The rare and significant Sea Harrier pilot’s South Atlantic Medal awarded to Lieutenant Commander R. V. Frederiksen, Fleet Air Arm, Royal Navy, who was mentioned in despatches for his services with 800 Naval Air Squadron during the Falklands War: launching from H.M.S. Hermes early on 1 May 1982, the opening day of British operations on the Islands, he led the surprise raid on Goose Green airfield, destroying or damaging at least three Argentine planes; later, on 21 May, he shot down a Dagger single-seat fighter over West Falkland with a Sidewinder missile and the following day strafed and wrecked an enemy patrol boat. Described as the ‘epitome of professionalism’, he was twice awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Services in the Air and went on to enjoy a distinguished career as a squadron commander and test pilot

South Atlantic 1982, with rosette and M.I.D. oak leaf (Lt Cdr R V Frederiksen RN HMS Hermes) with the recipient’s two awards to denote Queen’s Commendations for Valuable Service in the Air (1 bronze oak leaf and 1 spray of silver oak leaves), one edge bruise otherwise nearly extremely fine £12,000-£15,000

M.I.D. London Gazette 11 October 1982:
‘In recognition of service during the operations in the South Atlantic’

The original recommendation states: ‘Lieutenant Commander Fredericksen has played a key role in the battle of the Falkland Isles. On 1st May 1982, he led an attack on the airstrip at Goose Green settlement, which was fiercely defended by heavy anti-aircraft ground fire and subsequently resulted in the loss of two Harriers. He flew over 50 operational missions and a greater number of hours on air defence than any other pilot on H.M.S. Hermes. In one sortie he destroyed one Skyhawk and aggressively engaged the second aircraft until his missiles and guns were expended. Lieutenant Commander Fredericksen’s courage and cheerful determination in conditions of great stress have been an excellent example to all the aircrew and are in the highest traditions of the Service. He is highly commended for his contribution to Operation Corporate.’

Q.C.V.S.A. London Gazettes 31 December 1977 and 11 June 1994.

Rodney Vincent Frederiksen was born in South Shields on 7 April 1947, the son of a Wireless Officer in the Danish Merchant Navy who had moved to England. He was educated at St. Aidan’s Grammar School, Sunderland, and joined the Royal Navy in 1966, beginning his operational career in 1970 as a Sea Vixen pilot with 893 Naval Air Squadron in H.M.S. Hermes. Transferring to 899 Squadron, he flew the Phantom jet fighter-bomber from the aircraft carrier H.M.S. Eagle in the early 1970s before attending the central flying school at R.A.F. Little Rissington in 1973, the following year becoming a Qualified Flying Instructor. In 1977, having been described in his flying assessment as the ‘epitome of professionalism’, Frederiksen was selected for No. 36 Fixed Wing Course at the Empire Test Pilot’s School, and for the next five years he was a Test Pilot at R.A.F. Boscombe Down. During this period his logbook records hundreds of hours flown on a wide variety of aircraft including the Hunter, Jaguar, Lightning and Hawk to name but a few, and he was awarded his first Queen’s Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air in connection with this work in 1977. Notably, his first Harrier flight came on 25 September 1978 and he logs a solo pre-view flight in a Sea Harrier on 2 May 1979. Flying Sea Harriers exclusively from June 1980 as part of 800 Naval Air Squadron, he was still testing at Boscombe Down when jump jets of his squadron were landing on H.M.S. Hermes on 4 April 1982 in preparation for the journey to the Falkland Islands. Inveigling himself aboard, Frederiksen was welcomed by his fellow 800 Squadron pilots under Lieutenant-Commander Andy Auld and a month later was in the thick of war.

On 1 May 1982 Hermes entered the 200 nautical mile Total Exclusion Zone which Britain had declared around the Falkland Islands and moved into a position 95 miles east-north-east of the capital Port Stanley, ready to launch all 12 of her Sea Harrier aircraft for attacks on Stanley Airport (nine aircraft) and Goose Green (three aircraft). Frederiksen, in Sea Harrier ZA191, led the latter group of three (Tartan Section) off the Hermes ‘ski-jump’ at 10.56, a mission later recounted by Jeffrey Ethell and Alfred Price in Air War South Atlantic:

‘While the attack on Port Stanley airfield was in progress, Lieutenant Commander ‘Fred’ Frederiksen led his three Harriers southwards down Falkland Sound before running in to attack Goose Green airfield from north-west. Approaching fast and very low, the raiders achieved almost complete surprise at their target. As the aircraft pulled up to begin their bombing runs one of the pilots saw the muzzle flashes of small arms fire aimed at them, but that was the sole reaction from the ground. The Sea Harriers released their bombs and were clear before the defenders could bring heavier weapons to bear. As they swept in one of the Pucarás had been preparing to take off, and the exploding cluster bombs wrecked the aircraft, killing the pilot and six ground crew.’

By 11.55 ‘Tartan Section’ had landed on Hermes unscathed. The safe return of all the Harriers of 800 Squadron giving rise to BBC Reporter Brian Hanrahan’s oft-quoted phrase “I counted them all out and I counted them all back”. Overall the two attacks were considered very successful with no losses on the British side, while a Sea Harrier photo-reconnaissance flight later the same day revealed five damaged Pucaras on the Goose Green airfield in addition to the one destroyed.

Over the next 18 days, Frederiksen flew a further 13 Combat Air Patrols from Hermes before the British landings in San Carlos Water on 21 May. Provoking a strong reaction from the Argentine Airforce, this was a day of fierce aerial combat with an estimated nine enemy aircraft shot down; unsurprisingly it was also Frederiksen’s busiest day of the war. On his first sortie that day, Frederiksen and Lieutenant M. Hale of 800 Squadron gave chase to six Argentine Daggers (the Israeli version of the French Dassault Mirage 5 multirole fighter) which had just attacked H.M. ships Broadside, Argonaut and Antrim in San Carlos Sound with 1,000lb bombs. Catching sight of their faster adversaries they gave chase, Hale recalled ‘we picked them up visually as they were coming down the Lafonia side of the Sound, just over land at low level and running out at high speed. I was the nearer to them. I dropped in behind the left hand man in their formation and got a good missile lock. The range was a bit on the high side but I decided to give it a try and launched a Sidewinder.’ His missile exploded short of its intended victim and the two Sea Harriers, unable to close the range and short of fuel, broke off the chase and returned to the carrier. That afternoon, however, on his second Combat Air Patrol of the day, Frederiksen had more success:

‘Lieutenant Commander ‘Fred’ Frederiksen and Lieutenant Andy George of No. 800 Squadron were on patrol when one of the first of the new raiding forces came in: four Daggers of Gruppo 6 led by Captain Horacio Gonzalez. The raiders had been seen on radar before they descended to low altitude west of the Falklands, however, and directed by Brilliant Frederickson and George headed west to intercept them. Meanwhile the low-flying raiders had headed south-east from Jason Island, and after making a landfall at King George Bay on West Falkland they swung on to a north-easterly heading to take them through a gap in the high ground towards their target.
As the Daggers crossed the coast Frederiksen, by then over Chartres Settlement at 2,500 feet, caught sight of them three miles away to the right; at the time he thought the aircraft to be Skyhawks. ‘I put Andy George into one mile trail on me to keep an eye open for any escorts that might be behind them as we accelerated and I went in behind the left-hand element. Having checked there were no escorts, Andy went for the right-hand element. I went for the tail man in the left element; there was no sign that they had seen me...’ The tail man in the left element was Lieutenant Hector Luna, who recalled : ‘We were about four minutes from the target and flying very low; I could see the peaks of the mountains covered by cloud as we flew down the valley between them. And at that moment I saw a Sea Harrier turning above me. I tried to advise my leader but my radio malfunctioned. Then I looked in my mirror and saw a second Harrier behind me fire a missile - I could see the flame clearly.’ The Sidewinder, fired by Frederiksen, struck the Dagger at the rear and Luna started to lose control. Instinctively he pulled on the stick to gain height before ejecting but, probably because the control surfaces on the rear of one of the wings had been damaged by the explosion, the fighter-bomber immediately lurched into a violent roll. Luna had no time to consider the matter further, he pulled the ejection-seat handle. A split second after the pilot emerged from his aircraft the Dagger smashed into the ground, and Luna could feel the blast of the impact. Immediately afterwards he was dumped on the ground hard, pieces of flaming wreckage falling around him. He had a dislocated arm and a sprained knee and so, after releasing his parachute, had to crawl clear of what, not many seconds earlier, had been a fighter-bomber.
Frederiksen saw the aircraft smash into the ground in front of him, and as it did so he came within gun range of the element leader and opened fire with his 30mm cannon, though without seeing any hits. Meanwhile the Daggers, hugging the ground as their pilots endeavoured to avoid the cloud-covered mountains, went into a turn to the left. Frederiksen immediately pulled right, away from the fighter-bomber he had been following: if he continued his attack he knew the right-hand element of the enemy force would swing round on to his tail. Once out of the potential trap he pulled left again and loosed off the rest of his cannon shells at the right-hand element. ‘I was in a high G turn at very low altitude and I couldn’t claim any hits. The last I saw of them they were continuing their turn to the left, going into cloud.’ As the rest of the Daggers let down beneath cloud on the other side of the high ground it was clear one of their comrades was missing; at the time they thought Luna had flown into a hillside. Surprisingly, none of their pilots had seen the Sea Harriers. Shaken by the apparent sudden death of one of their number, the remainder pressed on grimly towards the target area.’ (ibid)

The following day Frederiksen, once again paired with Lieutenant Mike Hale, launched from Hermes at dawn for the first air patrol of the day. Approaching Goose Green, they sighted the Coast Guard patrol boat Rio Iguazu on its way up Choiseul Sound, carrying field guns and and ammunition to reinforce the Argentine defences. The pair dived on the boat, strafed it with 30mm cannon, and left it burning. Later it was seen aground among the kelp in Button Bay, still burning, having been abandoned by its crew.

Completing more hours on air defence than any other pilot flying from H.M.S. Hermes, Frederikson undertook 55 Combat Air Patrols during the conflict, as well as bombing missions over Goose Green and Port Stanley. For his services in the South Atlantic he was Mentioned in Despatches.

After the Falklands War, Frederikson returned to Boscombe Down, flight testing an updated Sea Harrier, armed with the Sea Eagle air-to-surface missile. From 1985 until 1988 he commanded 800 Naval Air Squadron himself, flying from the carrier H.M.S. Illustrious. On one occasion being reprimanded after faulty navigation equipment took him close to Murmansk, a scrape which earned him the nickname ‘Red Fred’. In 1988 he passed the Naval Staff course, but disliked the desk-bound environment and the following year he joined B.A.E., in order to continue flying, serving as a Test Pilot at Dunsfold. There he test-flew improved marks of Harrier, until, when armed with the latest AMRAAM, it became Britain’s most effective air defence fighter. Remaining in the role until 1994, his second Q.C.V.S.A. was gazetted in June of that year (Rodney Vincent Frederiksen, Sea Harrier Project Pilot, British Aerospace Defence Limited). Between 1995 and 1997 he was based in Dabolim, Goa, where he helped to train Indian naval pilots to fly their Harriers and later he also trained Indonesian pilots to fly the Hawk, before his last job in 2003, teaching on the simulator at 208 Squadron at R.A.F. Valley, Wales. He was a popular leader who commanded respect, was ‘as fun to fly with as to crash in the bar’ who showed concern for his men and who passed on his love of flying to all his students.

Frederikson died on 27 September 2009, and fittingly his last ‘take off’ was marked by a flypast. As one mourner at his funeral remarked:
‘Good weather did allow the flypasts. At the precise moment Fred’s coffin arrived outside his house, with family and friends gathered in the street to meet him, a GR9 Tornado fighter-bomber from 800 Sqn (NSW) passed directly overhead. The timing was perfect to the second - as you would no doubt expect. A few moments later a Typhoon Eurofighter from Warton, with two hawks from NFSF(FW) in Vic, also flew over. Once overhead the Hawks peeled off smartly into echelon as the typhoon plugged in the carrots and pulled into the vertical. The Hawks, resplendent in their Fly Navy 100 livery, then returned for a final slow pass before departing. It was a most fitting tribute, and all who were present were incredibly moved.’

Sold with the following original items and documents:
The recipient’s three Flying Log Books covering the period March 1968 (training flights in Chipmunks) to December 1987 (Sea Harriers); his riband bar in original box of issue and related miniature South Atlantic 1982 medal and cloth wings; his original Mentioned in Despatches certificate; his Q.C.V.S.A. certificate, dated 31 December 1977; his officer’s cap with cloth and metal badge; two Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander (Air Branch) epaulettes; Royal Navy cloth and metal peaked cap badge; metal tankard engraved ‘Lt Cdr Rod Frederiksen 809 Squadron July - December 1982; two hard back books - ‘Falklands the Air War’ by Burden, Draper, Rough and Smith, and ‘Air War South Atlantic’ by Ethell and Price; and an album containing a quantity of high quality original photographs of the recipient at various stages of his career, including during and shortly after the Falklands conflict, a copy of the London Gazette, 11 October 1982, containing the recipient’s M.I.D. announcement, various certificates relating to flying and other qualifications, and a quantity of invitations, articles and ephemera.

Sold also with a print of an original painting, oil on canvas, by the artist Jack Froelich, of Petersfield, depicting the moment Frederiksen launched his Sidewinder air-to-air missile to bring down the Argentinean jet, San Carlos Water, 21 May 1982, entitled ‘Is this a Dagger which I see before me?’, mounted in a glazed display frame.