The Falklands War 1982 (Full Documentary)

these islands in the South Atlantic have two names to the people who live there and to Britain they are the Faulkland Islands but to their closest neighbor across the sea Argentina and its people they Aras Islas malvinas the debate over what to call these islands is a symbol of a much larger dispute one that has raised for hundreds of years and continues to this day but in April of 1982 that debate became a conflict one which would take the lives of nearly a thousand people but for Argentina it wasn't meant to be that way in fact when Argentina invaded the Faulkland Islands they believed that Britain wouldn't even respond we're going to take an indepth look at the fand's conflict exploring the fighting at Sea in the air and on land as well as its far-reaching impacts on the modern world but first we need to understand why the war happened in the first place why did Argentina believe they could take the Falcons without a fight what was the invasion actually like and why did Britain choose to fight for these islands 8,000 mil from [Music] home situated in the inhospitable South Atlantic Ocean the Faulkland provide a valuable strategic location to rest and refit the British first arrived in 6 1990 but left the islands uninhabited until the late 1700s when they were occupied at different times by France Britain and Spain Britain erected a plaque claiming ownership of the islands but left a few years later leaving the Spanish in control as they were in much of South America when that Spanish colony fell apart in the early 1800s Argentina instead lay claim to the islands but not before in 1833 British Marines returned to reassert British rule for good Argentina continued to claim the land but the fauland were governed along with South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands as the fauland island dependencies into the 1980s about half the population of 1800 live in Stanley the world's most southernly Capital the remainder live in what is called the camp comprising sheep farms the climate most charitably described as invigorating is Harsh the people are all of UK origin many being the descendants of settlers who first came to the islands over 150 years ago the Queen's representative is the governor appointed from UK he's the senior civil administrator to whom the Island's elected councilor is responsible so this is the uh dress uniform of the governor of the folkland islands Rex hunt later sir Rex hunt and indeed there are many postings around the world today where diplomatic staff are required to wear ceremonial uniforms exactly like this it's meant to evoke symbols of power evoke symbols of control represented and embodied in the figure of the governor quite a powerful symbol of both the the way in which the Islanders saw their relationship to the crown and the way in which the argentinians viewed the presence of the British as some kind of Imperial hangover or Legacy since the end of the second world war most of the world including Britain had been decolonizing the Argentinian government expected the Falin to pass to their control as so many other territories had around the world from former colonizer to former colony in 1965 the UN issued resolution 2065 recognizing the sovereignty dispute and asking the UK and Argentina to find a peaceful solution it was a problem that the British government would rather not have had the Argentinian claim was based both on the idea of territorial Integrity the idea that the islands are part of Argentina's land and on a sense of Injustice that the British presence was an imperial Relic with no place in the modern world so what we have here is a letter from the Museum's collection it was sent to the museum and I suspect there were many sent to other institutions it lays out the reasons why Argentina have staked their claim it talks for example about Argentina being a self-governing country since 1816 it talks about a constitution it talks about being a friendly society and it kind of crystallizes that argument with this line all those countries have asked themselves how can Great Britain pretend that those islands 7,000 M away from Great Britain and so near Argentina are British So in theory this should be based on the principle of that claim relatively straightforward but of course it's not straightforward forward because there is a competing moral claim and that of course comes from the people who actually live there the Islanders themselves the Faulkland Islanders wanted nothing to do with the proposed decolonization process for two main reasons firstly they were descended from and saw themselves as British citizens it was part of their identity and secondly no matter how close Argentina was Nor how much they depended on it for supplies and communication Argentina was not at that time an appealing alternative since the mid 1970s Argentina had been led by a rightwing authoritarian government known as the military Hunter with the support of successive us governments determined to root out communism in South America people deemed enemies of the state were treated appallingly around 30,000 citizens known as the Disappeared were murdered some of them drugged and thrown into the ocean in what became known as the Dirty War Argentina had also come close to war with Chile in a dispute over the Beagle Straits and a social unrest grew economic issues developed as well suddenly the situation was murky Britain might once have been an imperial power but it was now a democracy and on the other hand Argentina had shaken off European Imperial rule but it was now a military dictatorship with real issues so in the face of all of these problems one thing is potentially offering itself to the Hun as a solution and that is to focus the attention of the people on a historic Injustice by 1982 the government the press the people of Argentina have been describing the folklands in increasingly desperate terms one Argentinian General described it as the open wound on Argentina's soul and if the folklands to the Argentinian people is a historic Injustice then perhaps that is something that can unify a nation and provide an externally focused way of moving on from the horrors of the Dirty War throughout the 1970s the British and Argentinian governments continued to negotiate over the Faulkland whether the Islanders liked it or not the British had an economic crisis of their own and were looking for ways to offload the costs of supporting the islands some proposals included a Hong Kong style deal which would see the islands transferred to Argentina and then leased back to Britain for a period of time another was simply to pay each Faulkland Islander to move to New Zealand but neither of these ever got off the ground though there was some distrust between the Islanders and the British government the Islanders Lobby in Westminster was strong and ensured that their wishes were never off the table that meant that the British and Argentinian governments were fundamentally opposed on one side a claim based on territorial integrity and a perceived historical Injustice and on the other a claim based on historical precedent and the rights to self-determination their views were simply incompatible with the faland negotiations going nowhere the British government had few options they could turn the Falklands into a fortress with an increased military presence and essentially rule out Argentine possession but it was feared that this would not only be an expensive drain on Britain's forces which were already committed to Nato but also that it might provoke the argentinians into military action so instead the British chose to continue negotiating and hope that circumstances would change and things would work themselves out in the future but of course this is all about messages sent and messages received so with all of these considerations not just about what what the governments of Argentina and Britain say but what they do becomes increasingly important as each side tries to second guess what the other is about to do and I think one of the most interesting examples of that deliberation that dilemma that the British government found itself in we can see in hang of three here at duckford the signals which Britain sent during the negotiations would eventually convince Argentina to invade the Falklands perhaps the clearest was that they were prepared to negotiate at all it implied that Britain was at least willing to consider transferring the islands despite the feelings of the Islanders the British government position did Harden with the election of Margaret Thatcher in 1979 but with the foreign and Commonwealth office handling negotiations those changes took time to filter through the issues remained as polarizing as before another clear symbol came from the defenses on the faland themselves or the lack thereof just 40 Royal Marines defended the islands and defense Cuts were about to make things even worse so we're now next to the Westland wasp helicopter now wasps were a royal Navy helicopter that was small enough and agile enough to operate with very limited room very small hangers so they folded away quite neatly if you look at this one there's the name of its ship on the front HMS endurance so the Royal Navy maintains HMS endurance for several months a year in the South Atlantic it's a nice Patrol ship it's not a classic warship nicknamed the red plum because of course it has a bright red hle and this aircraft in its later career actually served on that in the South Atlantic you'll be able to see a penguin on the side that references that South Atlantic and Antarctic connection but that's just one Royal Navy vessel one Royal Navy vessel that's there part of the year not all of the year when it's decided that it will not survive the next round of Defense cuts that sends a very powerful message that the only ship designed to operate in the South Atlantic for extended periods of time will soon not be there for Argentina it seemed that Britain's commitment to the Faulkland was weakening in 1976 the argentinians had established a military base on Southern Fu in the Sandwich Islands which Britain owned but the response had been minimal as the British were worried about provoking the argentinians then in March of 1982 things went a step further when Argentinian scrap metal workers landed on South Georgia to dismantle the old wailing station they were accompanied by Argentinian Marines who erected an Argentine flag in response to this direct threat to British sovereignty HMS endurance was dispatched with 22 Royal Marines the flag was taken down but HMS endurance was then ordered to hold off for Britain the response to all these crisis had been proportionate but to the argentinians they appeared token at best all this pointed to one glaring conclusion that an invasion of the faland would meet no British counter signals from around the world were also positive they had a UN resolution support for many Latin American nations and US backing in the fight against communism and even if the British did respond taking back the islands over 8,000 m away from the UK was another matter everything that we've talked about was leading the Argentinian government to assess that the risk of a British retaliation was low that if they were going to solve the issue of sovereignty if they were going to come back and attempt to write that wrong of 1833 then this was an ideal time to do it and to explain what that invasion was like for the people who experienced it we're going to go back and have a look at a couple of objects on the 1st of April 1982 Governor Rex hunt was informed that an Argentinian invasion was imminent he had little time to organize a defense the Royal Marine Garrison was actually in the process of changing over and so was double the usual strength it would normally have been this was augmented by some Naval hydrographers from HMS inurance and members of the local Faulkland Islands Defense Force bringing the total to around 85 men needless to say this was not enough to repel a fullscale Invasion so the Royal Marines concentrated their defense on government house with limited weapons and supplies they knew they could not hold out for long instead they planed to give the argentinians a bloody nose and show the world that the fauland would not give in without a fight at 11:00 p.m. that night the first Argentine Special Forces troops landed at Lake Point and advanced Inland most of the troops moved to Moody Brook Barracks which they attacked but found empty while the rest moved on to government house where the main fight would take place these are place mats to put under your plates on a table but these place mats are from government house in the folkland islands the extraordinary thing about them is that they've been damaged by shrapnel or an Argentinian round because when government house came under attack there's a crucial thing to remember in that it was made largely out of wood one of the things that happened was the bullets passed through not just the walls but the cabinet holding these and actually damaged them there not only do they show the sort of damage that if it was inflicted on a person would kill them the J toos of these scenes of diplomatic gentility this sort of 19th century uh precision and elegance smashed with a bullet or a piece of shrapnel these mats are are an extraordinary witness to the events of that night as the battle for government house raged on newly landed Argentinian amts were making their way up from York Bay into Stanley they were held up by Royal Marines on the main road but as they Advanced on government house itself Rex hunt had a choice to make one option was to head out into the camp and mount a gorilla campaign but in the face of now overwhelming Argentinian Force he made the difficult decision to surrender dear friends I'm afraid I'm not being given the time to say farewell to you all as I would have wished but the new Argentine Governor has kindly given me permission Miss to send you this last message of good wishes and thanks for all your support I shall never forget you and hope that we shall meet again someday he was repatriated to the UK along with the Royal Marines wearing the ceremonial uniform which we saw earlier the following day after spirited resistance from HMS endurance's Royal Marines South Georgia 2 was captured by the argentinians at the Battle of grit Vicken when news reached Argentina the mood was jubilant their open wound had finally been sutured but as the British government reacted Argentinian assumptions regarding the next phase quickly fell apart the decision was taken almost immediately that they would have to be retaken a combined land sea and air campaign that would have to leave as soon as possible but it still Remains the case that to the vast majority of the people in the United Kingdom the folklands are not something that is immediately knowable to them the joke is that many people thought they were off the coast of of Scotland so suddenly to discover not only that these islands ex exist but that they have been taken by force there is predictably a level of outrage as Britain Reed its task force the rest of the world reacted to the invasion with shock the UN issued resolution 502 calling for an immediate withdrawal of Argentine forces the US after attempts to broker a piece also came down on the side of the UK they offered arms such as Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and the continued use of wide awake airfield on Ascension Island both of which would prove crucial in the battle to come and although several Latin American nations voiced approval for Argentina's claim to the islands Chile did not the threat of war between the two would keep Argentinian assets tied down on the mainland while Chilean intelligence would provide early warnings of Argentine air movements and become crucial to the survival of British Air Cruise so it's fair to conclude that the response is neither what the argentinians hoped for nor in many respects predicted they wanted Britain not to attempt to retake the islands they wanted the United States to have not backed them then at least to remain neutral and they wanted this to be seen by The Wider International Community as writing a historical Injustice it's a slightly different Prospect and once again that Spectre of using military force against the people who do not wish to have their government changed begins to enter the calculus of a lot of places around the world though Argentina's moral claim to the Faulkland had began to falter the basic odds in the coming conflict were still very much in Argentina's favor they were fighting in their own backyard close to their lines of Supply while British forces would have to sail over 8,000 mi from home and relying on just two aircraft carriers for air cover the folkland has often been called a small war and that's a bit of a misnomer really because the folkland has enormous significance you don't have to look very far around the world at the moment to see these same issues of historical perceived injustices butting up against the rights of self-determination for people living there now and of course this is still a live issue because although the conflict ended that didn't end Argentina's desire to see the folkland Islands part of their country and it did not end Britain's commitment to the Islanders the distance between those two points is just as vast the only difference is Argentina tested the limits of that proposition using military force and for many people that crossed a line that can never be uncrossed in June 1981 Sir John KN presented a defense review to Parliament he was proposing significant cuts to the Royal Navy including scrapping the Antarctic Patrol ship HMS endurance and the withdrawal of major vessels including two aircraft carriers the risk of an out of area amphibious operation was considered extremely unlikely just 9 months later Argentinian scrap Merchants landed on South Georgia the invasion of the Faulkland followed on the 2nd of April this action had taken the British almost entirely by surprise and yet within a matter of days a task force had been assembled the UK had entered a conflict they never thought they would be fighting 8,000 Mi away in the South Atlantic the not review had been turned on its head and the Navy's priorities by the end of 1982 were completely transformed British sovereign territory has been invaded by a foreign power the large task force will sail as soon as all preparations are complete on the 2nd of April 1982 when Argentine Marines occupied Port Stanley in Argentina news of the invasion was met with celebrations a 250,000 strong crowd appeared in the heart of the capital chanting their approval to General Leopoldo galtieri all information seemed to indicate that London would not put up a fight for these islands and his gamble initially appeared to have paid off but by the 5th of April the British task force was already on its way it had taken just days to fully load and equip both aircraft carriers HMS invincible and HMS Hermes and their escorts they were on their way South ahead of the other ships to enforce the exclusion Zone but with the Royal Navy more prepared for cutbacks and the Cold War than a conflict 8,000 miles away what kind of force were they able to pull together here's Alan Jeff curator at iwm London there were three main task forces uh one headed for South Georgia under the command of Captain Brian Young uh there was one for the amphibious Landing under the command of commodore Mike clap and the main Task Force Under the command of rear Admiral Sandy Woodward the two key ships in the in the main task force were the aircraft carriers HMS Hermes and HMS Invincible which were not totally suited um as they could only carry 20 sea harriers between them and two few Sidewinder missiles against Air Attack uh commercial shipping was also requisitioned such as the liners a camra and Queen Elizabeth II the QE2 as well as the container ship um the Atlantic conveyor the task force eventually comprised 44 warships 22 Royal Fleet auxiliary ships and 45 Merchant ships the British strategy was to achieve command of the air and sea before an amphibious Landing could take place the strategy had been formed by a war cabinet hastily pulled together by Margaret Thatcher and the Royal Navy led the campaign the the senior British commanders in the campaign all Naval um the chief of the defense staff was Admiral Sir Terence Luen the first SE Lord was Admiral Sir Henry leech he'd been the one who at the beginning of the campaign had advised prime minister Margaret Thatcher that a task force should be sent and would be ready in 3 days Admiral John Fieldhouse was in operational command of the campaign and he was based at Northwood but despite the Royal Navy's confidence they were not wholly prepared for this war the folklands was an operational area that the Royal Navy was not really used to during the Cold War in contrast Argentina's military were getting ready for this action in January 1982 Admiral anayah commander-in-chief of the Argentine Navy directed vice admiral Lombardo to develop a plan to seize the islands prior to 1982 Argentina bought submarines and frigs from West Germany superintendant aircraft and exercise missiles from France and helicopters anti-aircraft missiles and destroyers from Britain as well as 42 Israeli made dagger fighter bombers which were basically modified mirages a court of Argentina's foreign D was spent on weapons and equipment this uh French exer missile was a sea skimming missile of the type used by the Argentine Navy Argentina had sea and air launch versions Britain also had them in the type 22 frigs the ex assets had the potential to destroy the British task force and were the key threat posed by the argentinan forces because of this threat that they posed the British secret intelligence service made sure it was extremely difficult for the Argentine to buy any more exet weapons on South Georgia the Argentinian scrap Merchants had been expelled soon after they landed but on the 3rd of April Argentine forces arrived and occupied South Georgia on the 21st of April British forces commenced operation parquette the recapture of South Georgia and British troops landed on the island just a few days later the Argentine submarine Santa Fe was sighted and targeted with depth charges aided by Naval gunfire the British troops forced a surrender from the Argentinian forces on the 26th of April South Georgia returned to British rule but the British commanders knew that recapturing the folkland islands was not going to be so easy by the 30th of April the maritime total exclusion Zone was enforced around the folklands with a 200 nautical mile radius on the 1st of May the British task force ships entered the exclusion Zone the same day as the black Buck air raid on Stanley's airport three British submarines were also within the total exclusion Zone they were nuclear powered Spartan Splendid and conqueror a few days previously Admiral anayia had also ordered three task groups into the total exclusion Zone to the north was the Argentinian carrier the vinko Deo to the South was the General belgrano the belgrano was one of the the Argentine Navy's major surface combatants but it had started its life in the US Navy a Brooklyn class light Cruiser that had seen action in the Pacific in World War II although it was an older ship it carried a heavy Firepower and was escorted by two destroyers armed with exet missiles the British submarines were initially tasked by rear Admiral Sandy Woodward to go after the Argentinian carrier as this was deemed the biggest threat but the argentinians located the British task force first the ventco Deo prepared to launch her Skyhawks however dead wind prevented this attack it was a close call which could have changed the course of the entire War the loss of one of Britain's aircraft carriers could have forced the Royal Navy withdrawal on the same day to the south of the islands the belgrano had been detected by conqueror on the second of May the belr group was the only part of the Argentine Navy that the Royal Navy actually knew where it was at this Point um Woodward had permissioned to attack the carrier van chanto Deo even outside the exclusion Zone but not the belgrano he ordered the submarine hmas conqueror to attack it but the order was ascended by Northwood the war cabinet agreed to change the Rules of Engagement to include warships the belr was actually some 18 miles south of the exclusion Zone and in Sandy Woodward's Memoir he stated if an enemy is skirting his way around you along the edge of an exclusion Zone there is no way you should allow him to go on doing that HMS conqueror received an order to attack three markate Torpedoes were fired and two hit the explosion caused a 20 M gash in the belgrano deck and damaged the ship's electrical system Captain Hector Bonzo gave orders to abandon ship bad weather scattered the lifeboats but over the next 2 days 770 men were rescued from the sea however in total 321 crew and two civilians died it would would be the largest number killed in any single event during the conflict in the UK there were triumphalist headlines such as gotcha in the Sun newspaper but there were also questions around the legitimacy of the attack whether the belgrano had been heading back to port or simply turning around remained questionable until many years later after the sinking of the belgrano the Argentine Navy withdrew all units for the duration of the war the Argentine offensive switched Focus to the their Air Force by the 4th of May the weather had improved and the sea was unusually calm the task force was approaching the islands from the southeast three type 42 destroyers were occupying air defense stations in front of the main task force providing protection for the larger ships such as Hermes and Invincible which the Navy could not afford to lose HMS glasgo commanded by Captain Paul Hut was in the Middle with HMS Sheffield under Captain Sam salt on its left and HMS Coventry under Captain David har D on on the right they're approached by two superintendants who were in search of HMS Hermes the planes released two exet the Sheffield had no warning of the tap because it was transmitting from a satellite equipment at the time which actually masked the missile signals it was first seen on the ship's bridge when officers saw the smoke of the missile before hitting the starboard side far and smoke broke out after an hour they were unable to stop the spread of the fire and Captain salt ordered that the ship be abandoned before the fire reached the sea do magazine and so really the first um my first thought on seeing something black and smoking as a small dot was essentially that this may well have been a helicopter in in difficulty and uh again I I looked at it through my binoculars and was having great difficulty trying to sort out what it was because it appeared to be stationary or suspended in air and uh I think really simultaneously Que we realized that this actually did have a bit of movement on it it was coming towards us and that it was a missile but uh that realization really came very late the Sunday Times I think quoted me as saying my God it's a missile but I think I probably said what the [ __ ] is that not really knowing at all um there was then a matter of seconds before uh impact out of the 281 crew 20 died and 26 were injured the ship sank 4 days later Admiral Fieldhouse later wrote that some key officers were inexperienced and did not take the threat seriously due to previous ineffective air attacks writing that it was and a quote an expensive warning and a foraste of real Argentine capability just as the sinking of the belgrano kept the Argentine Navy in Port the sinking of the Sheffield kept the task force to the east of the Forkland the British task force started to land its troops at s Carlos Bay on the 21st of May the main priorities were to secure the beach head from attack and land as many men and supplies as was possible The Landing Force compris three Royal Marine Commando two battalions of the parachute regiment supporting artillery Engineers logistical support and one Rapier battery although the location of San Carlos reduced the threat from Argentine submarines and exet missiles it was in range of land-based aircraft the Argentine Air Force launched repeated full scale air attacks on the British ships the pilots had been ordered to attack the warships as opposed to the amphibious landing craft this meant that while The Landings went to plan the warships and logistic ships sustained heavy damage the area around s Carlos Bay became known as bomb alley HMS ardant HMS Antelope and HMS Coventry were all sunk and HMS Argonaut was badly damaged another 33 planes hit four warships but not a single bomb detonated the bombs wereused to ensure saw that the aircraft had time to get out of the blast area the skillful low flying of the Argentine Pilots had inadvertently saved a number of ships the Atlantic conveyor at this time was with the carrier group approaching from the Northeast and heading towards San Carlos water two super ards approached the group and launched two exet the Atlantic conveyor was hit it broke in half and sank the next day with the loss of 12 men the loss of helicopters from the Atlantic conveyor was almost is critical in Consequence the troops would have to travel by foot to Stanley yet despite these losses at Sea the amphibious Landings were considered an overwhelming success but the British Force's luck was about to turn so we're here in um iwm London in the old historic reading room to look at some of the objects donated by uh liutenant Commander Bernie Bruin when he was working in mine clearance uh during the fand's campaign The Lieutenant Commander Nigel Bernie Bruin was the commander of a naval bomb disposal team uh number three and they were responsible for diffusing and removing bombs on several ships as well as dealing with um sea mines a job that's perhaps not that well known um during the Forkland campaign but required great courage and bravery and the first objects I'm going to look out are a beet and um Scabbard that are used in De Mining and also his own personal de mining kit and if we look on the knife here we can actually see that it says Beres um inscribed upon it and finally this is the alarm Bell from um RAF s Tristan and you can see the scorching Bears Witness to the heat on board the ship after the Argentinian Air Attack on the 8th of June 1982 at the action at Fitzroy by the 1st of June there were sufficient British troops to plan the offensive against Port Stanley the plan was for the fifth infantry Brigade to be landed to the south of Stanley at Fitzroy and cross over land the challenge was how to transport the Brigade from San Carlos to Fitzroy as there weren't enough helicopters to transport them by air it was decided they would go by sea but the operation was badly coordinated with poor communication after the movement of troops over three successive nights half of the first Battalion of Welsh guards a field ambulance unit and other support units arrived at Fitzroy early on the 8th of June to find that no one was expecting them and minimal resources were there to unload them the remaining troops were on board two anchored RFA ships s Galahad and Sir Tristram waiting to offload the Welsh guards had been told that they were going to Bluff Cove several miles away and had been ordered not to split the unit or be separated from their equipment they declined to get off the ships until their orders had been clarified finally the order came through and a landing craft was available but before they could start to disembark the attacks began Argentine observers had seen the ships and two flights of daggers and Sky hops were dispatched from the Argentine Mainland and attack the ships three bombs hit the Galahad and two hit the tristam in total 50 men died including 32 Welsh guards and 150 were injured the disaster was a failure of Staff work and Leadership so objects like this speak to the disaster on that day um and you can see how Scorch this um Bell is from the extreme heat on board ship uh and this was rescued by Bernie Bruin and his M clearance team and they later used it as a as a drinking vessel for for drinking rum news reports of Navy helicopters winching surv iers from the burning wreckage of seag Galahad were broadcast on the BBC the vulnerability of surface ships had been exposed by the conflict and hard lessons had been learned for the British Navy general Mario Menendez commander of the Argentine forces in the Falon was incorrectly told that 900 British soldiers had died at Fitzroy he expected that the losses would cause enemy morale to drop and the British assault to stall in fact the air strike only delayed the British ground attack on Stan by 2 [Music] days when the Falcons conflict began it seemed like Argentina had a massive advantage in the skies they had over 100 aircraft of varying types some could operate from the Argentinian Mainland and others could operate from Air strips on the faland themselves meanwhile the British task force was initially restricted to the just 20 seah harriers which could fit on its two aircraft car barriers it was up to them to protect the task force at Sea as well as the troops on the ground to many that seemed like an impossible task on paper Argentina had Air Supremacy over the folkland islands Britain would need a superb high performance fixed wi fighter aircraft if there was to be any attempt to counter the Argentine Advantage it was the aircraft behind me the Harrier and its Naval cousin the seah Harrier of on which British hopes were placed but we'll take a closer look at that later on as the British task force made its way down to the South Atlantic the argentinians began setting up defenses on the islands with men and supplies constantly flown in the main airport was at Stanley the faan's capital with other smaller airfields at Goose green and Pebble Island Stanley was the only hard all weather runway on the Faulkland but it was still not long enough for Argentina's fast Jets which remained on the mainland the Argentinian Air Force had doal Mirage 3s II daggers Douglas A4 Skyhawks and even English electric canas purchased from Britain in the 1970s the Supersonic mirages and daggers were a serious threat but flying from the Argentinian Mainland put them at the limits of their fuel range the Argentinian Navy had an aircraft carrier the venko de Mayo which was also equipped with Skyhawks while from the mainland they flew the dossel bug super at onard which could be equipped with the feared exet anti-ship missile five of which were known to be in Argentina's Armory the argentinians also had a number of smaller light attack aircraft based on airfields on the Faulkland as well as IIA 58 picaras like the one behind me it was a two- seat low-wing twin turbo prop ground attack and counter Insurgency aircraft it had two cannons four machine guns and bombs and Rockets could be attached to the three external hard points it was low performance in comparison to the Mirage especially but it was maneuverable and could take off from short rough airfields perfect for the Faulkland this aircraft joined groupo Aria Tres or attack group 3 at Port Stanley on the 29th of May 1982 piloted by first leftenant ieri it carried out various armed escort missions for shinuk helicopters and on the 10th of June was involved in an attack on Mount Kent on East Faulkland in the face of all of these Argentinian aircraft it was crucial that Britain established air superiority before attempting to land troops on the Falklands the first step was eliminating the Island's most important Airfield at Stanley denying its use would not only demonstrate Britain's will to fight for the fauland but also force a change of strategy for the argentinians but pulling off that raid would be a very difficult job a bomber would have to fly over over 3,800 M from Ascension Island to Stanley with multiple air-to-air refueling Maneuvers on the way damaged the runway Enough To Deni its use and then fly all the way back to Ascension this was the aircraft they chose for the job the a Vulcan B2 a jet powerered high altitude strategic bomber designed to carry Britain's nuclear weapons during the Cold War the Vulcan had two defining characteristics which were suddenly in demand it's long range capability which could be extended through refueling and its ability to carry 21,000 bombs this particular Vulcan was delivered to iwm duckford just one month before the ful conflict began by a pilot called Martin Withers the ministry of Defense actually asked if they could have the Vulcan back but the museum managed to persuade them otherwise one thing they probably did take was the fuel probe and for very good reason at the time the Vulcan raid of on Port Stanley would become the longest range bombing mission in the history of aerial Warfare codenamed the black Buck raid just before midnight on the 30th of April 1982 two Vulcan bombers and 11 Victor tankers took off from Wide Awake airfield on Ascension Island almost immediately the lead Vulcan suffered a technical difficulty which meant the reserve Vulcan xm607 flown by Martin Withers had to take over instead over the next 8 hours the Victor tankers completed a complex sequence of fuel transfers to the Vulcan and to each other this process was not without its issues but on the morning of May 1st they reached the target Withers and his crew dropped the payload of 21,000 bombs from 10,000 ft one bomb cratered the runway and the others caused further damage to the Airfield a few hours later seah harriers from HMS Hermes followed up with more attacks on the air strips at Stanley and Goose green later still xm607 arrived back at Ascension Island after 16 hours in the air the black book raid on the 1st of May would be the first of seven blackbook raids over the course of May and June 1982 the shortterm and long-term success of these raids is still debated there's contention as to whether the cost of resources in terms of the number of aircraft and the amount of fuel used for instance alongside the risk involved to people whe that could ever be justified with assessing the arguably limited impact of the missions but while its physical impact is debated ITS Tactical impact is clear the raid on the 1st of May demonstrated that the Royal Air Force had the range to bomb airfields in the Faulkland and therefore had the potential to reach Mainland Argentina in response to that threat Argentina decided to hold more of its fast Jets back to protect the mainland the following day things got worse when the Argentinian Cruiser General Bel Grano was sunk by the submarine HMS conqueror this forced the Argentinian Navy including the venko de Mayo to largely withdraw to Port they would play no further role in the conflict in the first air-to-air battles over the Falklands the British refused to climb to the mirages optimal altitude and vice versa when they eventually engaged the argentinians lost two mirages an a canra all shot down by British seah harriers in addition to their fuel problems argen Pilots also lacked experience they were more prepared for a war with Chile than fighting over the South Atlantic meanwhile on the ground Argentinian air Crews struggled to service their aircraft with spare parts hard to come by that first day was was absolutely crucial in the extent that it was it almost set the pattern for all subsequent operations it gave us enormous confidence uh looked at from the other way around I think the demoralizing effect on the Argentine Air Force must have been colossal um now that pattern happily I'm I'm glad to say continued they decided they would retain a number of aircraft in defense of their airfields ashore had they actually committed more aircraft to deal with the combat Air Patrol over the landing area perhaps it would have been different from this point onwards Argentina essentially tried to avoid air-to-air combat with the harriers using mirages as decoys to draw them off while the daggers and Skyhawks attacked the fleet it seemed Argentina's air power wasn't all it was cracked up to be that was until the 4th of May when HMS Sheffield came under attack from a pair of Argentinian super Eton DS it was hit by one of two except missiles and later sank for the British that was a stark warning the loss of an aircraft carrier to an exet would end any chance of success for the British task force as a consequence the British carriers predominantly remained well out of their range to the east of the Faulkland for the remainder of the conflict however by increasing the distance they had to fly this reduced the amount of time the harriers could spend over the islands leaving the ships and ground forces more Exposed on the 21st of May the first British Landings began on the Faulkland to minimize this still considerable air threat the British chose to land at San Carlos on East fauland it was hoped that the hills around the bay would provide sheltered Waters from Air attack but that didn't stop the argentinians from trying British ships were were attacked by picaras Skyhawks mirages and daggers over the next few days but it was the Skyhawks that would become the most feared silhouette as the British forces could see the aircraft's impressive maneuverability against the sky from the ships below few Argentine Pilots had even been trained in low-level flying and fewer still to undertake attacks on ships in Open Water having flown for hours from Mainland Argentina they only had the chance to engage in a few attacks before heading home again but despite all of that they still managed to achieve significant damage all the while Under Fire themselves from the ships below and from seah harriers we persuaded the flight commanders that would be a good idea to stay on the ship of course we never realized that that was the biggest mistake of Our Lives because everybody on Shore was watching the ships getting hit they used to break the mass of the Aerials of the ship the pilots as they were flying so low we thought at first that the Argentinian Air Force were mad but as time went on we changed our views drastically they were very professional and the way they conducted their business they came down on caros Water the first one just blown straight out the sky three missiles hit it their pilots were possibly some of the bravest men of the whole campaign I mean if everything they dropped had gone off we'd still be down there fighting now fortunately for the British many of the Argentine bombs failed to explode due to problems with the setting of their fuses essentially the aircraft had flown at a height lower than the fuses had been set so the bombs hit their target before they had the chance to explode if there hadn't been this issue with the bomb fuses the losses at s Carlos water would have been catastrophic by the 25th of May 1982 three ships had sunk and eight more were damaged however the Argentine decision to Target the ships in the Falon sound meant that the ground forces were able to and unopposed British troops were now just 13 mil from the Argentine Garrison at Darwin and Goose green and just 50 mil from Port Stanley despite their successes at San Carlos the Argentinian Air Forces were sustaining losses at an alarming rate they couldn't keep up these kind of attacks for long however with a limited number of British aircraft in the skies there were inevitably gaps in the Harrier combat air patrols that's exactly what happened on the 8th of June during the the Fitzroy air attacks as British troops were moved forward for attacks on the mountains around Port Stanley Royal Fleet auxiliary ships sir Galahad and Sir Tristram were attacked both ships were badly damaged by Argentinian Skyhawks killing 50 men and wounding a further 150 the Argentinian air attacks on the same day sank a British landing craft killing six and severely damaged HMS Plymouth it was in moments like this that British helicopters became crucial faing casualties to field hospitals or aboard ships since the sinking of the SS Atlantic conveyor and the heavy lifting helicopters it was carrying the remaining helicopters and their Crews were operating at the limits of their capacity British forces were supported by a range of helicopters including the single surviving Boeing shinuk and the Westland gazelle Sea King Lynx wasp Scout and wessix helicopters were the workhorses for the British forces during the Faulkland conflict this wesex helicopter behind me last flew on the 8th of December 1980 so did not serve during the Faulkland conflict but the wesex type of helicopter is probably best known for its exploits in the Falklands at the beginning of the conflict they helped syn the Argentine submarine Santa Fe and recapture South Georgia from Argentine forces in April 1982 towards the end of the conflict in June a West 65 fired two as12 missiles at the Town Hall PA in Port Stanley with the aim of killing senior Argentine commanders inside but missed hitting the police station instead so the Wessex helicopter had a crucial role that bookended the conflict a week on from the disaster at Fitzroy British troops would enter Stanley as the argentinians surrendered so just how did the British Prevail how did they overcome the odds in the air the answer at least in part is the Harrier one of the harri's key features was its Vall capability which stands for vertical and short takeoff and Landing this essentially means being able to take off from the ground versa so straight upwards and to take off within a short amount of Runway gr3 is are fitted with a Rolls-Royce Pegasus 103 turbofan engine and four nozzles to either side of the aircraft to achieve Vall the pilot would switch the direction of the aircraft thrust by rotating its nozzles the ability to take off and land vertically would prove invaluable when operating from aircraft carriers especially when the flight decks were already packed with other aircraft the Harrier benefits were not just logistical it was also an excellent combat aircraft the seah harriers were primarily employed in air-to-air combat protecting the task force and ground troops while the harriers were slower than the Argentinian mirages and Dagger they had an important trick up their sleeve the a 9l Sidewinder air-to-air missile while previous air-to-air missiles could only be fired from directly behind the enemy The Sidewinder worked regardless of their position giving British Pilots A major advantage those Pilots had been testing their dog fighting skills against the best NATO had to offer for many years making them a formidable fighting force together their equipment and training allowed the British to dominate The air-to-air Battle of the 10 harriers lost during the conflict none came due to enemy aircraft while Argentina lost at least 20 in air combat alone I saw these two delta wing shapes low I flew through them head on thinking right we got a fight here now at last then as I got through the turn there was in the sky in front of me Steve F the first missile as it exploded a big gout of flame obscured the whole aircraft but at that stage Steve had already switched attention to a second Mirage which was some distance ahead fired the second side Winder and this was really driving my mind crazy at the time I it's wonderful thing to see you know this is it's happening it's terrific but while I was thinking like that there was a third dagger who was behind me was firing his cannons at me and then talk Christ you know watch a 6:00 Sharky and I was still in the hard turn the whole time I looked around and there was this Mirage passing underneath me beautiful colors in camouflage all I had to do really was pull down and uh he didn't stand a chance cuz I got in behind him and fired my missile the initial 20 British Sea harriers were joined by further sea harriers and Harrier g3s the latter operated by number one Fighter Squadron RAF from the very unfamiliar surroundings of an aircraft carrier it was thought that the gr3 is would be used as replacements for SE Harrier losses but those losses were so few that they ended up being tasked primarily with their classic ground attack role striking Argentinian positions around Darwin and Goose green and supporting British forces around Mount Kent and in the assault on Port Stanley so that the g3s could operate from aircraft carriers modifications were required and fast alterations were made to the gr3 airframe and systems including radar and navigation it was even reported that holes were drilled in the airframe to allow sea water to run out this particular harria gr3 operated from a temporary Landing Strip established at s Carlos this allowed it to respond more rapidly to attack missions if required and also freed up space on the aircraft carriers this Harrier carried out attacks around Port Stanley and undertook a reconnaissance mission looking for ground launched exet missiles it attacked positions on Mount haret and narrowly escaped an Argentine surfac to a missile over Mount Longden which exploded only 100 feet or 30 MERS above the cockpit after the conflict it was transferred back to the UK and it has been at iwm duckford since 1992 Wars aren't fought on paper Argentina appeared to have an advantage in the Skies over the Faulkland with Superior numbers and closer supply lines but in reality the British advantage in training and Technology made the fight far more even things could have gone much worse for the British had a carrier been lost or if Landing forces had been hit at s Carlos but instead by the final weeks of the conflict British harriers and helicopters dominated the Skies over the Faulkland of course the final battle for control would have to be waged on land on the 2nd of April 1982 Argentina occupied the Faulkland Islands within 3 days a British task force was on route to take them back both sides fa formidable difficulties the British had to transport sufficient men and material to the South Atlantic put them ashore and then defeat a numerically Superior well entrenched enemy but the British were experienced professional soldiers highly trained and equipped with modern weapons the Argentinian forces were mostly conscripts and the local population was not on their side both sides would have to operate in freezing conditions into terrain which forced them into a type of combat which had not been seen since the second world war nighttime frontal assaults on entrenched positions at times fighting hand to hand what was each side's strategy what mistakes did they make and why despite Fierce Argentinian resistance did the British eventually come out on top to find out we need to go right back to the Argentinian Invasion see Argentina did not expect Britain to fight for the Falklands it used some of its best troops to take control of the islands but this Elite Force was needed elsewhere to defend Argentina's border with Chile Where War also threatened to break out at any moment only when the British task force began to make its way down south did Argentina prepare to defend the islands the troops which were deployed were actually trained for tropical conditions they knew more about snakes and hot temperatures than they did with the boggy difficult conditions of the Falklands in Winter they were a mixture of regular soldiers reservists who' been called up but the majority of them were what we in Britain used to call National servicemen conscripts during a short period of compulsory military duty the reinforced Argentinian Garrison consisted of more than 10,000 troops commanded by the new governor of the fauland general Mario Menendez most were deployed to defensive positions in and around Port Stanley the fauland capital however there were also garrisons defending the settlements of Darwin and Goose green Fox Bay and Port Howard the large suedes of open Countryside and Coastline were defended by a vast series of minefields to overcome those defenses the British decided to deploy their land forces in three stages on the 1st of May the Special Air Service and special Boat Service were clandestinely inserted into East and West Faulkland in the days that followed They carried out reconnaissance gathered intelligence and mounted raids to disrupt the Argentinian defenses they then prepared to guide in the next wave of troops who were tasked with securing a beach head ashore that contingent was three Commander Brigade Britain's Premier rapid reaction force commanded by Brigadier Julian Thompson the Brigade included 40 42 and 45 Commando as well as two and three par these were Elite troops chosen for their experience with amphibious operations they were trained to operate for extended periods in the harshest of conditions but despite being a formidable fighting force the Brigade was outnumbered at least two to one by the argentinians parity in the ground war would only come with the arrival of the final contingent of men fifth infantry Brigade led by Brigadier Tony Wilson only then would the British have the manpower to mount an assault on Port Stanley both sides were fighting the elements and the terrain as much as each other because neither side really had the best personal kit to cope with the elements their feat were soaking wet all the way through and trench foot which nobody had seen since the first world war was a real factor in this fighting on the 21st of May three Commando landed at the remote settlement of San Carlos on East Faulkland San Carlos had many advantages for an amphibious Landing it was accessible to troop ships like Norland and canra it had a jetty for quick disembarkation and the nearest Argentinian troops were 13 Mi away a goose green the disadvantage was that once ashore British troops would have to fight their way across 56 miles of difficult terrain to liberate Port Stanley The Landings took Argentina completely by surprise and the British troops landed un opposed their primary aim was to defend the bridge head against any attack by Argentinian forces until fifth infantry Brigade arrived on June 2nd but Argentina did not attack the bridge head instead it used its Air Forces to Target the supporting British ships in San Carlos water which quickly became known as bomb alley over the next 5 days Argentinian aircraft sank or damaged 11 British ships the ships of the task force in San Carlos water were under constant attack but the land forces were relatively unmolested for the argentinians this was a strategic error an amphibious Landing bringing troops ashore is one of the most difficult military operations to accomplish successfully so choosing to focus on the ships rather than the men enabled the British to get a foothold ashore before setting off for the next phase of the land campaign the Argentinian air attacks did have one major consequence for the land campaign three Commando badly needed heavy lift helicopters to move its troops Munitions and supplies forward across East faland but most of them were destroyed when the SS Atlantic conveyor was hit by two exset missiles on the 25th of May with only one shinuk surviving many British troops now had to undertake grueling marches to their objectives they had to carry full kit weighing 80 in freezing conditions across open terrain and minefields the marines called this yumping on my left here we have personal equipment of Brigadier Tony Wilson who was the commanding officer a fifth infantry Brigade his clothing was really no different to that which was worn by the majority of the parachute regiment soldiers here his parachutist smok the thing about this is that it's very thin it's not insulated at all and if you are thinking about the subzero temperatures in the folklands and the 40 mph winds this on its own is not very adequate you have also Brigadier Wilson's webbing belt here the soldiers they had to carry their entire life around their wastes and on their backs and the weight would drive them down finally we have Brigadier Wilson's Red Berry something of which every parah was inordinately proud two parah and three parah each excelled themselves in different areas and the veterans that are still with us today they carry those memories with them 40 Commando was left to defend San Carlos while three par and 4 five Commando would march to mount Estancia and mount Kent respectively ready for the assault on Stanley meanwhile 42 Commando were to be helicoptered to mount Kent which the SAS had already secured in a series of fierce Patrol battles with Argentinian Special Forces but while most of three Commander Brigade moved on towards Stanley tupar set off in a complet completely different direction towards the settlements of Darwin and Goose green they seem to be of little immediate strategic value guarded by what was believed to be a small Argentinian Garrison so why did the British select this target when the British landed at St Carlos the ships of the task force were getting pummeled Downing Street were getting very worried about how this was being perceived by the public at home pressure began to be exerted on Brigadier Julian Thompson for some decisive action and victory and so although Julian Thompson initially had no intention of attacking Goose green He was ordered to do so British intelligence had suggested that Darwin and Goose green were lightly defended but in fact they were garrisoned by task force Mercedes a group of more than 1,000 Argentinian troops because of the air strip at Goose Green known to the argentinians as military Airbase Condor they were well armed as well with anti-aircraft guns and ERS finally the ismus itself had very little cover all of which led two parac Commander leftenant Colonel Herbert H Jones to plan a surprise night attack supported by covering fire from HMS Arrow he aimed to liberate the settlements by Sunrise but unfortunately things went wrong from the start news of the impending assault was announced by the BBC shortly before the attack and the element of surprise was lost nevertheless in the early hours of the 28th of May the attack began things started well but as day broke the Paris were still heavily engaged with the Argentinian defenses which stretched across the whole ismus from Darwin Hill to bcka house a and b companies came under heavy machine gun fire and were pinned down amongst the gorse in the Gully in front of the hill with HMS arrows gun malfunctioning and bad weather grounding their air support the Paris were on their own in all areas the attack got bulked down Colonel h Jones decided to lead from the front this was a very controversial decision and it's still much debated today did he do the right thing as the commander of the unit whatever you think about it he showed immense courage in leading a charge uphill he continued alone and unfortunately was shot twice and fatally wounded major Chris Keel now took command of two par but based with the main HQ in the rear it took him 2 hours to reorganize and resume the attack as a company slowly clear the Argentinian positions on Darwin Hill he moved his attention to the right flank he instructed B company to engage bah house with Milan rockets and gpmg fire while D company slipped down onto the beach unnoticed and flanked the Defenders this caused the argentinians to finally collapse having regained the initiative C company joined from reserve and pushed the attack through the Airfield by now the weather had cleared and for the first time British harriers were able to play a part in the battle they attacked the anti-aircraft guns at the end of go green settlement with cluster bombs and Rockets after 14 hours of continuous fighting the Argentinian forces at Goose green settlement were now surrounded but both sides were thoroughly exhausted and low on ammunition that night major keepable called on the argentinians to surrender letting them know that they were surrounded if they refused he was prepared to flatten the settlement the next morning the Argentinian soldiers laid down their arms overall more than 1,000 argentinians became prisoners of war in what is now regarded as one of the most decisive battles of the L campaign the end of the Battle of Goose green meant that over a 100 Faulkland Islanders from Darwin settlement and from Goose green settlement were liberated here we have a sample of drawings and letters by children who lived in the Faulkland during the occupation and one in particular caught my eye it's written by 12-year-old Amara Watts when the British were nearly in Stanley the argies began to shoot at anything even Shadows when the police station got hit there were loads of people outside it kpers and argies were everywhere most chillingly she writes lots of booby traps were left in people's houses this is what I thought was worst when the argies were here though Goose green had been liberated the ultimate objective of Port Stanley still lay in Argentinian hands luckily for the British fifth infantry Brigade which included the Scots and Welsh guards as well as the first Battalion of the seventh girka rifles were now arriving at San Carlos along with Major General Sir Jeremy Mo who now assumed overall command of British land forces in the Faulkland the question was how to get these vital reinforcements to the front line winter was approaching and time was of the essence without the necessary helicopters it was decided to move the guards battalions over successive Nights from San Carlos to Bluff coov by Ship by Fitzroy but on the 8th of June things went horribly wrong this operation was confused and orders were misunderstood or not communic ated or countermanded the result of this was that two RFA ships s Tristram and S Galahad were caught in open water in Daylight by the Argentinian Air Force and that caused massive casualties particularly to the Welsh guards 56 men lost their lives and around 180 were wounded it was the worst loss of life to British forces in a single incident since the second world war nevertheless the British carried on with their plans for the final assault on Stanley with two companies of 40 Commando replacing the losses in the Welsh guards the battle was set to take place in two phases on the night of the 11th of June three Commander Brigade would take the outer ring of hills around Stanley three power taking Mount Longton four five Commando taking two sisters and 42 Commando taking Mount Harriet on the following night two power would take Wireless Ridge before fifth infantry joined the fight the Scots guards would take Mount tumbled down and the seventh gerker rifles would take Mount William the remaining Welsh guards were held in reserve until the time came to capture sapper Hill Major General M believed that once these Hills had be taken his force would be right on top of Stanley and the argentinians would have no choice but surrender but although the British forces were now more equal to that of the argentinians they would have to fight hard to achieve their objectives these Hills were a really difficult fighting challenge the rocks were in some cases vertical the argentinians were well positioned they had the advantage there were also Mine Fields in these areas because by now winter temperatures were really setting in there is more than one story of a British soldier stepping on a mine which didn't go off because its fuse mechanism had Frozen because of the open ground and strong defenses the British chose to attack at night once again having been been in position for so long they had over a week to wcky the Argentinian positions and choose their routes to their objectives 42 Commander for example attacked via the right flank of Mount Harriet coming in almost behind the enemy with two companies they approached silently coming within 150 M of the Argentinian positions before opening fire the battle from there was a slow climb up the Steep Hill with 66 and 84 mm anti-tank Rockets used to destroy key Argentinian position s after 4 hours 42 Commando had taken their objective and around 300 Argentinian prisoners for just two marines killed indirect fire weapons also played a big part in the fighting on Mount Longden the site of the costliest Battle of the campaign the soldiers of three power suffered many casualties during and after the battle from artillery recoiless rifles and mortar rounds this object to my right is a 120 mil Argentinian mortar of the sort which was used during the battle for the mountains it's about the most portable heavy fire weapon that was available in addition to firing high explosive shells they could also fire smoke grenades which would obscure the battlefield and provide cover or light shells which would illuminate the battlefield it was a long hard cold fight but by first light the British objectives for the first phase had been secured the second phase was then delayed by 24 hours to give time for the other units to conduct reconnaissance of their own on the night of the 13th of June the final battles of the land campaign began the Scots guards had the most challenging task they had to capture the dominating Heights of Mount tumbledown the hill was held by the Argentinian fifth Marine infantry battalion although mostly made up of conscripts there was a core of Highly professional soldiers well equipped and trained for the weather these were General Menendez Des it best troops the attack began with a diversion on the southern flank accompanied by Scorpion and Scimitar tanks of the Blues and Royals they came under heavy fire and had to withdraw but their efforts allowed the main attack coming in from the West to capture the first Ridge on a post as the guards pushed up to the next Ridge they came under withering fire and quickly went to ground up on the left in the Crags there were Argentinian snipers with night sights slowly picking off the British troops they were well prepared with communication cord between them but the guards were able to follow this cord from position to position as they slowly cleared The High Ground once they had done so they were able to bring fire down on the Argentinian sangers below them it was this along with the eventual arrival of supporting artillery which changed the course of the battle although it's perhaps difficult in training ever to put your finger on a moment when the initiative passes in a battle I would say that on Tumbl down you could actually touch that moment because I was then able to to move forward with my company headquarters in fact we managed to clear away the three or four Argentinian sangers and positions up to that first Ridge and when I got there again it seemed to me that we still held the initiative that their heads were still down and that if we continued doing exactly what we were doing we clear up to the next Ridge and really so it went on winkling them out with grenades and rifles uh by the time we actually got to the top of the mountain there were only seven of us and at that moment an Argentinian uh machine gun opened up about 100 m to our front and uh four of those seven men were shot major keesley later won the military cross for his charge up the mountain though there were still many hours of fighting to be done as Dawn broke the Scots guards on Tumbl down could see the Argentinian forces withdrawing into Stanley the seven gerker Rifles made their attack on Mount William but found the Argentinian positions mostly deserted on the Argentinian side there was a sense of failing morale they were encouraged in Port Stanley to continue the fight to fight from house to house from Street to street but they were tired they were hungry they were cold many of them were injured the morale was sagging it was in this situation that General Menendez was contacted by Michael Rose of the Special Forces with an invitation to discuss surrender terms Brigadier Rose flew into Stanley in a gazelle with a large white sheet strung up underneath negotiated the Argentinian surrender before Major General M met General Menendez to sign it I was pretty nervous about this meeting really after all I'd never taken a surrender before and it wasn't one of the subjects that had come up while I was at Staff College I told him that we greatly admired the way many of the argentinians had behaved and and presented the document which he looked at and said that he didn't like the word unconditional before surrendered he felt that this was beling to him and his troops and therefore since it didn't seem to me to make a great deal of difference to the facts of the case was quite happy to cross it out then after a bit of discussion we had a couple tea uh and departed on our various ways the surrender was finally signed at 9:00 p.m. on the 14th of June 1982 and with it the battle for the Faulkland Islands was over for the British it was the fighting skills of their soldiers which had ultimately made the difference unlike the largely conscript army they had faced the British forces were Elite professional soldiers whether outnumbered at Goose green or fighting uphill in the pitch black on Tumbl down they maintained the initiative and kept moving forward the fighting had been hard and at times bloody but after 74 days Stanley was back in British hands nearly 1,000 people Argentinian British and Faulkland Islanders had lost their lives in the [Music] fighting 40 years after the end of the folkland conflict Argentina continues to assert its claim to the islands prior to 1982 the British government was planning major defense Cuts including withdrawing military from the South Atlantic instead they spent nearly £3 billion defending British sovereignty of the faland islands and to this day maintain a Garrison there devoting approximately 80 million a year to their defense the Faulkland conflict of 1982 only lasted for 74 days but it had lasting consequences which continue to be felt today what if anything has changed since 1982 on the 14th of June 1982 a ceasefire was declared between the British and Argentinian forces the folkland islands were now at peace but the consequences of this conflict were far from over some 11,300 Argentinian troops were now prisoners of War their garrisons had to be assembled disarmed and processed nearly 600 Argentinian officers including General Mendez were held back for intelligence gathering but most prisoners were confined to a temporary holding area many feared that they would be tortured or executed by the British but instead they found themselves sailing home on a luxury Cruise liner there were so many of them that the priority was to process them as quickly as possible and repatriate them to Argentina a holding Camp was set up at the Airfield at Port Stanley and many of the prisoners crowded together in the freezing cold with the basic minimum of of food water and shelter within a week they had embarked on the canra and Newland and were on their way back to Argentina here they received a miserable welcome they were a defeated Army there were no parades there were certainly very few benefits available to them and so for many years the veterans of the Faulkland war in Argentina struggled the British experience could not have been more different those that served with the task force received a hero's welcome when they returned home ships were greeted with crowds flags and celebrations Britain had endured many years of decline at home and overseas victory in the Faulkland provided the country with a much needed boost to its morale every civilian and serviceman who participated in the Faulkland conflict was awarded a campaign medal the South Atlantic medal and in October 1982 the city of London held a Victory Parade the first time that it had done so since the second world war prime minister Margaret Thatcher's controversial economic policies had made her government very unpopular in Britain before the conflict it seemed unlikely that thater would remain in power for long her decisive response to the Argentinian Invasion changed her political fortunes her popularity soared with the British public and the Press this combined with an improving economy helped thater win a stunning victory in the general election of 1983 she would remain in power for another 8 years in Argentina matters took a very different course the loss of the malvinas was something which spoke very deeply to the Argentinian sense of national identity president galtieri was soon forced to resign and the military Hunter also was forced to step down a democratic government was restored to Argentina the restoration of a democratic government helped Argentina to improve many of its International relationships but diplomatic relations with Britain were not restored until 1990 the conflict forced both Nations to change their defense policies Argentina forged new military alliances but also had to make significant cuts to its Armed Forces Thatcher's government had been planning major cuts to Britain's Armed Forces to help balance the economy but after the fauland many Cuts were abandoned with lost equipment being replaced and upgraded since 1982 the fand islands have been defended by a tri service Garrison comprising more than 1,000 military personnel warships and aircraft in 1986 a new Airbase RAF Mount Pleasant was established 30 mi from Port Stanley other military lessons from the conflict such as strategy training and Equipment were studied carefully changes adopted by Britain's armed forces were emulated around the world the Royal Navy introduced measures to reduce the vulnerability of its surface ships a third of British casualties had resulted from Argentinian attacks on British ships the Royal Navy adopted the phen close in ships weapon to defend ships against incoming missiles and it redesigned its ships to make them less flamable the importance of submarines was also brought home by the faon conflict and there was new investment in the submarine arm of the royal Navy the performance of the sea Harrier was another new lesson this was the first time that they had shown how useful they were and how maneuverable they were the conflict also reinforced the need for highly trained troops capable of operating effectively in extreme conditions British Special Forces the SAS and SBS also received extra investment more broadly the conflict demonstrated that selling high performance weapons to other countries could have dangerous consequences Britain had found itself facing the exet missile a missile designed manufactured and sold by France a friendly country it had been able to borrow or get access to military supplies from the United States which had made a huge difference to its ability to conduct the war so the whole business of the arms trade who had access to what technology came under the microscope as a result of the Faulkland conflict the fighting had caused many horrific injuries the medical facilities of the British task force were well equipped treating injured from both sides during the conflict the British even had a psychiatric team on hand to treat any cases of shell shock but the long-term impact of conflict on Mental Health was poor poorly understood in the 1980s although the fulcon conflict didn't last long it still caused widespread trauma amongst the fighting forces and it was not until the 1990s that sufferers began to receive support so here we have a poster which was produced by the Royal British Legion the poppy appeal in 1990 took place against the background of the first Gulf War what you have here is a photograph of a tormented veteran here lies a survivor of the Faulkland War the focus of this particular poster is to raise awareness of how post-traumatic stress disorder may emerge over time and the effort of health services around the world to engage with post-traumatic stress disorder really gathered momentum in 1990 1991 in the the context of the first Gulf War throughout the conflict people around the world were desperate for news of what was happening in the South Atlantic but very little information got through and some which did caused problems one newspaper described the conflict as the worst reported War since the Crimea so we've now come down to the fand's display in the Galleries at iwm London I'm standing in front of a display of photographs by Paul Haley who was one of three British civilian photojournalists who covered the Faulkland conflict there was a group of journalists accredited to the British task force but they were working under very constrained conditions the Vietnam War had demonstrated the power of journalists photographers and television Crews to offer a critical perspective on events they were able to operate in Vietnam with a freedom which did not exist in the faland the military Hunter refused to allow International journalists access to the fans during the occupation the only way to reach the foland was to accompany the task force but the British government and armed forces were very reluctant to allow this there were two reasons why the armed forces were reluctant to allow access to the press the first was Logistics could they really spare the space to accommodate journalists and could they also afford to feed them that was one element but another element was was the risk of giving away information of use to the Argentinian forces this had happened in the context of the Battle of Goose green but it also happened in the context of the Argentine air attacks on the task force the British news media reported the fact that a number of Argentinian bombs were not detonating because of issues with the setting of the fuses and as a result of that a number of bombs detonated and caused damage such was the frustration and criticism of the coverage of the Faulkland conflict that the House of Commons defense committee held an inquiry into how the ministry of Defense had handled the reporting of the war and when it came to the Gulf War in 1991 just under 10 years later there was a whole different approach the consequences of the conflict were not restricted to Britain and Argentina they reverberated around the world some countries such as the United States Chile and Norway had assisted Britain providing diplomatic and political support access to facilities at Ascension Island military equipment or intelligence others such as the Soviet Union Peru and Israel assisted Argentina for the United States the support that it had given to Britain also had consequences in terms of its credibility in Latin America the Soviet Union and China watched the performance of the British Armed Forces with great interest and reassess their capabilities in that context the people at the heart of the conflict the folkland Islanders had endured occupation shortages Air Raids and bombardments some had been deported or forcibly separated from their families after the conflict the relationship between the folkland Islanders and Britain became much closer the Islanders received full British citizenship and help with reconstruction but there was a great deal to do buildings and essential equipment had been damaged or destroyed and landmines littered the islands we went from being this quiet peaceful uh free Little Country to suddenly having the streets full of of armed troops speaking different language our freedom being uh completely curtailed and it was absolutely terrifying at that point we had no idea what might happen um and it was petrifying 30,000 mines had been laid by the Argentinian forces all over the islands on the beaches on Farmland when Britain signed up to the Ottawa protocols Banning landmines it took on a responsibility to clear the landmines in the Faulkland and a team of workers from Zimbabwe spent years working to clear the minefields those minefields were finally cleared in 2020 the clearance of the landmines resulted in the discovery of some unmarked Graves mostly of Argentinian soldiers who had been buried where they fell in 1982 in 2018 the governments of the Faulkland Islands Britain and Argentina achieved a brief rment where they collaborated with the International Red Cross to work to identify the remains of 122 Argentinian soldiers so here we have a rose which is made out of the melted down cartridges of bullets used in the Faulkland conflict it was produced by an Argentinian silver smith he produced two such roses one which he hoped that the Argentinian families would present in memory of the British fallen and one which the British families would present in the memory of the Argentinian Fallen it represents the spirit of reconciliation between Argentina and Britain in the years that followed the Faulkland conflict despite efforts to improve relations the dispute over the Faulkland Islands remains unresolved in 1994 Argentina's claim was inserted into their constitution the Faulkland Islands government argues that Argentina is deliberately obstructing the fand's three main industries fishing tourism and oil and gas exploration by withdrawing from a commission to manage fisheries and stopping Charter planes from flying from Chile to the Faulkland British policy is driven by the wishes of the Faulkland Islanders who have doubled in number since 1982 and now consist of more than 40 nationalities in the last census 99% of them voted to remain British in 2002 as part of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Civic honors port stany was granted City status the referendum I think was so important it actually it it properly gathered the the opinion and the voice of folkland Islanders it's it's critical to us that we are able to express our own voice and we we make our own laws we run our own uh finances and so we will always I think as folkland Islanders fight to be heard and to express our opinion and to make our political choices freely the future of the Faulkland Islands is positive but there is still the problem of Argentina's claim and there is no doubt that for Argentina their claim to lasar Venus as the islands are known is very much part of their national identity

Channel: Imperial War Museums

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Id: 2R2eUAkgWRg

Length: 90min 11sec (5411 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 24 2024