I was upset today to hear of the passing of Brian Hanrahan, one of the most famous BBC correspondents, best known for his coverage of the Falklands War. He died at the age of 61 after a short battle against cancer.
His reporting spanned the reshaping of Nato and the European Union, as well as conflicts in Bosnia, Kosovo, and the Middle East. As the BBC's Far East, and then Moscow correspondent, he watched dramatic changes unfolding in China and Russia. He covered Tiananmen Square and the fall of the Berlin Wall.
But it was in the Falkands War in 1982 that made him his reputation. He was reporting from an aircraft carrier, and famously counted the returning Harrier jets landing back on to deck, in such a way as to circumvent British Ministry of Defence censorship. It was as though it was yesterday, as I so clearly remember hearing his radio report, when he said: "I'm not allowed to say how many planes joined the raid, but I counted them all out and I counted them all back. Their pilots were unhurt, cheerful and jubilant, giving thumbs-up signs."
Sadly, Hanrahan had recently been scheduled to report on the last flight of the Harrier jets, which are being scrapped because of government spending cuts, about which I have written in a previous blog. Alas, he became too ill to attend the ceremony and died only days later.
He was a true symbol of the remarkable reporting standards of the BBC. He will certainly be remembered by me.
Grandpa Jonathan
Prague, Czech Republic
