12 NAVY NEWS, JUNE 2011 No.12 Dash and carry


LIFTING off from the flight deck of flagship HMS Albion, a Jungly Sea King of 845 Naval Air Squadron conducts training


for the front-line squadron which began 2011 in the snow of northern Norway. Admittedly


members of the Yeovilton squadron headed to the Arctic Circle – the other half are heavily committed in the skies of Afghanistan. Indeed, getting to sea with one of


only the UK-based


off the coast of Cyprus. It’s a welcome change of temperature


as the first anti-submarine helicopter


squadron in the Fleet Air Arm. The squadron was disbanded again in


1959 before reforming in 1962 as the first commando helicopter squadron which saw immediate action in the jungles of Brunei and Borneo,


establishing the


Britain’s trio of assault ships – Albion, Bulwark and Ocean – has been something of a novelty this past decade for 845 and its sister front-line squadron, 846. First Iraq and, more recently, Helmand


have demanded the efforts of man and machine in support of the Allied mission on the ground – and it continues to do so now, with 845 and 846 both aiding 3 Commando Brigade. But to maintain the Royals’ amphibious expeditionary capability, the Junglies need to go to sea – hence four 845 Sea Kings are heading east with Albion, Ocean and the rest of the Cougar 11 task group in the Mediterranean (see the centre pages)... ...which is where 845 came into its own as a troop-carrying helicopter squadron half a century ago. It demonstrated the versatility of the


relatively-new aerial weapon with the ‘vertical assault’ on the Suez Canal during the 1956 crisis. Indeed, apart from two years flying


torpedo bombers in the second half of World War 2, 845 has been a cutting-edge helicopter formation for nearly 60 years. The squadron was originally formed in


‘jungly’ nickname which persists today. 845 spent much of the 1970s and early ’80s supporting the security and peacekeeping mission in Northern Ireland, but its helicopters were also sent to the South Atlantic in 1982 to liberate the Falklands. Another invasion half a world away saw the squadron earn its next battle honour during the international effort to drive Saddam Hussein’s forces out of Kuwait. From the end of 1992 until 2005, 845 maintained a permanent presence in the former Yugoslavia supporting UN/NATO peacekeeping operations; the squadron became the longest-serving unit in theatre. In 2003 the squadron returned to the


February 1943 flying Grumman Avenger torpedo bombers, seeing extensive action in the Far East in 1944 and 1945. Disbanded at the war’s end, 845 reappeared in 1955 with Sikorsky S55s and, from 1957, Westland Whirlwinds,


Gulf, this time during the campaign to oust Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq. As at Suez, it led the way with a ‘vertical assault’ to seize the vital Al Faw peninsula, home to key oil infrastructure – and the gateway to Basra and southern Iraq. For its deeds there in March and April 2003, 845 earned its most recent battle honour. Once the dictator had been toppled, the Sea Kings remained in the country for three years supporting stabilisation efforts on the ground. After improvements and upgrades to the Sea King Mk4s – hence the Mk4+ tag, with new rotor blades and tail rotors to cope with the challenging climate and altitude of Afghanistan, plus improved defensive kit to fend off the insurgent threat – and with the mission in Iraq over, 845 was sent to Afghanistan in March 2008.


Its men, women and helicopters have


been committed there continuously ever since.


HEROES OF THE ROYAL NAVY No.85 – Admiral of the Fleet Sir Henry Leach


UNDER the 14in guns of A turret – the barrels bear the tampions featuring the white rose of the House of York – sailors pose for the official naval photographer after dispatching the ‘lucky’ Scharnhorst six days previously. Our dip into the vast photographic archives of the Imperial War Museum takes us to battleship HMS Duke of York and a rather wet Scapa Flow on New Year’s Day 1944. Second from the right on this image is one S/Lt Henry Conyers Leach, in command of A Turret in the famous Battle of the North Cape. It would prove to be the last ‘big gun’ action fought in European waters – but it would not be the defining moment in the then 20-year-old officer’s career. Four decades later and just months from retirement, it seemed as if the now Admiral of the Fleet Sir Henry Leach would end his 45-year naval career as a First Sea Lord who fought in vain to preserve the RN’s expeditionary capability in the face of budget cuts and a Cold War doctrine that focused on submarines and land-based aircraft as foils to a Soviet threat in the North Atlantic. Instead, the threat to Britain realised


was in an entirely


unexpected and – to many – a previously unknown quarter. In April 1982 the military junta which ruled Argentina sought to salvage their crumbling support in an economically strapped country by fulfilling one of their nation’s dearest dreams – the recovery, as they saw it, of the Malvinas, a group of cold, rocky and treeless islands 250 miles off Argentina’s south-east coast. Britain on the other hand called the islands the Falklands after a 17th century Admiralty Commissioner;


and their


sparse population – greatly outnumbered by the sheep they raised – were British with a history of ownership spanning the preceding 200 years. In the wider world the Falkland Islands were unfamiliar to most, with the exception of philatelist


a different country whose word counts for little.” His clarity, confidence and potency


the of his words


seemed designed to chime with Thatcher’s character. She was impressed. She was convinced. Sidelining more doubtful voices, she gave the order, and within hours the greatest military endeavor Britain had undertaken for decades was under way. It was as if Henry Leach’s


entire naval career had prepared him for this moment.


He had served his nation since arriving at Dartmouth as a cadet in 1937. He


was in Singapore in


December 1941, serving in the plotting room when news of the sinking of the Prince of Wales came in. Two days before he had enjoyed a gin sling and a swim with the battleship’s commanding officer: his father, Capt John Leach, who was killed in the disaster.


overnight: the invasion of the islands by the full force of the Argentine military, and the public humiliation of the small Royal Marines garrison, quickly became front-page news and pricked Britain’s pride. For Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s government, already unpopular as a result of stringent economic policies, the invasion was acutely toxic in political terms.


schoolboys who prized the dependency’s attractive postage stamps. That changed


virtually


aggression played into Henry Leach’s hands is self-evident: here, out of the blue, was an act of war against Britain’s sovereignty and people which militarily could only be reversed by use of those expeditionary assets – aircraft carriers, amphibious assault ships and their escorts – which were on the point of being discarded by the reforms under way at the Ministry of Defence.


When at the end of March intelligence was received of the impending invasion the


That the impetuous Argentine


Chief of the Defence Staff, Admiral Sir Terence Lewin, was visiting New Zealand, while his deputy – an RAF officer – was elsewhere. Meanwhile, the then Defence Secretary – John Nott – had received a MOD brief that recovery of the islands by military means would not be practical once the Argentines had invaded – and it was clear that Britain did not have sufficient forces close enough to the islands to prevent occupation.


Admiral Leach did not hesitate. Seizing the moment, he


went to the House of Commons and was eventually ushered into a meeting of senior government figures including the Prime Minister and Mr Nott. According to the admiral’s


own account, he told Margaret Thatcher that recovery of the Falklands was feasible if an amphibious task force with organic air support and of sufficient strength were to be deployed south. He apparently told her: “If we pussyfoot in our actions and do not achieve complete success, in another few months we shall be living in


The young Leach possessed traits in battle for which the Royal Navy is renowned: skill, calm resolve, patience, ruthlessness when required, humility and, in the words of Nelson, “humanity after victory”. Despite this rather jolly gathering of A Turret’s men for the photographer, there was more relief aboard the battleship and above all weariness after an exacting battle in near total darkness and unforgiving seas. Those traits – and the determination to act at the crucial moment – have cemented Henry Leach’s reputation as one of the most beloved leaders in the Royal Navy’s recent history. By many he is still regarded as the ‘saviour of the Navy’. Two decades after his finest hour, a grateful RN showed its gratitude by naming its new headquarters in Portsmouth for him. n THIS photograph (A 21168) – and 9,999,999 others from a century of war and peace – can be viewed or purchased at www.iwmcollections.org. uk, by emailing photos@IWM. org.uk, or by phoning 0207 416 5333.


East Indies ..............1944-45 Burma ........................... 1945 Falkland Islands........... 1982 Kuwait .......................... 1991 Al Faw .......................... 2003


Motto: audio hostem – I hear the enemy Aircraft: Westland Sea King Mk4+ Engines: 2 x Rolls-Royce Gnome 1400-1 Turboshafts Rotor Diameter: 18.9m (62ft) Length: 17.5m (57ft 2in) Speed: 125kts (143mph) Crew: two pilots; one aircrewman Sensors: Defensive Aids Suite; Display Night Vision Goggles Weapons: 1 x 7.62 General Purpose Machine-Gun Payload: Up to 26 Royal Marines or underslung load weighing 2720kg (6,000lbs)


Facts and figures


Battle Honours


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