For Queen and County

It took me a long while to do the research and I wanted to get things right. There's more I would have liked to add though but the story needed to move at times.
China plays a part in the war at a later stage, it should be seen by developments which take place in the third part of the story as I like to leave breadcrumbs. I'll have this story all posted here by the end of the week and get the third up too next week... so by then we'll see China and it's role. This is World War Three after all with many regions of conflict eventually more than just Europe and Korea. 

February 8th 1990
The City, London, Great Britain

Lance Corporal Rose and all of the volunteers serving with 348 HSF Squadron had been recalled from operational deployments elsewhere within the Greater London area back to where they were home-based in The City. Rather than being out of the rain inside their headquarters at the historic Lincoln’s Inn, they were outside fighting a pitched battle in the middle of the financial district that was The City of London.

Threadneedle Street was a war zone this morning.

The road along which the Bank of England and the London Stock Exchange lay, along with other very important elements of beating heart of the money machine which was The City, had been invaded by a mob and was being defended by men such as Rose and his fellow soldiers along with the City of London Police. There were fights everywhere, missiles being thrown, and tear gas swirling in the air. Screams, shouts and chants rang out along with barked orders verbally, over radios and through megaphones. There was chaos everywhere and not just where the mob was either.

Rose’s radio contact with his tactical superior ended with the firm instruction to ‘drive them back’ towards Bishopsgate and Liverpool Street Station beyond. The mob which had been disorganised was starting have some purpose and was pushing back the lines of policemen further along the road in a western direction near to the Stock Exchange Tower: they had to be stopped at all costs and the HSF men here providing Military Aid to the Civil Power were needed to intervene with maximum force. He gathered his men and prepared to have them join the battle raging in the middle of London though there was the briefest of moments where he recalled vividly what he had been told much earlier today.

There had been apparently no danger of matters getting out of control.



At the short briefing which Rose had been too before dawn when the commander of 348 Squadron had spoken to his officers and NCO’s just after dawn, Rose had been told that a planned anti-war march due to take place on the previous Sunday had been cancelled the night before it was to take place. The Government had issued firm instructions that it wasn’t going to take place with Transition to War in-place and the threat to public order (as well as national morale) by campaigners whose patriotism was doubted. Moreover, there had been the very real fear that the supposedly good intentions of those who had arranged for that protest march against the threat of war would see their aims hijacked by anarchist groups and other troublemakers.

When the war had commenced the next day, making that protest a moot point anyway, those behind the march and many of the people identified by the police and security services as having an interest in turning the protest violent had already been detained. Internment measures had seen hundreds upon hundreds of people nationwide locked up before the eve of war and many more joined them in the hours before the Soviets struck the West. Those who were deem to pose a threat to Britain, justly or unjustly, were locked up.

Rose hoped that they were enjoying the Isle of Man or Anglesey or whenever else they were.

However, it appeared that some of those who had escaped detention for a variety of reasons – for example not being at home when the police arrived or not regarded as a threat – had decided that if they couldn’t have their protest march on February 4th they would have several today on the 8th. Communication between those who tried to organise not just an anti-war event but one encompassing anti-capitalism, anti-nuclear weapons and anti-Americanism (anti-everything British in Rose’s view) had been difficult and there had been betrayals of their intentions in places. Word hadn’t reached all of those who were hiding out in squats or who had decided that London wasn’t the place to be in a war that was regarded as possibly going nuclear at any moment too. Nonetheless, there were many people who came to London today meeting at scattered locations in and outside The City itself. They aimed to march upon various places from Whitehall to the American Embassy to Buckingham Palace to the Bank of England so that full attention couldn’t be focused upon just one group of protesters. There were no official event stewards, keynote speakers or permission from the local authorities. Reminders to obey the law and to not let violence take place were made by some of the people who would try to maintain control of the organisation of the marches yet those who were to take part expected violent opposition to meet them from the police and the military as well. Furthermore, there were a lot of angry people who were to turn up and many of them were keen and eager to make their views heard using violent means.


The IC&CY was regarded as an organisation of The City by those who served within it. The signalmen who volunteered with the TA were off on the Continent fighting the war there with the HSF force – even with the non-IC&CY reinforcements added as they were – remaining at home to defend the infrastructure of The City. Officially, 348 Squadron was under the control of the British Army’s London District and had been active all over London yet there was still the feeling that they ‘belonged’ to The City.

Once word had come that protesters intended to march upon The City, 348 Squadron had been rushed back. The City of London Police (a wholly separate organisation to the much larger Metropolitan Police Force) had stated that they needed military assistance as a reserve in case anything went wrong and wanted the HSF soldiers to support them.

Rose wasn’t party to all of the discussions made and the arguments that would have been held, though he was quite sure that there would have been far from polite reminders about the value that The City had for the country made. The London Stock Exchange remained closed and so did the trading firms, the insurance companies and the lawyers officers, yet there was plans for a partial, controlled reopening soon enough. If rioters ran loose within The City causing an orgy of destruction as had been done in urban areas elsewhere within London that then would be under threat. Every day that The City remained closed for business cost the country untold millions and it was in the interests of everyone to see it reopened and not destroyed or burnt out first.



Rose’s view on the protesters before him would have upset those of polite society. He didn’t care that they considered themselves to be discriminated against, led by a government which they hadn’t voted for or with deeply held moral objections to war. These people, many of whom wearing balaclavas who were throwing anything to hand, starting fires and attacking the police here were an enemy. He believed that they should consider themselves lucky that it was his men moving against them here in Britain.

348 Squadron went into action without their rifles but rather with riot gear issued by the police: gas masks, batons and shields.

Coming out of a side street in the shadow of the Natwest Tower and in the middle of a typical February downpour, almost a hundred soldiers moved against the protesters. They walked forwards in unbroken lines as one and into the flank of the main body of those rioters trying to push the police back further down Threadneedle Street. Tear gas had been fired first and the flank positions of the police had opened up to allow the HSF to strike like this. The aim was to cause panic within enemy ranks with the protesters ahead being taken by surprise and abandoning their attacks forward to pull back instead. All of those with 348 Squadron here had been ordered to stick together and keep moving as one solid body under orders rather than stop and deal with those who fell under the weight of their advance.

Rose had an image of Roman armies doing the same here hundreds of years ago…

Everything happened so fast with all of the noise still present and the tear gas swirling around. He kept his eyes upon the soldiers all around him to make sure everyone did as ordered whilst he was among the double lines of soldiers in the rear rank covering gaps where they opened up when they shouldn’t have. All of a sudden they were out on the main road and wheeling to the left under orders and pushing towards Bishopsgate.

Beneath them there were people on the ground who they marched over. Rose first though he walked over anything else but a body. He stopped though, falling out of position, when it occurred to him that maybe he should look back at whatever had been in the road. That was when he saw that he had walked over a prone figure in the middle of Threadneedle Street. A civilian and someone who was certainly no longer alive.

He didn’t move after that.

All around him the rioters were being pushed back and there was still plenty of violence yet he stood in his own island among all of that looking down at the teenager on the ground with her head crushed into the pavement and her blood on his boots.



February 8th 1990
RAF Brüggen, Near Mönchengladbach, North Rhine–Westphalia, West Germany

RAF Brüggen had taken much damage during the conflict so far yet flight operations were still capable of being launched from here along with the necessary ground support for the Goldstars and two other squadrons flying Tornado’s from here: No’s 9 and 14 Squadron’s. There remained talk that Flight Lieutenant Fletcher had heard that there was a chance that a move elsewhere – further south into the Rhineland or back into the Netherlands – might have to occur to a different airbase should the damage become more severe but for now they were staying put. Repairs went on around them at all times and renewed efforts at improving the defences were underway.

He was currently in one of the briefing rooms underground as he thought about the damage done here by enemy attacks and whilst waiting like everyone else he looked up at the ceiling above. The bunker was only just below the surface and a direct hit would bring death and destruction here yet the right weapon would have to be employed to do that. The Scud’s which the Soviets were using were for harassment and while they often got lucky they weren’t going to destroy what was beneath ground. No, instead it would have to be a guided bomb dropped atop the bunker and there wasn’t much chance of that with how he understood the air war was going. Soviet tactical aircraft weren’t able to make coordinated strikes in number this far westwards without taking murderous losses and were operating closer to the frontlines. There had been the recent addition in recent days to NATO air power in West Germany of American national guard fighters – hundreds of them – to add reinforcements to the capability of stopping air strikes over the Rhine and when the Soviets were doing so despite the losses they would incur he had been told that they were focused upon the Rhine bridges as well as the political target of Bonn. Unless something drastically changed, no laser-guided or television-guided bombs were about to come crashing through the ceiling above him.

He was grateful for that.

Where he had seen enemy air power at work had been during his return from the Aller River through late yesterday and earlier today. After being shot down just over NATO controlled territory he and Sullivan had been rescued by West German ground forces who had been trying to hold that river valley. They were coming under air attack themselves and Fletcher had seen a pair of Soviet Sukhoi-25 Frogfoot attack-fighters making a strike against West German armour while he and his navigator had been rescued. Sullivan had been in a bad way with injuries from when that SAM had hit their Tornado added to by the physical stress of the ejection and then when he hit the ground. The two of them had been separated by a field medical team with Sullivan getting immediate medical evacuation and Fletcher being unable to go with him in the back of that ambulance as there was no room for him with a West German tanker also needing to be moved as fast away from the fighting as Sullivan had been. Afterwards he had begun a long journey taking him back into the rear of the 1st Panzer Division then to the British I Corps’ rear in the Hannover area before making a trip across West Germany back to base. He had seen the effects of air attacks in many places at bridges and along the roads and also been delayed coming over the Rhine this morning due to enemy air action there too. Anti-aircraft defences were everywhere and there were NATO fighters in the skies yet still Soviet aircraft would appear and make their attacks.

Once back at RAF Brüggen, he had been informed that Sullivan’s injuries were severe enough to have him now on an aero-medivac flight taking him out of West Germany. News on his condition and where he was would come later but there wasn’t much chance of him making a return to the Goldstars any time soon. To fly again, Fletcher would need a new navigator/bombardier and that came in the form of the man seated beside him now: Pilot Officer Vince Hunt.

Hunt was from the West Country like he was though there were few other things that the two of them had in common. The younger man was new to the Goldstars after only joining late last year and had a reputation as a bit carefree: not something desired by most aircrew to have as a partner in the skies. He was a character all to himself known for practical jokes and banter. Hunt could perform his flight duties to a high standard yet spent too much time playing the fool. Fletcher had always believed that the man had no future and knew that their squadron commander didn’t hold him in high regard. In contrast, Flight Lieutenant Crombie who Hunt flew with had taken to him and defended him to others saying that he had faith in Hunt and in time he would be a valuable addition to the Goldstars in peace and war. War had come and the two of them had flown many missions together with successes and failures like every other pair including Fletcher and Sullivan.

Until yesterday evening that was. Whilst Fletcher was making his way back here, there had been a daring attack at RAF Brüggen made by the enemy. Spetsnaz commandos had gotten close enough to the airbase to launch a strike using small-caliber mortars and sniper fire. Caught out in the open, Crombie had been one of several men killed as they dove to the ground when mortars arrived only to be shot at by snipers firing at any target in sight. The RAF Regiment reaction force had arrived and, despite taking its own losses, had engaged the enemy to halt the attack by killing some of them and driving the rest off. Twelve men had been killed and seven injured by the mortars, sniper fire and the close-in exchange of gunfire when the Rockapes arrived.

The RAF maintained a war reserve of what Fletcher had been told were two hundred plus combat aircraft kept in storage at bases across Britain. There were Tornado’s – the interceptor and bomber versions – as well as Harrier’s, Jaguar’s and Phantom’s. During mobilisation, shadow squadrons had been formed by the RAF using training formations to make combat units. Those stored aircraft weren’t used to make new squadrons though but rather as like-for-like replacements issued to already standing formations within the RAF’s order of battle. They had been taken out of their storage, worked on to bring them up to flight standard and then flown to deployed squadrons to replace the aircraft which had been shot down. The Goldstars had started the war with a dozen Tornado GR1’s with a total of five aircraft lost so far: all to enemy action in the sky, none to flight accidents or attacks whilst on the ground. Ten Tornado’s were now being flown by the squadron after four replacements had been issued from those war reserve stocks (one subsequently shot down it’s first time in action). Along with the aircraft themselves had come aircrews to replace men killed or missing in action. Such replacement personnel were either reservists with flight experience on the Tornado or from staff positions whose flying skills were needed now. As had been the case pre-war there remained more aircrews than there were aircraft so men could be rested while Tornado’s were used several times a day.

Fletcher had wished that he had been partnered with one of those replacement officers rather than Hunt who sat here with him waiting for their briefing.


That briefing was conducted with the professionalism expected though with more haste than usual. Fletcher and those aircrew with the Goldstars along with key operations staff listened as they were told that there was to be changes made again in what 31 Squadron was to do.

The tempo of operations was to be increased and night flying was to return for them. They were to stay on tactical missions during the day but at night return to deep strikes made far into the enemy rear. This was a return to how things had been going until an earlier change had been made and the squadron commander informed them that RAF and USAF long-range bombers based back in the UK were still making their own deep strikes but those weren’t doing enough damage to the enemy. Every effort was needed by all the aircraft capable within NATO’s air strength of hitting the enemy’s supply and communications links as well as follow-on forces moving forwards towards the frontlines. The breakthrough made on the Lüneburg Heath yesterday against the West Germans hadn’t been blunted as effectively as planned and the Soviets were still pushing forward despite the massive NATO counterattack launched on the ground to try to drive them back. He summarised how while one field army had been brought to a crawl coming over the Aller River towards the British troops fighting in the wider Hannover area, a second one had moved up from behind and was charging towards the Weser River. West German panzers had torn into them, but they were still advancing. If they weren’t stopped and managed to get over that river soon enough, then the NORTHAG army group – with its multi-national corps contingents – was going to be smashed apart through the center.

The Goldstars were to fly this evening and tonight. Attacks were to be made to tear into the enemy’s artillery and engineers just behind the frontline along with armour moving into place while later there would come the bomb runs to hit supply columns and command-&-control. Tactical FAC’s and special forces teams would relay instructions as targets of opportunity were to be taken out with high-explosive and cluster bombs when and where they were spotted. As usual, enemy defences were to be expected in number on the ground and in the air though every effort would be made to counter them.

The air strikes by the Goldstars and other NATO aircraft had to get through those and do as much damage to the ability of the Soviets to keep on moving forwards.



February 8th 1990
Bardufoss Airbase, Troms, Norway

This far inside the Arctic Circle it wouldn’t get dark at all for weeks on end during the height of summer. At the end of winter as it was now, the polar night was almost over with but there remained not much of the day when it was bright. Only seven hours of daylight could be counted upon with long periods of twilight and darkness too. For those who lived here they were used to such issues with the lack of light at certain times of year and the lack of darkness at others. For visitors it was often a different matter though and could drive some a little bit crazy as it was all so foreign to them.

Corporal Edwards had been here to northern Norway before on exercise both in summer and winter. To be here at this time of year was something different though and he was struggling to get used to it. He found himself tired a lot as his body clock was interfered with as it was. When out on patrol with the prospect of another fight to come at any moment, the distraction over such an issue was forgotten. However, at times like this when he and the rest of 2 PARA were waiting around in the darkness, it got to him. Others had more on their mind yet the darkness at seemingly all moments was depressing.

Helicopter flights were going on at the minute at Bardufoss Airbase which were unlike those usually conducted during the annual CLOCKWORK exercises here. There were dozens upon dozens of them all making use of facilities offered by the improved security situation and rapid expansion of flight areas. He spotted a few RAF Chinook’s here and some Norwegian military Bell-412’s though there were many other helicopters taken from civilian use: all sorts of various models built in Europe and the United States. These were taking off and landing as they conducted troop lifts and being readied to move equipment internally and with underslung loads. In the dispersal area away from the runaways and flight-ramps where that was occurring, where Edwards and his fellow Para’s were sitting and waiting on the frozen ground, he watched combat aircraft too. There were F-16’s and Harrier’s here. He could see them from the ground inside their shelters due to open doors though hoped that no observation could be made from above of them when they were sitting as targets like that on the ground.

All of these aircraft here, along with the other groups of troops scattered around which he had been able to see better in what little daylight there had been before twilight had come, were all present due to what Edwards knew was the fact that Bardufoss was the only active NATO air facility in the north of Norway. Soviet paratroopers who had failed to capture the place at the beginning of the war had been driven off and beaten away from here yet other places were all still held by the Soviets. Therefore everything had to be concentrated here for the minute. That construction work to expand the place taking part where men and machines dug through frozen ground was necessary because Bardufoss was an island outpost surrounded by hostile forces at occupied sites nearby.

Though he nor any of the other Para’s had been told, Edwards knew that was about to change.

All of these troops and all of the helicopters weren’t being gathered up this evening for no reason at all. The Lieutenant was off at the minute with the company commander in what everyone knew would be a briefing telling that fool about what was going on. There had to be an operation planned for them and the rest of 2 PARA, along with the rest of the 5th Airborne Brigade, to go into action to strike back against the Soviets. He assumed that soon enough he would be told about that and then instructions would come upon when they were to load into whichever helicopters would take them there.


Sergeant Proctor was among the platoon. “Listen up lads, we got some new boys with us. This is Cox and Jennings. Get ‘em both settled in quickly now and make ‘em feel at home.”

As everyone else did, Edwards looked up at the two youngsters standing with Proctor. They wore the uniform of the Parachute Regiment and were both stocky chaps yet had nervous, false smiles. They were clearly only just eighteen years old and had recently arrived in Norway to join up with a combat unit who had fought together beforehand. It wouldn’t be like a first day at a new school for them but rather a baptism of fire when they took part in their first fight. Edwards reckoned that they knew it too because it wouldn’t have been easy to get here and throughout their trip they would have become aware of the situation among those fighting here.

“Edwards,” Proctor turned to him and Edwards stood up, “look after these two for me, will you?”

It wasn’t a request but an order.

“Yes, Sergeant.” He tried to show eagerness.

“Good lad! Right, grub’s up soon too and I want you all to make sure you eat well. Unless I’m wrong we’ll be in a fight soon enough, maybe tonight.”

If Proctor hadn’t had everyone’s attention before, he did now. The talk of going back into action was what everyone had been thinking about whilst they waited here.

“Where are we going, Sergeant?” The question came from Mortimer.

“Don’t worry, when the Lef-tenant comes back he’ll let us all know, Private.”

“We’ll be ready this for the enemy, won’t we, Sergeant? No one will mess up again, will they?”

All eyes remained focused upon Proctor as the Para’s including Edwards waited to see what kind of response such remarks from Mortimer would bring.

Would Proctor blow his top? That implied criticism of what had happened at Sundlia surely couldn’t be something he could allow to stand.

“Shut the fuck up!” Yes, he reacted as Edwards expected. “I want all of you lads to listen to me now.

Cut out all of the talk about that shit, will you? We’ve won where we fought the bad guys and taken down some of their very best men. We lost some of our own too: good men who’ll be missed. Once we go back into battle again we’ll do just as we done before and drive them back to where they come from.

I don’t want to hear anymore from you, Mortimer, nor anyone else too with any smart comments, with your opinions. Remember, you’re all subject to discipline because you are all professional soldiers.”

He turned and walked away with that, to where no one was sure.

Edwards beckoned the two new men over to him and told himself that he would do his best to integrate Cox and Jennings into the platoon. He didn’t know them and they were still outsiders yet when they went back into a fight he wouldn’t want to see either of them unprepared as he and everyone else had been the other day back at Sundlia where, despite what Proctor had said, everyone knew that The Lieutenant had messed up and they’d lost some of their mates there.

No one was going to forget that Proctor’s shouting notwithstanding.



February 8th 1990
The North Atlantic

It had been a day which Lieutenant-Commander Hedges wasn’t likely to forget in a hurry.

One of his pilots with 801 Squadron had claimed a kill against an enemy aircraft just after first light. There had later come another alert with the threat of a massed air strike against HMS Illustrious and her task group which, thankfully, had turned out to be aimed elsewhere. Another lone enemy aircraft had been spotted yet before one of Hedges’ pilots could get there another aircraft had claimed a kill in the most unexpected fashion. News had arrived of the Americans winning a famous sea battle against the Soviet Northern Fleet. Afterwards, just before sunset, the aircraft carrier herself had faced an attempted submarine attack with all the drama that came with that. And, now he was moving into an attack position against a helpless Soviet maritime patrol aircraft ready to make a further kill against the enemy’s naval air forces.

This is what flying and commanding Sea Harrier’s in the middle of a war was all about. There were moments of danger, even terror, yet at the same time the feeling that the contribution he was making to the Allied war effort was truly worth it.



Reynolds had scored that first kill when taking on a reconnaissance version of a Coot in Soviet Air Force colours. That Ilyushin-20M was a converted airliner with antenna for her ELINT systems spread across the airframe. It had been flying low using passive detection systems with a clear aim to secure information on NATO forces around the GIUK Gap. All alone and defenceless, it had been nothing but dead meat when Reynolds had been directed towards it.

Hedges’ subordinate had been cued-in to it by the Spanish frigate SPS Cataluna. That warship had been on its way to link up with the Royal Navy patrolling these waters where its anti-submarine capabilities could be put to use. There was still a strong anti-air weapons system with the frigate though and the advanced air-search radar detected the aircraft at the edge of the range of the missiles which the Cataluna also carried. As the aircraft was heading the other way, the Spanish were denied an engagement of their own yet their shared information over the data-link system brought one of Hedges’ Sea Harrier’s into position to allow Reynolds to get a shot.

He had made a visual confirmation from behind and then fired a Sidewinder at the Coot. An explosion had come where most of the bigger aircraft’s starboard wing was blown off and the Coot tumbled towards the ocean below. Reynolds had reported that no one had bailed out and there was an almighty splash on the surface afterward.

Radar information, plus gun camera footage, had confirmed the kill.


When the threat of a massed missile-bomber attack had come, there had been panic aboard like the last time. Hedges had been up on the flight-deck when the warning came that a Sentry out of Iceland had a flotilla of Soviet aircraft spotted at distance and moving southwards. He had gone to Air Operations – where he was becoming a regular figure – while above him Lieutenant Price (who he had been with as that flier was getting ready to fly) made rapid progress to get airborne and join another 801 Squadron pilot, Murray. Murray was due to soon end his patrol and be relieved by Price, but instead he was sent towards an intercept position with the knowledge that Price would be right behind him.

Again, as before, in preparation for incoming missiles, the Illustrious was readied for action. Her guard-ships closed in around her while the carrier turned to race the other way from the threat axis and self-defence weapons were readied. Powerful jamming systems were switched to stand-by mode and damage control parties moved around aboard the ship. Several helicopters were launched to act as missile decoys (using radar transponders to send out false signals) though others were put into the sky to lessen the risk of fire.

The Soviets weren’t sending those two dozen Badger’s towards the Illustrious though. The bombers made a turn taking them westwards rather than southwest and soon enough it was clear that they were making an attack run towards the American aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. Hedges overheard the information being sent to that warship and the confident replies which came back.

The Eisenhower was the second American carrier to enter the Norwegian Sea and head towards the Soviets positioned off the coast of northern Norway. There had to be anywhere between eighty and a hundred aircraft aboard with many of those capable of intercepting missiles aiming at the carrier. Missile-armed escorts would be with her too and the aircraft coming her way were old Badger’s in not great numbers and not likely to be carried many modern missiles. The Eisenhower would be launching her own fighters into ambush positions and coordinating with F-15’s flying from Iceland. Those attacking aircraft would be survivors of those already lost over the water further east to the Eisenhower’s sister ship the USS Theodore Roosevelt and what they could, and couldn’t do, was known about.

Hedges had understood the confidence expressed by the American Navy there.


Running short of fuel, Murray had returned very soon afterwards and Price had remained airborne after his rush launch. Hedges had watched his friend come into land and known the pressure that the man was under. His tanks were running empty and he needed to put the Sea Harrier down. Landing upon a carrier was an extremely difficult thing to do though. The weather had cleared up and the waters through which the Illustrious moved were relatively calm yet it was still a challenge with little room for error. Murray would have been under immense stress knowing that he was out of fuel and all eyes were upon him. He did a very good job though and put the Sea Harrier down with just one attempt. The deck crew aboard here had done an excellent job of directing him and then raced out to secure the aircraft the moment it was down. Hedges himself had gone out to see his subordinate once it was safe to do so as Murray climbed out of the cockpit and the Illustrious’ deck crew took over control of his aircraft.

In doing so he had missed Price being directed towards a target and then seeing it ‘stolen’ away from him.

Hedges caught up with the event afterwards during another trip to Air Operations and getting an unofficial brief when in that compartment. Coming out of Scotland, a Nimrod MR2 maritime patrol aircraft flying with the RAF on general surveillance tasks north of the Shetland Islands had detected an airborne contact. The Nimrod had radioed first for assistance from RAF Scotland though with Price being airborne and closer than any Tornado F3’s at that moment, he had been sent to intercept the aircraft which the Nimrod had. However, that RAF aircrew didn’t regard themselves to need to be saved as the implication was during their radio conversation with Air Operations here on the Illustrious: they were carrying their own weapons.

The aircraft in question was a Soviet Naval Aviation Tupolev-142M Bear. This maritime reconnaissance aircraft was out all alone like that Coot had been and dead meat in such an environment where NATO aircraft were all over the skies. Whether those aboard the Bear had detected the incoming Nimrod or not was unknown but they didn’t try to flee (that wouldn’t have mattered anyway for Price in his Sea Harrier would have caught them) and perhaps didn’t rate the Nimrod as a threat.

That had been a mistake. Since the Falklands War, RAF Nimrod’s had been prepared to fly wartime missions armed not just with torpedoes, depth charges and anti-ship missiles but with their own air-to-air missiles too. The Nimrod hadn’t gone too close to the Bear less the Soviet aircraft open fire with its tail-mounted guns – formidable weapons if used in the right manner – but close enough to get a visual identification before firing a Sidewinder missile.

When Price had arrived with his Sea Harrier ready to make a kill he had been treated to some good-natured banter over the radio from the Nimrod’s aircrew telling them that the threat was dealt with and he and his fancy fighter wasn’t needed that afternoon.


Following on from that, word had been spread around the Illustrious that the earlier unconfirmed rumours about Americans up in the Norwegian Sea were true and they were officially declaring victory against the surface forces of the Soviet Navy’s Northern Fleet there. They were making a big deal of it propaganda-wise and comparing the victory to those in the Pacific during World War Two in claiming that they had defeated the enemy’s sea power in a one-sided battle which had strategic implications.

How true that was, Hedges didn’t know, yet he didn’t expect an outright lie there. The Americans had sent a carrier and a battleship, each with many escorts and plenty of fire power, charging at the Soviets who were sitting in defensive positions tied to a strategy of maintaining a fleet-in-being. With two of their light aircraft carriers sunk, along with a battlecruiser – as the Americans were claiming – that didn’t seem like a fleet-in-being anymore and instead a fleet-for-the-fishes. Moreover, as he had already known, the Eisenhower was already heading that way as extra support and there were meant to be two more of the big carriers which the Americans had coming across the North Atlantic too. He knew that if some of the Soviets big ships had survived the initial battle and there were inflated claims being made of kills what was left wasn’t going to survive long.

He wished that he had been part of that battle.

Hedges understood that he and his command was needed here with the Illustrious providing air defence for the anti-submarine efforts along the GIUK Gap – a very important duty – yet he still would have liked to have seen some more action. The Sea Harrier could attack ships on the water like it could aircraft in the skies and he had been disappointed at his tasking in the real away from all of the glory.

It was here though where the carrier and the Sea Harrier’s were needed. The warships of the Royal Navy and other vessels in attendance were claiming nine kills of submarines in five days of warfare – maybe inflated, maybe not – and that was damn important. If they weren’t protected then an enemy air strike could wipe them out or submarines could be guided directly at them by circling maritime patrol aircraft: that couldn’t happen for they were stopping the Soviets getting enough submarines out into the North Atlantic proper.

His duty was here.


The Illustrious had come under attack just after sunset. Hedges and his fellow fliers with 801 Squadron had been unable to do anything to help as this time it wasn’t the threat of enemy aircraft with their anti-ship cruise missiles which endangered the carrier but rather a submarine close-in.

He wasn’t party to all of the information at the time nor afterwards either. What he did know was that the frigate acting as a guard-ship for the Illustrious, HMS Active, had been struck first with two torpedoes striking her and breaking that warship in half when her back was broken. The Falklands veteran had structural issues anyway though the violence of the attack with heavyweight torpedoes blowing up only feet below her keel had been the death of her. Alarms had wailed throughout the carrier afterwards and Hedges had forced himself to remember his training when the call came for ‘BRACE’ over the tannoy. He had wanted to find out what was going on with the need to know being almost overwhelming, yet he would only have got in someone’s way… maybe someone racing to help save the carrier. So he had held on to the nearest railing in the passageway he was in with his legs spread and head in between his shoulders as he was meant to.

The Illustrious had started to make a rapid turn in response to that attack upon her escort with her engines suddenly going to full power too – the way he understood it was to create a massive disturbance in the water around her to possibly confuse the seeker in a torpedo – and so he had struggled to hold on. There had come a massive explosion afterwards which he had heard though not really felt. He had at once been certain that while there had been the blast of a torpedo warhead the carrier itself hadn’t been struck.

Hedges had believed that the towed decoy had been hit instead of the Illustrious.

He had waited for a second torpedo though, sure that anyone targeting the carrier wouldn’t just use one. No impact against the carrier had come though just the dull noises of blasts in the water nearby at first and then in the distance as the Illustrious continued to speed away from the scene of her attack. His heartbeat had started to slow down afterwards though there had still remained the beads of sweat running down his forehead into his eyes. He’d been frightened when the carrier had come under attack and, while he wouldn’t admit that to anyone if asked, it certainly had been time to think that maybe those had been his last moments before a fate which included being drowned if the carrier had been struck and started sinking. Others aboard afterwards had started claiming that ‘the Lusty was lucky’ (‘Lusty’ being an affectionate nickname for the Illustrious) with much bravado yet he knew that they had been as frightened as he was and were covering that with such remarks.

A hasty defence of the carrier by first the destroyer HMS Southampton firing many torpedoes into the water and then one of the Sea King HAS5’s which called the Illustrious home dropping depth charges had saved the carrier. Hedges was later informed that the offending submarine had been confirmed as sunk with both the destroyer and the helicopter crew each claiming credit in contradiction to the assertion of the other that they had saved the carrier. Either way, the Illustrious had survived unscathed. Her escort had been sunk though with the loss of more than fifty men aboard. It turned out that the decoy trailed by the Active – Hedges found out that the carrier didn’t have her own – and efforts by her other defenders had saved the carrier though.



And now, to complete what had been such a day as this, Hedges himself came up behind an enemy aircraft from high above and where nothing that this Ilyushin-38 May could do would allow it to escape his attention. In a few moments he would delivered a coup de grace to the aircraft though there was work to do first.

Like that Coot earlier which Reynolds had knocked down and then the Bear which the RAF had also destroyed, another sacrificial lamb was being presented. Unescorted, defenceless aircraft such as these were showing up with alarming regularity. They were dangerous in their capabilities when used as they should be to guide submarines and airborne missile strikes, but when on their own and faced with fighters – even a Nimrod with air-to-air missiles – they were on suicide missions. Hedges couldn’t believe that the Soviets were doing this: were they idiots? The way he had understood things that Soviets had shown a little bit of forethought with their naval operations. Okay, their warships had just been blasted apart when the Americans went after them off the Norwegian coast but even when having their warships there they had shown that they weren’t stupid and were aware of their own limitations when faced with the power and numbers of NATO’s navies. When it came to their submarines, the Soviets were only sending the best out towards the North Atlantic in the face of NATO anti-submarine efforts to drive them back rather than everything that they had so that the navies of the West could get some shooting practice.

However, when it came to aircraft such as this May, these platforms were all being thrown away despite their usefulness. This aircraft should have stayed far to the north and out of range of aircraft such as his rather than come this far south where even if the Illustrious didn’t have his Sea Harrier’s flying from her there were aircraft out of land bases in Scotland to attack Soviet maritime patrol aircraft.

What was going on there with the thinking of the other side?


Hedges could have taken his shot some time ago. A missile could have been fired from distance without him getting anywhere near the target and he could have returned to his patrol station. However, his orders were to get close and gain information upon the enemy. It had been the same with Reynolds earlier and his kill and what Price would have done too should his kill had not been stolen as it had been.

The aircrew aboard the May certainly knew he was right behind them. With high clouds blocking out any moonlight it was pitch black when it came to visual conditions but their flight radar and electronic warfare systems would have alerted them to Hedges. Using his night-vision equipment fitted inside his flight helmet, Hedges watched as the aircraft jinxed all over the sky and lost altitude too. The May stood no chance and he followed them down whilst maintaining position. He wasn’t playing with them nor showing off by rather allowing the reconnaissance pod fitted below the fuselage of his Sea Harrier to do its work.

The May had its jamming system, as rudimentary as that was, active and like a hoover all signals from that were being recorded for later analysis. All information which could be gained on all defensive systems such as that was something which Hedges and his fellow pilots were told to collect for NATO intelligence teams to study. Such information would tell them not just about what was unable to defend this aircraft but give clues to what other aircraft used too, especially since this was a combat situation. The gun camera fitted to the Sea Harrier had its own night vision system and Hedges had that switched on too as the aircraft was studied looking for wartime additions in terms of weapons or systems which could be observed; again, this had been done during the daylight too.

For five minutes Hedges followed close behind the May as it tried to shake him before he decreased speed a little to allow the distance to open up between him and his opponent. He briefly wondered whether those aboard were suddenly jubilant with the false belief that they had evaded their hunter though he pushed that aside as he tried to not think about the people he was about to kill. He remained above allowing his Blue Fox radar to gain a firm fix in the look-down/shoot-down mode even with the disturbance coming from the movement of the waves even further below. Everything was set and he wasn’t going to lose his target.

When he was ready, he opened fire on the May using his guns, not a missile. The pair of ADEN guns each spurted out a burst of 30mm explosive-tipped shells as he applied gentle pressure to the trigger fitted to his control stick. Most of those struck the target, bits were torn off the tail and the port wing and then the aircraft started falling towards the water below.

Hedges turned back towards his patrol station and spoke aloud to himself: “What a day!”

Well finally caught up, at least for the moment. Great story. Many thanks.

Looks like the sea war is going pretty well and the Soviets are taking a lot of losses. Especially if most of the American claims are accurate. If the counter-attack to push the Soviets out of key areas of northern Norway as well without massive losses it means the northern flank is likely to be pretty safe when fighting resumes as you have mentioned it does in chapter 3.

Not sure if there would be that much disorder. Although Thatcher had made herself pretty unpopular by 1990 there is a strong national identity in Britain and I think the vast bulk of the population would rally round, especialy given the nature of the Soviet attacks, both on Britain and its allies as well as neutrals. In fact one nasty result from this conflict could be that, like the Falkland's war in 82, if revives a failing government and Thatcher could last longer. [Although given that Major was really no better for Britain this may not be too damaging].

Steve

Thanks.
As to Whittaker, yes, you read that situation right. I wanted to not make it too much of a surprise when the truth came out later but might have made it too obvious. The end of her story won't be Hollywood with a happy ending.
The naval war: going NATO's way and will continue that way. The Soviets got their licks in early, and will make small attacks, but NATO has the upper hand and won't let it go.
There are times when I think I go too far with how much trouble there would be in the UK and other times I don't think I cover all that there would have been. It depends upon how many elements of Transition to War went into effect. Patriotism is one thing but so too are harsh restrictions affecting people's lives.
My later plans are that the war won't be good in the long run for Thatcher, yet that is only an outline at the moment - Labour will tie itself in knots first.
More coming up. The interlude then another day of fighting.  

  Well at the time Labour were lead by Kinnock and still suffering from the legacy of Foot and the old Labour ideas, along with a strong anti-nuclear/pacifist elements so their likely to suffer serious problems politically after the war.  Especially since it will be obvious to all bar the more idealogically blinkered that the reason France and Britain didn't suffer chemical attacks was because they had nuclear weapons.

  Feel sorry for Whittaker but feared it would end up that way.  Hopefully at least Baxter won't get away with it.

  Be interested to see what happens in the longer run.

  Steve

February 9th 1990
Tromsø, Troms, Norway

They had been fighting here on Tromsøya Island for just over six hours now. Not long after arriving just before eight o’clock local time this morning, 45 Commando had advanced from their landing sites into combat against Soviet forces outside Tromsø. They’d pushed their opponents back towards the edges of the city while inflicting major losses upon those Naval Infantry men. However, at the same time, despite benefiting from all of the external support which they were receiving – naval gunfire, air cover and friendly local armed Norwegians – the Royal Marines were facing difficulties themselves. The advance had stalled and they had taken many casualties of their own.

Lieutenant Leigh knew that the plan had been for 45 Commando to spend their first day here taking part in CASTLE securing their landing site and beginning to invest the enemy. He wasn’t as concerned as somewhere over what was called by a few the ‘failure’ to at once win a sudden and fantastic victory. Getting here in one piece when aboard those ships and then with the landing going as smoothly as it had done had been achievements enough. Moreover, so too had the last-minute link up with not just SBS and Norwegian Home Guard teams on the ground here but having a Norwegian naval special forces component meet them on Tromsøya Island were far from failures. It was taking time to beat the Soviets in battle yet they were elite troops and so much had already been achieved in getting here to fight them and begin the process of liberating Tromsø.


The battalion command post was currently located less than a mile outside the city. The sounds of the fighting at the front where gunners with the Royal Artillery’s 29th Commando Regiment (29 RA) – men who wore the green beret after completing the same training courses as the Royal Marines – had their howitzers ashore and were carefully firing upon enemy positions could be heard. Leigh wasn’t able to hear the infantry engagements taking place despite them being very near to where the headquarters staff of 45 Commando such as he was. He was uncomfortable with being this close to the frontlines as his personal belief was that Lt.-Colonel Wilson was taking a risk yet his commander wanted to be as near to the fighting as possible as he believed in taking personal charge of the battle and to do that he needed to see what was going on. They were all on foot though and moving around from building to building so that chance that the enemy could get a fix on them and deliberately target them was slight. It was random chance that Leigh worried about though; a mortar round or a sudden enemy counterattack could come at any moment.

His place was with his commander and he had been with Wilson since they had come ashore in the landing craft. He had overheard his superior give the orders for the three rifle companies to land one after another and for the fire support company to provide immediate support for them with their crew-served weapons. When naval gunfire was requested by his company commanders, Wilson had authorised that as well as making sure that proper liaison was made with the RAF Harrier’s who made the first strike in direct air support and then the Norwegian F-16’s which came afterwards. Leigh was present too when the British and Norwegian special forces teams sent representatives to 45 Commando’s headquarters element to make sure that their activities were combined with the Royal Marines engaging the enemy. It was the SBS and the MJK (Norwegian commando frogmen) which had opened the door for 45 Commando to come fast ashore and move straight into battle and who afterwards worked with Home Guard soldiers in making sure that the landward flank was secure so that Wilson’s command could advance as briskly as it had without having the need to worry over an enemy attack against their vulnerable flank.

Leigh had found that all his initial concerns before CASTLE was undertaken hadn’t come. There had been no enemy attack during their voyage and the intelligence as to the situation on the ground here was correct in the weakness of the enemy as well as the capabilities evident by those Norwegian volunteers in keeping the occupiers from establishing defensive positions. He had learnt that the regular Norwegian Army, its conventional infantry forces, had had a terrible war so far in being positioned in the wrong place to defend against a full-scale ground invasion when what had come had been those air and sea assaults into their fear areas. They were moving men and equipment around now with no further reinforcements going to the strong Lyngenfjorden position and instead assisting now the NATO forces fighting throughout the rear due to the Soviets not having their army crossing Finnmark and Lappland as anticipated coming towards Fortress Norway. It was Norwegian local volunteers, organised ready for such a fight in peacetime, that had seen so much action so far in the war and they were active here on Tromsøya Island as well as along the coastal regions through which the UK/NL Landing Force had made their passage to get here.

CASTLE wouldn’t have been taking place without them.


Being useful was what Leigh’s duties as battalion adjutant meant. Wilson needed an experienced aide who was combat trained along with having language skills and the ability to get things done too. Of course, Leigh would have liked to have been leading his platoon into action – well… it was no longer his anymore – yet recognised the need for him to complete the tasks set for him by Wilson.

The radio communication link-up with the commander of the UK/NL Landing Force had been done under Leigh’s supervision. He had made sure that the connection was made correctly over the secure channel by the battalion radioman and that Wilson was called upon to have the current brief conference that was now taking place.

45 Commando’s commander informed his own superior – who was soon to arrive here on Tromsøya Island – as to the progress of his mission. X and Z Company’s were engaged in combat directly outside Tromsø with Y Company being held back for immediate exploitation should the enemy positions crack sufficiently. Daylight would be soon fading but 45 Commando would keep fighting into the darkness too; Wilson explained that with the Norwegian Home Guard making the Soviets have to watch their rear he believed the continued attack was justified and would succeed in driving the enemy right into the city rather than trying to defend it from its outskirts. 7 Battery from 29 RA were firing their L118 Light Gun’s under the control of forward observation teams and those spotters had too called-in accurate gunfire from the Dutch warship Piet Hein.

The enemy was falling back every chance they got, Wilson explained, and not standing and making a fight but rather trying to conserve their strength. Prisoners had been taken with many of those wounded and being attended to; Wilson requested that as soon as possible interrogation begin of those willing to give up information. His superior stated that coming with him soon enough would be field intelligence specialists who would undertake such a task though of course the moral objection held by everyone to harming those POW’s would be honoured in such an attempt to learn anything from them. When questioned as to the fighting quality of the Soviet Naval Infantry, Wilson was scathing of them. He stated that these were meant to be elite troops yet had fallen back so quickly and been eager in places to surrender when they could. Previous intelligence about a strong espirit de corps with them didn’t appear to be true. Furthermore, from first impressions gained, there had been war crimes committed here even in the small part of previously enemy-held territory recaptured with dead Norwegian civilians.

The CASTLE mission commander moved to brief Wilson on the wider situation.

The Dutch were fully in control of the airport with the Cloggies having taken that almost unopposed with what little opposition there was facing rearwards attacks by armed Norwegian volunteers. The Piet Hein was going to be tasked supporting them now as the guns aboard would be best used over the open ground between the airport and the city where they were to advance rather than against the edges of the city. The Sandnessund Bridge was in the hands of the Dutch marines too with that fixed connection to Kvaløya Island secured. By tomorrow, the majority of the Cloggies would be brought forward and a two-battalion attack to further invest the surrender of Tromsø would begin.

Leigh had been listening to this exchange and it started to come to an end without something which Wilson had mentioned beforehand being talked about. He carefully slipped his battalion commander the message form from earlier concerning that matter so that Wilson could raise that with the UK/NL Landing Force commander.

The subject was the Tromsøysundet and Wilson nodded his thanks to his adjutant before he brought this up with his superior over the radio.

The Tromsøysundet was the strait between Tromsøya Island and the nearby mainland of Troms County. It was long and narrow and crossed by a bridge which the Soviets had detonated pre-placed explosives upon the moment that CASTLE had begun. The whole of the massive concrete structure hadn’t come down into the water but part of it had and the waterway was blocked in places. Moreover, the Norwegian Home Guard here were saying that that waterway had been partially mined by small Soviet vessels since the first day of the war and their arrival in this area.

In response came the comment that the SBS team up on the high ground of Fløya – there on the mainland – had watched the bridge being somewhat destroyed as it was and been too far away to intervene. They hadn’t seen any enemy mining efforts nor had other reconnaissance efforts before CASTLE was launched too. However, Wilson’s superior promised that this would be looked into. There was a later intention by NATO forces in northern Norway to make much use of Tromsø once recaptured for further operations against the Soviets yet this local information about possible covert mining of that waterway could negatively affect that.

Once the conversation was over with, Leigh oversaw the securing of the radio codes entrusted to him and then went with Wilson as he went back to coordinating the continued fighting outside Tromsø. Leigh didn’t believe that the small city could be taken this evening or tonight as Wilson was hoping for along with some of his company commanders, but there was always the chance…



February 9th 1990
The Øresund, the Baltic Sea

It seemed as if everyone in the Operations Room was wearing proud smiles and Captain Brooks joined them. They had all done well, very well indeed, in making sure that the submarine which HMS Campbeltown and one of her helicopters had spent the last forty minutes prosecuting was now confirmed as sunk. That Soviet vessel was no longer going to be a threat to NATO warships such as them operating in Danish waters around the Baltic Exits. It had been a team effort with both the warship and the Lynx working together to locate, track and kill the target.

Brooks was getting ready to say something meaningful to his men and was just framing his words right when his concentration was interrupted by a shout from Lieutenant Brown: “Captain, Air Raid Warning!”

Books marched over to where his Air Warfare Officer was on the other side of the compartment with the radar displays and the communications equipment. Lieutenant Philips was there too and spoke up: “Sir, we have a message from the Swedes confirmed with the Nine-Sixty-Eight radar. Five low-flying targets coming straight towards us from the southeast at high speed. They are possibly Flogger’s, maybe Fitter’s.”

“Lighting up the Sea Wolf radars now, Sir.”

“The Kidd has them too and are calling them Flogger J’s! She’s getting her Standard missiles ready.”

The two officers rapidly reported on what was going on. There had been a radio message broadcast over open radio channels from the Swedish military – helpfully in both English and Danish – concerning aircraft which their radars had detected. They had been doing this since yesterday when it came to any Warsaw Pact aircraft spotted near their shores while maintaining their stance of neutrality; there were no broadcasts in Russian about NATO aircraft though. Straight afterwards, the Type-968 three-dimensional air defence radar atop the Campbeltown’s mainmast had picked up those aircraft which the Swedes had called attention to. The trio of contacts were reported as either MiG-27’s or Sukhoi-17’s, which were both naval strike platforms. Brown was getting the Type-911 fire-control radars for the Sea Wolf SAM’s energized while Philips had overseen communication with the American destroyer USS Kidd which was accompanying the Campbeltown and the Danish corvette HDMS Olfert Fischer. The Americans were readying their own air defences as well as claiming that those inbound aircraft were MiG-27M Flogger J strike-fighters.

Taking aboard all of this information quickly, Brooks was more than pleased that everything was doing their jobs. In a situation such as this, with hostile aircraft thundering towards them, he couldn’t afford to have his principle combat officers standing around waiting for detailed instructions. In peacetime exercises and wartime combat already met, everyone needed to remember their training and do what they were meant to do following established procedures. He could interject at any moment and change things, yet only when it was absolutely necessary. Other officers and seamen were working just as hard as Brown and Philips were in making certain that the weapons and electronic systems were all functioning too.

He himself lifted the telephone receiver which gave him direct access to the bridge. He would stay on this line throughout the incoming combat engagement. “Mister Hancock,” his First Officer, Lieutenant-Commander Hancock, was up there, “prepare for evasive action.”

“At once, Sir.”

Now it became a waiting game.

When initially spotted, the inbound aircraft were on the other side of the Falsterbo Peninsula: a portion of the Swedish mainland which jutted out into the Baltic at the very southwestern tip of their country. The distance between the Flogger’s and the Campbeltown was twenty-eight miles in a straight line – a distance which was rapidly diminishing – and those Soviet aircraft were closing in fast upon Falsterbo. Brooks watched them on the radar display as they approached and then overflew that peninsula at its narrowest point as they now came above the Øresund.

The Kidd opened fire at once with it’s long-range SAM’s as the destroyer launched four SM-2MR Standard missiles. Those missiles had a longer range than that even against low-flying targets yet the Americans had waited due to standing instructions issued to all NATO naval forces in the Baltic Exits region. Unlike the Soviets, NATO forces wouldn’t invade the territorial waters and airspace of Sweden. All of the unofficial assistance which the Swedes were giving to NATO was far more important than small tactical advantages which might be gained in battle and that meant that even SAM’s couldn’t be flown through their air space. Of course this wasn’t ideal yet the moral objection which Sweden held to two of its Scandinavian neighbours being invaded as they were meant that their help was greatly valued and their sovereignty was not to be taken as lightly by NATO as it was by the Warsaw Pact.

The first two pairs of SM-2MR’s were to be soon joined by another four missiles in the sky. Brooks knew that the Kidd had two twin-launchers for its air defence missiles and there would be fast reloads so a follow-up barrage could be launched. He mentally willed those reloading efforts aboard the American warship to hurry up while he paid attention to the radar display here in the Operations Room showing the Flogger’s and the SAM’s heading towards them. Everything was visible here with the aircraft and the missiles some distance apart… but then the display changed.

“We have heavy jamming reported.”

“That’s a stand-off source, possibly at sea or on land because it’s not coming from any aircraft.”

Brooks overheard a few groans from some of those present denoting their disappointment that everything wasn’t going perfectly yet he knew full well that that wasn’t always the case in wartime. Problems were there to be solved, he told himself.

Earlier today, a Sea King HC4 operating in the maritime utility role with its parent FAA squadron (No. 707) being put to use to support Royal Navy operations in the North Sea and the Baltic Exits had dropped off a trio of men and some light equipment aboard the Campbeltown. The men were senior enlisted technicians and what they brought with them were computer hardware to be installed while the frigate was at sea and engaged in combat patrolling. That helicopter had made a refuelling stop en route aboard HMS Coventry when too dropping off men and equipment there; Brooks would be mighty glad when that second RN warship arrived to join him here in these hostile waters. What had come from the Sea King were men to install new jamming equipment. Pre-war intelligence as well as operational experience so far in the war, he had been briefed, had allowed for much work to be done on experimental processes to overcome enemy interference in the electromagnetic spectrum with efforts by NATO whizz kids.

Now was the time to see if that was all worth it.

The new computer hardware started to work against the jamming of the radar picture and success came. The enemy aircraft reappeared though during the brief interlude in radar coverage they had changed position, course and altitude. Where their stand-off jamming support was coming from wasn’t known yet that wasn’t as important at the minute as the progress of those five aircraft.

The Flogger’s had moved into an attack position.

“Vampire, Vampire, Vampire!”

Over the open radio link to the Kidd, Brooks heard the Americans making their announcement using their own term for a maritime missile attack. It was all very dramatic and for the briefest of moments he tried to remember where the codeword ‘Vampire’ came from before his attention snapped back to the here and now.

“Enemy missiles launched.” Brown made his own call seconds later and Brooks could see on the radar screen the breakaway being shown. There appeared to be two missiles coming from each aircraft.

“Ten missiles detected, trying to confirm type.”

The Campbeltown’s combat staff were busy getting set to engage those incoming missiles by first correctly identifying them so that preparations could be made. This really mattered for different defensive measures needed to be taken against supersonic missiles than subsonic missiles as well as the variants of methods of engaging those with a near-ballistic approach against those using sea-skimming pop-up tactics. His crew were also making sure that the data-link between them and the Americans – as well as the Danes on their much smaller warship – was kept open: the next firing of SAM’s by the Kidd would be against those incoming missiles, not the launching aircraft now turning away who had avoided the first barrage against them.

Waiting for the confirmation, Brooks sought to maintain the calm demeanor which he had kept up since the first call about enemy aircraft. He was here to lead by example and didn’t want to show fear or panic, both of which would be infectious, to his men. Should that be interpreted in his actions then it could put them all in peril. He told himself that even if the word ‘Sunburn’ was used he would still remain calm.

There were all sorts of Soviet anti-ship missiles known to be in service pre-war and others only discovered since the shooting started. The Sunburn was the NATO code-name for a warship-mounted missile yet there was apparently an air-launched version too that came with ramjet propulsion. Intelligence on these weapons was patchy with solid information being mixed with guesswork in places and the blurring there not clear. Brooks had been told that the air-launched version of the Sunburn was smaller than the warship version with less range yet was still a missile capable of reaching an attack speed of Mach 4. If such a call was made that a series of Sunburn’s were coming this way then they were in a lot of trouble.

“Missiles identified as Kedge, repeat Kedge models. Eight being tracked as inbound, two have fallen into the sea.”

Momentarily relief swept over Brooks at the remarks made by Brown. The Kedge was another lethal weapon yet not a Sunburn. Those were subsonic missiles (capable of near supersonic speeds in the trans-sonic range during their flight) and the intelligence which Brooks had read stated that there were newer versions in Soviet service with longer range than usual. This made sense as they had been fired from fifteen miles distance rather than within five or six miles.

But they were a threat that could be dealt with, unlike those Sunburn’s.

“Where’s the guidance platform?” It had occurred to him that the Kedge was a guided weapon needing laser or television targeting. Those launch aircraft had turned away and so they weren’t directing those eight missiles as they now lanced across the sky at more than nine hundred miles per hour with the Kidd firing SM-2MR’s against them.

His Surface Warfare Officer had a brief look at his own radar screen to recheck what he was already sure of before responding to Brooks. “There’s only friendlies here, Sir.” Lieutenant Dawson was absolutely certain of that. “No enemy vessels detected between here and Amager Island.”

“There must be someone on the shore using a designator, Captain.”

Brown added his own opinion to the matter and then looked over his right shoulder. There was only the large chart of the Baltic Exits there against the side of compartment yet in that direction, away to the west, there was enemy-held territory around Copenhagen. The Danes were still holding onto their capital city but Soviet and Polish forces remained entrenched all around them including their main position on Amager Island a-joining the city to the southeast and other elements who Brooks had been informed were recently reported to be north of the city. There was also Saltholm Island, a nature reserve which was the biggest island in the Øresund, that was held by the invading Warsaw Pact forces too. In one of those places, there would be someone guiding those missiles. It was a bright winter’s day and the current calm waters in the Øresund would be helping that effort.

Brooks could do nothing about it.

The Kidd’s SAM’s hit first one then another two Kedge’s. Those missiles were skimming the surface of the sea at the minute and moving fast yet the American destroyer was launching missile after missile against them. The range to the surviving five decreased rapidly but that only allowed for the Campbeltown to finally bring her own short-range Sea Wolf’s into play.

“Open fire when ready, Mister Brown.”

“Sea Wolf’s away!” The reply came almost immediately with those working under the Air Warfare Officer’s supervision pushing the necessary buttons for the ripple firing of the forward GWS25 launcher. There were six Sea Wolf’s there – another half dozen were mounted in the rearward launcher – and those SAM’s were fired in between the launches coming from Kidd. Once they were away, Brooks spoke to his First Officer.

“Prepare to make a sharp turn, Mister Hancock.”

“We’re ready here, Captain.”

In the last few seconds, three more Kedge’s were killed with Campbeltown's SAM’s getting a pair and the Kidd hitting the other one. In total, between them the warships had fired eighteen of their own missiles in the short engagement time they had and scored a success rate of nearly fifty per cent. Considering that they were using anti-aircraft weapons against low-flying missiles this was excellent going. However, there remained two inbound missiles which were coming in at lightning speed just above the waters and inside the minimum effective range for the rest of their SAM’s.

Other defences now needed to be employed.

“Mister Nielsen,” Brooks called out to the Danish-speaking RN lieutenant who was responsible for the passive defensive measures of a non-electrical nature, “when you’re ready fire the Sea Gnat’s.”

There were four Sea Gnat decoy launchers aboard the Campbeltown. Each one had six barrels capable of firing chaff and infrared reflectors into selective patterns. Their usage was dependent upon the tracks of the incoming missiles fed to their control systems operated by Nielsen so they could be best used to lure away inbound missiles in their lasts seconds of flight. Brooks didn’t want his subordinate to fire too early though before the missiles were confirmed as coming in towards the ship from a known direction.

Again, there was a wait here in the Operations Room. The anti-missile gun mounted high amidships was being readied and so were the Sea Gnat’s but there was just a few seconds in which those Kedge’s would charge towards their actual targets. Brooks started to speculate whether both would be directed against the bigger Kidd or maybe whomever was targeting them from wherever they were located would try to spread out the effects of the missile strike. He wasn’t sure…

“Missile Number Two coming straight for us.” Brown sounded more calmer than Brooks knew the officer would be as he made that announcement then called out the exact flight path of the missile in relation to the Campbeltown. Brooks heard him but could see that for himself on the radar display. Nielsen made the declaration that the Sea Gnat’s were in the air too yet Brooks spoke with Hancock up on the bridge.

“Make a hard turn seventy degrees to starboard, Mister Hancock.”

At once, Brooks felt the frigate make that turn. The vessel which displaced almost five thousand tons swung over to the side. Whereas before the Kedge was coming almost straight towards the bow of the Campbeltown this rapid movement would instead present the long side of the ship to the missile rather than the narrow bow. This was a standard naval tactic which while considered risky to many was judged to be the best approach when faced with a lone missile attack. The Campbeltown’s anti-missile gun now had a clear and uninterrupted field of fire to make use of. At the same time the manoeuvre meant that should the gun fail to destroy the target where it hit would be a limited area or it might even pass through the ship’s profile without a direct impact. This stood in stark comparison to what some might have thought the best approach in being offering a narrow target that unfortunately came with limiting where the anti-missile gun could fire and assuring that if the missile hit its damage would be widespread, possibly throughout the whole length of the ship.

The anti-missile gun mounted was the Dutch-built Goalkeeper weapon. Similar to the American-manufactured Vulcan-Phalanx used by other navies, the Goalkeeper was preferred by the RN due to its seven-barrelled Gatling gun with 30mm high-explosive shells. The American system had six barrels firing 20mm rounds and a slightly faster rate of fire (4’500 rounds per minute for the Vulcan-Phalanx, 4’200 for the Goalkeeper) but the RN wanted more stopping power behind their anti-missile gun on their Type-22/3 frigates while using that American system elsewhere on other warships.

Brooks could hear the Goalkeeper firing. It was an autonomous system using its own radar tracking system to manoeuvre the gun precisely against the Kedge incoming. The sound was like a zip being fast undone on an item of clothing or maybe leather being violently ripped apart. It was short and violent and also crystal clear even from in here.

Then there was an almighty blast.

“Target destroyed!”

The Sea Gnat’s hadn’t worked to deflect the missile away but the Goalkeeper had scored a kill with the warhead being detonated less than a third of a mile away.

However there was another announcement to be made here in the Operations Room: “Sir, the Kidd has been hit.”



February 9th 1990
Adenstedt, Lower Saxony, West Germany

When the 1st Armoured Division’s deputy commander had paid a visit to his command post earlier in the day saying that there was to be an immediate ‘tactical withdrawal’ from the Salzgitter Canal back to the Hildesheim Canal, Brigadier Johnson had been forced to use all of his self-control to not explode in anger. His fellow brigadier had made the case for the retrograde movement explaining the strategic situation and the need for the 7th Armoured Brigade to maintain their position in the forward line with a focus upon geography as must as enemy advances yet the simple matter was that an order was being issued. Johnson couldn’t refuse such a command though he had made sure that his objection was noted.

Nonetheless, the Desert Rats were now pulling back and without being actively pursued by an advancing enemy.


Adenstedt was a large village located between those two canals which ran north-south forming horizontal lines of defence against non-existent forward drives by Warsaw Pact forces westwards towards Hannover. It was one of many places where the extensive West German road network ran through and so use was being made of the local connections by Johnson’s men. Additionally, it was roughly halfway between the two canals.

Johnson brought his command element into here this evening. The mobile headquarters column came to a halt inside the village for a temporary rest. Ground security in the form of the headquarters guard was posted at once while air defence positions were established. Communications were fast set up too so that the brigade staff could communicate effectively with all Desert Rats elements on the move as they fell back. He himself had the command tent extended from the rear of his parked vehicle and had spread out the large scale maps of the general area where terrain features were clearly shown along with all of those roads which he was making use of. The brigade operations staff moved to mark out where battalions and company-groups were located along with their destinations so Johnson could check that everything was going as it was meant to and if not address any problems.

The progress he could see was just as it was meant to. All of his combat, combat support and service support elements were falling back in the correct order with only a few variations from the plan. Those were due to enemy damage being done to connections or delays inflicted due to the movements of civilians. It appeared that event with those issues, the last of the Desert Rats should reach the Hildesheim Canal by midnight at the very latest. It was a good thirty miles between where his command had started the day and where it was to finish up positioned yet there was no opposition. Enemy air power was focused elsewhere and there were no strong ground forces capable of chasing the Desert Rats as they withdrew either.

As ordered, Johnson would complete his designated task of – once again! – surrendering an excellent defensive position to the enemy and falling back across a large area of West German allowing it to be later overtaking by occupying forces. He silently raged at such circumstances which brought this about.


It was events on the flanks which had brought about this withdrawal, just as it had been the other day when they had withdrawn from in front of Braunschweig to behind that city. Hannover was now behind where the Desert Rats were to take up their new positions with that much larger city apparently not to be abandoned as the smaller one closer to the border had been. The divisional deputy commander had stated that the outer approaches to there were regarded as being impregnable if held with the right forces (including a strong group of TA paratroopers dug-in inside Hildesheim) but, more-importantly, unless Soviet and Soviet-led forces made a strategic crossing of the wide Weser River then even when outflanked on a tactical level the new Hannover position would be held.

The orders to withdraw the three brigades with the 1st Armoured Division back as they were – Johnson’s command was not alone – had come due to the failure of the combined NATO counterattack on the Lüneburg Heath to smash the advancing Soviet forces there. Their advance had been halted in places though not stopped overall and those NATO forces with had struck against them had withdrawn backwards after their attacks to conserve their strength rather than be destroyed going up against stubborn defenders. That enemy field army engaged was now again moving forwards with a second, follow-up field army moving behind them heading for the lower reaches of the Leine River. Scattered West German forces, Americans and Dutchmen were all trying to stop the Soviets with spirited efforts by the enemy remained moving forward.

Closer to where the Desert Rats were, the Poles had brought a field army of their own into play and were at the upper reaches of the Leine away to the south. It had been East Germans which the neighbouring British 4th Armoured Division had previously fought and the remains of that smashed division were still present yet the Poles had several fresh divisions of their own in the area south of Hildesheim. The Poles were in a position to move northwards or westwards, even in both directions, and where they were left the Desert Rats and their parent division exposed.

Johnson had been told that the decision had been made above the divisional commander to withdraw due to what was happening on the flanks. Should the enemy change its directions of attack and move against the 1st Armoured Division the rest of the British I Corps wouldn’t be in a position to help if the brigades such as Johnson’s were too far away to the east. What was wanted was to maintain a strong British armoured presence as close together as possible in a natural defensive position while retaining the capability to go over on the offensive too if such an opportunity opened up. That was something that could be done now, Johnson had told his visitor, and the Desert Rats would have been in a position when on the Salzgitter Canal to do just. Just as he had argued the other day when ordered to withdraw then, the enemy forces directly to the east were weak and in no position to stop a massive armoured raid taking place deep into their rear. Johnson had shown the divisional deputy commander an outline of a plan he had for the Desert Rats to move forward fast and keep going – rather than holding ground – and to tear through Warsaw Pact supply links as well as their air defence network too.

It wasn’t personal glory he was after, Johnson had explained, but the chance for the Desert Rats as well as the British Army to do tremendous damage to the enemy. Destruction of the supply and air defence network even on a limited scale would affect the Warsaw Pact offensive on an immediate level with losses and also distract them too causing them to move troops about. Moreover, it would make the losses taken by the Desert Rats justified. The fighting near the IGB and then when behind Braunschweig – the latter conducted against East German reservists foolish enough to try to move westwards away from the city – had cost British lives and Johnson believed they should mean something.

The counter put to him was that such an offensive couldn’t be justified for the risks if would pose should the enemy not react as Johnson believed they would. If the Desert Rats went tearing off eastwards, and got held up somewhere too, then their flanks and rear would be opened up to an enemy countermove. That would collapse the whole line and expose the British I Corps to defeat: Hannover could be threatened. Johnson was told that it would be politically unacceptable for that city to have to be abandoned and the plan called for the Desert Rats to be part of its defences. Johnson was asked too if he had considered the fact that his intelligence was limited on what enemy forces were to the east of him. The Soviet field army was to the north and the Poles were to the south with theirs yet there were further Warsaw Pact forces identified as moving forwards too and keeping track of them was taxing NATO reconnaissance efforts.

In short, any offensive, even massed armoured raid, at this time wasn’t going to be done by just a lone brigade with the overall situation as it was.


Johnson had made his case and been denied permission to do what he thought best. Annoyed, angry even he still had his duty to do. His orders were to get everyone back to the new position despite not even having fought for the previous one. There was coordination within the withdrawal made due to the need to keep the Desert Rats ready to conduct a fight in case reconnaissance efforts had missed something important and this was something their commander paid attention too. He made sure that his own staff and battalion commanders were all alert to the risk of the enemy trying a chance to do to the Desert Rats what he wanted to do to them and move a raiding force forward.

There was also that issue with civilians.

Many West Germans who either lived in the area between the two canals or who had fled here from further afield were on the move as they headed to the west as well. Throughout the afternoon, Johnson had been receiving messages about them yet now he was in stopped he turned his attention to making sense of the reports on the maps. From the radio calls, he could see that they were everywhere. Civilians were in as much rush as the Desert Rats were to head in the direction of Hannover and those West Germans were far from under control. A few days ago there had been problems with civilians being evacuated from Braunschweig when the organised effort had failed on occasion. Matters were far more confused this time with the local authorities being given very little notice and civilians not obeying their instructions to keep routes clear for military use.

Though he would hardly admit it openly, Johnson had earlier regarded the civilians fleeing away from the frontlines to be a pain. He had silently raged at their panic and wanted them to obey the instructions they were given when wanting to get away from the fighting. It had only been afterwards when he had learnt how the evacuation efforts had been mismanaged and fates of West Germans caught up in the fighting as well as those who had fallen into enemy hands that he had realised that his thoughts there had been selfish and wrong. He had an obligation to do whatever was necessary – as long as it didn’t endanger his own men – to help where he could with allowing those people to get away. There were still bridges over the narrow waterway that was the Fuhse River still standing at the moment due to his personal moral objection to seeing those ordinary West Germans die.

Johnson checked that those bridges and other routes were still open before sending orders that they were to be left standing as long as possible so as many civilians could get away. After they were demolished to deny them to the enemy, civilians were to be given information on other possible evacuation routes. There were also orders issued by Johnson for what other civilians were located along routes the Desert Rats were using that he wanted his men to direct civilians to safe routes if they were in the way of routes they themselves wanted to use rather than holding them up from getting away to the west as the 7th Armoured Brigade was.

He was still fuming at what else was going on but was determined that even if he couldn’t fight in the manner which he thought was best he was going to do the right thing elsewhere.



February 9th 1990
RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire, Great Britain

Hawk T1A training aircraft, armed for the short-range point defence interceptor role, were flying from RNAS Prestwick and serving with No. 79 Squadron (a shadow squadron formed with aircraft from RAF Brawdy in Wales) on UK air defence missions. RAF Scotland had another squadron flying more twin-seat Hawk’s out of Aberdeen Airport which like those with 79 Squadron hadn’t seen any action during this conflict so far. As with the Phantom’s that had already left Air Commodore Cooke’s operational command, those Hawk’s from Prestwick were heading south to join 11 Group operating in eastern parts of England. He had caught a lift with one of them out of Prestwick which had stopped off at RAF Coningsby before making the short hop afterwards on to their new flying station at RAF Waddington.

Coningsby was where the forward operations control of 11 Group was being operated from. This airbase in Lincolnshire was on the frontlines as enemy air attacks launched from the Continent came over the North Sea and against Britain. The base itself had been targeted by fighter-bombers using short- & medium-range weapons rather than cruise missiles fired by stand-off bombers as had been the case with the airbases under RAF Scotland’s control. Cooke had seen some of the damage during the approach and the short time that he was above the surface upon the touch down made by the Hawk but straight afterwards he had come below ground where he now remained.

Tonight he was present to observe the air conflict that was being called the Second Battle of Britain.


Air Marshal Colquhoun had sent Cooke south to see if he could provide advice and assistance to 11 Group. There had been information shared freely during the first few days of the war and Cooke had had several telephone conferences with the commander Air Vice Marshal Fitzpatrick, a man whom he had served under at RAF Bentley Priory. The war which Cooke had fought in Scotland as controlling the fighter operations there had been different from what Fitzpatrick was fighting here though. In addition, whereas the air threat to the Britain coming from the north had rapidly decreased in the past few days to minimal levels it had at the same time increased at an alarming rate on the eastern side.

The distances between where Soviet aircraft were operating from and their targets were not the same along with the types of aircraft employed and their targeting. This meant a great deal as far as Cooke concerned as to what his visit could bring in terms of what Colquhoun wanted.

11 Group was fighting a different battle to which he had fought.

Eager not to step on anyone’s toes or offend those here, Cooke had considered what he would say during the flight here. He had planned to go over how he had overseen the combat engaged with long-range aircraft which had fired missiles towards Scotland using off-shore patrolling with his interceptors. Moreover there was the assistance from naval assets that he had made use of as well. There was too the plan – which hadn’t come into effect to the enemy ceasing its attacks – to go after the Soviet aircraft on their way home when they fought they were safe by making use of all intelligence gained during their previous attacks when it came to their return flights: there had been different approaches made but the safe exit routes taken away from the UK mainland.

Once here at Coningsby, Cooke did just that. Fitzpatrick and his staff were busy with their ongoing air defence operations which were taking place during daylight as well as preparing for the increase in enemy activity which they knew was going to come during the night yet Cooke was listened to here. He had explained in some detail what had occurred over Scotland and there were questions asked of him. When he made his suggestion on working to ambush Soviet aircraft who had evaded defences during their attack but were heading back east on predicable routes he found that those here with 11 Group were mighty keen on such an idea. At the same time, Cooke learnt how they were already working with Royal Navy assets in the North Sea and conducting off-shore patrolling too but still had time to listen.

The plan had been for Cooke to take a helicopter flight back to Prestwick but the first enemy air attacks came earlier than he had been led to expect tonight with Coningsby being among the many targets and so for the time being he was stuck here late this evening.


Coningsby was just one of several airbases from where 11 Group had their aircraft. There were two squadrons of Tornado F3’s flying from here with the other pair assigned to the command of those interceptors based at RAF Lemming in North Yorkshire. Flying from RAF Wattisham in Suffolk were a squadron of Phantom F3’s (those acquired directly from the Americans, not built in Britain as other Phantom’s were) with the two Phantom squadrons which Cooke had previously commanded now flying from RAF Sculthorpe in Norfolk and RAF Wyton in Cambridgeshire. There were Hawk’s backing them up as well.

These airbases were high on the target list of the Soviets with their aerial offensive against Britain as well as those from where RAF long-range strike aircraft operating under the command of 1 Group and the Americans with their bombers too. Other military targets had come under attack yet it was the airbases from where NATO combat aircraft in Britain were making use of that the enemy had plenty of focus upon attacking. Their intent was clear: destroy those bases so that they could not be used by the RAF to defend Britain’s skies.

NATO-crewed Sentry aircraft as well as RN destroyers in the North Sea detected the multiple waves of inbound attackers. Two of the Type-42’s, HMS Liverpool and HMS Gloucester, tracked some on their long-range radars (but were out of Sea Dart missile range) but it was the AWACS aircraft which burnt through the plentiful jamming to make out the aircraft coming towards Lincolnshire and East Anglia. There were groups of two, four, six and eight aircraft – they weren’t massed as one force – all over the sky. They had come from out of East Germany and over the Heligoland Blight before crossing the North Sea. Radar emissions from them identified all sorts of aircraft present.

There were fighters and interceptors: MiG-25 Foxbat’s and Sukhoi-27 Flanker’s.

There were fighter-bombers and strike-bombers: MiG-27 Flogger’s and Sukhoi-24 Fencer's.

There were bombers: Tupolev-22 Blinder’s.

11 Group’s alert Tornado’s raced to meet those attackers far off-shore with more soon to join them. Cooke observed how those RAF interceptors already out over the North Sea were sent after fighters with those behind them, including American F-16’s based in the UK with a training unit pre-war, being directed towards those identified on attack missions. There was professionalism here and little sign of panic. Fitzpatrick took a brief moment to tell him that this was the largest attack which had come their way so far but his staff here and his pilots in the air were up to meeting it head-on.


For an hour the air battle went on… and it wasn’t one-sided like those RAF Scotland had fought in.

Further Soviet aircraft appeared once the engagements began and there were also some which move away from the main battlefield area to head northeast too. There was intensive jamming on a tactical and strategic level which couldn’t always be overcome when the anticipation had been that it would be.

Cooke lost track of the battle once it was joined. There were engagements going on all over the sky with Tornado’s firing upon the enemy and missiles being fired back. The electronic interference to both radars and radios being effected by that. The weather came into play too with thick clouds just off the coast which cut down any visibility from the moon. He was able to understand the broad strokes of what was happening if not the details: Soviet efforts using their fighters to keep the RAF from getting at their strike aircraft were succeeding in places.

The Foxbat’s and the Flanker’s were vastly different aircraft from the Tornado F3. These were first-class aircraft which came with lethal weapons and clearly aircrews who knew how to fly and fight them. The Tornado’s fired upon them with Skyflash missiles at distance rather than get close where they knew that they would be at a disadvantage but those Soviet aircraft weren’t willing to let the RAF have their own way. They tried to manoeuvre out of the way and they fired back. Many of them were to the north too and between the Tornado’s coming out of Leeming to block the progress of those RAF interceptors. The Foxbat’s and Flanker’s took losses but Tornado’s went down too.

Those aircraft on strike missions could defend themselves as well and had their own air-to-air missiles. Many went down but more and more started reaching the coast after fighting their way through distant engagements with the Tornado’s and then mixing it up with Phantom’s and F-16’s. Overland the Soviets tried to make use of the terrain to get low yet Lincolnshire and the East Anglia coast were both notoriously flat and any effort was limited. The airbases started to come under attack with defence of those being made by Hawk’s in the sky and from below SAM’s in the form of old Bloodhound’s and new Rapier’s. In addition, there were a few anti-aircraft guns too: captured Argentinean weapons used by elements of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force.

Bombs and short-range missiles were used by the Soviets as they made their raids and then they attempted to fight their way back out over the coast heading for the North Sea and home. There were further engagements during those return flights as some Tornado’s strove to intercept far off-shore when the Soviets might have fought that they were clear of danger. Moreover, there were a few Sea Harrier’s from HMS Invincible in the sky as well as American F-16’s flying from Denmark.


When it was all over, Cooke joined those fellow RAF officers trying to make sense of it all in terms of losses to both sides as well as understand how much physical damage had been done on the ground. He had felt the impacts of either bombs or missiles above when Coningsby had been attacked though wasn’t sure if the damage done was enough to put the facility out of action.

Helicopters were in the air soon enough setting out to find downed pilots, not just NATO ones either: those with 11 Group had the same moral objection as he had in leaving men to die when they could survive after ejecting from aircraft. There would be those in the water and some over land too. Some aircraft which had joined the air battle in time were ordered up as well to make sure that the Soviets didn’t take advantage of the distraction there would be and launch a follow-up strike. Fitzpatrick told him that that had happened before with a couple of Blinder’s being sent to attack airbases when his aircraft were landing after long flights but he was determined to not have that occur again.


As the news came in of the losses inflicted and suffered in combat as well as damage done, Cooke found out just what the cost of this had all been. He was left lost for words.