David Morgan (Royal Navy officer)
David Henry Spencer Morgan is a former British Royal Navy and Royal Air Force pilot. He flew on attachment to the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm during the 1982 Falklands War, where he was the most successful British fighter pilot of the conflict and was involved in the last dogfight in which British pilots destroyed enemy aircraft.
Early life
Morgan was born on 29 December 1947 in Folkestone, Kent, his father was a World War II naval fighter pilot. He was educated at Sir Roger Manwood's School in Sandwich, Kent, and at the age of 16 he applied for a scholarship to join the Navy where it was discovered that he had a hole in the heart, this was successfully operated on. He attended the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth as an aviator and was commissioned in 1967 going on to be the first British serviceman to become a pilot after having had open heart surgery.Early career
Morgan joined the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy in 1966 but was initially restricted to flying helicopters due to his previous heart operation. He later transferred to the RAF seeking to fly jets. He served as a Wessex helicopter pilot, notably with 72 Squadron in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. He later converted to Harrier jump jets, serving in West Germany. After accumulating nearly 1,000 flying hours, Morgan was attached to 899 Naval Air Squadron of the Fleet Air Arm, for conversion to Sea Harriers when the Falklands War began. Subsequently, he was attached as a Flight Lieutenant to 800 Naval Air Squadron aboard the aircraft carrier, part of the task force sent to reclaim the islands following the Argentine invasion.Falklands War
Morgan’s first combat mission of the war took place on 1 May 1982, when he participated in the bombing of Port Stanley airport as one of nine Sea Harriers. Morgan’s aircraft carried three BL755 cluster bombs, designed to maximise damage to the runway and any parked aircraft. During the attack, his aircraft was hit in the tail fin by a 20 mm anti-aircraft round, forcing him to return to Hermes with reduced control.On 9 May 1982, Morgan, along with Lt Cdr Batt, carried out a strafing attack on the Argentine trawler Narwal, which was conducting intelligence-gathering operations. Narwal was badly damaged, with one crewman killed, and left dead in the water. A boarding party of British SBS reached the vessel via a Sea King of 846 NAS, capturing the ship and evacuating the crew, along with the body of the boatswain, Omar Rupp. Narwal was taken in tow but sank the following day.
On 23 May, flying with his wingman, Flt Lt John Leeming, in the vicinity of Shag Cove, West Falkland, Morgan engaged an Agusta Westland A109 and two Aérospatiale Puma helicopters. The lead Puma crashed after a low pass by Morgan, which some sources attribute to the Harrier’s wingtip vortices disrupting airflow through the rotor disc. The A109 was destroyed in strafing attacks by Morgan and Leeming. Morgan also damaged the second Puma, which was later destroyed by Lt Cdrs Gedge and Braithwaite of 809 NAS.
On 8 June, during what was intended to be a training flight, Morgan was approaching Bluff Cove, where the British landing ships Sir Galahad and Sir Tristram were on fire following an air attack by Argentinian Douglas A-4 Skyhawks. Morgan and his wingman, Lieutenant David Smith, maintained a protective air patrol when they observed Foxtrot 4, a Landing Craft Utility from, under attack by four A-4Q Skyhawks of the Argentine Navy.
Morgan, who only had fuel for two minutes of combat, proceeded to engage. He fired an AIM‑9L Sidewinder missile at the first Skyhawk, flown by Danilo Bolzán, destroying the aircraft and killing the pilot. A second Skyhawk, flown by Alfredo Vázquez, was struck by Morgan’s second Sidewinder and destroyed. Vázquez was also killed, although he appeared to eject.
A third aircraft, flown by Juan Arrarás, was shot down by Smith. The surviving Argentinian pilot, Héctor Sánchez, managed to line up Morgan’s Harrier in his gunsight, but his cannons jammed.
Although Morgan was no longer at risk of being shot down, his Harrier was critically low on fuel. During part of the return flight to Hermes, Morgan glided to conserve fuel. Upon landing, it was determined that he only had enough fuel for 90 seconds of flight.
The engagement between Morgan and Smith and the Argentine Skyhawks was, as of July 2025, the final air-to-air combat in which enemy aircraft were destroyed by British pilots. Morgan’s tally of confirmed kills made him the most successful British fighter pilot during the conflict.
Suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of his combat experiences, Morgan attributed the subsequent termination of his marriage to the disorder.
Honours and awards
- Distinguished Service Cross – for gallant and distinguished service in the South Atlantic.
- General Service Medal with Northern Ireland clasp – for operational service in 1978.
- South Atlantic Medal with rosette – for service during the Falklands War in 1982.
The London Gazette states "he and his wing man attacked and destroyed an entire formation of four Mirages, Flight Lieutenant Morgan himself shooting down two enemy aircraft." In Morgan's book "Hostile Skies…" Morgan states that he and his wing-man Dave Smith engaged a flight of four Argentinian A4 Skyhawk aircraft, Morgan destroying two and Smith one. This anomaly is explained by Morgan later in his book. The combat took place in poor light conditions, Morgan and Smith were unsure if the enemy aircraft had been Skyhawks or Mirages. Their final mission report stated they had engaged Mirages.
Postwar reconciliation
In 1993, Morgan met journalist Maxi Gainza and agreed to meet Héctor Sánchez, the Argentinian pilot he had engaged on 8 June 1982. This meeting was part of a broader reconciliation effort involving veterans from both sides, documented in a series of portraits by Argentine anthropologist Rosana Guberes. Neil Wilkinson met Mariano Velasco, the pilot he shot down, and Simon Weston met Carlos Cachon, the pilot who bombed with Weston aboard. Morgan maintained contact with Major Roberto Yanzi, pilot of one of the Pumas he had shot down.In 2018 he met Pablo Bolzán, the son of Danilo Bolzán, accompanied him to the Falkland Islands and placed a memorial next to the wreck of Bolzán's aircraft.