"The task force would be made up of ”a battalion of Marines distributed in two battleships, two heavy cruisers, a light cruiser, twelve torpedo boats, a tanker and nine tracking vessels“. To this would be added another 750 members from the Army which would have the main task, ”taking control of Port Stanley“" The two battleships would have been the Rivadavia and Moreno, the only South American dreadnaughts built in the US. Roughly on par with the USS Arkansas but faster. Rivadavia-class battleship - Wikipedia
Rivadavia-class battleship - Wikipedia Has... "The money gained from selling the two dreadnoughts along with an older armored cruiser, Pueyrredón, was used to buy an aircraft carrier from the United Kingdom, Independencia (ex-Warrior)." HMS Warrior (R31) - Wikipedia Hopefully - not a further foretaste of things to come ;-)
Kings College London's War Studies Depmt. have announced a forty years after online conference on 3rd May 2022. the website entry states: Bookings not an option yet, so if interested check the website in early 2022: Falklands 40: War Studies perspectives in the 21st century
With Remembrance Day almost upon us I thought the following would be of interest. I was fortunate enough to visit the Islands some years ago and tour the many battlefields and memorials as well as the British and Argentinian cemeteries.
Looking Forward at Forty Looking Forward at Forty In 2022 we will mark the 40th anniversary of the liberation of the Falkland Islands. Throughout the year we will hold a number of events in the Falkland Islands and the UK, to commemorate the sacrifices made in 1982, and to celebrate the progress made in the Islands over the past 40 years. We are calling this special commemorative year “Looking Forward at Forty” – making it a time to reflect on the achievements that have been made with our hard-won freedom, and to look forward to the next 40 years of life in the Falkland Islands. The 74-day war On 2 April 1982, Argentine forces invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands. Three days later, on 5 April, a UK task force set sail to recapture the Islands and restore freedom for the Islanders. 25,948 UK Armed Forces personnel, alongside around 3,000 civilian crew from the Merchant Navy, Royal Fleet Auxiliary and Chinese civilian crew, formed the Task Force involved in the liberation of the Falkland Islands, of whom 255 died during the campaign. In addition, three civilian Falkland Islanders were also lost their lives during the war. Following several weeks of intense fighting, Argentine forces surrendered on 14 June 1982, a date that has since been known in the Falkland Islands as ‘Liberation Day’ and is a national holiday. Falkland Islanders continue to be profoundly grateful for the strong support that the UK Government continues to provide, in acknowledging our right to self-determination and our choice to remain a UK Overseas Territory. Today, the Falkland Islands is a forward-looking community, with a strong sense of culture and heritage. To find out more about our home, the way we live and work today, and our plans to mark the 40th anniversary, please visit our website, or find us on social media.
Just found and and not listened to: The SAS in the Falklands: Part One The SAS in the Falklands: Part Two
Perhaps they will repeat the TV version... BBC Four - The Falklands Play They recently re-ran the audio one... (as a part of) I Played the Prime Minister - BBC Sounds "Patricia Hodge explains how she adapted her barnstorming performance as Margaret Thatcher between the radio and TV versions of 'The Falklands Play', which is among the dramas we will be hearing again."
I lifted this from the website Quora. It's a different side of the war not studied. Why was Stanley in the Falkland Isles so filthy at the end of the war in June 1982? Stanley was filthy because, quite simply, it had the infrastructure for a town of fifteen hundred people tops, then suddenly 14,000 Argies descended on the place. The water filtration plant broke down, mainly after Argentine soldiers went blasting away at anything and burst the pipework, leading to dirty water and dysentery. In turn, they found tanks of ionized water, which you can't drink, and drank it, which caused more than just a dose of the trots but internal bleeding. Then there was a lack of toilets and toilet paper, which seemed to end up everywhere, plus most meals were thin stews or soups which went in runny and came out runny. Many turned their talents to using Falkland Islanders’ homes as bathrooms, and I don't mean to use the toilet, but to cause damage. One of my friends found his baby girl's clothes had been used for toilet paper, and excrement smeared over his walls. Another found his beds sodden with urine and his deep freeze full of excrement. Added to this was the detritus of war and a mixture of shell casings, food wrappers, a sea of mud, bodies everywhere and a shanty town of barrels, tyres, tarpaulins and more, in which the Argentine soldiers had been living. Also on June 14th and 15th the Argentines tried to deliberately wreck the place, burning down and ransacking houses and emptying truckloads of fuel into Stanley Harbour to make it unlivable. Here is Argentine soldier Carlos Bustos emptying fuel into the harbour, on a photo taken by Paul Haley. Carlos says he was “just following orders”. There was simply no sanitation, no care of their own immediate environment and a deliberate attempt to turn the place into a giant toilet. Then they wonder why the Falkland Islanders resent them and don't want them back. To their credit, a number of Argentine volunteers did offer to help clean up the mess they had left, although the clean up took years, and the smell lasted for months.
A-58, Never seen such photos before, so thank you. The scale of the Argentine garrrison, 14k, reminded me of a thought after the 1982 war. How would the UK reacted if Argentina had removed all its troops, down to the size of the Royal Marines garrison (a reinforced platoon from memory) and see how diplomacy would then handle the situation?
One thing that seems to get emphasised about the Falklands is that they are "small"... generally I imagine someone unthinkingly opening an old atlas and seeing them in the South Atlantic and thinking that they are about the same area as the Isles of Scilly (pop circa 2,224) or the Channel Islands.... ;-) In terms of population there... vs. 14,000 Argentinians... at some point I guess someone would have suggested a plebiscite to "fairly determine what the people there wanted" and there would handily have been large Argentine settlement continuously as long as they were able to have any kind of control. Heavy new settlement too on South Georgia perhaps. Our people Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) Demographics Profile * Falkland Islands Population (2022) - Worldometer * Edit... ;-) Sex ratio total population: 1.12 male(s)/female (2016 est.) note: sex ratio is somewhat skewed by the high proportion of males at the Royal Air Force station, Mount Pleasant Airport (MPA); excluding MPA, the sex ratio of the total population would be 1.04 Edit #2 - Falklands referendum: Voters choose to remain UK territory
Thanks Little Friend, didn't even know this chapel existed. The chapel's website: The Falkland Islands Memorial Chapel | Pangbourne College | Berkshire The Chapel is located in the grounds of Pangbourne College, near Reading in Berkshire, RG8 8LA and visit information:
As I used to do deliveries in-and-around Reading Every Monday for roughly 17 years I got to know the Whole Area Very Well. Seeing signs in Pangbourne for this Falklands War Memorial, I decided to take a look one Monday, Very impressed ! Well-Worth a visit ! Quite a Narrow road though from Pangbourne up to this Memorial Chapel.
I also paid a visit to Pangbourne House (Coombe Park) which was a 'Flak' House (Rest Home) for War Weary airmen of the USAAF during the latter part of the war. This is actually in Whitchurch-on-Thames, that is more-or-less part of Pangbourne. I knocked the door explaining my interest, asking if I would be allowed to take a few photographs..? The Lady (?) told me she ''knew nothing about what took place here during the war, please leave, goodbye'' Though it's since changed hands, so maybe a better chance now ? https://whitchurchonthames.com/Coombe Park article 23.6.19 (2).pdf
Watching a C4 documentary Falklands War: The Untold Story, with a variety of "talking heads", Navy, Marines, Air Force and Army. In total 90 minutes. Plus three Argentinian Army officers, a couple of civilians and Max Hastings. Sub-titled: LInk: Falklands War: The Untold Story - All 4 Note it is shown as available for 29 days. For the SAS Commander, Michael Rose, later to be General Sir, speaks for the first time, he is very critical of the command structure - which led to confusion to say the least - and acknowledges the technical assistance from the US Delta Force - with eight satellite phones (the uplink being disabled upon victory). A RAF Wing Commander being dispatched to Chile, with direct contact with General Pinochet; he refers to access to Chilean radar which could cover several Argentinian airfields. Plus, a Nimrod ELINT plane being based not on the Chilean mainland. presumably Easter Island. With these two information sources they supplied advanced warning of Argentinian aircraft taking off to attack. General Rose is critical of the battle for Goose Green, by the Paras as a diversion from the attack, not yet started, for Port Stanley. "Going to Fitzroy & Bluff Cove was a silly things to do", which would enable 5th Infantry Brigade to move forward - as the Marines and Paras mainly walked or "yomped". An advance party of SAS, joined by Marines, held Mount Kent - watching Port Stanley ten miles away and would be able to direct artillery fire. Rose calls the official inquiry into this episode a "whitewash". There is an unexplained gap about the five hour wait in Bluff Cove, in full daylight, with an Argentinian OP post watching. Why were the landing craft and other small boats not used? Forty-eight dead and 150 wounded. Supplies to the Marines and Paras were disrupted, rations having to last 72hrs, not 24hrs; then the cold and the wet led to "trench foot". 28% of those British servicemen engaged in direct combat suffered from mental health problems. PTSD was a high price to pay, said one Para.
A very interesting documentary. Quite a lot that had not been fully covered before. Well worth a watch