Hostile Skies

David Morgan reveals what it is really like to be a jet fighter pilot in this vivid memoir from the Falklands War. In 1982, David Morgan was an RAF officer, on secondment to the Royal Navy, when the Argentine invasion took place. He flew in the first British air strike against the enemy positions around Port Stanley, the raid memorably described by BBC reporter Brian Hanrahan who "counted them all out, and counted them all back." But three out of 30 British pilots were killed during the first week. Morgan was first on the scene at Bluff Cove, where Argentine jets had bombed the landing ships Sir Tristram and Sir Galahad, with great loss of life. He and his wingman pounced on four enemy Skyhawk fighter-bombers: he shot down two, his wingman hit the third; the fourth managed to escape after jettisoning his weapons and drop tanks. David Morgan was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his bravery in 1982. He is also credited with downing several helicopters as well as pressing home ground attack missions in the teeth of heavy anti-aircraft fire. After the war, he met one of the Argentine pilots he fought, who had had him in his sights but discovered his guns were jammed. David Morgan is also a published poet and his writing style elevates his story above that of most other war memoirs. He includes heartfelt letters he sent back to England to his wife, his young children, and his former mistress. He had confessed to his affair just as the fleet sailed, and writes very movingly of the difficulty in rescuing personal relationships while sent to war the other side of the world. This intimate account of one pilot's war combines the adrenaline rush craved by every would-be Top Gun pilot with deeply sensitive reflection.