FLYING LIFE FOUR

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THE BRITISH ROYAL NAVY

1983–1985

The Sea King Mk IV “Commando” is a British-built version of the Sikorsky H-3. The Royal Navy uses the aircraft as their primary utility/medium lift aircraft to support the Royal Marines. The Brits often fly them single pilot, unlike US military helicopters which almost always have two pilots. The Royal Navy helicopter squadrons that support the Royal Marines are known as the “Junglies,” a nickname given them by the British Army in the early 1960’s. The locals in Borneo were in insurrection and the Navy flew their Westland Whirlwind helicopters (British-built version of the Sikorsky H-19) in support, giving the British infantry the mobility they needed to defeat them. A ten-minute helicopter flight took the soldiers farther than they could march through the jungle in an entire day—in other words, the same thing the US did on a much more massive scale in Vietnam a few years later. But in addition to jungle work, the “Junglies” must be prepared to fight anywhere, including the Arctic and the desert.