24 NAVY NEWS, JUNE 2009
There the men and women of “The ability of the Fleet Air Arm A
marina Continued from page 23
Another Balbo blob to finish the
the Commando Helicopter Force has always come to the fore. It Mo
rotary wing: more Yeovilton fliers,
paused front-line operations has – and will continue to have Br
four Jungly Sea Kings from 845,
briefly to reflect on their – an illustrious history and that pil
846 and 848 NAS, and a solitary
achievements and those by their goes for the pilots, observers, na
Lynx Mk7 from their Commando
predecessors, before cutting a engineers and everyone who gets
Helicopter Force comrades in 847
cake in their hangar at Kandahar. us in the air.” ge
NAS.
“Men and women of the Few aboard Illustrious needed the
At 12pm precisely they were
Fleet Air Arm continue to serve to be reminded of the sacrifices, the
overhead, all but drowning out
their country with distinction, not least veterans of some of the
the commentary of Illustrious’
continue the finest traditions of finest feats not merely in Fleet Air tha
Commander Air, Cdr Mark
their forebears, demonstrating Arm history, but British history. on
Deller, leaving just a few choice
their ‘can do’ ethos on a daily But eavesdropping on ob
soundbites in the audience’s
basis in this most demanding interviews naval veterans gave gu
ears.
environment,” Col John McCardle to the general media, it was quite pe
A mixiblob of helicopters...
RM – former CO of CHF, now in clear that words such as ‘Taranto’, me
Everyone loves a Lynx... Merlin
charge of all British helicopters ‘Channel Dash’, ‘Bismarck chase’ ma
– the next best thing to a
in Afghanistan – told the aviators – deeds writ as large in Fleet wit
Playstation... (Or perhaps rather
and ground crew. Air Arm history as the Battle of wo
better when it comes to hunting
Afghanistan is far from the Britain or Dambusters raid in RAF lev
submarines...)
Fleet Air Arm’s current front-line annals – meant little, if anything to
● Honour the fallen... (Above) The Guard of Honour outside St Paul’s Cathedral for the memorial service
and (below) the head of the Fleet Air Arm Rear Admiral Simon Charlier, Commander-in-Chief Fleet And then they were gone,
service... those posing the questions. an
Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope, the Duke of York and HMS Illustrious’ CO Capt Ben Key salute the 6,749 jinking above the meandering
A Merlin of 829 NAS safeguards The stories, if you can glibly Lt
naval aviators who have made the ultimate sacrifi ce course of the capital’s great artery
the oil platforms of Iraq from HMS call them that, of John Moffat’s air
before vanishing once more into
Richmond, while the ‘baggers’ of crippling of the Bismarck, or su
the gloom somewhere over the
857 NAS provide airborne security Edgar Lee’s forlorn efforts to eg
centre.
for the Taurus force across the halt Hitler’s fleet as far superior
Two minutes later, four
Indian Ocean. enemy aircraft swarmed around us
Jetstreams of 750 NAS droned
On the other side of the world, his Swordfish, still have the power bu
overhead before, bang on 12.03
the Lynx crew of 815 NAS were to impress and move after more ha
as planned, Hawks from the
enjoying a brief rest with HMS than six decades.
Standards Flight at Yeovilton
Manchester in Rio, while their “A battleship at 1,500 yards
It
brought up the rear. RN Hawks,
squadron comrades were flying with 500 guns firing at you looks
rem
in RN blue that is. “Don’t confuse
from HMS St Albans in the Med bloody frightening,” said Lt Cdr
the
them with other Hawks you might
and HMS Cornwall in home Lee, today the last Fleet Air Arm
have seen over London,” Cdr
waters. survivor of the Channel Dash
Deller advised his audience.
Such commitments are typical,
(there were only five in 1942...).
Now we know you’re going to
routine dare we say. But never
Yet to focus on Taranto, or the
say: “What, no Harriers?”
too routine.
Channel Dash, is to overlook the
the
What, no Harriers?
Just one short of 6,750 people
sacrifices made on a daily basis in
no
No, no Harriers. It is the iconic
in the Fleet Air Arm and its Great
training, on exercises, in battle.
in
naval aircraft of the past three
War predecessor, the Royal
“Of my original 825 Squadron
decades, to be sure.
Naval Air Service, have made
comrades, just four survived the
pu
Icon or not, it cannot fly over
the ultimate sacrifice in war and
war,” Lt Cdr Lee said starkly.
tak
London for safety reasons (it
peace.
“‘Good luck’ sums up my time
ex
possesses a single – admittedly
“Aviation is a challenging
as a flier. Providing you survived,
A
very powerful – engine). There
business,” the Duke of York –
you made the best friends in your
ma
was at least one jump jet parked
Commodore in Chief of the Fleet
life and enjoyed the greatest
on Illustrious’ flight deck, lest we
Air Arm – assured guests aboard
comradeship.”
fou
he
forget the fabled aircraft.
Illustrious. his
There were not many naval
“It is an extremely challenging Fa
aircraft in the skies of London –
business at sea, so that is why I
25 in all, one eighth of the Fleet
can say that naval aviators have
Air Arm’s strength.
given incredible service.
There were not many naval
aircraft in the skies of London
because most were in foreign
skies: on the day of its birthday,
four fifths of the Fleet Air Arm’s
front-line squadrons were
deployed overseas.
“While we celebrate today, it is
business as usual for the Royal
Navy around the world, as much
inland as at sea, especially in
Afghanistan,” said Commander-
in-Chief Fleet Admiral Sir Mark
Stanhope.
“The Fleet Air Arm has never
been in greater demand. It proves
its utility, its versatility and its
consistent ability to get the job
done.”
To echo those sentiments, half
a world away 820 NAS could be
found on its own stomping ground
of Sembawang in Singapore,
visiting with HMS Bulwark and
RFA Wave Ruler as part of the
Taurus task group.
Only that week, the Lynx of
847 NAS returned to Yeovilton
from Afghanistan. Their Sea King
comrades of 845 and 846 NAS
remain committed on a daily
basis in the skies of Helmand and
● Prince Charles chats (above) with actress Kristin Scott Thomas – daughter of a Fleet Air Arm aviator Kandahar.
– and (below) with Henry Allingham, Britain’s oldest airman and our last living link with the Royal Naval
Air Service
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