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Mike Fonfé
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The Falklands Guns: The Story of the Captured Argentine Artillery that Became Part of the RAF Regiment Hardcover – June 1, 2023

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 12 ratings
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The Oerlikon twin 35mm anti-aircraft gun was the one weapon in the Argentine armory which had a major impact on the British air campaign during the Falklands Conflict in 1982. Indeed, General Mario Benjamin Menéndez, transient Argentine Governor of Las Islas Malvinas, proudly boasted that: ‘The anti-aircraft gunners were the only Argentine forces on the Malvinas not to be beaten directly by the British and can take pride in being the first and the last to fire on the enemy.’

Following the Argentine surrender, what were then the latest of these Swiss-built all-weather Skyguard radar-directed guns, which had been purchased by the Argentine Government for £30 million, were recovered from the Falklands’ battlefields by a young squadron leader who recognized their value to the RAF for airfield defense. That officer, Michael Fonfé, was then handed the task of creating two Royal Auxiliary Air Force Regiment squadrons from scratch to operate the guns.

This story of the Falkland Guns begins with an account of the experiences of three Argentine anti-aircraft artillery units during the Falklands War, drawing in part on many original Argentine documents the enemy gunners left behind, being unable to take them with them as prisoners of war. Comparisons are drawn with the inferior British equivalents by the gunners who had to man them and the obvious benefits the capture of the new Oerlikons would be to the RAF.

After successfully incorporating Nos. 2729 and 2890 Squadrons into the RAF Regiment’s structure – which included women in combat roles for the first time – Michael Fonfé was promoted to Wing Commander. He was then handed responsibility for all RAF ground-based air defense weapons during the long years of the Cold War.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    256 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Frontline Books
  4. Publication date
    June 1, 2023
  5. Dimensions
    6.25 x 1.25 x 9.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1526774429
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1526774422
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Wing Commander MICHAEL D.C. FONFÉ MBE, RAF (Retd.) was born in Africa in 1945. He married Christina King in 1967 and is the proud father of four children and eight grandchildren. He was awarded the Sword of honor when he graduated from the Royal Air Force College Cranwell. He was also Instructor-in-Gunnery graduate of Royal School of Artillery. Fonfé served for thirty-six years in the RAF Regiment as infantryman, parachutist, anti-aircraft gunner, guided missile specialist, senior staff officer and adjudicator. Mike Fonfé undertook tours in Aden, Bahrein, Malta, Belize, Canada, Germany, New Mexico and South Africa. He retired in 2000 to build an African thatched hut in his English country garden. Mike now divides time between family members in the UK, Germany and Australia. He is also a life member of the Oerlikon Alumni, Switzerland.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Frontline Books (June 1, 2023)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1526774429
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1526774422
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.39 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1.25 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 12 ratings

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Mike Fonfé

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
12 global ratings

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Top reviews from other countries

michael fonfe
5.0 out of 5 stars A cracking good read how to get things done in the Ministry of Defence.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 30, 2023
Verified Purchase
If you have never had a tour in the Ministry of Defence, read this book on how to make the impossible possible. It’s a great gallop through the history of the RAF Regiment, a force of over 80,000 soldier-airmen at its peak, deployed in every place in WWII and never been out of Active Service somewhere in the world ever since - up there with the Marines and Paras, first in last out. With that preparation as a backdrop, fast forward to the height of the Cold War. The Russians have two new low-level radar evading bombers and the RAF IS TOO CASH-STRAPPED to cover two critical airfields with ground-based air defence. Along comes the Falklands Campain and the Argentinians lose, abandoning £30 million worth of brand new kit that gave us a hell of time flying against it. You would think that it was obvious to round it all up and put it to good use, right? Wrong! Unless you are a young, keen, enthusiastic fighting soldier am-airman on his fist tour as a staff officer, untrained by old age, treachery, military and civil service bureaurocracy, not to mention not-invented-here and we’ve-never-done-this-before, if you take the trouble to find out how “The System Works” you can achieve the impossible as I did. The story ends with how, under the guise of Reserve Forces and Home Defence, I got women into the firing seat of the world’s most powerful anti-aircraft cannon, the Oerlikon twin 35 mm gun and its Skyguard radar thirty five years ahead of the Regular Armed Forces putting women into NATO’s frontline Order of Battle. The solution for manpower shortages? Woman power!
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Nath
5.0 out of 5 stars Great part of history
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 5, 2023
Verified Purchase
I am proud to have been in the first intake of 2729, I had some many great memories and such great people, what a great book proud to be part of history.
One person found this helpful
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NAA
3.0 out of 5 stars A mixed bag - good and bad
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 9, 2023
Verified Purchase
First, the good. The story of the author navigating the byzantine corridors or power and authorisation in the MoD (which I have no first hand experience of) to form the new unit is entertaining and enlightening. The gathering together of the weapons and the recommissioning work is also very interesting, as is the training and development of the new unit. Second, the bad. The part of the book about the Falklands conflict is littered with errors (Ardent had Tigercat, Sgt McKay won his VC at Goose Green, the Sea King mission to Chile is still a mystery (when the pilot has published a book about the mission) and so on), and the typical 20/20 RAF hindsight commentary about the use of the RAF GR3s in the conflict, with repeated digs at the RN, are tiresome and misguided. Perhaps if the RAF had run the whole show it would all have been over in a few days. Or not. Finally, to try to put the RAF regiment on a par with the Paras and Royal Marines is in the realms of pure fantasy.
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