If anyone has photos or stories
they would like to share, please
contact me at:
steve {at} nazcastudios.com
This is an ongoing project and
would greatly be improved by
contributions from any crew
either past or present that
worked or flew in the Canberra.
Saludos, Steve
Canberras of the Grupo 2 de Bombardeo: The Falklands Conflict
The Baptism of Fire: 1st of May, 1982
'Rifle' group en route to the Task Force
'Rifle' group is intercepted
Lt. Alan Curtis prepares to fire on B-110
B-102 and B-104 break as B-110 is hit
Updated: June 8, 2008: * I have learned that the two Sea Harrier approached the Canberras from the top and right, then proceed to fly around and attack from behind. Lt. Cdr. Alan Curtis fired first, followed quickly by Mike Broadwater, whose AIM-9L missile exploded near another of the Canberras. While this missile may have caused some damage, there is no record of it in the Argentine Air Force, although it was logged at the time as 'unlikely to return home' by the Royal Navy'. The crew of the B-110 were sadly lost in the sea, despite the search efforts of the tugboat ARA Alferez Sobral.
* In 'Sea Harrier Over the Falklands' written by Cdr. Nigel 'Sharkey' Ward.
The Final Mission: 13th of May, 1982
B-108 on its bomb-run over Mt. Kent. Both bombers came under immediate attack as they made their 180 degree turn for home
While Grupo 2 crews flew many missons during the Falklands conflict, they were lucky to lose only two planes, the first on 1st May, the second, tragically, in the last days of fighting.
In this particular mission, a flight of two Canberras, codenamed 'BACO' and 'BACO 2' were responsible for bombing British troops in positions near Mt Kent. These were B-108, flown by Captain Roberto Pastran and navigator Captain Fernando Casado and B-109 flown by Lts. Rivollier and Annino. Both aircraft flew in total darkness and high altitude, in the effort to prevent attacks from SAMs. They were guided both by their own navigation and radio comms. with Port Stanley radar, and they were successful in their attack, dropping their payload from 40,000ft. It is believed that these did not hit any troops, but the chances are that they came close.
B-109 taking evasive action against sea-
launched SAMs and AAA fire
At this point, HMS Cardiff, having tracked the incoming raid and its Mirage III escort for some time, took action. B-109 was able to prevent attacks through evasive flight and use of countermeasures, but B-108, but was not so lucky, and soon after was hit by a Sea Dart missile fired from HMS Cardiff. The missile exploded beneath and behind the navigator, Captain Casado, possibly in the bomb bay, and ignited the fuel tank. This caused an explosive decompression in the cabin and the plane to lose height begain eventually enter into a spin.
Captain Pastran fought bravely to maintain control and give time for and time Casado to eject. With the intercom broken, he called out several times to his navigator that he should eject, to which he responded that it was stuck or jammed and he could not. It is presumed his seat was damaged when the missile struck. Shortly after this, Casado fell silent for reasons unknown, and Pastran was forced to eject alone, with the Canberra crashing into the sea near Lively Island, killing Casado. Pastran survived the ejection, inflating his dinghy and making it to the shore, where he was captured the following day, on the point of exhaustion.
B-108 is hit just aft of the No.1 fuel tank
The events of this sequence were undoubtedly traumtic, and I recently found an article online detailing Capt. Pastran's experiences during and after the ejection. I was also saddened to hear he died in 2005, having often wondered about Capt. Casado's exact fate. You can read the full article (in spanish) here. Santiago Rivas, one of Argentina's respected aviation historians, when discussing the incident on Key Publishing Aviation Forum, had this to add:
"I had the pleasure to interview Pastrán in 1999 for an article about the Canberra. He was an excellent guy and when he told me the story of this last mission he was almost crying, remembering how his best friend died. He told me he felt the missile hit the bomb bay and that maybe damaged Casado's seat. He waited for him, but when he was at 10,000 feet he said to Casado: "I have to leave you", and then he ejected."
Overview:
"I was a 19-year-old inexperienced Able Seaman (Radar) back in 1982. I had no tactical/warfare qualifications or training. As I participate in this interesting thread (on Key Publishing Aviation Forum - ed.) I am recalling experiences that happened almost 27 years ago, some of the details from back then are vague and some as clear as if they happened yesterday.
B-108 was shot down at 01:30 (GMT) 14 June 1982 by a single Seadart fired by my ship HMS Cardiff. The missile impacted the Canberra at a range of 32nm from Cardiff.
Argentine accounts of this event include multiple Seadart launches with dramatic evasive manoeuvres by the fighter escorts. I was on watch that night and witnessed the whole thing from beginning to conclusion. We were not in Choiseul sound as was the perception of the Argentine pilots but offshore south of Port Stanley on radar ambush for C-130 inbound flights. Incidentally we thought we had hit a Mirage as it was their radar that our UAA1 (ESM) equipment detected and thus alerting us to the approach of this formation.
HMS Exeter was on picket duty with the Task Force, Cardiff was the only Seadart fitted ship in the area that night."
On radar detection of the raid:
"We detected this raid way out on our aged 965-surveillance radar. They appeared on that radar as one 'long' contact and were locked up by both our 909's for what appeared to be a long time. If my memory is right they were flying at 26,000ft...the aircraft we were locked onto that is. They just kept coming and coming and I remember that before we fired one or two aircraft (it's hard to tell with 965 - wavelength 1.2metres) turned away which left one contact (again hard to tell) that continued towards our Intercept Point (IP). We launched as they approached, however, B-108 may well have been turning at the time the missile impacted. After releasing a solid rocket fuel booster which is around 8nm Seadart flies at mach 2.5. It is not possible that Seadart engaged B-109 on their return leg but if the pilot looking over his shoulder at the war fighting on the ground…who knows what he thought he saw.
Shortly after the conflict I was informed that our Seadart severed B-108 into two pieces but Captain Pastran stayed with his aircraft by now spinning madly out of control and he ejected at around 14,000ft. Is this likely?" (I can find no record in any interviews with Capt. Pastran that the aircraft severed so far. There was an explosive decompression, but we do not know if and when it was severed. It does not appear this was the case on impact, as engine fire warning lights came on and Pastran was able to throttle back and deploy air brakes -ed.)
On the HMS Cardiff/Exeter controversy:
"To be quite frank there is no speculation on the Royal Navy side about who shot at who that night. There is some mystery as to why HMS Penelope's crew perceived that an air to surface missile had attacked them but that apart the rest is very simple. One Seadart missile was fired by the only Seadart fitted ship within range of the attacking bomber formation and escorts (let us not lose sight of their mission that night) and that ship was HMS Cardiff. Some of my memories that relate to that night/morning are bound to be flawed but not the fact that Cardiff shot down B-108 with a single Seadart at a range of 32nm. I so am confident of this I could bet my life on it.
On a possible Canberra wreck on Lively Island:
"On my second deployment to the Falklands in 1982 I went ashore on Lively Island and was shown part of an undercarriage that the locals said was from a downed Argentine Canberra. They told us the Canberra crashed with such force the earth shook noticeably. Can they be right about it being a Canberra? Did any other Argentine aircraft crash on Lively Island? (so far, no records have shown B-108 crashed over land -ed.)... I have asked Falkland Islanders via the SAMA82 site if they knew anyone still alive who lived on Lively Island in 1982 (Falkland Islanders move around a bit) and if any are found could they ask them about a possible Canberra crash. I got nothing back that indicated anyone had any information about a Canberra crash on Lively Island, also, one would expect to have seen a picture of the wreckage on the internet by now."
Many thanks to Ken 'Griffiths911' Griffiths for sharing his memories and allowing me to contribute them here. - S.Beeny, Jan. 2009
