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British Sky Tours |
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British Sky Tours |
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Click here for our one day Normandy D Day Tour
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WHAT OUR VISITORS SAY...
‘This was my third and most meaningful trip to Normandy. Seeing it by air really put things in perspective for me BEFORE THE GROUND TOUR. You are a great guide and delightful people to spend the day with.’ ...... Visitor from San Antonio, Texas.
NEW FOR NORTH AMERICANS
ANALYSIS OF BRITISH NEWS More...
NEW FOR OUR READERS
ANALYSIS WORLD NEWS More...
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*** STOP PRESS WORLD NEWS ***
Pointe du Hoc, Omaha Beach and the Mulberry Harbour are only 2 hours from London with our Normandy D Day Air/Land Tour ***** ' READING THE NEWS '
When Adrian Hill served as a diplomat one of his most rewarding jobs was Director of British Information Services across Canada. At one stage he gave Britain's messages across the United States as well. Apart from network and local television and radio broadcasts a key part of his job was to brief and often write editorials for the hundreds of newspapers across North America, concentrating on foreign news. Most newspapers in North America view the World from a continent which could get along comfortably without anyone else - and the US/Canadian border is a surprising obstacle. Henry Ginsberg of the New York Times once challenged Adrian to find any Canadian news in his own paper. At that time Henry was their correspondent in Ottawa - he returned to New York City as the Foreign Editor and for a while Canadian news prospered! Adrian's editorial contributions with a British slant proved highly popular right across North America so alongside these touring and history pages we opened a whole new section on the website for editorial pages. Here we try to bring some historical perspective to the latest political and military events around the World. Journalists never truly understand the news they report because they are forever running on the outside track - they have no experience of nor access to the burdens from responsibility and decisions. The ideas expressed on these ' editorial ' pages are based on such experience and conversations with sailors, soldiers, airmen of all ranks including their most senior leaders, indeed many others with direct involvement and experience of today's trouble spots. Early years as a paratrooper still come in handy today. Adrian knows Afghanistan, Pakistan and India from his very first overseas posting as a young diplomat serving at the British Deputy High Commission in Lahore and subsequent return visits. His career took him to Cyprus and the Near East, Vietnam, Northern Ireland, Switzerland, Canada, South Korea and Jamaica and most places along the flight path. Although this website is about our tours we also try to promote the heritage of the Atlantic Charter and the Special Relationship. The United Nations and NATO owe their existence to the Atlantic Charter, unique among treaties in that there were no signatures, just messages to their respective cabinets from Churchill and Roosevelt on board a battleship and a cruiser anchored off Newfoundland - above all mutual trust at a time of great danger for the democracies.
USS Dwight D Eisenhower, USS Harry S Truman, HMS Illustrious The Special Relationship Nowhere does this work better than our two navies - save airborne forces!
USS Winston Churchill making an emergency break away from the USS Harry S Truman. She is the only ship in the US Navy permanently assigned a Royal Navy officer - she flies the Stars and Stripes and the White Ensign. Astern of the carrier and her support ship is HMS Manchester. ' Double the effort and square the error.' Sir Robert Thompson describing the worst form of strategy - debating with Adrian over a Chinese meal in wartime Saigon.
THE ROYAL NAVY This spring a general election took place in Britain. The new government has announced a defence review. Anyone with half a brain would first review foreign policy. After reading the new Foreign Secretary's speech on foreign policy maybe it doesn't matter. Since we know that the defence review has been written - some time past - by retired generals, one fears the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force are likely to become skeleton forces and simply wither away from lack of recruits. At the recent election the British voters decided whether or not their country remains a World power, able to defend its interests and allies. The voters are not aware of this watershed choice, partly through ignorance though also largely because many of the present Members of the House of Commons do not believe in remaining an independent country. Those of us who value good old freedom have a fight on our hands. The new team at the Ministry of Defence may even rise to the challenge. They certainly have backing from all parties in the House of Commons including several new female MPs. At least contracts have been signed for two new aircraft carriers, steel is being cut, about £ 1.3 billion already spent and £ 3 billions ordered. The bow of the first carrier has arrived at the huge Rosyth dry dock. The whole project is likely to cost £ 5 billions rather than the original estimate of £ 4 billions although the ships will serve for 50 years. The JSF 35 naval fighter programme appears on track and a remaining batch of Typhoon fighters ordered for the RAF. The Type 45 destroyer programme has five ships launched and one still under construction. Astute Class nuclear submarine programme already has the first vessel launched. Both programmes should extend for another six vessels. Cancelling any of these programmes will cost thousands of skilled workers their jobs and waste vast sums of money at a time when the UK should encourage high technology manufacturing. One hopes the penalty clauses for cancellation match the full cost of both ships and aircraft. Despite choosing to involve Britain in two wars east of Suez the recent Labour government continued relentlessly cutting all three Armed Services. This has been exposed steadily by the Iraq Inquiry. Although Gordon Brown still denies his personal responsibility for these decisions when Chancellor, former defence ministers and senior officers plus two former permanent secretaries at the MOD have given evidence to the contrary. The Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force suffered the most since 1997 but after particularly savage cuts during 2004 even the Army lost ten per cent of its infantry battalions. Gordon Brown as Chancellor took nearly £ 1 billion from the Defence budget and forced cancellation of the main helicopter programme. Today our soldiers pay for this parsimony in Afghanistan with their limbs and lives. The strains on those wearing the Queen's uniform were compounded by the Prime Minister wishing to speed up troop withdrawals from Iraq to quieten critics in his own party. One looks at the medals won starting with a VC for ample witness that the soldiers on the spot gave their utmost despite their sparse numbers - the inevitable result was a near debacle in Basra. Our small Army has withdrawn from Iraq. That makes further British troops available for the war in Afghanistan, where no solution is possible without cleaning out the growing viper's nest in next door Pakistan. Again, we saw the inevitable result, a constant struggle by our small force in Afghanistan to hold onto gains in ground long enough to spread political order. The generals felt their troops were neglected and, starved of cash by an anti-military clique in Downing Street and the Treasury, lacked suitable armoured vehicles, most of all helicopters. As with Basra, the United States has inserted a large force into Afghanistan, effectively taken over the British operational area. The US Marine Corps has a good record on this kind of operation and pioneered the military and civil tactics - successfully - during the Vietnam War. This raises a question - what is best overall for the alliance? War is an option of difficulties. From the American point of view finding another US brigade for Afghanistan is somewhat easier than building two new aircraft carrier groups in the event that the next British government through naivety and ignorance manages to scuttle the Queen's navy. If I was Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs, I know what I would prefer - British aircraft carriers are essential for the alliance to manage future Global security; British troops in Afghanistan are valuable allies, but no future British government on the horizon is likely to double or triple the force, deploy enough assets in support to have a real impact on the campaign. The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats regard international aid as more important than teaching our own children, let alone their island's safety. Over the next 50 years new crises will arise without warning, long after the war in Afghanistan is forgotten. One has already, pirates along the Horn of Africa. The new SACEUR, Admiral James Stavridis, puts it neatly - Afghans should be allowed a fender sticker, ' At least we're not Somalia.' America's leadership grasps the harsh reality which escapes naive British politicians and I fear the general public. Britain looks about to make a historic strategic blunder - putting the minimum resources into a small army of experts on colonial warfare while reducing the Royal Navy and the RAF to skeleton forces. On present government plans the last modern fighter factory will close within five years. Ironically the German Government may save Britain's fighter manufacturing through insisting that the British Government buys all the Typhoons it signed up for - I hope the Germans win. Britain only survived the great dangers of the past through keeping the industrial base and balanced forces that provided the building blocks for mobilising the whole nation. Which makes our shrinking Royal Navy all the more alarming for an island with 95% of its trade coming and going by sea. At present the Conservatives have a good team on naval matters who support a modest programme to restore naval strength. So far, so good. Unfortunately their leader no longer heeds their advice. A stupid scheme to recruit the Chief of the Army - before official retirement - as an Opposition spokesman simply triggered a media war between the Army and the its sister services at the very time when the three Service Chiefs should have stood together. The tough choice on defence spending is to increase it - diversions play into the hands of our useless politicians. Perhaps more alarming, the last Conservative government had a poor record - a war with Argentina caused by naval cuts followed by a restoration of the fleet which soon faltered - nor does the new party leadership show any sign of sharing their defence team's concern. As the most recent defence debates reveal, the Front bench team have been effectively gagged, the aircraft carrier programme and the orders for modern fighters are all at grave risk from the Conservative Liberal Democrat government. Hard lessons from 1982 already look forgotten. Tough decisions lie ahead but my first target for reducing government spending are the huge amounts squandered on absurd social programmes and a pay roll vote to keep the last government in power. Rank and file MPs are indifferent towards defence - less than fifty attend debates on the armed forces - many would brainlessly follow orders, slash the navy's aircraft carrier programme and do away with the nuclear deterrent. For industry this means catastrophe surpassing 1979 - 1981 when Margaret Thatcher raised interest rates to 17% to squeeze out inflation - and devastated manufacturing. With no carriers, withdrawal from Afghanistan must soon follow. Far more fundamental, no longer could we safeguard our global trade and would rely on the US Navy and the RAF to defend our coasts. We would slip far down the league of military powers. Worse, such a retreat would send tectonic shocks through the financial markets and global trade. Foreigners buy from winners, none invest in losers. The three largest political parties and about half the voters remain unwilling to fund the defence budget properly. We approach a dangerous crossroads. One road leads to recovery, growth and influence - the other to a weak, increasingly poor, crowded island torn apart by civil strife and violent crime. America has a President who wishes to work more closely with allies yet most NATO allies have responded grudgingly. Many seem content for America to bear the burden for their safety and prosperity. Britain's governments included. America may not go along with this arrangement forever. Such a huge change would also leave NATO in chaos. The future of the Royal Navy is important for the US Navy. For nearly 70 years our two navies have complimented each other. Both navies cover for each other - a US or RN submarine will take over the other's patrol when an emergency arises. The same goes for surface ships including aircraft carriers. The Royal Navy is the only allied navy that the US Navy trusts to escort its major units. Britain will no longer be taken seriously in Washington if its new generation of politicians dismantle our share of this naval special relationship. *** Updates keep pace with the news.
Just click the President's photo and you'll find World News. * NEW BRIEFING ON AIRBORNE FORCES
Sheridan tank delivered by LAPES onto Sicily Drop Zone at Fort Bragg - photo Adrian Hill - with the C 130 already climbing away. For some time we have felt the website lacked detail on two topics - airborne forces, and the role of the French Resistance during the Battle of Normandy including the politics among the main resistance groups. We're still working on the latter but hope our readers find three new pages with many photos give an introduction to the story of airborne forces. There is a vast amount of information on the Internet and several good sites are linked to this one. Many excellent books have been written about airborne forces, the best as ever by those who took part in airborne and airmobile combat. The material on our site provides detail on the early airborne operations which are less familiar to our regular readership before offering a few thoughts on future operations - perhaps of more than usual interest given the latest news. Readers will find that we have split this history into three pages with a slant towards current news on the third page. We've also tried to bring alive what it's like to take part in a mass parachute landing. UK and US airborne forces often work closely with the Royal Navy and US Navy for combined operations - so we have linked the website pages.
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RED CARPET TREATMENT FOR YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS While our air/land tours are not unique - we've seen such claims - we've been operating for ten years and like to think our team are second to none. Once you set foot on these islands, British Sky Tours take care of your family and friends with the same kind of comfort, safety and convenience that years ago everyone took for granted. Nowadays such pleasant touring is possible only through private travel. We specialise in private air travel and tours designed for families, friends, staff, clients and academic institutions. We show you those places off the usual tourist trails, places we know from living in the countries over many years. You can book our services as a part of your holiday or just for a short trip. We can fly you wherever you wish in Europe, meet you in Normandy or Switzerland, whatever suits your plans. More at our Tours and Touring pages. Our USA agent is Barry Hyatt, whose company was established on Manhattan Island in 1932. Barry has many years experience in the travel business and we regard his representation of our tours as a great compliment. Why not treat your family, your colleagues, your clients, indeed yourself.
Safe Hands Bill Pritchard and Dave Frost are former British Airways jumbo jet training captains, both own pilot's log books showing five years in the sky at the controls of big airliners. You can make enquiries and book all our tours - air, Chunnel/ferry and road - through ourselves in Sedlescombe, East Sussex, UK and through our agent, Barry Hyatt CTC of Air & Marine Travel in Brewster, New York, USA. You are very welcome to email post@britishskytours.com or airmartrav@suscom.net for more information. *** WEBSITE The more our visitors know before a tour, the more they get out of the tour. Those taking a tour - and indeed students - will find a great deal of background about the planning and execution of D Day on several briefing pages. We regularly add material. You can find this briefing via our Home and Contact pages. ************** FINDING YOUR WAY AROUND OUR WEBSITE Tours with overnight stays are offered by Channel Tunnel, ferry and road. Our team, our guides and Air Adviser How we operate is found at the Easy Sky Guide For sample tour prices glance at the Easy Aircraft Guide We always quote - please feel welcome to email for price quotes. We're steadily adding history and opinion pages
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SPECTACULAR NEW PHOTOS
FLY BESIDE THE SWISS ALPS ***
STROLL AROUND BERN, SWITZERLAND'S FAIRY TALE CAPITAL ***
NEW LATEST ON DEFENCE FOR OUR READERS
ANALYSIS BRITISH AND THEIR ARMED FORCES ROYAL NAVY
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