Vulcan 607

A very detailed military history of the first British air raid on the Falkland Islands runway held by Argentina in 1982. White explains how an old Vulcan nuclear bomber was repurposed to drop conventional bombs again, and how it launched with a complicated air-to-air refueling plan from Ascension Island. White contacted many of the people involved. (Yet it is very biased toward the British side, with little or no Argentine perspective.) I found the details fascinating, and the story suspenseful.

> without BLACK BUCK, the war would have been harder to win. In the event, one bomber was enough. And that bomber, the magnificent delta-winged Avro Vulcan, just months before it was destined for the scrapheap, entered the Guinness Book of Records for having flown, at nearly 8,000 miles, 'the longest-range attack in air history'

> He wanted to create doubt in the minds of the junta about British intent and capability. Were the mainland bases under threat? Was Buenos Aires at risk? That doubt saw the immediate redeployment of Argentina's entire Mirage fighter force to the north of the country, out of range of the Falklands, to defend targets that played no part in British plans. From this moment on, the tiny force of Royal Navy Sea Harrier air defence fighters aboard the two carriers, on which British hopes were pinned, had the odds dramatically cut in their favour … But there was a third, unexpected, consequence of the raid, and one that's never really been properly appreciated. The 1 May attack on Stanley airfield was, believed Admiral Lombardo, the Argentine Commander of Combined Operations, to be the prelude to a full-scale amphibious landing by the British. As a consequence, Admiral Allara, Commander of the Argentine Navy, was ordered to launch an immediate offensive against the British task force. It was a disastrous decision. … The morality and legality of the decision to attack the Belgrano have been hotly debated ever since, but in military terms it was decisive: the entire Argentine Navy, which simply had no answer to the threat posed by the British hunter-killer submarines, retreated to Argentine territorial waters and played no further part in the war. As a direct consequence of decisions provoked by the raid on Stanley airfield, the Argentinians lost the use of both their air defence fighters and their Navy. ( )

Reads like a thriller. But is a true story ( )

I saw the Vulcan fly at the Cleveland Air Show in 1980. I will be forever impressed by the planes presence; the rest of the air show paled in comparison. This is a remarkable book about a mission that had so many opportunities to fail, but still succeeded. ( )

An amazing story of triumph over incredible adversity. A tale of courage and endurance, driven by an act of aggression which saw British soil invaded for the first time since the Second World War. [a:Rowland White|372663|Rowland White|http://www.goodreads.com/assets/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66-251a730d696018971ef4a443cdeaae05.jpg] writes in a superb style, charting not only the superhuman efforts to get ageing RAF Vulcans ready for their longest, most daring mission ever, but the events that were taking place in the background, in locations from Britain to Argentina. The tale is spellbinding. The fact that it is a true story makes it all the more astounding. If you want a thrilling read, this is it! Rowland White writes about his subject so well that this must surely become a classic, and will surely enthrall all readers, not just those with an interest in military history. ( )

Painfully detailed, with that I mena repeated details no different and new info that adds to the story.

I, for one, don't need a description of the pulling of every lever, in every plane at take off for every mission be it the final one or just one training exercise. Some goes for every refueling, yes they were a dangerous affair but after going through the mechanics for a couple of them it gets old, and boring. ( )