Falklands War
.jpg) HMS Conqueror returning from the war | |||||||||||||||
| Military history of Argentina Military history of the United Kingdom | |||||||||||||||
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| Conflict: | Falklands War | ||||||||||||||
| Date: | April 2 - June 14 1982 | ||||||||||||||
| Place: | Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands | ||||||||||||||
| Result: | United Kingdom victory; UK regains possession of the islands. | ||||||||||||||
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The Falklands War (Spanish: Guerra de las Malvinas), was a war between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the Falkland Islands (also known in Spanish as the Islas Malvinas) and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, occurring between April and June of 1982. The Falklands consist of two large and many small islands in the South Atlantic Ocean east of Argentina, whose ownership had long been disputed. (See Sovereignty of the Falkland Islands for the background of that dispute.)
Argentina was in the midst of a devastating economic crisis and large-scale civil unrest against the military junta that was governing the country in the period leading up to the war. The Argentine government, headed by General Leopoldo Galtieri, decided to play off long-standing feelings of nationalism by launching what it thought would be a quick and easy war to reclaim the Falkland Islands. The ongoing tension between the two countries over the islands increased on 19 March when 50 Argentines landed on the British dependency of South Georgia and raised their flag, an act that is seen as the first offensive action in the war. On 2 April, Galtieri ordered the 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands, triggering the Falklands War.
Though initially surprised by the Argentine attack on the South Atlantic islands, Britain launched a naval task force to engage the Argentine Navy and air force, and retake the islands by amphibious assault. After heavy combat, the British eventually prevailed and the islands remained under British control, although as of 2006, Argentina shows no sign of relinquishing its claim to the Falkland Islands.
The political effects of the war were strong in both countries. The Argentine loss prompted even larger protests against the military government, which hastened its downfall, while a wave of patriotic sentiment swept through the United Kingdom, bolstering the government of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The war has played an important role in the culture of both countries, and has been the subject of several books, movies, and songs, although due to the low number of casualties on both sides it is not seen as a truly major event in the individual history of either country. Militarily, however, it remains important as the sole example of a major naval and amphibious operation between modern forces since the Second World War.
Lead up to the war
Build-up
President Galtieri, head of Proceso de Reorganización Nacional - the military government of Argentina at the time - aimed to counterbalance public concern over economic and human rights issues with a speedy nationalist victory over the Falklands. Argentina exerted pressure in the United Nations by raising subtle hints of a possible invasion, but the British either missed or ignored this threat and did not react. The Argentines interpreted the lack of British reaction as disengagement from the Falklands, and assumed that the British would not use force if the islands were invaded. This viewpoint was encouraged by the planned withdrawal of the last of the Antarctic Supply vessels, HMS Endurance of the Royal Navy in 1981, which would have been included in a general downsizing of the fleet throughout British territory, and the British Nationality Act of 1981, which did not extend full citizenship rights to Falkland Islanders, instead creating three classes of British citizenship.
It is unknown when plans first arose to invade the Falklands. Since the British took possession of the islands in 1833 (when Captain Onslow displaced Argentine interim governor Colonel José María Pinedo), Argentine-British relations were generally friendly for most of the latter nineteenth and twentieth centuries. British investments in Argentina were as important as Argentine exports to the UK, and it is often considered that Argentine decadence during the 1930s is a direct consequence of British decadence. In the midst of such warm relations between the two countries, the matter of the Falklands would seem trifling.
But following the failure of further diplomatic talks in January of 1982, the invasion plans were updated. Although it is often thought that the Falklands invasion was a long-planned action, it became clear after the war that it had been largely improvised. The isles were not fortified, sea mines were not deployed at strategic landing spots, and a large part of the infantry forces sent to the Falklands consisted of young recruits doing military service. The Argentine military knew they were hardly a match for their British counterparts, and the Argentine Air Force (FAA) had calculated, in training attacks against British-type vessels, that they could lose up to half of their units in the process of destroying only a few British warships. However, the actual course of the war surprised many observers, since Argentina's losses had been expected to be far worse, given their level of preparedness.
The reason for this lack of readiness most likely lies in the fact that the invasion was a last minute decision undertaken as a consequence of the South Georgia crisis. Until then, Argentine military concerns lay not in the South Atlantic but across the Andes. For several years, Argentina had been close to war with Chile. Hence, most capable forces were kept on the mainland, and precious little heavy equipment (tanks, heavy artillery) found its way to the Falklands. Argentina's military strategists feared that Chile would take advantage of the Falkland crisis and attempt to seize a portion of the Patagonia region. Indeed, Chile deployed their forces along the borders in what looked like a possible invasion. It remains unclear whether this was their true intention or merely a diversion promoted by their British allies.
Argentina's original intention seems to have been to mount a quick symbolic occupation, followed by a quick retreat. Strong popular support may have encouraged the Junta to change their objectives. They most likely misjudged the political climate in Britain, and did not anticipate that the British would move their fleet halfway across the globe.
On March 19, a group of Argentine scrap metal merchants established a camp on South Georgia, where they allegedly raised a flag of Argentina. It was later reported that firearm shots were also heard, but it is most likely they were only hunting. The British governor at Grytviken requested them to stamp their passports, which they refused to do since it would imply that they recognized British sovereignty over the isles - which they did not.
Actually, there was a diplomatic agreement between Argentina and Great Britain that let Argentinian visitors stamp a "white card" instead of their passport, a sort of intermediate diplomatic solution to accommodate the sovereignty dispute. The request that the Argentines stamp their passports despite the "white card" arrangement has led some to accuse the British of deliberately escalating the conflict.
The Royal Navy Antarctic patrol vessel HMS Endurance was dispatched to remove the camp on March 25, but was prevented from doing so by three Argentine warships, and forced into retreat. However, despite further evidence that the Argentine Navy had begun to assemble troops in Puerto Belgrano, the UK Joint Intelligence Committee's Latin American group stated on 30 March that "invasion was not imminent".
Failed diplomacy
Since formal diplomatic relations were ended between the United Kingdom and Argentina, separate nations represented each nation's diplomatic interests. Peru was the representative of Argentina in the United Kingdom, while Switzerland represented the United Kingdom in Argentina. By this arrangement, Argentine diplomats in London were credentialed as Peruvian diplomats of Argentine nationality, while United Kingdom diplomats in Buenos Aires were credentialed as Swiss diplomats of British nationality. The then-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Peruvian Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, announced that his efforts in favour of peace were futile. Although Peru and Switzerland exerted great diplomatic pressure to avoid war, they were both unable to head off the conflict, and a peace plan proposed by Peruvian president Fernando Belaúnde Terry was rejected by both sides.
Invasion
- Main article: 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands
The British Government warned Rex Masterman Hunt, the then Governor of the Falkland Islands, of a possible Argentine invasion on 31 March. Hunt then organised a defence, and gave military command to Major Mike Norman RM who managed to muster a small force of British Royal Marines. The Argentine Lieutenant-Commander in charge of the invasion, Guillermo Sanchez-Sabarots, landed his squadron of special forces at Mullet Creek. He proceeded to attack the Moody Brook Barracks, the Government House, and Stanley, until the British Falkland Islands government located at the Government House surrendered on 4 April. One British Royal Marine was wounded, and one Argentinian killed.
Life under the occupation
Argentina attempted to make several unwelcome changes to the culture of the Falkland Islands, in spite of earlier assurances that the Islanders' way of life and cultural identity would be maintained. Argentina changed Stanley's name to Puerto Argentino, made Spanish the official language of the Islands, and commanded traffic to drive on the right by painting arrows on the road indicating the direction of traffic and changing the location of street and traffic signs. [citation needed] Despite the arrows, islanders defiantly continued to drive on the left, demonstrating their determination to remain British.
Task force
The British were quick to organize diplomatic pressure against Argentina and because of the long distance between the Falklands and United Kingdom, the British were reliant on a naval task force, centred around the aircraft carriers HMS Hermes and the newly-commissioned HMS Invincible and commanded by Rear Admiral John "Sandy" Woodward. This task force would have to be self-reliant and able to project its force across the littoral area of the Islands. A second component was the amphibious assault shipping, commanded by Commodore M.C. Clapp RN. Contrary to common belief, Admiral Woodward did not command Commodore Clapp's ships. The embarked force comprised 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines, (including units from the Parachute Regiment) under the command of Brigadier J. Thompson RM to bring it up to its wartime strength. Most of this force was aboard the hastily commandeered cruise liner Canberra. Both Clapp and Woodward reported directly to the Commander in Chief Fleet (CINCFLEET), Admiral Sir John Fieldhouse, in Britain, who was the overall commander of the operation. In order to keep neutral shipping out of the way during the war, the UK declared a 'total exclusion zone' of 200 nautical miles (370 km) around the Falklands before commencing operation.
During all the journey and up to the War beginning on May 1st, the Task Force movements were followed by Boeing 707 of the Argentine Air Force. In one of those flights, one was intercepted by a Sea Harrier, still far away of the exclusion zone, the unarmed 707 was left to go.
Prince Andrew served as a Sea King helicopter pilot in HMS Invincible during the war, flying anti-submarine patrols. His helicopter was equipped with a Marconi Searchwater radar and acted as an improvised Airborne Early Warning platform, which would have been a valuable target. He also flew missions as an Exocet missile decoy - as he revealed in an apparently inadvertent admission shortly afterwards.
The British called their counterinvasion Operation Corporate. When this task force sailed from Britain, the American news magazine Newsweek cover headline proclaimed "The Empire Strikes Back" (in humorous reference to both the historical British Empire and to the then-recent Star Wars movie).
Although the public mood in the UK was in support of an attempt to reclaim the islands, international opinion was much more divided. To some, Britain was a former colonial power, seeking to reclaim a colony from a local power, and this was a message that the Argentinians initially used to garner support. Others supported Britain as a stable democracy invaded by a military dictatorship. British diplomacy centred on arguing that the Falkland Islanders were entitled to use the UN principle of self-determination and an apparent willingness to compromise. The UN Secretary-General said that he was amazed at the compromise that the UK had offered. Nevertheless, Argentina rejected it, basing their arguments on rights to territory based on actions before 1945 and the creation of the UN. Many UN members realised that if territorial claims this old could be resurrected, and invasions of territory allowed unchallenged, then their own borders were not safe. So on April 3 the UN Security Council passed Resolution 502, calling for the withdrawal of Argentine troops from the islands and the cessation of hostilities. On April 10 the EEC approved trade sanctions against Argentina. President Ronald Reagan and the U.S. administration did not issue direct diplomatic condemnations, instead providing intelligence support to the British military.
Shuttle diplomacy and US involvement
At first glance, it appeared that the United States had military treaty obligations to both parties in the war, bound to the UK as a member of NATO and to Argentina by the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (the "Rio Pact"). However, the North Atlantic Treaty only obliges the signatories to support if the attack occurs in Europe or North America north of Tropic of Cancer. The Rio Pact only obliges the US to intervene if one of the adherents to the treaty is attacked - the UK never attacked Argentina, only Argentine forces on British territory. In March, Secretary of State Alexander Haig directed the U.S. Ambassador to Argentina to warn the Argentine government away from any invasion. President Ronald Reagan requested assurances from Galtieri against an invasion and offered the services of his Vice President, George H. W. Bush, as mediator, but was refused.
In fact, the Reagan Administration was sharply divided on the issue. Meeting on 5 April, Haig and Assistant Secretary of State for Political Affairs Lawrence Eagleburger favoured decisive backing of Britain, concerned that equivocation would undermine the NATO alliance. Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs Thomas Enders, however, feared that supporting Britain would undermine U.S. anti-communist efforts in Latin America. He received the firm backing of U.N. Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick, Haig's nominal subordinate and political rival.
The White House continued its neutrality; Reagan famously declared at the time that he could not understand why two allies were arguing over "That little ice-cold bunch of land down there". But he assented to Haig and Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger's position. Haig briefly (April 8–April 30) headed a "shuttle diplomacy" mission between London and Buenos Aires, but at the end of the month Reagan blamed Argentina for the failure of the mediation, declared U.S. support for Britain, and announced the imposition of economic sanctions against Argentina.
In an infamous episode in June, Kirkpatrick cast a second veto of a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire, then announced minutes later that she had received instructions to abstain. The situation was blamed on a delay in communications, but perceived by many as part of an ongoing power struggle between Haig and Kirkpatrick.
Galtieri likely did not think that the UK would react; otherwise, it is doubtful that Argentina would have launched the attack. Of course, this would have been astounding to British people at the time, already familiar with Margaret Thatcher's uncompromising style of government. She declared that the democratic rights of the Falkland Islanders had been assaulted, and would not surrender the islands to the Argentine jackboot. This stance was aided, at least domestically, by the staunchly loyalist British press, especially The Sun, which ran such headlines as 'GOTCHA' (following the sinking of the General Belgrano). The Daily Mirror, on the other hand, vehemently opposed the war, attacking their tabloid rival The Sun, and claiming it would "damage your mind".
A U.S. fear of the perceived threat of the Soviet Union and the spread of communism, along with the certainty that Britain could handle the matter on its own, may have factored into this view as well, although assessments of this theory vary. In the context of the Cold War, with the performance of UK forces being watched closely by the Soviet Union, it was preferable for the UK to handle, without assistance, a conflict that was minor in scale compared to an all-out NATO vs. Warsaw Pact war. Regardless, American non-interference was vital to the U.S.-British relationship. Ascension Island, a UK possession, was vital in the long term supply of the task force south, however the airbase stationed on it was run and operated by the US. The American commander of the base was ordered to facilitate the British in any way and soon there were more air movements in and out of Ascension Air Field -- then briefly the busiest international airport, instead of Chicago's O'Hare airport. The most decisive American contribution was the rescheduled supply of AIM-9L Sidewinder missiles (which were much more deadly than older models of the Sidewinder, due to their all-aspect targeting capability), allowing the UK to ship its NATO inventory south, spy satellite and intelligence information. Margaret Thatcher stated that "without the Harrier jets and their immense manoeuvrability, equipped as they were with the latest version of the Sidewinder missile, supplied to us by U.S. Defence Minister Caspar Weinberger, we could never have got back the Falklands." All the Sidewinder air-air engagements proved to be from the rear-aspect, however.
Some believe in early May Casper Weinburger went so far as to offer the use of the American Aircraft Carrier USS Eisenhower if either British carrier was sunk. This would be seen as extremely important as it was noted by Admiral Sir Sandy Woodward that the loss of Invincible would have been a severe setback, but the loss of Hermes would have meant an end to the whole operation. Whilst generous if true, this would have meant US personnel becoming directly involved in the conflict as training British forces to crew the vessel would have taken years. It is worth noting, however, that both Weinberger and Reagan would go on to receive honorary knighthoods, the honour of KBE. American critics of the U.S. role claimed that, by failing to side with Argentina, the U.S. violated its own Monroe Doctrine, ignoring the pre-Monroe Doctrine British settlement.
In September 2001, Mexican president Vicente Fox would cite the conflict as proof of the failure of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, even though Argentina in this case was the aggressor, while the treaty provides for mutual defence and not mutual offence.
French involvement
French president François Mitterrand gave full support to the UK in the Falklands war. As a large part of Argentina's military equipment was French-made, French support was crucial. France provided aircraft, identical to the ones it supplied to Argentina, for British pilots to train against. France provided intelligence to help sabotage the Exocet missiles it sold to Argentina. In her memoirs Margaret Thatcher says of Mitterrand that "I never forgot the debt we owed him for his personal support...throughout the Falklands crisis". Sir John Nott, who was Secretary of State for Defence during the conflict later acknowledged: "In so many ways Mitterrand and the French were our greatest allies". [1]
As France had recently sold Super Etendard aircraft and Exocet missiles to the Argentine Navy, when war broke out there was still a French team in Argentina helping to fit out the Exocets and aircraft for Argentinian use. Argentina claims that the team left for France soon after the April 2 invasion, but according to Dr. James S. Corum the French team apparently continued to assist the Argentines throughout the war, in spite of the NATO embargo and official French government policy.
In 2005, a book written by President Mitterand's psychoanalyst, Ali Magoudi, gave a different account of French cooperation, quoting him as saying: "I had a difference to settle with the Iron Lady. That Thatcher, what an impossible woman! With her four nuclear submarines in the south Atlantic, she's threatening to unleash an atomic weapon against Argentina if I don't provide her with the secret codes that will make the missiles we sold the Argentinians deaf and blind." [2]
Latin American support
In spite of receiving the comprehension and affection of all the Latin American countries (with the exception of Chile), Argentina received military assistance only from Peru (Peruvian president Belaunde announced that his country was "ready to support Argentina with all the resources it needed.") and Venezuela. This came in the form of critical aircraft supplies like long range air fuel tanks. Countries like Cuba and Bolivia also offered ground troops but their offers were seen as political propaganda and not accepted. When the war was over, Argentina received Mirage 5P fighter planes from the Peruvian Air Force (later upgraded under the 'Mara' program) and Aermacchi MB-326 and Embraer Bandeirantes from the Brazilian Air Force.
Neighboring Chile, under Pinochet's regime, became the only Latin American country to aid Britain by providing important logistical support during the war. In addition, Chilean Armed Forces made a important deployment to the south and tied down Argentinian forces along their border, thus diverting most trained Argentinian ground troops from the conflict with the British. Chile and Argentina had almost gone to war over the possession of islands south of Tierra del Fuego in 1978 (the dispute will end peacefully in 1984 under the mediation of Pope John Paul II), so the relationship between these two countries was still very tense. The Chilean government was possibly concerned that if Argentina succeeded in taking the Falklands, General Galtieri's government would be launch a similar invasion of these islands.
War
By mid-April the Royal Air Force had set up an airbase at Wideawake on the mid-Atlantic island of Ascension, including a sizable force of Vulcan bombers, Victor refuelling aircraft, and F-4 Phantom fighters to protect them. Meanwhile the main British naval task force arrived at Ascension to prepare for war. A small force had already been sent south to re-capture South Georgia.
Recapture of South Georgia
The South Georgia force, Operation Paraquat, under the command of Major Guy Sheridan RM, consisted of marines from 42 Commando, a troop of Special Air Service (SAS) and Special Boat Service (SBS) troops who were intended to land reconnaissance forces for an invasion by the Royal Marines embarked on RFA Tidespring. First to arrive was the Churchill class submarine HMS Conqueror on the 19th, and the island was over-flown by a radar-mapping Handley Page Victor on the 20th. The first landings of SAS troops took place on the 21st, but the weather was so bad that their landings and others made the next day were all withdrawn after several helicopters crashed in fog on Fortuna Glacier.
On the 23rd a submarine alert was sounded and operations were halted, with the Tidespring being withdrawn to deeper water to avoid interception. On the 24th the British forces regrouped and headed in to attack the submarine, the ARA Santa Fe, locating it on the 25th and damaging it enough that the crew decided to abandon it. With the Tidespring now far out to sea and an additional defending force of the submarine's crew now landed, Major Sheridan decided to gather the 75 men he had and make a direct assault that day. After a short forced march the Argentine forces surrendered, making it official the next day. The British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, broke the news to the media telling them to "Just rejoice at that news!"Template:Fn.
The Black Buck Raids
On May 1, operations against the Falklands opened with the Black Buck 1 attack by RAF Avro Vulcan V bombers on the airfield at Stanley from Wideawake airbase on Ascension. The Vulcan had originally been designed for medium-range stand-off nuclear missions in Europe and did not have the range to fly to the Falklands, requiring several in-flight refuelling missions. The RAF's tanker planes were mostly converted Victors with similar range, so they too had to be refuelled in the air. Thus a total force of 11 tankers were required for only two Vulcans, a massive logistical effort. In the end only a single bomb from all the Black Buck raids hit the runway at Stanley.
Only minutes after the RAF's Black Buck 1, nine Royal Navy Sea Harriers from Hermes followed up the raid by dropping cluster bombs on Stanley and the smaller grass airstrip at Goose Green. Both missions scored aircraft kills on the ground, as well as causing some damage to the airfield infrastructure. The aircraft had taken off from the deck of HMS Invincible, and although attached BBC reporter Brian Hanrahan was forbidden to divulge the number of planes involved, he came up with the memorable phrase "I counted them all out and I counted them all back".
Despite only one direct hit, the raids (until surpassed by the B-2 in the 1991 Iraq War, the longest ranged bombing raids in history) are often credited with the strategic success of causing the the Argentine Air Force (FAA) to fall all their Mirage III back to protect against the possibility of similar bombing raids on Argentina. The real fact was that FAA Grupo 8 Mirages were deployed to Comodoro Rivadavia and Rio Gallegos on April (before the raids) and remain there until June against the Chilean Threat and serving as reserve for all the strike units.
The escalation of the air war
The Falklands proffered only three airfields of note, the longest, and the only one paved, at the capital, Port Stanley.
Stanley was too short to support fast-jet operation and this severely hampered Argentine efforts at forward staging, combat air patrols and close air support over the islands. Effective loiter time of incoming Argentine aircraft was low, and they were later compelled to overfly British forces in any attempt to attack the islands.
The Argentine Air Force (FAA), therefore, had to launch its major strikes from the mainland. Its first comprised 36 aircraft (Skyhawks,Daggers, Canberras and Mirage escorts), and was sent on 1st May, in the belief that the British invasion was imminent or landings had already taken place. Only a section of Grupo 6 (flying IAI Dagger Aircraft) found ships near the islands firing at Argentine defences. The Daggers managed to attack the ships successfully and return safely. This was a great stimulus for the Argentine pilots, for they now knew that they could survive an attack against a modern warship using ground clutter from the islands, and a late pop-up profile.
Meanwhile, some of the other Argentine aircraft were intercepted by Sea Harriers operating from Invincible, and a Dagger and a Canberra were shot down.
Combat broke out between other Harriers and Mirage fighters of Grupo 8. Both sides refused to fight at the other's best altitude, until two Mirages finally descended to engage. One was shot down by an AIM-9L Sidewinder while the other escaped but without enough fuel to return to its mainland airfield. The plane made for Stanley, where it fell victim to friendly fire from the Argentine defenders.
As a result of this experience, Argentine Air Force staff decided to employ Skyhawks and Daggers only as strike units, the Canberras only during the night and Mirage (due their lack of air refuelling capability and any capable air-to-air missile) to act as decoys and lure away the British Sea Harriers. The decoying was be later extended with the formation of the Escuadron Fenix, a squadron of civilian jets flying 24 hours a day simulating strike aircraft preparing to attack the fleet. On one of these flights, an Air Force Learjet was shot down killing the squadron commander, Vice Commodore Rodolfo De La Colina, who became the highest ranking Argentine officer to die in the War.
Stanley was used as an Argentine bridgehead throughout the conflict. Despite no fast-jets stationed at the airfield, the Black Buck and Harrier raids, and ongoing overnight shelling by detached ships, it was never put of action entirely. It was used by Hercules C-130 flights until the end of the conflict. The transports flying at night, bringing supplies, weapons, vehicles, and fuel and airlifting out the wounded. These air transports continued to slip past the British through to the last night of the war. Only one was intercepted by chance by RN Sea Harriers. The few Sea Harriers considered too valuable by day to use by night in barrier operations.
Sinking of the Belgrano
On May 2 the World War II-vintage Argentine light cruiser ARA General Belgrano — formerly the USS Phoenix (CL-46), a survivor of the 1941 Pearl Harbor attacks — was sunk by HMS Conqueror, using WWII vintage design Mk 8 mod 4 torpedoes. 321 lives were lost, although initial casualty reports were confused. The British newspaper The Sun famously greeted the initial reports of the attack (and the sinking of a small gunboat) with the headline GOTCHA. The edition was first published before news that the ship had actually sunk was known and carried no reports of actual Argentine deaths, it was followed by the more temperate "Did 1,200 Argies drown?".
In all, 323 Argentines died, half of all their War losses.
The gunboat used to be the ARA Alferez Sobral an ocean/patrol tug sent in the search of the crew of a Argentine Air Force English Electric Canberra downed May 1st. Two Sea Lynxs fired 4 Sea Skua against her. Badly damaged and with eight crew dead, the Sobral managed to return to Puerto Deseado two days later, but the Canberra's crew was never found.
The nuclear-powered Conqueror was captained by Commander Christopher Wreford-Brown. The loss of General Belgrano hardened the stance of the Argentine government and also became a cause celebre for anti-war campaigners (such as Labour MP Tam Dalyell), who declared that the ship had been sailing away from the Falklands at the time. The vessel was inarguably outside the exclusion zone, and sailing away from the area of conflict. However, during war, under international law, the heading of a belligerent naval vessel has no bearing on its status and the captain of the Belgrano, Hector Bonzo, has testified that the attack was legitimate. In later years it has been claimed that the information on the position of the ARA General Belgrano came from a Soviet spy satellite which was tapped by the Norwegian intelligence service station at Fauske in Norway, and then handed over to the British. As of 2006 the Belgrano remains the only warship sunk by a nuclear-powered submarine in time of war.
The sinking occurred 14 hours after Constitutional President of the Republic of Peru Fernando Belaúnde Terry, had proposed a comprehensive peace plan. At the time, and in response to Chile's support of Britain, Belaúnde called for regional unity.
Regardless of controversies over the sinking, it had an important strategic effect. After the loss of General Belgrano, the entire Argentine fleet returned to port and did not leave again for the duration of hostilities. The two destroyers supporting General Belgrano and the task force built around the aircraft carrier ARA Veinticinco de Mayo both withdrew from the area, ending the direct threat to the British fleet that their pincer movement had represented. The attack on General Belgrano was the second time since the end of World War II that a submarine had fired torpedoes in wartime and the only time that a nuclear powered submarine has done so.
In 2005, the Times newspaper reported that the British historian Sir Lawrence Freedman stated in the second volume of his Official History of the Falklands, his latest work on the Falklands, that intelligence about the Belgrano did not reach senior British commanders and politicians until it was too late. [3] Commander Christopher Wreford-Brown, commanding officer of HMS Conqueror, informed the Admiralty that the Argentine cruiser had changed course four hours before he attacked the cruiser, but this information was not passed to the MoD or Rear-Admiral John "Sandy" Woodward (commander of the RN task force). Thus it appears that neither Margaret Thatcher nor the Cabinet were aware of the Belgrano's change of course before the cruiser was sunk.
Sinking of HMS Sheffield
Two days after the General Belgrano sinking, on May 4, the British lost the Type 42 destroyer HMS Sheffield to fire following an Exocet missile strike. Sheffield had been ordered forward with two other Type 42s in order to provide a radar and missile "picket" far from the British carriers. After the ships were detected by an Argentine Navy (ARA) P-2 Neptune patrol aircraft, two ARA Dassault Super Étendards were launched, each armed with a single Exocet. Refuelled by a C-130 Hercules shortly after launch, they went in at low altitude, popped up for a radar check and released the missiles from 20 to 30 miles (30 to 50 km) away. One missed HMS Yarmouth, due to her deployment of chaff, but the other hit the Sheffield. The weapon struck with devastating effect, hitting the centre of the ship and starting raging fires which quickly spread, killing 22 sailors and severely injuring 24 others. While fighting the fire, Yarmouth fired anti-submarine weaponry in response to a possible Argentine submarine attack. In a sad co-incidence Sheffield was deaf to the tell-tale Exocet seeker radar as the ESM equipment on board was shut down to enable the use of the satellite transceiver. The two systems, thanks to poor design, interfered and couldn't be used simultaneously.
Sheffield was abandoned several hours later, gutted and deformed by her still-burning fires which lingered on for six more days. She finally sank outside the Exclusion Zone on May 10, whilst under tow from the Yarmouth, becoming an official war grave. Meanwhile the other Type 42s were withdrawn from their precarious position, leaving the British task force open to attack.
The tempo of operations increased throughout the second half of May. UN attempts to mediate a peace were rejected by the British, who felt that any delay would make a campaign impractical in the South Atlantic storms. The destruction of Sheffield had a profound impact on the British public, bringing home the fact that the "Falklands Crisis", as the BBC News put it, was now an actual shooting war.
Landing at San Carlos Water
During the night of May 21 the British made an amphibious landing on beaches around San Carlos Water, on the northern coast of East Falkland, putting the 4000 men of 3 Commando Brigade, including 2nd and 3rd battalions of the Parachute Regiment (2 and 3 Para), ashore from the amphibious ships and the liner Canberra: 2 Para and 40 Commando landing at San Carlos beach; 45 Commando at Ajax bay; 3 Para at Port San Carlos. By dawn the next day they had established a secure beachhead from which to conduct offensive operations. From there Brigadier Thompson's plan was to capture Darwin and Goose Green before turning towards Stanley.
Now, with the British troops on the ground, the Argentine Air Force begun the night bombing campaign against them using its English Electric Canberras until the last day June 14th.
At sea the paucity of British ships' anti-aircraft defences was demonstrated in the sinking of HMS Ardent on the 21st, HMS Antelope on the 23rd, and MV Atlantic Conveyor, with a vital cargo of helicopters, runway building equipment and tents on the 25th. The loss of all but one of the Chinook Helicopters being carried by the Atlantic Conveyor was a severe blow from a logistics perspective; the sole surviving Chinook was called Bravo November. Also lost on this day was HMS Coventry, a sister to HMS Sheffield, whilst in company with HMS Broadsword. HMS Argonaut and HMS Brilliant were badly damaged. However many British ships escaped terminal damage due to the Argentine pilots' bombing tactics. To avoid the high concentration of British air defences, Argentinian pilots were forced to swoop in and launch their bombs from a low altitude at the very last moment. The Argentinians lost near twenty aircraft in these attacks, including several Pucarás on the ground.
While undoubtedly brave, the late releasing of bombs meant that many never exploded, as there was insufficient time in the air for them to arm themselves. The problem was that, like many other items never used before by the Argentines Armed Forces in such ways, there was a problem in the way the bombs were armed. Days before the war ended the problem was solved and the iron bombs exploded regardless of the altitude from which they were dropped, as seen on the June 8th attack. The submarine ARA San Luis had similar problems with their SST-4 torpedoes.
Goose Green
Starting early on May 27 and through May 28, 2 Para approached and attacked Darwin and Goose Green, which was held by the Argentine 12th Inf Regt. After a tough struggle, which lasted all night and into the next day, seventeen British and 55 Argentine soldiers had been killed, and 1,050 Argentine troops taken prisoner. Due to a gaffe by the BBC, the taking of Goose Green was announced on the BBC World Service before it had actually happened. It was during this attack that Lt Col H. Jones, the commanding officer of 2 Para was killed. He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.
With the sizeable Argentine force at Goose Green out of the way, British forces were now able to break out of the San Carlos bridgehead. From 27 May men of 45 Cdo and 3 Para started walking across East Falkland towards the coastal settlement of Teal Inlet. Meanwhile 42 Cdo prepared to move by helicopter to Mount Kent. For the next week the SAS and Mountain & Arctic Warfare Cadre (the Special Forces unit of 3 Commando Brigade) waged intense patrol battles with reconnaissance patrols of the 602nd Commando Company. An example was a patrol battle of nineteen men of the Cadre, commanded by Captain Rod Boswell, on the lower slopes of Mount Simon. Late in the afternoon of 30 May a four-man patrol spotted thirteen Commandos approach a remote farm building, Top Malo House. The Cadre's commander, Captain Boswell, was ordered to muster his patrols and mount an assault on the farmhouse. He initially intended to fly in at night and then strike at dawn. Luck was not with the Cadre and its Sea King helicopter failed to arrive on time. An hour late, the nineteen Marines began their 45 kilometre low level flight to the drop off point in a gully, only some 1,000 metres from the farmhouse. At 9:00 AM the assault team comprising 12 Marines approached the house and were engaged with a Magnum sniper rifle from the top floor. A firefight which lasted for 45 minutes ensued between the Cadre and the Commandos. With ammunitions running low and two-thirds of the patrol killed or wounded the Argentines elected to surrender. It is estimated that 40 Argentine Commandos were involved in the battle with the SAS and the Cadre. A body count revealed five Argentine dead. Seven members of the British Special Forces were wounded during the actions. One SBS sergeant was killed as the Mount Kent ranges were secured for the arrival of the British battalions.
By June 1, with the arrival of a further 5,000 British troops of 5 Inf Brigade landed at San Carlos from Canberra, Norland and Stromness having transferred from the liner QE2 at South Georgia, new British divisional commander, Major General JJ Moore RM, had sufficient force to start planning an offensive against Stanley.
During this build-up the Argentine air assaults on the British naval forces continued, killing 48, including 32 Welsh Guardsmen on the RFA Sir Galahad and the RFA Sir Tristram on June 8. Many others suffered serious burns (including, famously, Simon Weston). These troops were still on the ships because of the loss of the helicopters on the Atlantic Conveyor. This meant that they had had to be transferred around the islands by ship. Unfortunately, the commanders of the landing force ignored the advice of naval commanders to disembark at the earliest opportunity.
Battle for Stanley
On the night of 11 June, after several days of painstaking reconnaissance and logistic build-up, British forces launched a brigade-sized night attack against the heavily defended ring of high ground surrounding Stanley. Units of 3 Commando Brigade, supported by naval gunfire from several Royal Navy ships, simultaneously assaulted Mount Harriet, Two Sisters, and Mount Longdon. During this battle thirteen were killed when HMS Glamorgan, which was providing naval gunfire support, was struck by an Exocet fired from the back of a truck, further displaying the vulnerability of ships to anti-ship missiles. On this day Sgt Ian McKay of 4 Platoon, B Company, 3 Para died in a grenade attack on an Argentine bunker which was to earn him a posthumous Victoria Cross. After a night of fierce fighting all objectives were secured. The night of June 13, saw the start of the second phase of attacks, in which the momentum of the initial assault was maintained. 2 Para captured Wireless Ridge, and the 2nd battalion, Scots Guards captured Mount Tumbledown.
War ended
As the fighting was coming to a close the Falklands Islanders on the eastern edge of Stanley were in imminent danger of being shot at by a platoon of a 3rd Infantry Regiment company as the conscripts and regulars steeled themselves for the final house-to-house battle near Government House. This is revealed in the book The Battle For The Falklands by Max Hastings and Simon Jenkins. Brigadier-General Oscar Jofre, Commander of the elite 10th Argentine Mechanized Infantry Brigade, has admitted that the abrupt end of the ground fighting was hastened by fear of war crimes against the civilians.
On June 14 the commander of the Argentine garrison in Stanley, Mario Menendez, surrendered to Major General JJ Moore Royal Marines. 9800 Argentine troops were made POWs and were repatriated to Argentina on the liner Canberra. On June 20 the British retook the South Sandwich Islands, (which involved accepting the surrender of the Southern Thule Garrison at the Corbeta Uruguay base) and declared the hostilities were at an end.
The war lasted 74 days, with 255 British and 635 Argentine soldiers, sailors, and airmen, killed.
The British Government decreed all classified information would be available to the public in the year 2082.
Analysis
Military
Militarily, the Falklands War was important for a number of reasons.
It was one of the few major naval battles so far to have occurred after the end of World War II. As such this conflict illustrated the vulnerability of surface ships to anti-ship missiles and reaffirmed the effectiveness of aircraft in naval warfare. The viability of stealth (in the form of submarines) again proved its usefulness, much as it did during World War II and the Cold War.
Neither side achieved total air supremacy, but the power of air forces during a conflict like this proved invaluable, due to the isolated, rough landscape of the Falklands. Air strikes were staged against ground, sea and air targets on both sides and often with clear results. All of the UK losses at sea were achieved by aircraft or missile strikes (by both the Argentine Air Force and Naval Aviation). The French Exocet missile proved its lethality in air-to-surface operations, leading to retrofitting of most major ships with CIWS (close-in weapons systems).
See also main article Air forces in the Falklands War.
It vindicated the UK decision to develop the VTOL Harrier aircraft, that showed its capability of operating from forward bases with no runways. At sea it demonstrated the domination of airpower in major engagements and the usefulness of carriers. It also proved the small but maneuverable jump jet as a true fighter aircraft able to take on adversaries with a much high top speed. Royal Navy Sea Harriers shot down 23 fast jets with no air-to-air losses themselves.
The logistic capability of the UK armed forces was stretched to the absolute limit in order to mount an amphibious operation so far from a home-base, onto mountainous islands which have few roads. After the war much work was done to improve both the logistic and amphibious capability of the Royal Navy.
The role of special forces units, which destroyed many Argentine aircraft, and carried out intelligence gathering operations, was reaffirmed.
The usefulness of helicopters in combat, logistic, and casevac operations was reaffirmed.
At sea, some shortcomings of warship design were made apparent, particularly the danger of using aluminium in ships (although it did not catch fire, it melted in the heat). Nylon was shown to be a poor choice of fabric in uniforms, as it is more flammable than cotton and also melts with heat, sticking the incendiary fabric to the skin and causing avoidable casualties.
The importance of Airborne Early Warning was shown. The Royal Navy had effectively zero over-the-horizon radar capability. This was to be hastily rectified as Sea King helicopters were fitted with retractable radomes containing old AEW radars from the decommissioned Gannet aircraft. The first travelled south after the war on the brand new Illustrious, sister ship to Invincible.
Political
The Falklands War illustrates the role of political miscalculation and miscommunication in creating war. Both sides seriously underestimated the importance of the Falklands to the other. The Falklands War illustrates the role of chance in determining what happens in a war. Some commentators believe that the war could have ended in an Argentine victory if one of the Exocets had hit an aircraft carrier, or if the frequent unexploded bombs had detonated on striking some of the ships (75% of the British task force was damaged or sunk), or if Argentina had attacked the British artillery, using the three paratroop regiments already deployed at Comodoro Rivadavia. Equally, if the Argentines had made better preparations to hold the islands, they might have been able to do so, but they did not expect that the British would attempt to carry out a war 8000 miles (13 000 km) from home. Either way, an Argentine victory may have been an unacceptable show of weakness on the part of the UK during an intense period of the Cold War, and as a result some have doubted that such an outcome would have been allowed to remain for long. With the UK being an integral U.S. ally and important part of NATO, to permit a loss would have been a signal to the USSR that the NATO alliance was militarily and politically weak.
The war cost the UK 255 men, six ships (10 others were very badly damaged), thirty-four aircraft, and more than £1.6 billion, but the campaign was considered a great victory for the United Kingdom. The war provided a substantial boost to the popularity of Margaret Thatcher and played a role in ensuring her re-election in 1983. Several members of her government resigned, including the former Foreign Secretary Lord Carrington. It has also been said by diplomats that following the British victory there was an increase in international respect for Britain, formerly regarded as a fading colonial power. As mentioned earlier, the victory was not overlooked by the USSR, who increased troop levels facing the British Army of the Rhine soon after, and was an important junction in the Cold War.
However, it is believed that with the renewed confidence gained from the victory, Margaret Thatcher suggested in her September 1982 China visit an extension of the British rule of the New Territories in Hong Kong which, legally, was to end in 1997 with the expiry of the 99-year lease (Beijing never actually recognized any of the 19th century treaties over Hong Kong).
She was famously threatened during a meeting with then Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping with comments such as "China is no Argentina," and "We can order troops into Hong Kong this afternoon." Formal discussions of British withdrawal from the territory started after this Beijing visit and Hong Kong was returned to China on July 1 1997.
However, on the day of the handover of Hong Kong, former British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd remarked to Argentine Foreign Minister Guido di Tella; "I know what you're thinking, but you will never see this happen in Port Stanley."
On the other hand, the Argentine military government was ousted after mounting protests by human rights and war veterans groups. Galtieri was forced to resign, paving the way for the restoration of democracy. Elections were held on October 30, 1983 and Raúl Alfonsín, the Radical Civic Union (UCR) party candidate, took office on December 10, 1983. Alfonsín defeated Italo Luder, the candidate for the Justicialist Party (Peronist movement).
Weapon export controls
The Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls (COCOM) failed to anticipate a conflict between Argentina and the UK when approving weapon export to Argentina.
Medical
During the operations, several wounded British soldiers had to spend hours in the cold before receiving medical aid; famously, no British soldiers evacuated to medical aid stations died. Many recovered beyond what medicine of the time thought possible, and subsequent theories have suggested that this was due to the extreme cold (similar anecdotal tales had originated during the bitter winter fighting of the Korean War).
Impact in Argentina
The Argentine loss of the War led to ever-larger protests against the military regime and is credited with giving the final push to drive out the military government that had overthrown Isabel Perón in 1976 and participated in the crimes of the Dirty War. Democracy returned to Argentina in 1983.
The famous writer Jorge Luis Borges, himself partly of British descent and bilingual from birth in Spanish and English, wrote in 1985 a short poem (Juan López y John Ward) about two fictional soldiers (one of each side) that died in the Falklands, which he refers to as "islands that were too famous". He also said about the war: "The Falklands thing was a fight between two bald men over a comb."
Among the latest Argentine productions about the war is the 2005 film Iluminados por el Fuego ("Enlightened by Fire") [4], directed by Tristán Bauer and starred by Gastón Pauls, which received a San Sebastián Festival special award. The film tells about a veteran's memories, re-awakened after he learns of the suicide of a former soldier comrade.
The start of the Falkland War is commemorated as Día del Veterano de Guerra y los Caídos en Malvinas, a public holiday in Argentina, usually on the first Monday of April. It is sometimes referred to in English as Malvinas Day.
Cultural impact in the UK
The war provided a wealth of material for writers, and many dozens of books came from it; in the UK the definitive account became Max Hastings and Simon Jenkins' The Battle for the Falklands. Other titles focused on the Sea Harrier (Sharkey Ward's Sea Harrier over the Falklands), the land battles leading up to the Argentine surrender (Christian Jennings and Adrian Weale's Green Eyed Boys), and the general experience of battle (Ken Lukowiak's A Soldier's Song). Jack Higgins' thriller Exocet dealt with one of the war's most famous "buzz-words"; for many years afterwards, "Exocet" became synonymous with "rocket" in the UK ("Yomp" and "Task Force" also entered the language).
Very few films emerged from the conflict, one such being the 1989 BBC drama Tumbledown, which starred Colin Firth in an early role. It told the tale of a soldier in the Scots Guards, brain-damaged by a sniper's bullet, adjusting to disabled life after the war. In 1992 the BBC produced An Ungentlemanly Act, relating the story of the initial defence of the Islands during the Argentine Invasion, with Bob Peck as Mike Norman and Ian Richardson as Rex Hunt. Ian Curteis' The Falklands Play was commissioned by the BBC in 1986, but was not filmed until 2004; the BBC claimed that it would have been broadcast too close to the 1987 General Election. Curteis maintained that the generally sympathetic portrayal of Margaret Thatcher refuted a perceived BBC anti-government bias. On a lighter note, the character of Grant Mitchell from the popular, gritty soap opera EastEnders was written as a traumatised Falklands veteran, although this characterisation was swiftly abandoned.
Tottenham Hotspur's popular Argentine midfielder Ossie Ardiles had helped beat Leicester City one day after the invasion, to no ill effect, although he subsequently left the UK for a year of his own volition. The war also created heightened passions between Argentina and England in the 1986, 1998, and 2002 FIFA World Cups, featuring memorable, and sometimes infamous, performances by Diego Maradona, Peter Shilton, and David Beckham. (See Argentina and England football rivalry).
Although the war did not have a direct impact on British civilians, it nonetheless had impacts on British pop culture. Popular music referencing the war included Elvis Costello's song "Shipbuilding", New Order's song "Blue Monday", Iron Maiden's song "Como Estais Amigos", Pink Floyd's songs "Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert", "The Fletcher Memorial Home", and "Not Now John" from the album The Final Cut, Billy Bragg's song "Island of No Return", New Model Army's "Spirit of the Falklands" and The Bluebells' song "South Atlantic Way". Joe Jackson's 1986 song "Tango Atlantico" deals with a description of the end of the war and the aftermath. Much material produced around this time by the anarchist punk band Crass was extremely critical of the war, in particular the album Yes Sir, I Will and the singles "Sheep Farming in the Falklands" and "How Does it Feel to be the Mother of 1000 Dead?" The latter, intended as a statement directed at Mrs Thatcher, led to questions in parliament and a request for prosecution for obscenity from Conservative MP for Enfield North Timothy Eggar [5]. Crass were also responsible for Thatchergate, a hoax tape, originally attributed to the Soviet KGB, on which the spliced voice of Margaret Thatcher appears to imply that the HMS Sheffield was deliberately sacrificed in order to escalate the conflict.
The popular computer games Harrier Attack and Yomp presented unofficial portraits of the fighting.
The aforementioned Simon Weston, a Welsh Guardsman who had suffered serious burns during the conflict, became a popular figure due to British media coverage. A series of television documentaries followed his progress and eventual recovery from his injuries (Simon's War being the first).
The film version of Whoops Apocalypse features a conflict very similar to the Falklands War between the United Kingdom and a fictional country Maguadora over the fictional Santa Maya.
Pope John Paul II visits
On May 1982, Pope John Paul II carried out a long scheduled visit to the UK. In view of the crisis it was decided that this should be balanced with an unscheduled trip to Argentina in June. It's contended that his presence and words spiritually prepared Argentinians for a possible defeat, contrary to the propaganda issued by the Junta. He would return to Argentina in 1987 after democratisation.
Falklands War Veterans' afflictions
The British Ministry of Defence was accused several times of a systematic failure to prepare service personnel for the horrors of war and provide adequate care for them afterwards.
There are strong allegations that the Ministry of Defence has tried to ignore the issue of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which left many sufferers emotionally scarred and unable to work, immersed in social dislocation, alcoholism, and depression. Most veterans have suffered prolonged personality disorders, flashbacks and anxiety levels sometimes reaching pathological levels.
It was revealed that more veterans have committed suicide since the Falklands conflict ended than the number of servicemen killed in action [6].
SAMA - the South Atlantic Medal Association, which represents and helps Falklands veterans - believe some 264 veterans have now taken their own lives, a number that contrasts with the 255 who died on active service.
A similar situation afflicts the veterans on the Argentine side, many of whom have similarly suffered from psychiatric disorders, drug and alcohol abuse, and social turmoil with the current number of suicide deaths at 320.
Artistic treatments
Music
Rock musician Elvis Costello wrote the song "Shipbuilding" (1983) in response to the Falklands War. With the opening line "Is it worth it?"[7], it is considered to be a protest against the war.
Computer games
- Falklands War - 1982 — This scenario collection, created with the Harpoon3 naval / aerial warfare simulator, is intended to accurately recreate the real-life war from 1982.
See also
- Operation Algeciras - A failed plan conceived by the Argentine military to send some Montoneros to sabotage the British military facilities in Gibraltar.
- 1833 invasion of the Falkland Islands
References
- Freedman, Sir L. Official History of the Falklands: Vol 2. Frank Cass, 2005 ISBN 0714652075
- Falklands Roundtable -- Ronald Reagan Oral History Project, Scripps Library
- The Times article on Freedman's work June 27 2005, Evans, M. and Hamilton, A.
- "How France helped us win Falklands war, by John Nott", By George Jones, Political Editor (Filed: 13/03/2002)
- Template:Fnb "1982: Marines land in South Georgia". BBC. Retrieved 20 June.
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External links
- Falklandswar.org.uk
- Victoria Cross and other citations, London Gazette, 11 October 1982
- The Guardian: Julian Barnes
- Malvinas War Memorial (Buenos Aires)
- Falklands/Malvinas Forum (English/Spanish)
- ex-7th Argentine Infantry Regiment veterans (Spanish)
- Falklands War Timeline
- Falklands War Documents
- Falklands War Articles
- Escuadron Fenix (Spanish)