Prelude to Taranto

Prior to the British attack on the Italian battle fleet moored in Taranto Harbour in November 1940, the job of obtaining the very latest photo reconnaissance fell to the maverick pilot Adrian 'Warby' Warburton. Flying a requisitioned Martin Maryland, Warburton undertook a series of breathtakingly low level passes across the ships moored in the harbour, cheating a hail of anti aircraft fire and flak to bring home the vital information to Rear Admiral Lumley Lyster, the flag officer aboard HMS Illustrious.