Sea Harrier over the Falklands

Cassell Military

By: Sharkey Ward

Narrated by: Sharkey Ward

Length: 16 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

Sharkey Ward commanded 801 Naval Air Squadron, HMS Invincible, during the Falklands war of April to June 1982 and was senior Sea Harrier adviser to the Command on the tactics, direction and progress of the air war. He flew over 60 war missions, achieved three air to air kills, and took part in or witnessed a total of 10 kills; he was also the leading night pilot and was decorated with the Distinguished Service Cross for gallantry.

Those are the bare facts though they do no sort of justice to this remarkable and outspoken book nor to its author. For what after all could 20 Sea Harriers operating from a flight deck bucketing about in the South Atlantic do against more than 200 Argentine military aircraft flown by pilots who, as the raids against British shipping proved, displayed enormous skill and gallantry? The world knows the answer now, as it knows the debt owed to the author and his fellow flyers. What is puzzling therefore is this book's truthful depiction of the attitudes of some of the senior non-flying naval officers and of the RAF towards the men and indeed the machines that made possible the victory in the Falklands.

This extraordinary firsthand account charts in clear and forthright detail the naval pilots' journey to the South Atlantic and how they took on an triumphantly conquered the challenges they faced. It is a dramatic story leavened with brilliant accounts of air to air fighting and of life in a squadron at sea and on a war footing. But it is also a tale of inter-service rivalry, bureaucratic interference, and the less-than-generous attitudes of a number of senior commanders who should have known better. Indeed, some of them might even have lost the campaign through a lack of understanding of air warfare - particularly if all the instructions had been followed to the letter and without question. The author puts the record straight - no one interested in the Falklands or in aircraft and air combat as a whole can afford to miss this marvelous book.

©1992 Commander N D MacCartan-Ward DSC AFC RN (P)2020 Commander Nigel MacCartan-Ward DSC AFC

Great Story but painful recording..

The author recorded the reading in his home in tropical Granada.. During the entire recording the sound of tropical birds, dogs in the background and bells and ringers are going off. The story itself is great. The author is an arrogant bastard but he's a fighter pilot so that's par for the course. Its worth putting up with the trouble because the story is interesting.

Excellent accounting of the Falklands campaign.

This is the truth about the Fleet Air Arm and their wholesale contribution to the fleet protection in and around the TEZ. It also fleshes out why the conflict wasn’t quite as one sided as it should have been and points a glaring finger at the Admiralty. All while laying the ground work for his next book about why and how the Fleet Air Arm was shafted and it’s implications for British military power.

In short, good action, human story, very interesting politics. Sharks is the man and reads this himself. In short if you’re interested in this type of stuff you’ll ignore the occasional dog barking.

Dogs barking?

It’s a good story. A very poor decision by the author to insist on narrating the story himself, seemingly in his basement as dogs bark and other noises create distraction from this story.

Good book and narrator, but poor recording

The book is good and the narrator is good as well. However the recording is made in an unsuitable environment where one continually hears bird song, dogs barking, people going about their day, mouse clicks and computer beeps. It really breaks the immersion. This is a careless defect on an otherwise good product.

Play at 1.2 speed! A great read

Audio issues aside and his slow very slow reading (this set at speed at least 1.2x), engrossing no holds barred story.

Honest stick and rudder opinion

Fantastic overview of the intricacies of the development and application of a historical icon in fighter aviation.
The Sea Harrier exceeded expectations when thrown into the deep end in spite of major efforts to get rid of it.
Any military pilot or war historian will love the technical expertise of Mr Sea Harrier's explanations and frustration with people making the wrong decisions in a war scenario. So often in war are missions tasked by higher authority without listening to the experts who have to risk their lives in flying those missions.
The only major drawback of the audiobook is the recording quality. Since the author is the narrator, the correct pronunciations of all the technical terms are appreciated, but it sounds like he made the recording at home. Constantly dogs are barking in the background or vehicles drive by with the ever annoying sound of switching some sort of gadget. The nearby cell phone's message notifications are also out of character. If you can look past all that the book is a very, very good listen and compels the listener to get immersed in the Falklands conflict all over again. Well done.