Falklands40: The Black Buck Raids

Falklands40: The Black Buck Raids

The Falkland Islands lie 8000 miles from Britain making the Falklands War a particularly tricky one to fight; it required some seriously innovative thinking. No story from the Falklands better tells the story of that innovation than Operation Blackbuck which ran from the 30th of April 1982 to the end of the war. British bombers flew 4000 miles from the Southern Atlantic base at Ascension Island to the Falklands to destroy the Argentine runaway at Port Stanley. But there was a huge hurdle; Vulcan bombers couldn't manage that distance on one tank of fuel. Thousands of feet above the Atlantic in complete radio silence, the RAF crews had to engage in mid-flight refuelling, a particularly delicate dangerous process in which one aircraft feeds fuel to another while maintaining the exact same high speed, altitude and bearings without crashing into one another.


Join Dan on a trip to the Midlands Royal Airforce Museum at Cosford where he meets Dr Peter Johnston to tell the story of the Black Buck Raids- the longest bombing mission in history as well as stories of the RAF in the Falklands War from inside the famous Bravo November Chinook helicopter.


You can visit RAF Cosford. Find more information here.


Produced by Mariana Des Forges

Mixed and Mastered by Dougal Patmore


If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe today! To download the History Hit app please go to the Android or Apple store.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jaksot(1494)

Falklands40: Return to Mount Tumbledown

Falklands40: Return to Mount Tumbledown

The Battle of Mount Tumbledown was an attack by the British Army and the Royal Marines on the heights overlooking Stanley, the Falkland Islands' capital. One of a number of night battles that took pla...

12 Kesä 202227min

Discovered! A Royal Navy Shipwreck

Discovered! A Royal Navy Shipwreck

The wreck of one of the most famous ships of the 17th century - which sank 340 years ago while carrying the future King of England James Stuart - has been discovered off the coast of Norfolk in the UK...

9 Kesä 202223min

Falklands40: Memories of an Argentine Veteran

Falklands40: Memories of an Argentine Veteran

Please note that this episode contains descriptions of conflict and torture that some may find distressing.When the British arrived on the Falklands Islands in 1982, they battled the Argentines. But o...

8 Kesä 202216min

The Battle of Midway

The Battle of Midway

On the 4th of June 1942, the US Navy took on the might of Japan's Imperial Navy in the battle of Midway. It was America's Trafalgar! At the end of the fighting devastating losses had been inflicted on...

7 Kesä 202249min

D-Day Heroes: The Green Howards

D-Day Heroes: The Green Howards

There was only one Victoria Cross awarded on the 6th June 1944, D-Day. It went to Company Sergeant Major Stanley Hollis of the 6th Battalion of the Green Howards. Alongside the 7th Battalion of the sa...

6 Kesä 202222min

The Veteran Searching for his D-Day Shipwreck

The Veteran Searching for his D-Day Shipwreck

On June 6, 1944, D-Day, Patrick Thomas, a young Royal Navy telegraphist, boarded the craft in Portsmouth. The boat was part of the first wave on Sword Beach, covering communications for land battles w...

5 Kesä 202227min

Elvis Presley: A Turbulent Life

Elvis Presley: A Turbulent Life

A hotly anticipated biopic about the king of Rock'n'Roll will be released in June directed by Baz Luhmann. We've delved back into our archives to bring you this episode with author Sally Hoedel who in...

2 Kesä 202222min

Vasectomy

Vasectomy

What do you think of when you think of birth control? Is it condoms, IUDs, the pill? What about vasectomies?From monkey testicles to possible cancer treatments to ties of honour, over the past 150 yea...

1 Kesä 202251min

Suosittua kategoriassa Historia

olipa-kerran-otsikko
gogin-ja-janin-maailmanhistoria
mayday-fi
rss-ikiuni
huijarit
mystista
konginkangas
tsunami
totuus-vai-salaliitto
rouva-diktaattori
rss-i-dont-like-mondays-2
rss-kirkon-ihmeellisimmat-tarinat
rss-peter-peter
historiaa-suomeksi
rss-subjektiivinen-todistaja
rss-sattuu-sita-suomessakin
sotaa-ja-historiaa-podi
apinan-vuosi
rss-kalmakabinetti
rss-outoja-uutisia-pohjois-suomesta