Operations in the South Atlantic 1982
Wiltshire's skies have been synonymous with the C130 Hercules flying twenty- four hours a day, way back to the day the first aircraft arrived here in November 1967. Since that day, 'Fat Albert' as the Hercules is affectionately known, has been involved in nearly every major conflict all over the world, sending troops and valuable equipment to the four corners of the globe. One significant event in world history and indeed the history of RAF Lyneham, was the rapid deployment of equipment to the South Atlantic to assist with the recapture of the Falkland Islands in 1982.

We look back at the demands and role the mighty Hercules under took during the Falklands Campaign and the aircraft was converted to different roles to meet the priority tasking to support the re-supply and air-to-air refuelling missions, including the delta-shaped Avro Vulcan's longest bombing mission ever, the 'Black Buck' Operation 8000 miles from home.

Question: How do you make a Lockheed Hercules, with a representative-payload range of 2,500 nautical miles (4 630 km), fly from Ascension Island to the Falklands and back, a distance of some 6,800 nautical miles (12 600 km), without landing?

Answer: You fit long-range fuel tanks and make provision for in-flight refuelling.

The solution to the problem sounds deceptively simple. In practice, there were numerous technical and operational problems to be overcome before RAF Hercules began flying 24/26 hour missions over the South Atlantic as routine in the later stages of the Falklands conflict - problems that could be only dimly foreseen when No 38 Group, with its four Hercules squadrons at Lyneham, was first alerted to the need to support Task Force 317.

The requirement to fly missions beyond the normal range of the Hercules was not immediately apparent when the Lyneham squadrons were directed to provide, at short notice, for the movement of stores and personnel between the UK and Ascension Island. Thus, in the words of the Station Commander, Group Captain Clive Evans the first request was simply for "a small number of aircraft" to move south.

Early Phase
In this early phase of the operation, the Transport Wing at Lyneham. - with the appropriate motto "Support, Save, Supply" incorporated in the official station crest - was able to follow well established routines, such as had previously been used when the RAF has been called upon for earthquake or disaster relief, or during military exercises.

The airfield of Wideawake on Ascension Island was already quite well known to the Hercules crews, having been used on training missions that required precise long-range navigation with the minimum of aids. The route was normally flown via Dakar, in West Africa, in each direction with an additional stop at Gibraltar southbound dictated by the prevailing headwinds.

The first "Corporate" Hercules departed down this route on 3rd April 1982, less than 24 hrs after the Argentine invasion of the Falklands, carrying, in addition to supplies, a six-man team from the UK Mobile Air Movements Squadron (UKMAMS). The initial task of this team was to be to establish an airhead at Wideawake and "to offload up to 13 Hercules” carrying stores that would be required in due course by the Task Force. In fact, within three weeks of its arrival, this team would handle no fewer than 163 aircraft carrying some 3,250,000 lb (11474200 kg) of freight - and even that was only the beginning!