To most readers of a certain age, the Falklands Conflict was a watershed event which tested the resolve, capabilities, and persistence of the Royal Navy and the Nation. It was a bloody affair at sea; the Royal Navy suffered immensely and yet still prevailed. The loss of the Type 42 HMS Sheffield to Exocet missiles shocked naval professionals and called into serious question Royal Navy air defense capabilities. Other air defense ships suffered as well. The County Class ships – HMS Antrim and HMS Glamorgan (which survived an Exocet hit) were damaged and another Type 42, HMS Coventry, was lost. The conflict also highlighted inherent design issues with the Type 42 and Royal Navy damage control readiness.

Ray Rimell is releasing a limited edition volume (1,000 individually numbered and signed copies) of the ‘true story of the Potters Bar Zeppelin’. A companion volume on ‘The Last Flight of the L31’ is being released simultaneously. The cover features a painting by Ray Rimell depicting 2/Lt. Wulstan Joseph Tempest firing into the hull of L31 on the night of October 1, 1916. Ronny Bar contributes a large color side profile of Tempest’s RAF Be2c 4577. I counted 56 photographs (including eleven in color) and a scale drawing of a ‘R’ Class Zeppelin 1916 of which L31 was the second example.

History Brief

Operation Barbarossa, the famous German invasion of the Soviet Union, was the most titanic clash of arms in all history. The forces arrayed on each side numbered in the millions. The territory captured stretched from the Polish border to the doorstep of Moscow. Everywhere, the Luftwaffe roared overhead. The losses inflicted by the Bf 109 and its compatriots gave Germany total tactical air superiority and very nearly handed Hitler a victory in Russia.