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Excuuuuuuuuse, me, but the rif raf were the boys who looked after the "Senior Service" and the Brown Jobs so that they could sleep safely at nights!! A mate of mine being ragged by a Navy guy who was expounding about the "Senior Service" just looked at him innocently and said "I always thought you were called the Senior Service because you all had Alzhiemer's and that's what you all smoked".........it did wipe the grin off the Matelot's face but it did nothing for inter-service relations!!

 

"Friendly" rivalry has always been present in the UK armed forces and made sure everyone was on their toes and not letting their side down. The only problem we had with the Navy was with the Submariners who would shout "Dive!!!, Dive!!, Dive!!" and disappear under the nearest table when it was their round!! [sorry, Jack!!]

 

In truth, it shows how desperate we were sending a old redundant V Bomber well beyond it's range armed with dumb bombs with no fighter support but the same applies to the task force. We had to rely on the Americans to do the in-flight refueling for us or we would never have made it. The aircraft carrier we sent broke down when only a few miles after leaving the harbour in the UK and if it hadn't been for the skill, tenacity, and stubborness of the Navy fitters it probably wouldn't have made it to the Falklands. Maggie was not a popular Prime Minister in the Services at that time as she was responsible for a lot of the cut backs and some of her "triumphant" speeches didn't acknowledge that she had sent a military, inadequately resourced, force to do what a lot of countries thought was impossible or mention those lost in action.
We lost most of the helicopters when the Atlantic Conveyor was sunk and the army had to "Yomp" across the island. The pilots who flew the old Vulcan far beyond it's range, creating a new RAF record for distance flying and flight refueling deserve, for me, a far greater recognition than they got. They didn't put the airfield out of action but they gave the Argentinians more than a fright and made them fear what could come next. We lost a lot of great soldiers, sailors and airmen in that far off war and despite the lack of resources we won it because of the courage of all who took part in it.