just seven words you've encapsulated the entire problem with the younger generation's problem grasping history and many other topics. I've worked most of my life, after the Air Force, as a writer and former journalist trying to stress the importance of history's bungled catastrophes and to give historical credit where it is due.
One of my late, great mates on The Age, Ross Warneke, once said to me in The Age canteen, "The great thing about newspapers, Bill, is that they are historical documents that are only 24 hours old." That was so true, when Ross said that to me, many years ago, when The Age was Australia's great broadsheet of record. Heaven knows what it is now. Ross and my other good, late mate, Bob Millington would be deeply disappointed in our beloved 'Age' these days, as I am.
Bob and I had a crack at re-starting the old 'Parade' history magazine from the 40s and 50s, the name was taken so we called our magazine 'Pageant': Australia's History Magazine'. We toiled on it in my front room on two, old 386 PCs and a purloined copy of a layout program. We got a great reader response after two editions and our mate from CUB even kicked in with full back page ads, but the writing was on the wall.
The very machines which produced our magazine, like the computer system at The Age, would be our undoing. Our reader demographic was decidedly older and we just didn't have enough of them to cover the obscene amount the printers and distributors wanted for every edition. We had to make the hardest decision of our lives to kill 'Pageant' before we lost our houses on it. I believe if we had it to do all over, we'd probably be doing a RUclips channel or some kind of Blog thingy.
Thank you so much for your subscription to my 'Channel' as it is. Don't hold your breath waiting for me to produce videos, I wouldn't have a clue how to upload one and I wouldn't dare inflict my ugly mug on computer screens all over the world.
I've always loved doing radio though; I've done it off and on for nearly 40 years, mostly on the ABC in, Melbourne and Hobart, as a volunteer broadcaster (or 'Content Provider' in 'smug' old, New Age ABC staff manual-speak, I kid you not!) of film reviews and criticisms. Why? Well not for the money. I've got exactly one cab voucher and a free ABC biodegradable shopping bag for my labours. Here again, history was my motivation. I started on The Age as a part-time replacement for their Green Guide 'Films on TV' columnist. I had my second book published in 1985. It was a history of Australian movies, 'The Filmgoers’ Guide to Australian Films'. (So Incredibly out of print by Angus & Robertson.)
A short, somewhat cruel review of my book had me complaining to the Green Guide's editor. He must have felt sorry, or guilty, for me so he asked me to lunch. At the end of the lunch, I had the job doing the Green Guide gig. That led me to a full-time job as the oldest 'cadet' in the, then, 120-odd years of The Age. The cadet shorthand classes clashed with the journos' liquid lunch time at the Golden Age hotel, so I flunked my cadetship. I quietly became a 'Graded Journalist' thanks to the kindness of another late, great Journalist/Editor, Mr Creighton Burns. A real gentleman.
I better stop now before I have a publishable manuscript. Forgive me, I'm having trouble sleeping these nights.
Thanks again for your kindness. Cheers, BH
This was a slim win for the British handed on a platter by Argentine leadership. From a military point of view had Argentine resources been put to work effective and efficiently retaking the islands would have been next to impossible
when i was in the Navy my P.O. told me a story of when they were travelling down to the Falklands they were on high alert all the way and sonar detected 2 ' objects' nearby , action stations were sounded and they , basically, blew two whales out of the ocean , by the time they arrived the war was over
Simon,please do a video about the original world trade center that was destroyed on 9/11/2001
That's probably a little touch and go for a topic, highly controversial subject matter considering the multiple theories about what brought it down, especially coming from a foreign info channel, pretty sure the rest of the world knows the U.S. govt was responsible, and not what the U.S. govt claims happened
That was hardly a mega project, more the result of CIA trained Osama being frustrated with his former employer lol
@@MaxiTB I think the request is about the design and building of the original World Trade Center and the famed Twin Towers, not their destruction.
I think there are more important skyscrapers but obviously those two had a quite interesting ending...if we wanna call it that. I'm watching that video, sure. Has to include Building 7 though ;)
You're right, but the destruction of them is kinda hard not to talk about.
A little known fact is that the Australian Jon Saunders was passing the Falkland islands on his solo, non stop and unassisted double circumnavigation of the globe as the war was underway on the Falkland islands
Wow I didn't know that, I bet he put the pedal to the metal going past there
My old man slept through the bombing while the rest of Stanley hid.
John is your dad Bobby short?
@@taffwylam6238 no, but he is my cousin.
@@MumblingNoob ahh ok, I was based down at mare harbour so shared quite a few beers with Bobby and lyndsay
I have read about this mission years ago sometime back in the 90's. Some key points as to why the missions were flown and what the missions accomplished have been overlooked and I dont ever recall the mission being called Black Buck, However that is not so important. The Argentinian Navy were flying a little known Naval Fighter called the Super Entetarde and it could carry the Exocet Anti Ship missile and were flying that plane out of that airport. I believe its when the HMS Sheffield was hit with an Exocet that it was decided to attack that airport on the mainland of Argentina... After the Vulcan bomb runs that did take out that runway the Exocet missile attacks stopped and the Argentinians pulled the Super Entetardes out of that airport
could we get a video on the Avro Vulcan itself?
Or even all 3 v bombers from the program
Victor Vulcan and Valeant
As a private light plane pilot in the US I am fascinated by the thought of being strapped in the cramped cockpit for 16 hours in a plane older than I was.
Why - never heard of the B-52?
Can you do a vid on the RN Buccaneers long range run to do a show of force over Honduras
KC-135 and B-52 fathers, sons, and grandsons all agree, this was quite an effort. Toads and BUFFs will outlive ALL of us!
I remember when this happened. I also remember when the Sheffield was sunk.
Love the photos of the Victors refueling US Navy A-6s.
Woah... I've never watched a video with 16 views on it... must have got here early.