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Issue Date: June 18, 1982

Argentine Troops Surrender on Falklands Argentine President Resigns British launch Final Offensive The Surrender Britain Urges End to Hostilities POW's Return Delayed Galtieri Resigns Posts Thatcher Bars Sovereignty Talks Argentine President Resigns

Fighting in the Falklands came to an end June 14 when Argentine troops surrendered to the British forces encircling them at Stanley, the capital. The surrender, which applied to all Argentine forces on the islands, followed a British offensive in which the British forces had advanced from the hills surrounding the capital to the outskirts of the town itself. [See 1982 Falklands Truce Resolution Vetoed at United Nations; Argentines Bomb British Landing]

The end of the fighting left a situation that was still, in various respects, confused and unclear. While Britain had succeeded in recapturing the islands, no guarantees were immediately forthcoming from that it would refrain from raids or other military actions to harass the British forces there. There was also no immediate agreement between the two countries on the manner of returning the captured Argentine troops to Argentina, and Britain warned that prolonged exposure and poor nutrition posed a major threat to the health of the prisoners.

In Argentina itself, the ruling was said to be sharply divided on how to respond to the military reverse. A crowd of several thousand people gathered before the presidential palace in June 15 to hear a promised speech from President Leopoldo Galtieri about the Falklands. When Galtieri failed to appear, the crowd demonstrated its discontent with the government and eventually police used tear-gas to disperse the protesters.

Galtieri resigned June 17 as president, junta member and commander in chief of the army. Maj. Gen. Alfredo Oscar St. Jean, the interior minister, was named interim president, and Maj. Gen. Cristino Nicolaides took over as head of the army. There was still, however, considerable uncertainty as to the future shape of the Argentine government.

British launch Final Offensive

The final British advance began with night attacks June 11, apparently preceded by naval and artillery bombardments.

British Defense Secretary John Nott said June 12 that the British troops succeeded in advancing five miles (eight kilometers) before dawn. "The enemy, who were largely asleep at the time, first knew of the attack when our infantry appeared amongst them," Nott said. He continued, "Thereafter, there was hard fighting before their positions were taken, but the Argentines soon realized their position was hopeless. It was a brilliant operation, carried out with a great deal of professionalism and stealth."

In Buenos Aires, a military source quoted by a Argentine press agency said that the British forces had "succeeded in some penetration of the first Argentine line of defense," about 10 or 12 miles (16-19 kilometers) west of Stanley.

The Argentine command said the attack had been preceded by an "indiscriminate bombardment" of Stanley during which two Stanley residents were killed and four wounded. The civilian population of the capital had been made a "priority target" by the British, the Argentine command said.

(Britain agreed June 13 to an appeal from the International Committee of the Red Cross for the establishment of a neutral zone in Stanley to serve as a sanctuary for civilians and wounded soldiers. Argentina also agreed, and a five-acre zone was designated, apparently only shortly before fighting came to a halt with the Argentine surrender.)

In its June 12 statement, the Argentine command also claimed that Argentine bombers had attacked a British frigate, leaving it "out of combat and abandoned by its crew." Britain June 13 acknowledged that one of its cruisers, the Glamorgan, was hit by Argentine fire while taking part in the June 11-12 bombardment. Nine sailors were killed and 17 injured, but the ship remained battle-worthy, Defense Secretary Nott claimed.

Nott also disclosed June 13 that 50 British troops and sailors were killed by Argentine aerial attacks June 8 while carrying out a landing at Fitzroy. At least 60 men were seriously wounded in the same incident, Nott said. Britain had acknowledged heavy losses earlier in that landing, but had refused to give details on the grounds that the information could aid the enemy. [See 1982 Falklands Truce Resolution Vetoed at United Nations; Argentines Bomb British Landing]

The recent advances on the ground, Nott said, firmly established British superiority. "There is some way still to go, but the outcome is not in doubt," he said.

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British officials said that June 13 was devoted to consolidating the recent gains. In Argentina, the military command claimed June 13 that the British offensive had stalled and new defensive positions had been established by the Argentine forces. Argentine planes had attacked British troops on Two Sisters hill, captured the day before, the Argentine command said.

New British attacks began the night of June 13 and continued through the morning of June 14. The British troops succeeded in overcoming sharp resistance at Tumbledown Mountain, about four miles (seven kilometers) from the capital, and then swept on to Mount William, even closer. Wireless Ridge, another area of high ground overlooking Stanley, was captured as part of the advance. With the loss of these positions, the Argentine troops were seen fleeing back to Stanley, abandoning their weapons. Soon white flags were seen and Argentine troops began informally surrendering. A cease-fire was arranged during the afternoon of June 14 while formal surrender negotiations went forward between Brig. Gen. Mario Menendez, the Argentine commander, and Maj. Gen. Jeremy Moore, the commander of the British ground forces.

The Surrender

The British defense ministry June 16 released the text of the surrender document signed in Stanley June 14 by Menendez.

The document specified that the surrender would take effect at 8:59 p.m. (Falklands time) June 14 and would apply to "those Argentine forces presently deployed in and around Port Stanley, those others on East Falkland, West Falkland, and all the outlying islands."

Under the terms of the surrender, the document stated, "all Argentine personnel in the are to muster at assembly points which will be nominated by General Moore, and hand over their arms, ammunition, and all other weapons and warlike equipment as directed by General Moore, or appropriate British officers acting on his behalf."

The surrender also stated that the Argentine forces would be "treated with honor in accordance with the conditions set out by the Geneva Convention of 1949."

Widely varying figures were cited for the number of Argentine troops surrendering. British Prime Minister said June 15 that 15,000 Argentines had surrendered, a number apparently emanating from Menendez. One report June 17 spoke of as few as 8,100 Argentine troops. Thatcher June 17 gave a revised prisoner total of 10,660.

Total British killed, in all branched of the armed services and "associated civilian," came to 255, according to a defense ministry statement June 17. Argentine casualty totals were not definitely known, but it was thought that the number dead was three or four times the British total.

Britain Urges End to Hostilities

Thatcher, in a speech to Parliament June 15 describing the recent British military successes and the surrender of the Argentine troops on the Falklands, said that Britain hoped that all hostilities would now end between Britain and Argentina.

"We have today sent to the Argentine government through the Swiss government a message seeking confirmation that Argentina like Britain considers all hostilities between us in the South Atlantic and not only on the islands themselves to be at an end," the British prime minister said. She added, "It is important that this should be established with clarity and without delay."

Thatcher indicated that until such an assurance was provided by Argentina, Britain would retain some of the prisoners it had taken, principally the officers. Economic sanctions against Argentina would also not be relaxed until Argentina agreed to full peace in the South Atlantic, British officials indicated.

The fall of Stanley reportedly left the Argentine junta sharply divided on the question of whether to agree to an end to hostilities. Galtieri, in a television speech June 15, said that Argentina might agree to an end to hostilities if Britain agreed to negotiate on the future of the islands. But, Galtieri said, British insistence on re-establishing its rule on the islands would allow "no security or definitive peace."

A statement issued the next day, June 16, by the Argentine military command emphasized that the end of fighting agreed to June 14 at Stanley covered only Argentine forces on the islands. The statement also claimed that U.S. and European support for Britain had been largely responsible for the Argentine defeat.

However, Argentina made no immediate official response to Britain's request that hostilities be considered at an end, and a New York Times report datelined June 17 said that senior Argentine military officers were still debating the issue. The ouster of Galtieri as president was seen by some British officials as a sign of possible movement towards a full peace.

POW's Return Delayed

British officials said June 16 and 17 that the lack of a peace agreement with Argentina was delaying the return of Argentine prisoners of war, with a consequent danger of hundreds of deaths from illness and exposure.

Rear Adm. John Woodward, in a statement June 16, said that many of the Argentine troops were suffering from malnutrition, dysentery and scabies, a skin disease. Furthermore, Woodward continued, there are little shelter for the prisoners, while the islands

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were being hit by blizzards and subzero temperatures.

Adm. John Fieldhouse, the British commander-in-chief fleet, said the same day that Britain was "getting absolutely no cooperation whatsoever from the government of Argentina."

Fieldhouse continued: "We have neither a guarantee of safe passage for our ships nor agreement for assistance in disembarkation. The condition of the prisoners is being worsened by the sheet disregard for their welfare of their own government."

The British Foreign Office said June 17 that Argentina had refused to allow British ships to take the prisoners to Argentine ports. Thatcher said that Britain was "trying very hard to return the younger conscripts," but Argentina had insisted that the prisoners be taken "to Montevideo [in Uruguay], which is a lot further and would take longer."

Referring to the reports of Galtieri's ouster, Thatcher remarked, "We hope the new regime will be more humanitarian towards its young men on the Falklands."

The Argentine foreign ministry announced late June 17 that the prisoners would be returned in a joint British-Argentine operation--using ships of both countries--with the cooperation of the International Red Cross. The British Foreign Officer said it would "consider" this proposal, and indicated that British willingness to allow Argentine ships to come to the Falklands might hinge on whether Argentina agreed to a full peace.

Early June 17 there had been a riot among some of the prisoners on the Falklands. Reportedly, some of the Argentine troops ran through the streets of Stanley and set fire to several buildings

Galtieri Resigns Posts

Leopoldo Galtieri June 17 resigned his posts as president, commander in chief of the army and member of the ruling junta.

"I am going," Galtieri said, "because the army did not give me the political support to continue as commander and president of the nation." He added, "I am not one of those who abandon the ship in the middle of tempests or difficult hours such as those the nations is living in today. The people of the nations know this."

Galtieri was strongly identified with the government's attempt to seize the Falklands, and the failure of that attempt was generally seen as the cause of his ouster. While the initial Argentine military successes had fostered a growth in public support for Galtieri and the junta, the realization of the defeat at Stanley led to sharp criticism of the military rulers. A crowd of several thousand gathered by the presidential palace June 15 and, when Galtieri failed to appear for a promised speech, chanted antigovernment slogans. The demonstration, which was eventually broken up by the police, reportedly helped convince some of the military leaders to get rid of Galtieri.

Maj. Gen. Cristino Nicolaides, who was named June 17 to succeed Galtieri as head of the army and new member of the junta, was regarded as a hard-liner who would probably have little inclination to cede governmental control of civilian politicians. Interior Minister Maj. Gen. Alfredo Oscar St. Jean was named as interim president. Reportedly, the junta was considering several different methods of selecting for a permanent president, under one of which a civilian might be named to the post.

Galtieri's ouster prompted expressions of hope by several Argentine politicians that it might lead to an accelerated restoration of civilian rule.

Thatcher Bars Sovereignty Talks

Thatcher told Parliament June 15 that Britain had not fought to regain the Falklands in order to negotiate later with Argentina about sovereignty.

"Our men did not risk their lives for a U.N. trusteeship," she said. "They risked their lives for the British way of life, to defend British sovereignty. I do not intend to negotiate on the sovereignty of the islands in any way except with the people who live there. That is my firm belief. Those islands belong to us."

It was too early, Thatcher said, to think of much besides the restoration of normal life to the islands. "When the time is right," she continued, "we can discuss with them [the Falklanders] ways of giving their elected representatives an expanded role in the government of the islands." Thatcher noted that she was sending Rex Hunt, the governor of the Falklands who had left after the initial Argentine seizure, back to islands.

The government was urgently studying ways to accelerate the economic development of the Falklands, Thatcher said. The government was fully committed to ensuring the future security of the islands, she added. "If necessary we shall do this alone, but I do not exclude the possibility of associating other countries with their [the Falklands'] security," she remarked.

The U.S. had earlier urged Britain to show "magnanimity" if it succeeded in regaining the islands. This was generally seen as a request that Britain make some allowances for Argentine interest in, and claims upon, the Falklands. However, Thatcher did not appear to see any role for Argentina at all in the future of the islands. © 2011 Facts On File News Services

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