The Band That Went to War by Brian Short

Author:Brian Short
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY / Military / Wars & Conflicts (Others)
Publisher: Pen & Sword Military
Published: 2021-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

A Sea King hovers just above me as another underslung load of ammunition is attached.

Helicopter support was so important that peacetime flying restrictions were lifted.

After Lieutenant Crippa’s flying visit, we knew the element of surprise was truly lost and we could expect air attacks; we did not have long to wait. The first few attacks came in several waves close together, so there was not always time to operate the three-tier warning system. Sometimes we got a yellow warning followed by red, other times there was a shouted red or just ‘TAKE COVER’ before a bang announced a bomb dropped somewhere or an aircraft being downed. The SNO’s voice never wavered during his commentary, but there was added excitement when an enemy aircraft was hit and a definite change of tone when he witnessed bombs hitting ships or near misses. Throughout the air attacks his voice was reassuring, especially so to those crewmen stuck below decks in engine rooms and the medical personnel standing by for casualties. At the peak of the attacks his commentary also relayed the outgoing missiles, guns and GPMG fire from all the ships, adding a surreal soundtrack to his voiceover.

Among all that noise there was an ominous loud bang that you could feel through the superstructure of the ship. This was the first bomb dropped against a ship in San Carlos and the resulting shock wave travelling through the water had reached us. Captain Burne would have been quite exposed high on the Canberra’s bridge wings, but he stayed on the PA and gave us a running account of this first attack as it happened. In a post-war interview, he openly admitted that he thought Canberra would almost certainly be attacked and probably sunk. He also said that if we had been sunk, it would have been better to have been hit in San Carlos, as due to the depth of water some of the ship’s superstructure would still be above the water for survivors. In the event, it seems that Argentine aircraft changed their plans and were briefed to attack Canberra but it was too late as we had moved anchorage and HMS Ardent in our previous position was struck instead. One of the two Skyhawks actually hit the top of Ardent’s funnel, and the other Skyhawk was splashed by a Sea Harrier before getting home. This may have been the reason the Argentines made their first claim of hitting Canberra and for the ‘Canberra in Flames’ false newspaper headline.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.