Description
Lord West explains how Britain, and the Royal Navy, adjusted to dramatically straitened circumstances after the Second World War.
He describes the dramatic social changes that began after 1945, including big pay rises, improved food and conditions of service - and even the beginning of the end for hammocks.
He explores the Royal Navy's crucial role in the development of nuclear weapons, and the impact they had on defence thinking and the future of conventional forces. And he speaks to Laura Sandys MP, the daughter of former Defence Secretary Duncan Sandys, about his seminal 1957 Defence White Paper, which shaped British defence thinking for a generation.
Producer: Giles Edwards.
In the final part of his history of the Royal Navy in the twentieth century, Lord West tells the story of the Royal Navy since the end of the Cold War.
The period since the end of the Cold War has seen major changes in Britain and the Royal Navy: in military, technological and social terms. In...
Published 06/20/14
Lord West tells the story of the Royal Navy in the Falklands War.
Lord West travels to the Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton, home of the Fleet Air Arm, to explain the vital importance of air power in winning the Falklands War. He visits the memorial to friends of his who died in the conflict,...
Published 06/19/14