Hercules: The Inside Story of an RAF Legend
416 pages
Dr James Bosbotinis
The Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules transport aircraft will likely be known to many members of The Naval Review, having performed sterling service in support of the United Kingdom from the late 1960s onward. In this book, the author, Scott Bateman, who served as an air loadmaster and then a pilot flying the Hercules with 47 Squadron, serving in the Royal Air Force from 1990 to 2008, seeks to provide an account of the C-130’s career principally with the Royal Air Force. Bateman also provides an account of the C-130’s role in the 1976 Entebbe Raid, and an account (pages 42 to 44) of on 29 April 1975, the day before Saigon fell, Major Phuong of the South Vietnamese Air Force flew a Hercules out to Thailand with 452 people onboard. This was particularly notable because as Bateman explains, “Phuong managed to get it airborne some 10,000 pounds overweight.” Of particular interest to NR members, will be the author’s discussion of trials undertaken by the United States with a Hercules landing on and flying off the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal in 1963 – a feat which Bateman himself attempted in a simulator.
The majority of the book is dedicated to the C-130 in British service, including its roles in the various operations undertaken through the 1970s up to Iraq and Afghanistan in the 2000s, and its final mission to Khartoum, Sudan, in 2023. Bateman combines both an account of the aircraft in service, drawing on the accounts of others, alongside his own career, in order to cover the full period of the Hercules in Royal Air Force service. The author dedicates two chapters to the roles and contribution of the Hercules to the Falklands War, which will be of much interest to members of the NR, covering in particular the use of the aircraft to airdrop personnel and supplies to the Task Force, the development of air-to-air refuelling, as well as planning for potential Special Forces’ raids against Argentine airbases. Pages 387 to 391 cover ‘Publisher’s Notes’, which explain particular issues, allowing for MoD rules governing what the author could write. Bateman’s style of writing is very engaging, and at times colourful, with some of the accounts covering the lighter side of flying. Conversely, the chapter ‘Absent Friends’, which covers the loss of Hercules XV179 with 10 personnel onboard, on 30 January 2005, is a powerfully written, eloquent statement of the aftermath for the families and friends of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
The author has written a highly engaging, fascinating, and at times poignant account of the Hercules in particularly Royal Air Force service. The book features an excellent selection of photos in two sections, an Afterword by Wing Commander Simon Footer MBE RAF (retired), and the C-130 Hymn. For all those with an interest in aviation, the book will greatly appeal, but it also provides much valuable reading for anyone with an interest in military life – the highs, and the lows. I greatly enjoyed reading this book, and it is certainly recommended.
