Unsung Hero of the Falklands War: The Life and Career of Commodore Michael Clapp CB

240 pages

Andrew Livsey

Many will be aware of the intermittent tension during the Falklands War between Rear Admiral Sandy Woodward commanding the carrier task group and his colleagues Commodore Michael Clapp and Brigadier Julian Thompson in charge of the amphibious force. It was certainly clear from the memoirs all three produced. One of Anthony Cumming’s achievements in his new book Unsung Hero of The Falklands War: The Life and Career of Commodore Michael Clapp has been to reappraise that tension, using not just the existing written sources but extensive interviews with many of the survivors to make a genuine contribution to our understanding of what happened and why.

The balance shown throughout is a credit to both Cumming and his interviewees, including the way that Cumming is careful to make a distinction between opinions of the time and later, and to allow for the fading of memories. Though Cumming is clearly a fan of Commodore Clapp and Woodward comes in for some criticism, both Cumming and indeed Clapp are fair in drawing out how Woodward faced many competing demands and that the command structure imposed from above was part of the reason for their disagreements. Allowance is also made for the fact that unlike Clapp and Thompson, Woodward is no longer with us to be interviewed and make his own case.

Cumming’s coverage of the war, though, goes far beyond that command dynamic, and he brings out not just the overall narrative and critical decisions, but issues such as the reasons for the poor performance of the Rapier land-based anti-air systems particularly clearly. Your reviewer is not convinced that Cumming’s interlocutors perfectly informed him about the radar problems impeding the use of Sea Wolf on the Type 22s, but having been a principal warfare officer of a later Type 22 and served in Sea Wolf ships around the Falklands perhaps knows almost too much of the detail.

The other achievement of this book is the telling of the life and career of Michael Clapp prior to the Falklands Conflict. Clapp saw plenty of action, from the Korean War to the Cyprus Emergency and the Confrontation with Indonesia. There is also fascinating detail about naval training, the assumptions of the Navy of the period and naval aviation, for Clapp was a Fleet Air Arm Observer whose service included the Buccaneer. Clapp’s career then took him to the Ministry of Defence where he participated in critical meetings leading to the procurement of the Sea Harrier which would be so vital in 1982.

There is much to like about this book. Occasionally there comes an aside which takes away from the narrative thrust or which could be supported with more definitive evidence, but that is to be picky, for every paragraph is defensible and of interest. Given the passing of time this work may be the last reappraisal of the command dynamics in the Falklands War based on first hand inputs and Cumming can be proud of the way he has judiciously shone light on his subject. Anyone with an interest in the Navy of the period should consider reading this book.