Falklands Fighter With Combat Kill - Sharkey Ward's Sea Harrier

In a small regional UK museum is a Sea Harrier with a fascinating history - flown in combat during the 1982 Falklands War, piloted by one of the top-scoring naval aviators of that campaign, Nigel 'Sharkey' Ward, and used by him to successfully destroy an Argentine Dagger. A rare machine indeed! Discover the full story here...

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Disclaimer: All opinions and comments expressed in the 'Comments' section do not reflect the opinions of Mark Felton Productions. All opinions and comments should contribute to the dialogue. Mark Felton Productions does not condone written attacks, insults, racism, sexism, extremism, violence or otherwise questionable comments or material in the 'Comments' section, and reserves the right to delete any comment violating this rule or to block any poster from the channel.

Credits: US National Archives; Library of Congress; Andrew P. Clarke; Royal Navy
Thumbnail: A. Tooby

[MarkFeltonProductions]

STUPID ERROR ALERT: I keep saying HMS Illustrious when I meant to say HMS Invincible. Please forgive this forced error!

[julianneale]

Sharky was court martialed for very low level flying. What people don't fully realise, is that this was the vital experience required for him, years later, enabling him to fly at 10' AGL, to achieve a kill! Good work that man, you make me proud to be British!

[jubjub]

RIP Sharkey, Dr Felton immortalized you with this video, making me and many others aware of your heroic flying career.

[seeingeyegod]

I never tire of hearing Falklands air combat stories.

[BobSagan-jd]

Served my apprenticeship on the last of the RAF’s harriers, great memories of an aircraft from a time before my own

[Argosy-gb]

Had the pleasure of meeting Sharky Ward and Surgeon Rick Jolly at Holborn library at an Air Britain meet in the late 80's. I was with some work colleagues from Holborn Police Station. We invited them to our local, the Queens Head and was pleased they said yes. Was thrilled, had Sharky Ward one side at the bar and Rick Jolly the other side. Never forget that night. Great blokes.

[davidtaylor]

My father, Lt Cdr Doug Taylor, conceived of and designed the Ski Jump (more complex that it looks - he took a year's sabbatical at Southampton University to do the calculations). It proved crucial to the outcome of the Falklands War, enabling Harriers to take off with a full complement of fuel and weapons. He made himself unpopular with the RN top brass, who wanted to keep their big aircraft carriers and it took him 10 years to convince them to back his idea. Southampton University awarded him an MPhil for his work; the Queen gave him an MBE and the Admiralty made an 'interim payment' of £25k for his contribution. The Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm museum at Yeovilton has a mock-up of a ski jump with a Sea Harrier taking off but, apart from that, there's no mention of the Ski Jump or my father anywhere. Surprising, as he was one of their own and the Ski Jump was a notable success for the Fleet Air Arm.

[stevewaite]

I served with a Sharkey Ward in 1974 at HMS Osprey, naval air station Portland in Dorset. He was a chopper pilot and a Lt. It's been a long time since those days and a few of the guys I served with were killed in the Falklands but the photo of him is an older version of the Sharkey I knew and he was a good bloke even though an officer.

[petercarter]

My family and I have made several trips to the museum it is a very interesting and educational afternoon out, there is a small cafe there I recall, well worth a visit

[The_kneidlach_engineer]

Aviation nerd here. At 8:05 those are not IAI Dagger (Israeli version of Mirage 5) but a pair of Douglas A-4 Skyhawks...

[TroyDowVanZandt]

In the late 80s, I had a job teaching English in Frankfurt. I had a long break, so I decided to walk up to the Zeil to have lunch. On the way, I went by the Frankfurter Hof, a well-known hotel. A large crowd was in front, and I asked what the deal was. "Maggie Thatcher--ze Iron Lady!" was the answer. I waited and waited, and finally left for the Zeil. I had lunch and did some window shopping. As I passed the Frankfurter Hof on the way back, a limousine pulled up and out got Margaret Thatcher who did that palm-up Queen wave. Talk about timing.

[chromatic_sun]

"I counted them all out, and I counted them all back."
Reporter Brian Hanrahan's memorable quote that still resonates today.

[Jeffybonbon]

The Falklands guys are now starting to leave us and now is the time to interview them Rick Jolly Sharkey ect were remarkable men and were so important God bless them and I thank them all for what was achieved in 1982 please do more Falklands stuff

[thedolt]

Sharky looks just like a bloody pirate! Good show!

[flexairz]

RIP Sharky, thank you for your service.

[maverick]

Anyone who earnt a SAMA medal is truly worthy of admiration

That conflict was a serious test of our ability and highlighted some pretty outdated kit, but as we have historically, we dug in, got on with it and were victorious, although nobody wins in war

[KleosAu]

I'm Australian and love your channel, I had the pleasure of sitting in a Harrier Jump Jet at the Avalon Airshow. I told my English father in law how Proud I was!

[Davis]

There is a Falklands War Veteran Sea Harrier on display at the Boscombe Down Aviation Collection at Old Sarum airfield with 4 victories. The aircraft is Sea Harrier XZ457.

[paulmartin]

What a man sharky was RIP, We need more brave men like him, thanks for sharing Mark cheers 🥂

[Julianbrowne-sz]

ive got all of the Falkland's magazines, i was ten when it happened, excellent video, thank you