This intriguing book takes you to war in the cockpit of a fighter aircraft. It is more than an authoritative, first-hand and detailed account of the air war in the Falklands, 1982. Indeed, it is a real life and very exciting adventure story in which the author calls a spade a spade; revealing both the successes and the failures of the British air campaign. Major-General Julian Thompson CB OBE Royal Marines, Brigadier commanding 3 Commando Brigade, Falklands 1982: Sharkey Ward's book will come as a revelation to anyone who thinks that a fighter pilot's prelude to battle is a matter of kicking the tyres, lighting the fires and heading for the wide blue yonder. Painstaking preparation of his squadron, superlative personal flying skills and a determination to engage the enemy more closely made Sharkey Ward a fighter leader in the mould of Bader, Johnson, Ball and others in the past. To those of us who day after day watched the air attacks on the ships in San Carlos, the best news was the number of Argentine aircraft splashed after each raid. As the Sea Harriers whittled down the enemy, so our admiration for the Fleet Air Arm increased. Without them we would not have won. Book Cover Illustration: The Sea Harriersover the Falklands, 1982. They were christened The Black Death (La Muerte Negra) by the Argentine media during the war.
This intriguing book takes you to war in the cockpit of a fighter aircraft. It is more than an authoritative, first-hand and detailed account of the air war in the Falklands, 1982. Indeed, it is a real life and very exciting adventure story in which the author calls a spade a spade; revealing both the successes and the failures of the British air campaign. Major-General Julian Thompson CB OBE Royal Marines, Brigadier commanding 3 Commando Brigade, Falklands 1982: Sharkey Ward's book will come as a revelation to anyone who thinks that a fighter pilot's prelude to battle is a matter of kicking the tyres, lighting the fires and heading for the wide blue yonder. Painstaking preparation of his squadron, superlative personal flying skills and a determination to engage the enemy more closely made Sharkey Ward a fighter leader in the mould of Bader, Johnson, Ball and others in the past. To those of us who day after day watched the air attacks on the ships in San Carlos, the best news was the number of Argentine aircraft splashed after each raid. As the Sea Harriers whittled down the enemy, so our admiration for the Fleet Air Arm increased. Without them we would not have won. Book Cover Illustration: The Sea Harriersover the Falklands, 1982. They were christened The Black Death (La Muerte Negra) by the Argentine media during the war.