The Battle Of Taranto Begins: Stringbags (Part 2)

Summary

WW2 Pod: We Have Ways of Making You Talk
Episode: The Battle Of Taranto Begins: Stringbags (Part 2)
Date: December 11, 2025
Hosts: Al Murray & James Holland

---

Overview

This episode dives deep into the dramatic night of November 11, 1940, when British Swordfish biplanes ("Stringbags") launched their daring and influential raid on the Italian fleet anchored at Taranto. Building on the background and setup described in Part 1, comedian Al Murray and historian James Holland explore the tactics, technology, bravery, and near-chaotic chaos of Operation Judgment. Unique insights, vivid primary accounts, and both hosts’ trademark humour draw listeners into the suspense and significance of this pivotal moment in naval aviation history.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Swordfish "Stringbag": Versatile Marvel of the Fleet Air Arm

• Aircraft Character and Versatility (06:12)
  • The hosts detail how the Swordfish, far from obsolete, is ideally suited for the task of a carrier strike: single engine, dual-role (torpedo and bombing), robust in anti-submarine warfare later in the war.
  • "It's got a kind of, it's got a grace to it. It really has. When you see a photo of it, it could be a First World War one, but when you see it for real... it's an amazing aircraft to see, to be honest." – James Holland [06:12]
• On-Carrier Operations & The Relentless Pace (07:10)
  • Unlike RAF squadrons that rotate out, Fleet Air Arm crews face relentless, exhausting operational tempos at sea.

Operation Judgment: Deception and Approach

• Setting the Stage (08:20 – 15:23)

  • Operation MB8 provides the complex cover, with real convoys and combat tasks masking the true aim—striking Taranto.
  • Air superiority is managed through Fleet Air Arm fighters and Sunderland reconnaissance flying out to keep tabs on the Italian Navy.
  • Carrier "Illustrious" with borrowed Swordfish from "Eagle" takes position X, just close enough to strike without alerting the Italians.

• Italian Defenses (10:05)

  • 21 gun batteries, 84 major guns, 109 light machine guns, and barrage balloons protect Taranto.
  • Intelligence gathered by British reconnaissance allowed them to counter Italian torpedo net depths and optimize torpedo drops.

Attack Tactics & Technology

• Use of Torpedoes and Bombs (11:03, 12:15)

  • Swordfish armed with a mix of torpedoes, bombs, and flares divide into two waves. Technical details cover how magnetic mines and duplex-pistol torpedoes increase chance of success.

• Flare-dropping for Night Attack (12:15, 21:32)

  • Artificial illumination is key, with teams assigned to drop flares over the harbor to light up targets even at risk of drawing fire.
  • "The thing they've learned is regardless of the moonlight, what you need is artificial light to light up the harbor so that you can deliver torpedoes accurately and bomb accurately." – Al Murray [12:15]

The Attack Unfolds

Launch and Early Problems

• Takeoff and Approach (14:22 – 17:11)

  • The first wave departs from Illustrious at 20:35; by 20:57, 170 nautical miles to target.

  • Heavy cloud causes separation; some pilots fly in isolation to Taranto.

  • "They've been ordered to use their own initiative anyway. They know where they're all going. The observer's job is to navigate." – Al Murray [15:41]

Inside Accounts and Atmosphere

• Charles Lamb's Vivid Perspective (17:18, 21:45)
  • Cited at length, Lamb’s account brings the experience vividly to life, including the awe of tracer shells ("flaming onions") and the skill in dodging fire.
  • "I have never been in less danger in any attack than I was that night when the rest of the squadron were flying into the jaws of hell." – Charles Lamb via Jim [21:45]

The First Wave: Precision and Peril

• Torches of Flare-droppers (21:56)
  • Flares are parachuted from altitude, intended to distract Italian gunners.
• The Torpedo Attacks (25:16 – 29:35)
  • Swordfish swoop to just 30ft over water through a “box barrage” of flak where Italian guns often risked hitting each other.
  • "Williamson comes in on a southerly approach and then he turns northeast to fly right at the Cavour... He drops the torpedo 700 yards from the Cavour. He’s flown between two destroyers at 30ft..." – Al Murray [26:58]

Losses and Successes

• Casualties and Courage (26:58 – 27:17)

  • The first Swordfish is shot down but crew survives and is treated with respect by the Italians.
  • "The Italian Navy look after them and they say after the war... they're kind of treated as heroes." – Al Murray [27:17]

• Results of the First Wave (32:11)

  • Littorio and Vittorio Veneto are hit, oil tanks burning, and only one Swordfish lost—all pilots expecting near-certain death.
  • "Given their expectation that they're flying into certain death...it's incredible." – Al Murray [32:12]

---

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Night Attacks:
  "Flying low over the sea is incredibly difficult and especially difficult at night. It's so easy to lose your horizon and just go into the water." – Jim [17:43]

• Heroic Calm in Action:
  "I've never been in less danger in any attack than I was that night when the rest of the squadron were flying into the jaws of hell." – Charles Lamb (quoted by Jim) [21:45]

• On Italian Gunfire:
  "The darkness was being torn apart by a firework display which spat flame into the night at a height of nearly 5,000ft… I think our hosts are expecting us." – Charles Lamb (quoted by Al) [19:34]

• On Deception and Surprise:
  "So it's a massive deception exercise, basically… It's a huge, colossal deception exercise as well. Built into it." – James and Al [15:23–15:26]

---

Timestamps of Key Segments

• [06:12] – Description and discussion of the Swordfish’s surprising effectiveness
• [10:05] – Italian defensive measures and British technical countermeasures
• [12:15] – Importance of flare dropping for night attacks
• [14:22] – Launch of the first wave and approach to Taranto
• [17:18] – Charles Lamb’s account of the stressful night flight
• [21:45] – Vivid passage from "War in a Stringbag" read aloud
• [25:16] & [26:58] – Detailed accounts of torpedo runs and Williamson’s fate
• [29:41] – Hair-raising first person accounts of flying in through flak
• [32:11] – Results of the first attack wave; Littorio and Vittorio Veneto hit

---

Tone & Style

The episode is rich with historical detail and first-hand perspectives, enlivened by the hosts’ friendly banter, wry humour, and sense of wonder at the courage and innovation of these aviators.
Hosts frequently riff off each other's knowledge, sharing rare facts, and using military jargon and analogies familiar to long-time listeners but context-rich for newcomers. The immersive storytelling, especially with direct quotations from memoirs like Charles Lamb’s, captures the tension and awe of the night raid.

---

Cliffhanger

The episode ends just as the first wave's impact is assessed and the second wave prepares to strike, leaving listeners eager for Part 3.

---

Notable Speakers

• Al Murray: Brings levity, rapid-fire facts, and a knack for emphasizing the drama of the moment.
• James Holland (Jim): Provides technical, strategic, and historical context, reading evocative first-person sources.
• Charles Lamb: Primary source, quoted extensively for his vivid and stoic accounts.

---

Summary

With a blend of detailed technical explanation, lively chemistry, and gripping first-person sources, this episode illuminates the daring and skill behind the Battle of Taranto—setting the stage for decisive change in naval warfare and a preview of "stringbags in the Med" to come in future episodes.

Transcript

[Al Murray]

Thank you for listening to. We have ways of making you talk. Sign up to our Patreon to receive bonus content, live streams and our weekly newsletter with money off books and museum visits as well. Plus early access to all live show tickets. That's patreon.com wehaveways.

[Commercial Announcer]

Disney wants to know, are you ready.

For Marvel Studios Thunderbolts, the New Avengers, now streaming on Disney+ let's do this. One of the best Marvel movies of all time is now streaming on Disney plus.

[Commercial Voice]

Hey, you weren't listening to me.

[Commercial Announcer]

I said Thunderbolts, the New Avengers is.

[Commercial Voice]

Now streaming on Disney + Meet the New Avengers.

[Al Murray]

That's cool.

[Commercial Announcer]

Name Marvel Studios Thunderbolts the New Avengers, rated PG 13. Now streaming on. You guessed it, Disney Plus.

[Al Murray]

Merry Christmas, everyone. Ah, the little drummer boy. Everyone's favorite at this seasonal time of year. It's me, Al Murray, co host of the WWII pod. We have ways of making you talk. The world's finest second World War podcast. And you know what? At this time of year, it's important to think about what's important, isn't it? Spending time with loved ones, looking to the year ahead, enjoying the finer things in life. And of course, the most important thing of all, the question that irks so many at this seasonal time of season. What exactly is a pocket battleship? Now, we all like to say, of course, that it's just the thought that counts when it comes to gift giving. But actually, why not have a good thought, right? It can't just be a thought. Go for a thoughtful gift. And the best gift, of course, is a subscription to WW2 pod. We have ways of making you talk with a subscription to, we have ways you know what your loved one, your loved one, or even someone you only like a bit could enjoy. Ad free listening, priority access to new series and ticketed events, regular live streams, a weekly newsletter with book and model discounts. Oh yes, you know, the kind you glue together. And bonus episodes. In fact, why not give yourself a membership this year? Go on, you deserve it. Santa says you should. Ho, ho ho. So head over to we havewayspod.co.uk and you too can present the very best gift that they'll ever get this year or any other year. Even as you remember on the way to dinner that you forgot to get them anything. Yeah, exactly. You can do this just like that. Go to the website. We have wayspod.co.uk put that in your Christmas string bag. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Meine Lieblingen, auf Wiedersen untrucitrus.

[Jim]

These tracer bursts illuminated the first swordfish, so that from above, instead of appearing a blue grey, it seemed to be a gleaming white. I watched it wing its way through the harbour entrance 5,000ft below and disappear under the flak and imagined that it had been shot down at once. Then I saw the lines of fire switching round from both sides, firing so low that they must have hit each other. The gun aimers must then have lifted their arc of fire to avoid shooting at each other. And I saw their shells exploding in the town of Taranto in the background. The Italians were faced with a terrible dilemma. Were they to go on firing at the elusive aircraft right down on the water, thereby hitting their own ships and their own guns and their own harbour and town? Or were they to lift their angle of fire still more? Eventually they did the latter, because all the other five attacking swordfish managed to weave their way under that umbrella to find their targets. Had the arc of fire been maintained at water level, all six would have been shot to pieces within seconds instead of two. But the guns would have done even more extensive damage to the ships and the harbour itself. And that was Charles Lamb writing in War in a string bag. And what a fine book that is.

[Al Murray]

Yeah. And he had a ringside seat as he watched the first wave go in on the night of 11 November, flying in his Swordfish. And welcome to. We have ways of making you talk for Taranto, the raid. In our last episode, James and I went through the history of the Fleet Air Arm and we didn't talk about the Second World War for a good 10 minutes. I think it's probably an all time record.

[Jim]

No, that was. It felt a bit odd. But, but, but I, I've reconciled myself to it and I felt quite comfortable by the end. We could vary a little bit like the rest in history. Rest is history going into the Second World War. Yeah. Well, maybe we could delve back a little bit occasionally, hit their turf.

[Al Murray]

I don't want to talk about Napoleon. Not interested. Anyway, the Romans, who cares? It's a long time ago. It doesn't matter. What we learned is that the tons of the stuff that comes about in this raid is. Is stuff that's been laid down in the previous three decades by the Royal Navy and the Fleet Air Arm, the Royal Naval Air Service and the pilots and men and the world leaders.

[Jim]

World leaders. Pioneers.

[Al Murray]

Pioneers showing the way and that. That come the 11th of November 1940. The string bag is not this obsolete novelty aircraft. It's the Fleet Air Arms strike aircraft of the highest suitability to the task. There isn't anything else that can do.

[Jim]

Now tell me, Al, tell me, have you ever seen a stringbag flying?

[Al Murray]

No, I haven't. I haven't had the good fortune. No. There is a flying one. Navy wings have got one, haven't they?

[Jim]

There is. And I'm thinking, I tell you what I'm thinking. I was thinking all through recording that first episode, we should try and get it to come to We Are Ways Fest.

[Al Murray]

Oh, yeah, baby, yeah.

[Jim]

Don't you think? Because, yeah, I mean, we had it.

[Al Murray]

At chalk once at the Chalk History Festival.

[Jim]

And I've got to say, it's quite a. Is much bigger than you think.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, it's a beast. Yeah.

[Jim]

And second, it's, it's got a kind of, it's got a grace to it. It really has. It's quite, it's quite the thing to see when you see a photo of it. It could be a First World War I, but when you see it for real, it isn't a First World War. Yeah, it is, it is absolutely not a Tiger Moth or, you know, one of these others. It's, it's a, it's a completely different thing and it's quite, it's, it's, it's an amazing aircraft to see, to be honest. Single engine, of course, but you know.

[Al Murray]

And its versatility is the key after all. I mean, by the time they're, they've exited the torpedo role, you know, they're being used in submarine warfare, equipped with rockets, with the rockets that you see on a Typhoon for brassing up submarines. You know, they're a seriously versatile piece of kit and I do recommend that people read War in a string bag.

[Jim]

Because it's a classic. It's an absolute classic.

[Al Murray]

Yeah. And he's vivid about the operations that, that they did in the Med and the tempo of operations because it's relentless. That's the other thing.

On an aircraft carrier, it's not a roller, not like a Royal Air Force Fighter Command squadron where you're rotated out and you're going to the pub every night. There's none of that. You're not moved to another group. The squadron on the ships are the squadrons on the ships. And you know, you're flying sometimes, particularly when it comes to the anti submarine phase for the Swordfish later in the war, you're flying around the clock. It's relentless.

[Jim]

But anyway, there's no tachometer going. Isn't saying you need to take a break after eight hours.

[Al Murray]

No, there's none of that going on and you're flying from, from a ship, you know, it's all that much more difficult. And so we left the last episode as the men from Eagle and Illustrious Swordfish squadrons prepared to put in the strike on the Italian Regia Marina in Taranto. Operation MBA was out, wasn't Eagle out? Yes, Eagle's out, but it's the men for the squadrons. So the squadrons, the Eagle planes.

[Jim]

Men from Eagle.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly, men. So five, five aircraft are transferred to illustrious. So operation MB8 is this vast, complex.

Sort of feint all the way across the Mediterranean. Although also mined in convoys, all also seeking battle. You know, it's not some sort of, it's not a fake thing, MB8, it's just this big complex series of operations in the Med to distract and confuse the Italians, which succeed. At the same time, the Fleet Air Arm fighter squadrons are creating local air superiority around the Illustrious strike group so that they're chasing off spotter planes. You've got Sunderlands out and about as well doing recce stuff to keep an eye on the, on the, on the Italian Navy. And Illustrious has to sail to position X from where the strike can be launched. And we talked about the full scale of the Italian fleet. It's scores of. This is basically like an attack on.

[Jim]

Six battleships is the beating heart, isn't it? But there's all these other vessels as well.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, but it's essentially like an attack on Scapa Flow in terms of impact ambition, isn't it?

[Jim]

Yeah, really good analogy. And it's also what you'd call a target rich environment.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And the idea is to change the balance in the Med, knock out Italian capital ships before they disperse. And it's, and it's the long term plan and ambition of the Mediterranean fleet that predates abc. But he's embraced it, he's grabbed it, he's putting all of his resources into making this come off. But I mean, this is going to be no pushover because it is, after all, the Italians most important fleet. Right, so it's. Yes.

[Jim]

And so, so is, is Taranto going to be well defended?

[Al Murray]

Yes, of course it is, absolutely.

[Jim]

It's going to be, absolutely. It's going to be bristling with armament, isn't it?

[Al Murray]

Exactly. 21 gun batteries armed with 4 inch guns, 68 machine gun mountings, with a total of 84 guns in positions ashore and afloat, 109 light machine guns ashore and afloat. Yeah. And barrage balloons. Yeah, I mean, golly gosh, yep. And these have been spotted by Lieutenant Pollock, of course, who stole the photographs, took them back to Illustrious and the torpedo nets, the torpedo, torpedo netting isn't up to it because the British have worked out the exact depth the torpedo and its direction of travel. They know exactly how, at what depth to drop the torpedo. And there it's, There's a gap of 2ft that the British have calculated is the right depth.

[Jim]

How do they know this? Does this through submarines or something? I mean, how do they know just.

[Al Murray]

Just through having their ears to the ground and could intel. There's a standard torpedo net the Italians are using. They know about, you know. So right now what we have is two waves of aircraft are going to strike and they're all allotted with a magnetic.

[Jim]

Presumably. Sorry, this is where your magnetic mines come in, isn't it?

[Al Murray]

Because the duplex pistol. Yes, the torpedo is triggered either by the magnetic signal of the ship or striking the ship. So you can run under a ship. So if you get the. If you're running too deep, it doesn't matter, you can go in under a ship and cause an explosion and cause damage. So we've two waves of aircraft.

[Jim]

So does the magnetism of the mine, does that sort of suck it up and hit the. Then hit it?

[Al Murray]

No, it's the magnetic field of the ship as it passes under triggers the pistol that fires the torpedo. Got it, got it, yeah. And the torpedoes, the blast onto the.

[Jim]

Water is amplified, of course.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, exactly. And the torpedoes and any damage, you know, you knock a ship's keel out of shape, got to fix it, haven't you? Any damages, any damage needs inspecting, needs checking, needs fixing. They learn that the best way to drop it is, is. Is so it flops into the water rather than dive straight in. There's a whole thing with cables and stuff that then as the torpedo drops, it starts the motor, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah. And that's technical stuff that is beyond me. And that I'm sure if you, if I got that wrong, write in and I will ignore your email. Simple as that.

But there's two waves of aircraft and some are dropping torpedoes and some are going to be dive bombing as well. So it's quite interesting. Not everyone is. Not everyone is delivering torpedoes to Toronto and some will be dropping flares because you need as much light as you can. The thing they've learned is regardless of the moonlight, what you need is artificial light to light up the harbor so that you can deliver torpedoes accurately and bomb accurately. And so part of the force, two aircraft per Wave, there's a, there's a prime flare dropping aircraft and then, and then a spare. And their job is to drop, drop flares and, and, and dive bomb. But basically there's, there's this. They've, you know, they figured, they figured it all out. But what that also means though is the torpedo, the torpedo strike force is diluted a little. Right. Which, which comes into in the end some arguments about whether Eagle should have got a finger out and, and come anyway and how many more swordfish you could have brought to the party.

[Jim]

Right.

[Al Murray]

Actually, if you, you know, mass having its own effect. But there are two waves of aircraft, those from Illustrious, but bear the letter L. Those, those lent over from Eagle carry the letter E. So as we.

[Jim]

Go through the raid, L for Lusty, E for Eagle.

[Al Murray]

L for Lusty. E for eagle. So the 11th of November, 1800 hours, illustrious and her escorts are ordered by Admiral Cunningham to proceed to their next mission away from MB8, onto Operation Judgment. Yep, they reach position X. There's a light and variable wind at the surface and at higher altitude it's a westerly of about 10 knots. It's a thin layer of cloud.

[Jim]

That's manageable, isn't it? 10 knots, that's not too bad.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, it's not so bad, but you need enough coming over the deck to take off is the thing. Total cloud at 8,000ft. A three quarter moon bearing south. Because the moon does move. Folks remember, they do their last minute briefings, the checks are done on aircraft and then a green light shines from the fly commander. The flyco saying go. It's literally chocks away. Thumbs up. Good luck, chaps. Off we go.

[Jim]

Amazing. Taking off into the night.

[Al Murray]

Exactly, exactly. Flying off into the night. At 20:35 hours, the first aircraft left, all 12 in the first wave are airborne five minutes later. And at 20:57, in a loose formation, they set off for Taranto, which is 170 nautical miles away.

[Jim]

Okay, so an hour and a bit, hour and a half.

[Al Murray]

Well, yeah, a little more position X. You see, because they've got part of MB8 has been able to get the carrier to the point where Taranto is in range of the carrier task force, but without making it obvious to the Italians that what they're going to do is strike Taranto.

[Jim]

Yeah.

[Al Murray]

So all of this maneuvering, this complex Mike Bravo 8 as it is, that's been going all over the Mediterranean has been in order to deliver the carrier to point X, which is just within range. And of course they've extended the range of the Swordfish by putting the fuel tank in to make this possible. So the whole thing is designed to not look like what it is. Right.

[Jim]

So it's a massive deception exercise, basically.

[Al Murray]

Is a huge, colossal deception exercise as well. Built into it. 2115, they fly into cloud four and a half thousand feet, they get separated. This means they don't all arrive over the target together.

[Jim]

So how do they. How do they get back. Back together? So they never get back together again?

[Al Murray]

Not quite, no. Some people stick around, others don't. Right. They've been ordered to use their own initiative anyway. They know where they're all going. The observer's job is to navigate. And things have been changing ever since the operation has been mooted. Right. Because the Eagles stepped out.

[Jim]

Right.

[Al Murray]

They've been losing planes to that fung problem with the fuel.

[Jim]

Yes.

[Al Murray]

That we talked about in the last episode.

[Jim]

I mean, whoever knew you had fungus problems in fuel? I just. It's absolutely new to me.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, well, it's something to do with the tropics, I think, with the temperature. Anyway, those who get separated attack when they get to Toronto as planned. They just. They're just. You, you know, you're on your own. Anyway, they've got Kefalonia on their right in the dark as they fly on.

[Jim]

Captain Corelli's mandolin and all that.

[Al Murray]

Exactly, yeah.

[Jim]

So this is in the. So they're coming from the Ionian Sea. Yeah, they're coming from the east, from the Alexandra side.

[Al Murray]

Exactly, exactly. And fellow Williamson is in the first aircraft. We'll hear more about him as we go. And he's drawn up a group of nine aircraft around him, but each observer, who's the navigator on the Swordfish plots the plane's own course anyway, so they're not reliant on each. On the group for setting course. Navigation's really, obviously, really, really important in the Fleet Air Arm. It's like.

[Jim]

Yes.

[Al Murray]

And in this group of five torpedo.

[Jim]

Planes, you need to know your Constellations, that's for sure.

[Al Murray]

Exactly. Five torpedo planes, one with bombs and two of the flare dropping aircraft in this group of nine, they're on their way, plugging away at 80 knots or whatever it is, you know, just droning on.

[Jim]

I can picture them sort of slightly going up and down, waving, not quite level, you know, you can just. So you can picture it, can't you?

[Al Murray]

Charles Lamb says, almost as soon as we were airborne, we had to climb through heavy cumulus cloud. And when we emerge into the moonlight at seven and a half thousand feet, only nine of the 12 aircraft's lights are in sight. So he describes this situation and the others fly direct to Taranto. So he says one of them, Ian Swain, flew at sea level and reached the target area 15 minutes before anyone else, because he obviously thought, well, bugger this, I can't find the others. I'll just stay there. My. My nav's got the bearing. We'll figure it out.

[Jim]

And by the way, flying low over the sea is incredibly difficult and especially difficult at night. It's so easy to lose your horizon and just. Just go into the water.

[Al Murray]

Exactly.

[Jim]

And meanwhile, talk to Glenn Miller about it.

[Al Murray]

Yep. Yeah. Well, there's that amazing passenger, Jeff Willems, isn't there, where he gets lost at sea, basically, and he can't work out where he is. And really terrifying. Meanwhile, at Taranto, the Italian Akka stood too, because they have an acoustic listening system, the Italians, they don't have radar, they don't have rdf, but they haven't, you know, an acoustic listening system, like. Like the British do too. But this is what they rely on. And they pick up a sunderland earlier at 1955, and the Sunderland is out looking to make sure there aren't any surface vessels that may steam towards the carrier task force.

[Jim]

Right, Right.

[Al Murray]

Because they don't want the carrier task force disrupted because, after all, it has to get to its next station for the returning Swordfish. Right. So there's a Sunderland out and about, and they hear that the Italians, so their guns stand too, so they're on alert long before the first wave get close. And, of course, Swain turns up early.

[Jim]

Yes.

[Al Murray]

Because he's flown the direct course to Taranto. He's there 15 minutes earlier. So they're ready to go. And at 22:50. So they've been in the air basically an hour and a half, roughly.

[Jim]

Yep.

[Al Murray]

They detect the opening wave, which is still miles off, and they start firing into their planned box Barrage. So. So Operation Judgment guys do not achieve surprise by any stretch of the imagination. Right. The Italians have stood to. They're ready and their guns are going.

[Jim]

Yeah. This isn't like the Japanese at Pearl Harbour.

[Al Murray]

It's very different. So Williamson, who's leading the first wave, he basically like a soldier marching towards the sound of the guns. He uses the illuminations to navigate on. You know, the whole harbour's lit up.

[Jim]

Well, just think about it this way, chaps. It makes our life easier.

[Al Murray]

Exactly.

[Jim]

Now we can see where we're going.

[Al Murray]

You're jolly helpful of the enemy. Lamb says the darkness was being Torn apart by a firework display which spat flame into the night at a height of nearly 5,000ft. I think our hosts are expecting us, I said, to Grieve down the tube, because they speak to each other down a tube. Right. They don't seem very pleased to see it, said Greave. And it was the last thing he could say for some time to come and for what must have been a very uncomfortable interval as a passenger in an open cockpit above a volcano. And. And that as he spoke, blood. Scarlet, who's Williamson's observer, and Scarlet's the guy who in the, as we said in the previous episode, said, why bother talking about the return journey? Let's not waste time with that. He has a dim daughter's light, and he does the breakaway signal to the rest of the flight. You know, here we go. In we go. Tally ho.

[Jim]

Yep.

[Al Murray]

Right. So Taranto's within view, Swain, L4M, which is piloted by Lieutenant Swain, who, as we said, got lost. And his observer, sub Lieutenant Buskill, rnvr, they rejoin the attack. That the main wave.

[Jim]

Okay. So they sort of circle around and join with the others.

[Al Murray]

Circle around and join in? Yeah, they basically loiter and wait for the others to turn up and then in they go. And one of the interesting things is that Greave, who's the observer with Lamb, they've never worked together. They've never flown together before. They're just stuck together.

[Jim]

Amazing, isn't it?

[Al Murray]

Never really properly met, but they know the quality of training is. He knows he can rely on him as a navigator. He's not got any problems with the it. So at 22:56, the flare droppers L4P and L4B are sent off on their run. So they go up to 5,000ft towards Cape San Vito, and. And they're drawing some fire as well. And six minutes later, at 2302, they start dropping parachute flares at seven and a half thousand feet. And the flares are set to light up. So they drop them. They fall for 3,000ft. The flares light at four and a half thousand feet. And this means the Italian gunners will aim at the flares and miss the swordfish.

[Jim]

Well, that's the theory.

[Al Murray]

That's the theory. They then have to loiter and see if the flares have worked properly over the target. And kiggle, who's in L4P, does a bombing run on the oil tanks once he's sure his flares have lit up the harbour.

[Jim]

Amazing, isn't it?

[Al Murray]

And Charles Lamb is the reserve Flare dropper. And he says, you read this, Jim, because this is just amazing.

[Jim]

From my position astern of Kiggle and Janvrin, I was in no danger whatever and could watch proceedings at leisure. I have never been in less danger in any attack than I was that night when the rest of the squadron were flying into the jaws of hell. I was convinced that none of the six torpedoing aircraft could possibly have survived. I have always been very grateful to the Italians for favoring the tracer type shell which streaks upwards in flaming balls of fire known as flaming onions. It is possible to see them coming from the moment they leave the gun's mouth until they saw past. Admittedly, they streak upwards at an alarming rate, but there was always time to dip a wing and swerve out of their path in the dark. There was plenty of time to dodge and in any case they were firing at the flares, not the aircraft. With my bird's eye view, it seemed that the harbour was more brilliantly lit than the attacking swordfish could want. If any of them were still in the air, which seemed unlikely. Goodness me.

[Al Murray]

I mean the song. Fine that, you know, president of the Stoic Club.

[Jim]

Yeah, absolutely. Straight in, isn't he? He requires no further interview. Yeah, he's just honorary member.

[Al Murray]

Absolutely. So at 23:15 the flares light up the harbour for the first wave and in go the torpedo planes. And at that point we will take a break and find out what happens to the first wave.

[Commercial Voice]

Coca Cola for the big, for the small, the short and the tall. Peacemakers, risk takers for the optimists, pessimists for long distance love for introverts and extroverts, the thinkers and the doers for old friends and new Coca Cola for everyone. Pick up some Coca Cola at a store near you.

[Al Murray]

Limu Imu and Doug.

[Jim]

Here we have the Limu Emu in its natural habitat helping people customize their.

[Al Murray]

Car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual.

[Jim]

Fascinating. It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug.

[Commercial Announcer]

Limu is that guy with the binoculars watching us.

[Jim]

Cut the camera.

[Al Murray]

They see us. Only pay for what you [e-mail] Liberty Liberty Liberty Liberty Savings Very unwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and affiliates. Excludes Massachusetts.

[Microsoft 365 Copilot Announcer]

The world moves fast. Your workday even faster. Pitching products, drafting reports, analyzing data. Microsoft 365 Copilot is your AI assistant for work built into Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other Microsoft 365 apps you use, helping you quickly write, analyze, create and summarize so you can cut through Clutter and clear a path to your best work. Learn [e-mail] M365 copilot.

[Al Murray]

Welcome back to Way of Ways Of Making youg Talk, where the first wave at Taranto, Operation Judgment, has just gone in flares lighting up the harbor. And I don't know about you, Jim, but that description from Charles Lamb of watching this and also just his sheer sang froid, I was. I've never been in less danger in any attack than I was. I mean.

[Jim]

But it's still an attack. They're still shooting at you.

[Al Murray]

It's still danger.

[Jim]

It's still nighttime. You're over enemy territory.

[Al Murray]

Well, then you've got to fly back across the sea, like a couple hundred miles, I mean, you know, and find.

[Jim]

The Illustrious, which presumably has not been standing still.

[Al Murray]

No, of course not. She's been steaming around on a, you know, on a course in order to. In order to throw the enemy off. Anyway, in go the torpedo planes and they swoop down over San Pietro island and over the sea at 30ft, that's 10 metres.

[Jim]

Yeah, it's nothing.

[Al Murray]

And they've got the southerly group of battleships in mind, which are more to the south in the Maragrande, and they fly through the box barrage.

[Jim]

Yep.

[Al Murray]

And a box barrage, of course, is basically guns firing on prefixed coordinates to create a wall of flak that nothing can get through. Yes, but when you're flying this low, and as Lamb points out, the Italian gunners are going to end up shooting each other, it's very difficult to press the guns this slow. But basically, on barges, on ships, you name it, the sky is completely full of tracer. The glare of gun barrels, the works, the flashes of the guns, the noise, the crump, the rat tat tat of.

[Jim]

The Italian turbulence, the scatter of shrapnel.

[Al Murray]

Williamson comes in on a southerly approach and then he turns northeast to fly right at the Cavour. He takes his time, lines are up and the torpedo goes 700. He drops the torpedo 700 yards from the Cavour. He's flown between two destroyers at 30ft, the Lampo and the Fulminae. And as he lets the torpedo go, he banks right across the Fulminae and is shot down. So the first aircraft to go in is shot down and he ditches next to a floating dock. And of course, one of the advantages of the Swordfish is because you're not going very fast when you. When you put it down in the water, you're not going very fast. It's kind of survivable in this situation.

[Jim]

Yes.

[Al Murray]

They're not going very fast, they're not falling very far. So with his observer, Blood Scarlet, who's the fellow who said, let's not waste any time with the return journey, at the planning meeting, they're fished out. The Italian Navy look after them and they say after the war, afterwards, after they return, that basically they're kind of treated as heroes. The Italian Navy, like, well, hats off.

[Jim]

We've got to take credit where credit due. Yeah.

[Al Murray]

Fellas are great pluck and verve.

[Jim]

It's a bit like you just have to sit back and Admire Travis Head's 100 and just kind of not take it personally.

[Al Murray]

Precisely. It's like that. And also, one of the features of the Taranto raid is they don't kill too many Italian ratings. You don't have any situations where anyone's magazine goes up and a ship is just completely destroyed, killing everyone on board. So there's an element afterwards that it's kind of relatively bloodless.

[Jim]

Right, right, right, right.

[Al Murray]

That actually makes it a little less sour for the Italians. Next come in. L4C and L4R. L means they're from Illustrious, of course. They come in their own way, together on a more northerly line to conceal their intention that it is to go. They're also going to go for the Cavour as well. They then turn hard to engage her. They both miss. I know, Damn it. So the first plane's been shot down, the second two have missed. The Andrea Doria, she reports an explosion but no damage. Then L4M, which is swain, who's been delayed.

[Jim]

Yes.

[Al Murray]

Who got lost. Basically got lost in the cloud.

[Jim]

But he got there early, didn't he?

[Al Murray]

Got there early, hung around and now he's. He's going in. He splits off from L4K and he flies. Swain flies right across the center of the Mar Grande, right through the middle.

[Jim]

Amazing.

[Al Murray]

He then turns north at the tip of the Diga di Tarantola, east of the torpedo nets and aims at the Littorio. And at a range of 400 yards, they cannot miss and nor do they. She's then struck again on the bow by a torpedo from L4K, which is being flown by a Kemp. And a Kemp at the controls of L4K, skirts round the north of the harbour. And there's no doubt that the leeway the pilots have been given the initiative they've been offered for choosing their own routes onto target is paying off. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Because if you're at sea level, it must Just feel like there's sore fish everywhere. They're just coming from everywhere. They're coming from all angles.

[Jim]

Yes. It's sort of a. Effectively like a sort of force multiplier, isn't it?

[Al Murray]

Exactly.

[Jim]

Total confusion.

[Al Murray]

There's no way to. To figure out what's going on. And then the sixth and final torpedo plane for the first wave is E4F, following by a fellow called Maund. He comes in from the north and flies. Flies along the northern shore of the harbour and lets go a torpedo at the Vittorio Veneto at 3, 1300 yards and it detonates short of the target.

[Jim]

Can I just point out that Maunde will. We will revisit him in the hood and Bismarck story.

[Al Murray]

Well, there we are. Right. Because the Fleet Air Arm isn't very big and people do. People do resurface. And Morne's account, Jim, we must be at 100ft now and soon we must make our dash across that bloody water. As we come abreast the chimney, I open the throttle wide. Abreast of chimney. Right. That's how low he is. As we come abreast the chimney, I open the throttle wide and head for the mouth of the Mar Piccolo, whose position, though not visible, can be judged by the lie of the land. Then it is as all hell comes tumbling in on top of us. It must have been the fire of the cruisers and Mar Piccolo canal batteries, leaving only two things in my mind. The line of approach to the dropping position and a wild desire to escape the effects of this deathly hailstorm. And so we jink and swerve, an instinct of living guiding my legs and right arm. Two large clear shapes on our starboard side are monstrous in the background of flares. We turn until the right hand battleship is between the bars of the torpedo sight, dropping down as we so as we do so the water is close beneath our wheels. So close I'm wondering which is to happen first, the torpedo going or are hitting the sea. Then we level out and almost without thought the button is pressed and a jerk tells me that the fish is gone.

[Jim]

It absolutely is amazing. I mean that's really hairy stuff, isn't it?

[Al Murray]

Completely hairy. And they. Their expectations are going to be killed. And we. We talk. I mean, it's interesting. We talked before about the Japanese kamikaze effort where you. Where the deal is you're going to die. There's not much difference here, is there?

[Jim]

No, no, no. I'm hearing you loud and clear.

[Al Murray]

The expectation is you'll be killed. You haven't gone to fly your plane into anything, but the expectation is you're going to be killed in this effort. Right? Yeah. The spirit of these guys and mourned is killed later on in Ops off Malta on the 11th of January 1943. So as well. As well as featuring in the strike on the Bismarck. You know, it's a dangerous business, this. Then comes in L4H Ford. He's on his bombing run. He does his run twice because he doesn't see his bombs have hit anything. So he. If they've actually dropped, can't tell. So he does it twice.

[Jim]

That's amazing, isn't it?

[Al Murray]

Yeah, absolutely amazing. And then after him comes a fellow called Murray in E5Q from the Eagle. One of the squad. One of that's from the Eagle. He drops three bombs, one of which hit the Libeccio, but doesn't go off. So it does raise questions, as it would have been better off if these lads had been flying with torpedoes, actually, because there's so many ships in the harbor. But sure. By 23:35, the first wave have completed its attack. Two ships have been struck, the Littorio and the Vittorio Veneto.

[Jim]

Okay, so that's two down.

[Al Murray]

That's two down. Bombing attacks have been less successful, though the oil storage tanks in the harbour are on fire. Now the Italians hearing the second wave coming, carry on with their box barrage because they've got, you know, as we said, they've got their acoustic system that's listing out. But only one Swordfish has been lost.

[Jim]

So that's Williamson, and he's still. And they're still alive.

[Al Murray]

And they're still alive.

[Jim]

William and Blood Scarlet, William Blood Scarlet are still alive. That's just amazing.

[Al Murray]

Yeah, it's incredible. It is incredible, isn't it? Given their expectation that they're flying into certain death. The jaws of hell. Yes, you know, it's incredible. So at 2300 hours, illustrious has reached recovery position Y and we'll now wait for their return. And in our next episode, we'll find.

[Jim]

Out how this plays out.

[Al Murray]

Yeah. Every single one of these aircraft is a cliffhanger. Remember when we talked about when Eagle's planes left 15 minutes later for that attack? They were shot down on arrival because the Italians knew what was coming. So this second wave leaves 43 minutes after the first wave. What will become of them? And we will. We will let you know in our.

[Jim]

Next episode what will become of them.

[Al Murray]

Of the strike on Taranto. String bags in the Med.

[Jim]

Yes, another cliffhanger. It's just they're coming thick and fast in this series.

[Al Murray]

They certainly are. Thanks for listening, everyone. We will see you back over Taranto, although we've got to get there first. And there's a little bit. There's the odd slip between cup and lip as we go. We'll see you soon. Thanks for listening. Cheerio.

[Jim]

Cheerio.

[Al Murray]

Sa.