Any books on Falklands command issues?

[Procopius]

I understand that the Royal Navy's handling of its carriers and in particular the captain of HMS Hermes have come in for some criticism in the memoirs of "Sharkey" Ward (known for his temperance) and the RAF's Jerry Pook. Are there any sources that cover this subject more dispassionately? 

[Bedders]

Professor Sir Laurence Freedman did the official history, in two volumes. Vol 2 of that might be a good place to start.

 

J

[Bozothenutter]

I'd start with the ones you mentioned, as a sort of 'one sided' story., then go from there.

Everybody has a different agenda after all.

[Procopius]

9 hours ago, Bedders said:

Professor Sir Laurence Freedman did the official history, in two volumes. Vol 2 of that might be a good place to start.

 

J

 

Thanks, Bedders! Can you confirm this topic is touched upon? The official histories, even in ebook form, are not cheap, and are a little pricey for a speculative buy.

[Bedders]

Hi PC, I can't be certain it's covered I'm afraid; you're right the full work is a big old thing and won't be cheap. If you can get your hands on a library (remember them?) or Internet-based searchable copy that might be a useful first step. When I had access to a copy I was more interested in the background of the territorial claims (vol 1) and some of the land campaign stuff (vol 2). If I remember correctly there was a decent passage on Goose Green which did get into the weeds a bit, but as I say I don't know if he got into the handling of the carriers. (If there was an issue, it wouldn't be the first time, cf Vian in the Med, which is well documented). Freedman has done other stuff on the Falklands too but I think that's more from a political decision-making perspective.

 

J

[Pete in Lincs]

PC, at the moment I'm reading this one..

The Battle for the Falklands by Max Hastings and Simon Jenkins. 

 

It's very much a documentary style read, full of facts. Up to page 60 was just the political background!

I'll have a look later tonight to see if there's anything carrier wise in there, I imagine there will be.

I'll let you know what I find.

[Procopius]

Just now, Pete in Lincs said:

PC, at the moment I'm reading this one..

The Battle for the Falklands by Max Hastings and Simon Jenkins. 

Hullo Pete, I have that one! It was in fact the very first book I ever read on the conflict, as a wee nipper eons ago. It doesn't really, as I recall it, cover any conflicts.

 

Some updates from my own subsequent research:

 

The second volume of the Official History, which I have acquired from a Very Reputable source, does talk a bit about Captain Middleton (a former Buccaneer pilot and latterly Director Naval Air Warfare before taking command of Hermes), and mentions that Woodward had no air staff or staff officer to speak of, his task group originally being on a NATO ASW exercise when sent south. Consequently, he relied heavily on Middleton, who most everyone seems to agree had what is euphemistically called a "forceful" personality, as well as, at least in one case, some evident scepticism of the RAF's belief it could knock out runways. 

 

David Morgan, famous both for shooting down the most Argentinean aircraft during the war while attached to 800 NAS during the war and for writing (and later publishing) absolutely cringeworthy letters to his mistress, talks a bit about Middleton here as well at about 27:30 of Reel 10, and is critical of his understanding of modern bombing tactics: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80032738

 

Jeremy Black, then captain of HMS Invincible, discusses Middleton's methods versus his own in Reel 1 around 13:00: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80013161

 

Commander G J L Edwards of HMS Broadsword contrasts Middleton and Black in Reel 1 of this interview at about 9:45; he notes Middleton was more aggressively focused, whereas Black was more focused on protecting the ships with an eye towards gaining air superiority; he also suggests Middleton resented that the fleet commander (like Black) was a former submariner: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80013857

 

And Middleton himself was interviewed: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80032610

 

Some more on Middleton was found here:

https://www.pprune.org/military-aviation/631811-harrier-falklands-conundrum.html

https://ops-normal.org/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5392&start=20

[wombat]

Morgan is a regular on PPRUNE - you could do worse than ask there.

[Procopius]

8 minutes ago, wombat said:

Morgan is a regular on PPRUNE - you could do worse than ask there.

I find, unfortunately, that as I grow older and my list of accomplishments in life remains blank, I grow more timid about engaging with those who have achieved almost anything.

[Richard E]

If you are able to find a copy, Ewan Southby-Tailyour's Reasons in Writing - E S-T is the Royal Marines officer who planned the amphibious landings during the campaign.

[Procopius]

3 minutes ago, Richard E said:

If you are able to find a copy, Ewan Southby-Tailyour's Reasons in Writing - E S-T is the Royal Marines officer who planned the amphibious landings during the campaign.

 

Remarkably, it's quite cheap for US Kindle at the moment.

[Greg B]

9 hours ago, Richard E said:

If you are able to find a copy, Ewan Southby-Tailyour's Reasons in Writing - E S-T is the Royal Marines officer who planned the amphibious landings during the campaign.

Interesting character but not a popular bloke in the RM. My old man was 1 RSRM in the Falklands and is not particularly enthusiastic about him. This was highlighted when I bought the book on first printing and he saw it on my bookshelf. 

[Procopius]

7 hours ago, Greg B said:

Interesting character but not a popular bloke in the RM. My old man was 1 RSRM in the Falklands and is not particularly enthusiastic about him. This was highlighted when I bought the book on first printing and he saw it on my bookshelf. 

It's very interesting how the small size -- comparatively -- of the force sent to the Falklands magnified rather than minimised the personality factor in warfare, which I suppose ought to have been obvious to me from the outset. As a come-as-you-are war, it ensured that virtually everyone knew each other from prior service.

[Troffa]

I would recommend the two books on the conflict by historian Martin Middlebrook, "The Falklands War" (First published in 1985 as "Operation Corporate: The Falklands War") and "Argentine fight for the Falklands" published much later. Be careful, as you may then find yourself down a Middlebrook rabbit hole which included books on The Somme and the Allied Bomber offensive of the Second World War.

Both of the Middlebrook titles are excellent but are general overviews of the conflict and may not have exactly what you are looking for.

Edit: If you can get your hands on a copy of "Falklands: The Air War" by Rodney A. Burden (amongst others) that would probably be what you are after, but it's long out of print and hard to get hold of. 

If you fancy a rather different, yet fascinating read, try "Razors Edge-The unofficial history of the Falklands War" by former British Intelligence Officer Hugh Bicheno. I'd read that last if I were you 🙂 

 

Happy reading!

 

 

[Procopius]

1 minute ago, Troffa said:

Be careful, as you may then find yourself down a Middlebrook rabbit hole which included books on The Somme and the Allied Bomber offensive of the Second World War.

 

 

Fortunately for me, I own and have read all of the latter!

[AliGauld]

Hi there,

It's not a book but there is a podcast series called "Battlefield" whose first series is on the Falklands Conflict.

One of the presenters was a young reporter with the fleet at the time and they do go into the tactics and behaviour of the carriers during the series.

Not too deeply though.

I enjoyed it and it's worth a listen.

 

Hope that helps,

 

Cheers,

Alistair

[TheBaron]

Edward, there are some interesting perspectives on the institutional nature of the RN in Finlan's book that you might find of interest:

It's a while since I read it but from memory it acts as a valuable counterweight to the more orthodox, material kinds of military history. Finlan's good at analyzing how internal cultures produce particular kinds of mental bias, which in turn favour specific courses of action (to mixed results). Psychology begets strategy, and so forth...

 

[vangos]

An interesting book that I read recently is the: ''Logistics in the Falklands War: A Case Study in Expeditionary Warfare'' by Kenneth L. Privratsky.

[Greg B]

6 hours ago, Procopius said:

It's very interesting how the small size -- comparatively -- of the force sent to the Falklands magnified rather than minimised the personality factor in warfare, which I suppose ought to have been obvious to me from the outset. As a come-as-you-are war, it ensured that virtually everyone knew each other from prior service.

The British Military is pretty small, and you tend to see the same faces on operations.  

 

As for E S-T, its telling that he was down in the Falklands as the detachment commander in 1978, that would make him a 36 year old Captain which itself tells another tale. Now his contribution to the campaign was his local knowledge, not his military expertise. As my old man said, if it wasn't for the fact that his dad had been the Commandant General of the RM, he would have been out on his ear. 

[wombat]

From memory of reading Ward, Morgan and Pooks, the criticisms were three

1) micromanagement of air strikes (reasonable criticism)

2) refusal to believe the performance that Ward’s squadron were getting from the troublesome radar, leading to more micromanagement (surely this could have been established one way or the other)

3) keeping the carriers too far to the east. Understandable how this would be frustrating, but understandable too that the overriding priorities would be:

a) Do not lose a carrier

b) DO NOT lose a carrier, and

c) DO NOT LOSE A CARRIER