HIDDEN HISTORY Falklands Canberra PR9s

FACT
OR
FOLKLORE? The question has gone unanswered for years: did RAF Canberra
PR9s fly from Chilean bases during the Falklands War? Operation
‘Folklore’ was the codename given to a planned deployment —
but, despite its eventual cancellation, rumours still abound. For his
new book Harrier 809, author Rowland White talked to some of
those involved, and researched in official archives, to investigate
one of British military aviation’s most enduring mysteries
WORDS: ROWLAND WHITE

For Operation ‘Folklore’, RAF Canberra PR9s

deployed to Belize in anticipation of performing
reconnaissance missions over the South Atlantic.
The plan called for them to fly to northern Chile,
land on a stretch of the Pan-American Highway
at dawn, refuel from a waiting C-130, then
continue on to Punta Arenas. COLIN ADAMS

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 G
p Capt Colin Adams had
the radio on as he got
ready for work, the Today
programme a regular
companion to his morning routine.
After 20 years as a front-line pilot
in the RAF he was now finally, and
permanently, flying a desk. A varied
and exotic career that had seen
him deploy around the globe from
South America to East Africa, and
from Europe’s arctic north to the
South China Sea, had given way
to a posting to RAF Innsworth in
Gloucester, at what was, in effect,
the air force’s human resources
department, responsible for every
aspect of ‘light blue’ personnel
and career management. It didn’t,
admittedly, have the same appeal
as evading enemy MiGs in the skies
over Indonesia, but he’d had a good
innings in the cockpit, and more fun
than most.
Radio 4’s familiar mix of news,
views and interviews was usually
little more than a soundtrack.
Background to breakfast. But this
morning it had his full attention. On
the hour, the news bulletin led with
a report that the New Statesman
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magazine had just published an “It is suspected that you leaked ABOVE:
article, ‘The Chile Connection’, information about the operation in PR9 XH173 of No 39
claiming that, three years earlier, Chile to the press.” Squadron shows its
hinged nosecone on
“at least” six Canberra PR9s from To this day, the article in the New the apron at Wyton.
No 39 Squadron at RAF Wyton Statesman, written by journalist This aircraft later
near Huntingdon had deployed Duncan Campbell, still feels became serial 343
on operations to Punta Arenas in authoritative. Rich with detail, it with the Chilean Air
southern Chile during the Falklands cites “many sources” and veteran Force.
DENIS J. CALVERT
War. At the time, Colin Adams had ITN reporter — now Channel 4
been 39’s commanding officer. News anchor — Jon Snow, who
An hour later, at RAF Rudloe was based in Punta Arenas for the
Manor near duration of the
Bath, he took a 1982 conflict. In
telephone call Adams was his 2004 memoir,
from a group
captain in the told, ‘It is suspected Shooting History,
Snow writes that
RAF Police who
told him, “I’ve
that you leaked he “saw with my
own eyes […]
been instructed information to the two Canberra
to come and see bombers at
you immediately”. press’ Punta Arenas
After arriving airport. They
at the 17th century manor house, were adorned in Chilean colours,
beneath which a network of but they appeared British manned”.
underground bunkers had long Already familiar with the Canberra
provided a home to RAF intelligence after reporting from southern
activity, the senior RAFP officer was Africa, where the type served
ushered in by Adams. with the South African Air Force,
“I’m afraid I have to speak to you Snow felt confident in his ability to
under caution”, the MP explained. recognise the veteran British
“What the hell for?” asked Adams. twin-jet machine.
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 HIDDEN HISTORY Falklands Canberra PR9s
Ever since the appearance of the boss Colin Adams’s time in the
New Statesman piece, speculation, cockpit of the remarkable Canberra
rumour and debate has raged PR9 was also coming to an end.
about what No 39 Squadron’s Just 23 PR9s were built, all by
Canberras might really have got Short Brothers. Their capabilities
up to in 1982. While researching were outstanding. Adams himself
my new book about the Falklands had flown one as high as 68,000ft.
campaign, Harrier 809, I came The System III camera capsule it
across a letter in the National had inherited from the American
Archives titled ‘Operation Corporate Lockheed U-2 meant it could see
— Innovations’. Copied across the time on Big Ben while flying
several naval departments, the letter at over 40,000ft above the Isle of
included an annex containing three Wight. By 1982, those that remained,
lines that caught my eye: “Canberra carefully nurtured to preserve the
PR9 fitted with Westinghouse 101-10 dwindling fatigue life of their old
ECM jammer pods (and 1 aircraft airframes, were under the care of
with additional internal
fuel tank)”. And with
that, my simple plan As the engineers looked to
to tell the story of 809
Naval Air Squadron, a
reinstate underwing pylons, they
Sea Harrier unit hastily used lengths of metal pipe they
recommissioned a week
after the invasion and found behind the Wyton NAAFI
then sent south to fight
less than three weeks later, suddenly Colin Adams at Wyton. But, when
got a little more complicated. the No 39 Squadron boss was first
asked to consider the possibility of
a Canberra deployment in support
After nearly a quarter of a of Operation ‘Corporate’, the British
BELOW:
century as a dedicated photo- effort to retake the Falklands, the
Many of the RAF’s reconnaissance unit, No 39 plan was to leave them all at home.
ever-diminishing fleet Squadron’s time was nearly up. Instead, attention focused on the
of PR9s underwent With just five aircraft to its name, older, but longer-ranged, Canberra
a major update from 39 was due to lose its status as a full PR7. These were to be borrowed
1976 with the fitting squadron at the end of May 1982. from 39’s Wyton neighbours, No
of Decca TANS and
the AN/ARI 18228
Redesignated as No 1 Photographic 100 Squadron. While three carefully
passive warning Reconnaissance Unit, it wasn’t chosen No 39 Squadron crews
receiver. going to need a full-blown wing underwent a rapid conversion
DENIS J. CALVERT commander to run it, so squadron course, No 100 Squadron engineers
prepared their aircraft. The latter’s
operations record book noted with
impressive disingenuousness,
“Easter was marked by feverish
activity to prepare 3 of the PR7s
for possible deployment to
Chile as part of a potential sales
demonstration”. Their intended
customer, however, had other ideas.
Gp Capt Sidney Edwards arrived
in Chile on 14 April 1982. A former
Hunter pilot, Edwards was a
Spanish speaker with a background
in military intelligence. His covert
mission was to liaise with the
Chilean military over support for
the British campaign in the South
Atlantic. The recent lifting of a five-
year-old ban on arms exports and
the normalisation of diplomatic
relations between Britain and Gen
Pinochet’s regime was proving to be
exceptionally well-timed.
A day after his arrival in Santiago,
Edwards met Gen Vicente
Rodríguez, the head of Chilean Air
Force (Fuerza Aérea de Chile, FACh)
intelligence. Rodríguez showed
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Edwards around his headquarters,
sharing up-to-date intelligence on
Argentine dispositions, encouraging
him to ask whatever he wanted
of his staff and explaining that, as
chairman of the country’s Joint
Intelligence Committee, he could
guarantee the assistance of all
Chile’s armed forces. With the carrot
dangled, Edwards was invited to a
meeting with Gen Fernando Matthei,
the FACh commander-in-chief.
“Nothing specific to discuss”,
Matthei told him. “I just want to
make sure you’re getting all the help
you needed”. Edwards assured him
he was. He had good
news for Matthei in
return: confirmation
that six surplus RAF
Hunters would be
air-freighted to Chile
within the week.
Another seven would
follow as soon as they
were ready. Also now given priority
treatment were Chilean requests for
Blowpipe anti-aircraft missiles. With
the balance of the conversation so
far working largely in Chile’s favour,
Edwards made a request of his own.
“Would you”, he asked, “allow
us to base some RAF photo-
reconnaissance Canberras in
Chile?” He outlined the need for
up-to-date intelligence and the
exceptional imagery the PR9s
would bring back while flying, he
explained, “at very high altitude in
Chilean and international airspace.”
“I’m familiar with the Canberra’s
qualities”, Matthei told him. And
he really was. Chile had wanted to
add the PR9 to the FACh inventory
to help with ‘land survey tasks’
for some time. Previously denied
the opportunity to do so for either
financial or political reasons, the
general saw his opening. He let
Edwards finish making his case and
then turned him down.
“The Canberra is such a distinctive
aircraft”, he said, “that we would
not be able to keep its presence in
Chile a secret”. Before Edwards had
a chance to absorb the bad news,
Matthei proposed an alternative
arrangement. “If you were prepared
to sell some to Chile at an acceptable
price, the sale could be portrayed as
part of Chile’s defence procurement.
Obviously, some RAF air and
groundcrews would be needed
initially to train their Chilean Air
Force counterparts.”
Edwards listened, hope rising.
“There could be no better way of
carrying out this training than to
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 mount of the sort of reconnaissance
sorties you’ve described”, Matthei
concluded. London eagerly
embraced the general’s suggestion,
asking only that, at least until the
‘take’ from the first few missions
was in, Chile’s acquisition of the
PR9 was not made public.
While an air-to-air refuelling
system for the PR9 had been
designed in 1966, it had never been
employed. In the end, the jet was
provided with sufficient range and
endurance for the South Atlantic
mission through the addition of a
hastily modified internal fuel tank,
borrowed from a No 100 Squadron
Canberra TT18 and installed in the
PR9’s flare bay with components
machined in the station workshop.
The crew was given a single on/off
switch to pump the fuel out of the
new auxiliary tank as required.
Alongside the work to extend
the aircraft’s range was an effort to
improve its survivability. Adams
and his crews considered their
vulnerability to interception by
Argentine fighters. The main threat,
it was thought, would come from the
Dassault Mirage IIIs of the Fuerza
Aérea Argentina (FAA)’s Grupo 8.
It had long been considered sport
within the PR9 community to fish
for attention from friendly fighter
squadrons. In the early seventies,
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Canberra crews only had to include
the word ‘Embellish’ when they
filed their flight plan to invite them
to try their luck. But while Lightning
pilots were capable of reaching the
altitudes flown by the Canberra, it
was not the same thing as making
a successful interception. And
although, flying above 60,000ft,
the PR9 had to be handled pretty
gingerly, it was more capable of
manoeuvring at that height than
the fighter.
If threatened in the skies over
the South Atlantic by FAA Mirage
IIIs — a machine that was known to
be capable of reaching a height of
more than 70,000ft — Adams was
hopeful they would fare no better in
a turning match than their British
counterparts. But it would at least
help to know they were coming, and
the recently installed Marconi
AN/ARI 18228/6 Sky Guardian
radar warning receiver (RWR) was
able to warn the Canberra crews of
the frequency and bearing of enemy
radars at a distance of up to 120
miles.
In the week of his meeting at
Northwood, Colin Adams flew a
trial using the Sky Guardian. To
help crews familiarise themselves
with the nature of anything the new
RWR system might detect, Wyton’s ABOVE:
Electronic Warfare Operational Initial plans for a
Support Establishment (EWOSE) potential Falklands
deployment
prepared cassette tapes of the considered using
different radars operated by the the Canberra PR7,
Argentinians. And with support which was longer-
from A&AEE Boscombe Down ranged than the PR9.
and the jet’s manufacturer, No 39 This PR7, WJ817,
Squadron’s engineers worked to belonged to No 13
Squadron, which
reduce the PR9s’ vulnerability still disbanded on 1
further. Such was the pace of things January 1982.
that, as they looked to reinstate ADRIAN M. BALCH
underwing pylons that had gone
unused for as long as anyone could
remember, they were using lengths
of metal pipe they’d found stored
behind the Wyton NAAFI. Adams
could only applaud and admire his
men’s initiative.
On Wednesday 21 April, a pair
of heavily laden VC10s from No
10 Squadron, RAF climbed away
from Brize Norton and set a course
for Dulles International Airport in
Washington. But that was not their
final destination. After a night’s rest
on the east coast they continued
their journey west to March Air
Force Base, southern California.
From there they headed out over
the Pacific, flying almost due south
towards a small volcanic island in
the South Pacific. Barely 15 miles
across and located in excess of 2,000
miles west of the Latin American
mainland, Easter Island was one
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 HIDDEN HISTORY Falklands Canberra PR9s

country without attracting too much

attention from a Soviet spy satellite
thought to be passing overhead
every hour-and-a-half. The two
RAF airlifters both had their British
roundels and fin flashes painted out
and replaced with Chilean markings.
One of them was identified with the
words FUERZA AERA DE CHILE
painted on the fuselage. In the haste
to disguise their true identities
‘Aérea’ had been mis-spelt.
The two No 39 Squadron Canberra
PR9s were already on their way,
skirting around the northern rim of
the Atlantic. Colin Adams and Brian
Cole, flying XH166, led the pair. In
the cockpit of the other Canberra
was Flt Lt David Lord. His crewmate,
sealed inside the nose of the jet,
was navigator Flt Lt Ted Boyle. After
leaving Wyton on 20 April, they flew
north-west to Keflavík in Iceland
and on to Gander in Canada. On the
21st they spent the night at Naval
Air Station Bermuda, the US Navy
ABOVE: of the most remote inhabited islands lightbulbs. All were to be kept under base on St David’s Island, before
Another view of in the world. It was home to nearly a cover along with generators, tools, continuing to RAF Belize in Central
XH173, this time on thousand carved stone heads known jacks, trolleys and hydraulic rigs. America the following day.
climb-out. The PR9’s
as Moai, and one single runway. And Consumables like fuel, oil, hydraulic Much work had gone into
outright performance
was such that it was since 1888 it had belonged to Chile. fluid and oxygen needed to be preparing the two reconnaissance
possible to evade For public consumption, the readily available. There were tents to aircraft for ‘Folklore’ before their
enemy fighters, journey by the two No 10 Squadron accommodate personnel, and more departure. A new chaff dispenser
especially at altitude. transports, callsigns Ascot 2830 and tents in which to store and service fitted in the flare bay had been
ADRIAN M. BALCH Ascot 2831, was coyly described the extensive array of survival kit for trialled against a Lightning F6 from
as a “route training flight”, but it each pilot and navigator to fly high- RAF Binbrook, and had successfully
was nothing of the sort. As they altitude, long-range missions over broken the lock from the fighter’s
descended towards their Polynesian freezing water. AI-23 Airpass radar. But a more
destination, one passenger, Sqn Ldr front-footed approach to self-
Peter Robbie, thought about what defence was also in train.
might lay ahead. Once they were on the ground at The pipework snaffled by No 39
RIGHT: One of the three Canberra Easter Island, it was Robbie’s job to Squadron engineers from round
No 39 Squadron pilots selected by Colin Adams get it all cross-loaded onto a pair of the back of the Wyton NAAFI had
PR9s on the flightline for Operation ‘Folklore’, Robbie waiting RAF Hercules already in- been put to good use plumbing AN/
at Wyton, their was leading the advance party.
home base near Travelling with him, loaded aboard
Huntingdon. The
picture illustrates
the two VC10s, was all the support
unique method of equipment required to sustain what
entry enjoyed by was to be an open-ended mission.
the navigator — the Expected to be operating without
whole nosecone local support, they were not
hinged sideways, travelling light. A fully supported
allowing access to an
ejection seat buried
aerial survey detachment required a
inside the fuselage minimum of 20 personnel to fly and
ahead of the pilot’s maintain the aircraft and at least
cockpit. Once shut in, the same again to man a mobile
only a pair of small reconnaissance intelligence centre
eye-level windows on (RIC) housed within a pair of pre-
either side provided
any direct view
fabricated ATREL (Air-Transportable
of the outside world. Reconnaissance Exploitation
While it’s not a set-up Laboratory) cabins. Film processors
you can imagine and printers were needed. A camera
scoring highly in bay for servicing the photographic
Euro NCAP crash- equipment required a 50ft by 30ft
testing, it was an
excellent working
inflatable shelter. To keep the PR9s
environment, free of serviceable, the detachment had
glare and reflections. to be self-sufficient on everything
COLIN ADAMS from spare engines and tyres to

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 ALQ-101 jamming pods, borrowed
from the Buccaneer force at RAF
Honington, to the freshly restored
wing pylons. Proving flights over
the electronic warfare range at
RAF Spadeadam in Cumbria were
arranged. If successful, the new kit
would spoof Argentinian radars
into believing the Canberra was
somewhere other than where it was
— a useful trick when people are
trying to shoot you down.
But perhaps the most unusual
deception was also the simplest.
Although still wearing their standard
RAF khaki green
and dark grey
camouflage, the Robbie suggested
PR9s had seen
their British they land on a stretch
roundels and fin
flashes painted
of the Pan-American
over and replaced Highway to refuel
by the blue and
red shield of the from a Hercules
Fuerza Aérea de
Chile. Removable British national
markings had then been papered
back on to the wings, fuselage and
tail prior to undertaking the ferry
flight across the Atlantic to Belize.
On the same day, the departure
from RAF Lyneham of a No 30
Squadron Hercules C1, serial
XV292, was recorded in the unit’s
operations record book. All that was
said about the mission undertaken
by Flt Lt Morris and his four-man
crew was that they were taking part
in Operation ‘Folklore’. That this
was an effort to deploy the No 39
Squadron Canberra PR9s to the
South Atlantic was not shared.
Peter Robbie flattened himself
down against the back seat of the
car and pulled the blankets over to
cover himself up. Each visit to the
British embassy in Santiago first
required permission from his FACh
minder, then the same clandestine
approach, the RAF flight lieutenant
hidden from view like a criminal
being driven from a courthouse.
There was a little less need for
subterfuge as he scouted around the
country, assessing FACh stations for
their suitability as forward bases for
the PR9 deployment. But from the
moment he reached the mainland
he could tell his hosts were nervous
about the prospect of the Canberras’
arrival. And he knew nothing of the
cover story hatched by Edwards and
Matthei that Operation ‘Folklore’
was nothing more than the despatch
of a British military training team
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to Chile, temporarily located there
alongside the FACh’s newly acquired
high-altitude spyplanes. It all made
for an uncomfortable mission.
The distances didn’t help. The
country’s northern border with
Peru was further from Cape Horn
in the south than London was
from Timbuktu. But in the days
since his arrival from Easter Island
Robbie had visited five different air
bases. In the end, though, all roads
led to Punta Arenas in Tierra del
Fuego, on Argentina’s doorstep. The
epicentre of a long-standing border
dispute with
Argentina, it felt
like the front
line. The FACh
maintained a
detachment of
armed Northrop
F-5s on quick
reaction alert,
ready to respond
to any incursion
from their neighbours to the east.
The civilian terminal that shared
the airfield with the military had its
windows papered over, while flight
attendants insisted their passengers
lower the blinds when flying both in
and out of the airfield.
Robbie discussed the prospective
PR9 operation with the FACh
personnel at the base. They
pointed out the poor, changeable
weather, strong winds, Argentine
spies and a need to operate under
cover of darkness. There was a
radar-equipped Argentine picket
ship steaming off the coast, they
said. They seemed paranoid that
instead of routing south out over
the Southern Ocean, the British
Canberra crews would somehow
drop the ball and fly directly east
after take-off — and straight into
Argentine airspace.
They’d like to be helpful, Robbie
thought, but he got the impression
they were clearly trying to scupper
the whole thing. It wasn’t up to
them, though. If the plan had
Matthei’s backing, his subordinates
had no choice but to try to make
it work.
Robbie recommended that the
PR9s mount their reconnaissance
missions over the Falklands from
Punta Arenas. But to get them there
in the first place would require a
little ingenuity. Lacking the range
to fly direct from Belize to Punta
Arenas, Robbie suggested that
the No 39 Squadron jets land on
a deserted stretch of the Pan-
American Highway about 30 miles
south of Chile’s border with Peru,
refuel from a waiting RAF Hercules,
then take off again from the BELOW:
blacktop to continue south to Tierra Taken in late
April 1982 from
del Fuego. the window of a
Even this would see Colin Adams departing No 10
and his wingman flying into Chile Squadron VC10
on fumes. And the MoD wanted C1, this previously
them to do it at night. unseen photograph
shows a No 30
Squadron Hercules
C1, its RAF markings
Every drop will count, realised painted out, on
the No 39 Squadron boss as he Easter Island
and his crews planned and refined alongside a Chilean
their route to northern Chile. Air Force C-130 (the
Since arriving in Central America nearest of the two
Hercules). The British
communications with Peter Robbie’s aircraft was deployed
advance party had been frustratingly in support of
patchy, but concern about fuel and Operation ‘Folklore’.
the diplomatic complications SQN LDR BILL RAGG
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 HIDDEN HISTORY Falklands Canberra PR9s
ABOVE: prompted by any direct route
Never before between Belize and Chile had been
published, this image constant. To have any chance of
shows Canberra PR9
reaching their destination they
serial 341 in Fuerza
Aérea de Chile were going to have to cruise-climb
markings, and with on a south-easterly track across
tip tanks attached, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa
taxiing out at Wyton Rica. Clearance to do so would
on 15 October 1982, neither be requested nor given. But
ready to embark
intelligence suggested it was unlikely
on the delivery
flight to its new any of them had the capability to do
operator. It was in the anything about it. Beyond, though,
hands of a Chilean lay Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.
crew, comprising Such a cavalier attitude to entering
— according to their airspace was likely to end
author Santiago
badly. All three possessed modern,
Rivas in British
Combat Aircraft well-equipped air forces operating
in Latin America squadrons of supersonic Mirages.
(Hikoki, 2019) — Col And Peru, more than any other
González and Capt country in Latin America, was vocal
Canales. This, as in its support of Argentina.
XH166, was one of
Adams suggested skirting around
the two PR9s that,
still in service with Peru’s 1,500-mile coastline at a
No 39 Squadron, distance of 100 miles. His navigator
had got as far Brian Cole argued that tucking
as Belize on the in closer at 50 miles would shave
Operation ‘Folklore’ the overall distance to Chile and
deployment before it
usefully increase their fuel margin.
was cancelled.
FARLINGTON PHOTO COLLECTION
Crucially, being 50 miles offshore
meant the RAF jets would still be
flying way beyond the limits of
Peru’s sovereign airspace. While
Argentina’s ally might not welcome
the puzzling presence nearby of
a pair of Canberra PR9s dressed
in FACh markings, it could not
legitimately hinder their progress.
It would buy the RAF flyers a little
more leeway, but they would still
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need either to tow the jets out to the
end of the runway before starting
the engines, or to taxi out and then
hot-refuel at the threshold to top
up the tanks before an immediate
departure. Adams and his crews
were no less concerned about the
fine detail of their arrival in Chile.
The squadron boss had already
signalled No 1 Group HQ back in the
UK to say the MoD demand that they
land in the dark was a non-starter.
Plainly unacceptable, Cole had
thought. They’d not only be very
low on fuel, but would have to
make a visual approach to land on
a totally unfamiliar stretch of road.
And landing anywhere except a
runway was in no way part of No
39 Squadron’s normal repertoire.
On top of that there’d be no up-to-
date weather information, nor any
radar control. A compromise was
reached. After descending to low
level at first light, the PR9 crews
were to radio ahead with 15 miles to
run to their Pan-American Highway
landing strip. At that point a series
of Verey cartridges would be fired
to light a flare path to the makeshift
runway. Unlikely to have the fuel
to go around again, they’d get one
shot at it.
If anything went wrong during
this last, critical phase of the flight
— and running out of fuel was a
real possibility — they were, Adams
briefed, “to point the aircraft out to
sea and eject while still over land.”
In Chile, Peter Robbie boarded
a disguised RAF Hercules and flew
north to Arica Province. Arriving just
after dawn the transport settled onto
the highway on soft tyres. On board
was another RAF Hercules crew and,
as ever, their Chilean minders. The
C-130 crew was impressed with the
slickness of the FACh operation to
close the road to traffic and prepare
it for the arrival of the Canberras,
a procedure that appeared to be
practised regularly. And the dress
rehearsal proved the validity of the
No 39 Squadron plan. When the
PR9s arrived through the soft glow of
the new day, they would cross-refuel
from the C-130’s own tanks before
immediately taking to the air again
from the road for the final leg of the
journey south to Punta Arenas.
From there it was Robbie and his
navigator, rather than the two crews
who’d just staged south over 7,000
miles from Belize, who were tasked
to fly the first ‘Folklore’ photo-
reconnaissance mission out over
the South Atlantic. They were all set.
Generally speaking, the Daily
Star’s diet of pin-ups, prurience,
celebrity news and outrage was of
little interest to readers in Chile. But
as the red-top covered the events in
the South Atlantic with screaming
100-point headlines, there was one
report that prompted deep concern
in Santiago.
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“Last week”, said the tabloid,
“Phantom fighters secretly flew
to southern Chile, via Ascension
Island, from an RAF base in Suffolk.
With them went six giant RAF Victor
tankers to refuel them in the air…
Defence sources say the Phantoms
will be more than a match for the
Argentinians’ 50 French Mirage
fighters.”
Unfortunately for British military
planners, while the RAF’s Phantoms
may well have been more than a
match for the Argentine Air Force,
the rest of the report was completely
untrue. But as he
struggled to reassure his
Chilean hosts, Sidney They’d not only be very low on
Edwards couldn’t help
but wonder about
fuel, but would have to make a
the source of the visual approach to land on a totally
story. Misinformation
planted by Argentina? unfamiliar stretch of road
He thought it might
be. And such was the difficulty it
caused his mission in Santiago, it
may as well have been. Reporters
approached the British embassy for
comments. And while both Chile
and the UK dismissed the story
about the deployment of Phantoms
as baseless, their denials required
careful wording. A report from
Reuters that followed a few days
later suggesting Britain had secured
an agreement to use airfields in
southern Chile only added further to
unease both London and Santiago
felt about the imminent deployment
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LEFT:
Despite the tempo
of events in the
South Atlantic, No
39 Squadron held its
formal disbandment
parade at Wyton
towards the end
of May 1982. PR9
XH170 is at the rear.
The RAF PR9 fleet
was transferred
to a resurrected
No 1 Photographic
Reconnaissance
Unit, only for No 39
Squadron to itself
be re-established
on 1 July 1992 with
the somewhat
unwieldy title of No
39 (1 PRU) Squadron,
thus retaining both
historic identities. It
was disbanded again
on 30 July 2006 with
the phase-out of the
venerable PR9. Since
March 2007, 39 has
been in existence
once more, operating
General Atomics
MQ-9 Reaper UAVs
from Creech AFB,
of the No 39 Squadron Canberra make a valuable contribution to Nevada but with
PR9s from Belize. the British campaign to retake the its headquarters at
In the mess at Belize, Adams and islands. But the possibility that the Waddington.
DENIS J. CALVERT
his crews listened to the BBC World operation might be exposed and
Service as they planned the mission the political and diplomatic fall-out
ahead. The weather, gleaned from that would follow had clearly been
normal commercial airline met deemed too great.
reports, was favourable. But the No 39 Squadron disbanded at
dangers and difficulties were hard the end of May as planned. Two
to ignore: an illegal climb through days earlier, a Canberra PR reunion
Nicaraguan and Costa Rican attracted 600 visitors to Wyton.
airspace in radio silence with their To mark the occasion the crowd
IFF (identification friend or foe) was treated to a display by the Red
transponders turned off before a Arrows, followed by a flypast from a
long, anxious, high-altitude cruise single PR9. The absence of a larger
formation was used
in the New Statesman
article to lend weight to
subsequent speculation
that the squadron’s
aircraft were otherwise
engaged.
So too did the
appearance of a high-
around Argentina’s west coast altitude reconnaissance photograph
allies, and a gasping arrival on an of the airfield at Port Stanley that
unfamiliar road in Chile in the grey captured the damage done by the
light of dawn. Hell or bust, thought RAF’s long-range Vulcan raids. The
the squadron boss. photograph has subsequently been
Then, at lunchtime on the day credited to a Harrier or Sea Harrier
when, after nightfall, they were flying from a carrier, but that often
expecting to deploy, they were told it raises a quizzical eyebrow from
was scrubbed. Operation ‘Folklore’ those with experience of photo-
was off. No explanation was given. reconnaissance. And, to this day,
Adams and his men were bitterly Jon Snow remains adamant that he
disappointed. So much effort had and his cameraman, Alan Downes
been put in and, for all the risks, — “a bit of a plane-spotter” — saw
they were confident of being able to two Canberras on the ground at
do what was required of them and Punta Arenas during the war.
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 HIDDEN HISTORY Falklands Canberra PR9s

home hard information was shared hours’ flying time spread out over
on a need-to-know basis. “Those two weeks. And even that was
who were involved in operations did pushing it. The leg between Tahiti
not talk about them”, said a former and Easter Island would need both
Wyton station commander, “and the new internal fuel tank and tip
those directly involved did not ask.” tanks. Once again, modifying the
As tantalising as the prospect Canberras for air-to-air refuelling
of covert PR9 operations in 1982 was mooted, at an estimated cost of
remains, hard evidence points in £25,000 per aircraft. Finally, there
the other direction. ‘Corporate’ was the idea of dismantling the jets,
air component commander Air shipping them to the islands by
Marshal Sir John Curtiss was sea, and then reassembling them
sufficiently exercised by the absence at Stanley. This was acknowledged
of adequate reconnaissance that to be a one-way trip and suggested
he drafted a paper during the using aircraft “destined for the
war giving voice to his concerns. scrap heap”. But Canberra PR9s and
Alongside him at Northwood, No British aircrew did eventually make
18 Group commander AVM George it to Chile.
Chesworth, in whose office the
‘Folklore’ planning cell was located,
was also to reflect on the absence of At the controls of the PR9 that
PR9 imagery. “We had good satellite flew across the flightline at the 29
coverage”, he said, but what was May reunion was Sqn Ldr Dave
required was “real-time recce”. Even Watson. While Watson didn’t
if No 39 Squadron had been able deploy to Central America with the
to provide that, he noted, “it would ‘Folklore’ operation, he had been
have been hard to get products active in support of it, flying trials
of the recce back”. It was all very with the jammer pod and chaff
well developing photographs in dispenser and to assess the aircraft’s
Chile using the RIC, but getting the stability with the new flare bay fuel
‘take’ into the hands of Task Force tank fitted. His involvement with
commanders was another matter, Chile became rather more direct
although Colin Adams proposed to with the arrival of three FACh crews
air-drop it to the Task Force at sea at Wyton in August.
ABOVE: Such has been the official from the Canberra’s flare bay. The six Chilean airmen had
Two of the Fuerza sensitivity over both Chile’s support No-one had thought to inform already undergone the Canberra
Aérea de Chile’s and its willingness to let the British the Prime Minister of all this. Well- conversion course at RAF Marham
three ex-RAF
Canberra PR9s over
mount operations from inside its briefed on the PR9’s capability after before arriving at No 1 PRU to learn
the Andes. Serial 341 borders that inconsistencies and No 39 Squadron had been put on to fly the PR9 in its intended role.
had been XH166, tantalising loose threads remain. stand-by earlier in the year when her Dave Watson was their instructor.
and 343, leading The Hercules that the No 30 son, Mark, went astray during the While he shepherded the six pilots
this formation, was Squadron ORB records supporting Paris-Dakar rally, she asked to see — three of whom had been required
formerly XH173. The Operation ‘Folklore’ from 25 April the imagery from ‘Folklore’. Furious to train as navigators — through
other aircraft, 342,
had XH167 as its RAF
was photographed on the apron at to learn that the operation had been nearly two months of training, the
identity — it was lost Easter Island the day before. scrubbed, a handbagging followed. station engineers prepared three
in an accident during A few years after the war, an Even after PR9s for their
a mission near Punta aviation journalist visiting No 1 PRU the war the transfer to the
Arenas on 25 May at Wyton was shown around a PR9 challenges Furious to learn FACh.
1983. The last active
survivor was 343,
by one of the aircrew. Pointing at a
series of holes in the underside of
of operating
Canberras in the
the operation had The aircraft
were formally
after 341 sustained
minor damage in a the wing just inboard of the wingtips,
the pilot told him, “This was where
South Atlantic been scrubbed, a handed over to
runway excursion in remained. When the Chilean air
1988. Much the same the tip tanks were attached. We used in September handbagging from attaché, Gen
thing happened with them over the islands. We were at 1982 there was Ramón Vega,
343 during April maximum radius without them, a request for an Thatcher ensued at a ceremony
1994, at Santiago’s
main Arturo Merino but if we dropped the tanks we had aerial survey of at Wyton on 14
Benítez International 15 to 30 minutes over the islands”. the Falklands and South Georgia, October. The next day, the three
Airport, following Asked to elaborate, it seemed to the MoD said, “initially this looks a Canberras left Wyton for Santiago,
which it too was suddenly dawn on him that perhaps ‘no go’ project because of numerous staging through the Canary Islands,
retired. Both are he’d already said too much. And yet, problems”, before going on to Senegal, Cape Verde, Brazil and
today preserved by so long after the fighting, it seems consider the options for getting Paraguay. Supporting them during
the Museo Nacional
Aeronáutico y del entirely plausible for an exaggerated PR9s into theatre. You could fly the long journey to their new
Espacio at Los narrative about 39’s involvement to east. Once the Foreign Office had home at Los Cerrillos with Grupo
Cerrillos, Santiago have taken root at Wyton, alluded discounted the possibility of routing de Aviación No 2 was an FACh
— their former to through nods and winks among through Brazil, the alternative, C-130. On board the Hercules,
base with Grupo de those not directly involved. Even as flying via Malaysia, Australia, Fiji, looking forward to a three-month
Aviación No 2. No 39 Squadron personnel prepared Tahiti, Easter Island, Santiago and deployment to South America to
VIA ROWLAND WHITE
‘Folklore’ in Chile and Belize, back Punta Arenas, would require 48 help the Chileans usher their new

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acquisitions into front-line service,
were Dave Watson, Brian Cole and
another former No 39 Squadron
engineer, drafted in from a posting
to Strike Command because of
his expertise in the camera kit. Of
the three PR9s being transferred
to the FACh, one, XH166, was the
aircraft Cole and Adams had flown
no further than Belize during
Operation ‘Folklore’.
The RAF training team remained
in Chile until December. To
maintain currency during their time
away from Wyton, Watson and Cole
flew in the PR9 at least once a week.
In the company of a FACh crewmate
who handled the Spanish-language
RT, they used their time in the air to
help develop their hosts’ proficiency
in the art of photo-reconnaissance.
But, conscious of the ongoing
political and diplomatic sensitivities
in the region, Watson was only
too aware that “you had to be a bit
careful…”
At Rudloe Manor, Colin Adams
was flabbergasted. Told he was
suspected of having leaked
information to the press, the former
No 39 Squadron boss asked, “Who
the hell thinks I would possibly
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do that? There must have been 80
people or more who knew about
the operation”. The RAF policeman
diligently transcribed Adams’s
reaction in his notebook before
asking a few further questions. But
his heart didn’t seem to be in it.
And, after he’d finished scribbling,
he closed his notebook and started
to smile. “I’m sorry”, he said, “but I
was politically instructed that I had
to interview you.”
“That’s barmy”, Adams told him.
On that, they were both agreed.
So too, it seemed, were more
senior figures in the air force.
Adams, despite his questioning
‘under caution’, was subsequently
promoted to become station
commander at RAF Akrotiri, and
then defence attaché in Paris. But,
after the arrest of civil servant Clive
Ponting later in 1985 for leaking
classified details of the sinking of the
Belgrano, he imagined something
similar had happened over ‘Folklore’.
The truth, though, has never
been confirmed nor denied. Nearly
40 years on from the Falklands
campaign, details of the No 39
Squadron deployment and other
covert RAF operations that
took place in Latin America
during 1982 remain classified.
Chilean and British crews and personnel with a
Canberra PR9 during the FACh contingent’s training in
the UK. Having first received instruction on type with
No 231 Operational Conversion Unit at Marham, flying
Canberra B2s and T4s, they transferred to Wyton to
learn how to fly and operate the considerably more
capable PR9. CLAUDIO CÁCERES GODOY ARCHIVE VIA SANTIAGO RIVAS
NEW HARRIER WI
N!
809 BOOK
Thanks to publisher Penguin
Books, we have two copies of
Rowland White’s new book
Harrier 809 — released on
30 April — to give away.
For a chance of winning this
book, answer the following
question:
At which RAF base in the
UK were No 39
Squadron’s Canberras
stationed at the time of
the Falklands conflict?
To enter, simply visit www.aeroplanemonthly.com and
complete the online competition entry form. Alternatively,
send your name, postal address and e-mail (if you have the
latter) to: Aeroplane Harrier 809 Book Competition,
Key Publishing, PO Box 100, Stamford, Lincolnshire,
PE9 1XQ, UK.
The winner will be drawn at random on 20 May 2020 and
notified by post/e-mail by 27 May 2020.
No purchase necessary. There is no cash prize and the editor’s decision
is final. The competition is not open to employees of Key Publishing or
their families.
www.aeroplanemonthly.com 91
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