How Britain’s Sea Harriers stole victory against the odds

‘The world,’ Mrs Thatcher was reported to have said, ‘is full of ships.’ With this comment, unlike in many other things, she lacked a common touch. I do not know what she thought about planes, still less jump jets, but no doubt she would have shared the sentiment of Rowland White’s Harrier 809 about their pilots: brave, selfless individuals who showed daring and ingenuity in overcoming the numerically superior Argentine air force to steal victory against the odds.

White is an aviation enthusiast, knowledgeable about the technical and logistical challenges fighter pilots face and adept at crafting a fast-paced narrative. His previous book, Vulcan 607, recounted the achievements of the V-bomber pilots who bombed the runway at Port Stanley, the Falkland Islands capital, a feat of nerves and engineering made possible by complex precision mid-air refuelling.

Harrier 809 focuses on Britain’s Sea Harriers, a story already told by Lieutenant Commander Nigel ‘Sharkey’ Ward, the commander of 801 Squadron. For Ward, bureaucratic infighting and senior commanders’ ignorance of the Harrier’s capability cost British lives. White’s book is perhaps partly a counterpoint. Ward, it seems, did not always get on with the more measured Lieutenant Commander Tim Gedge, the commander of 809 squadron, the unit around which most of White’s action revolves.

There is a somewhat Boy’s Own perspective of the Falklands War as a miniature Battle of Britain

The narrative is also panoramic. The first two parts of the book chronicle the hasty revival of 809 Naval Air Squadron to bolster the two squadrons already sent: the challenges in securing their place among the Task Force, of creating a leadership team, finding experienced pilots, conducting a small amount of necessary training, procuring equipment and sailing south. All this is told against a somewhat Boy’s Own perspective on the Falklands war as a miniature Battle of Britain.