What Are The Falklands Like Today? | BFBS

if i say the falklands to you you might be thinking harrier jets exocet missiles and margaret thatcher but that was nearly 40 years ago and it turns out there is much more to the falklands in january 2020 we actually got the chance to go matt darren and myself were heading out to make an air safety video for bfsai british forces south atlantic islands [Music] we thought we'd take you with us on that journey for a fresh look at the falklands we're taking you behind the scenes on one of the uk's largest military deployments it's an 18-hour flight from raf bryce norton in fact it's not really near anywhere but first a bit of background for anyone who might need it two nations clashed when argentina invaded the falkland islands in 1982 almost certain that the british wouldn't sail the 8 000 miles to claim back their overseas territory the brits weren't having it something had to give britain put out a call to its good pals at the royal navy the paris the royal marines the gurkhas and the sas to name a few and did make the voyage across the atlantic [Music] what happened next is another story for another time but suffice to say that today you see no argentine flag flying over port stanley [Music] i wanted to get a glimpse of what life is like on the falklands today and every englishman knows that the first place to head when you arrive somewhere new is of course the pub welcome to the globe tavern where almost every day for the last century you'll find sailors soldiers airmen and air women all enjoying an adult beverage i was sitting down for one such beverage with the owner [Music] thank you very much welcome to the club i think it's the oldest bar on the forklifts between here and the rose it just got quite a bit of history with the military because it was open for the military after the conflict like one of the first things that they uh the first things they did like secure the club make sure make sure it's open and like and and i mean you'd be surprised to walk through that door like you know celebrities and famous faces famous faces you know and princess you know come through the door like you know and but therefore not a discussion yeah we'll not name anything but we all name our names but like it's it's been great like you know and it's tremendous respect still for the forces and what they did like you know um it's still there and as you walk about stanley you can see that but you know that that that respects all their appreciation for all what has been done like so yeah it's a dangerous place it's a lovely community to grow up in and to visit if you can't find yourself staying here it's a lovely place to visit and mainly of course pop into the world and have a friendly paints it's a lovely paint we've got to say yeah cheers cheers so it's been an important storm for 120 years another 120 years ago well i won't be there to see you but i guarantee this building we're here to see it god bless pubs aside there is still a large military presence on the islands at any one time up to 3 000 personnel from across the three services call the mount pleasant complex home today you won't see any harriers patrolling the skies but that's not to say that they're empty [Music] raf typhoons make good use of the near enough limitless airspace they have sorties most days and practice air-to-air refueling with the local [Music] voyager [Music] the airfield is crewed by a dedicated raf team facilitating both military and civilian flights into the region npa tower rover 2 request from delto s cross runway 2a to vacation the main [Music] mba airspace crash three rogers [Music] we headed out to sea to get some pickup shots for our video [Music] matt and darren both veterans of the royal navy and british army respectively had never got the chance to visit during their service i think it's fair to say we're all pretty blown away [Music] it's clear the seas are rich in life and fishing provides much of the revenue to the island's economy [Music] [Music] it was time to head back to land to find out how the falklands are moving away from their past and into the future just down from thatcher's bust you'll find the office of the legislative assembly where i was sitting down with dr barry ellsby to talk all things falklands to a greater or lesser extent depending on who is in power in argentina continues to claim our country and is actually written into their constitution so when they talk about talks and they say they want to talk to the united kingdom about the falkland islands future they cannot talk because written into their constitution is they cannot give away their claim on the islands do i believe that there will be an argentinian invasion no but without that deterrent who can say and who would have believed we'd have had an invasion in 1982. it's unusual to go to any party in the uk where they accept low flying most people object to it people here ring up the military and say you haven't buzzed me for the last week what's wrong low-flying aircraft are welcomed here by the islands and they're known as the sound of freedom so it's that link as well and and we welcome the falcons becoming much more of training assets so that we know that many units from her emergency forces are cycling through here doing training working as a tri-service which is unusual and we're very keen that that sort of link develops so that we are seen as a resource that can help the military's development things have changed though in the falkland islands and we're no longer on a war footing we are are now engaged much more with countries in the region such as chile and uruguay and what we hope is that the middle the forces here will begin to enjoy i think much more of the falkland islands and we talk about the modern falkland islands because people i'm afraid in the united kingdom think about the falklands they think about that awful time in 1982 but that's not the reality of the modern falklands although we're british overseas territory that means we are internally self-governing so we make our own laws we pass our own bills and we're self-financing so we don't get any direct aid from the united kingdom the money we spend we raise ourselves in fishing and other things in the islands meat production and hopefully some oil as well next up we needed some wildlife shots we didn't exactly have a plan but if you don't know where you're going we can never really be lost [Music] first we found some sea lions they didn't seem to do much except sleep and make more sea lions [Music] better leave them two of them [Music] next we needed some shots of birds not that kind man that kind there's this guy ducks a flying duck that one baby ducks oh yeah and who could forget these guys find myself on bertha's beach home to some 3 000 genji penguins [Music] we basically hung out with these penguins until we ran out of memory [Music] cards we knew that it was nearly home time [Music] finally we needed some aerial shots we were making an air safety video after [Music] all matt with eight years experience as an aircraft handler in the royal navy under his belt was the obvious choice to hang out the heli and get the shots now up in the clouds looking down at this small slice of britain out here alone in the south atlantic i was speechless [Music] for such a small place so much has happened here every single inch is beautiful both living and land [Music] and long may it continue [Music] [Applause] [Music] but everywhere you go [Music] you sense that something still lingers [Music] and at these shores [Music] well that they'll never forget what they've seen [Music] just more footage i'm going to delete

Channel: BFBS Creative

Views: 392,184

Keywords: Falklands, Falkland Islands, Islas Malvinas, bfbs, BFBS Creative, military, british military, uk armed forces, armed forces, British Army, RAF, Royal Air Force, Royal Navy, Navy, Harrier, Travel, remote islands, falklands travel, travelling, joe cowen, british forces, british forces south atlantic islands, south atlantic, bfsai

Id: RcY3gdUp3cc

Length: 12min 20sec (740 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 24 2021