ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the British retreat and the consequences it had for maritime air forces, both carrier forces and land-based aircraft. It starts out by discussing the 1968 Defence White Paper, which announced a more hasty retreat than previously planned. The chapter reviews the fate of the carriers in their new scenario, and briefly discusses the carrier fleet of the 1970s. It evaluates the fate of the land-based option that had been chosen. The chapter discusses how British maritime strategy became balanced regarding both forces and rationale. The Royal Navy had to leave its global role and concentrate on its home region. The devaluation of sterling in 1967, the rejected application for membership of the European Economic Community, poor industrial relations and the feeling that the Government had been backing the American war in Vietnam upset many. The British presence on and around the Arabian Peninsula and the policies regarding the Gulf States were to end in late 1971.
