Page 116 - Demo
P. 116


                                    116Sqn Ldr Martin Withers. I will be very brief, because Sir John said justabout everything that needed to be said in his presentation. I would,however, like to be sure that everyone does get one message. We did hitthe runway with that bomb! I have had that confirmed, both by the RoyalEngineers who repaired the hole, and by the pilots of Phantoms who hitthe lip of the repaired crater with their nosewheel on take-off! Therereally is no doubt that we hit the runway.I don%u2019t really have anything else to add, apart, perhaps, from sayingthat, for all of us V-bomber types, Operation BLACK BUCK wassomething totally unexpected. We were prepared only for a nuclearexchange with Russia, which actually meant that we had led a verysheltered existence within an air force which wasn%u2019t used to going towar. We had, therefore, to adapt very quickly. We were just like so manyof the other people that you have heard from today. It was a considerableculture shock and we all had to learn fast, but we did, and I think that wedid it very effectively. (Applause)Air Cdre Max Bacon. I would like to expand a little on Sir Freddie%u2019squestion about retaining the flexibility to delegate authority. What weWhile the stick delivered by the first BLACK BUCK sortie resulted in anovershoot, there is no doubt that the first bomb did hit, and crater, therunway.
                                
   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120