11th November 1940

Part of the first strike to launch from the deck of HMS Illustrious, Lt C.B. Lamb RN circles back towards the carrier before departing to Taranto. Carrying bombs and flares to mark the target for the subsequent strike Lamb and his observer Lt K.C. Grieve could not have known that they would be one of 20 out of the original 22 obsolete Swordfish biplanes that would return from the first carrier strike against an enemy fleet, and one which would change the balance of power in the mediterranean.