1 o o •-3 33 > Z C/l 33 O 33 LO O I—4 00 OJ i??g»ss s S 1.8 |»|S-?S Ii irifim fmi! il!?|l till I! li <«3 s°§;z S?| ? § faj $13 ^a23 CO W«S' “ a 2 McMillan-Scott Associates Public Affairs II Whnoh.il! I j.rulonSWIA 211/ T.-k-pImiw "I 'M»»«.wV> ! THE TIMES News in ! 30.11.83 summary Exocet hit by Sea Wolf Two of the next three type 22 frigates are to be named after the Sheffield and Coventry, which were sunk last year by Exocet missiles during the Falklands campaign, Mr John Lee, the Under Secretary of State for Defence Procurement, told the Commons on Monday. An Exocet was shot down for the first time by a ship-launched Sea Wolf missile at maximum range in a trial last week, Mr DAILY TELEGRAPH Lee announced. The firing will be shown on television soon. 30.11.83 v ■> Former Argentine leader Cen. Gal fieri leaving the Buenos Aires offices of the Supreme Armed Forces Council where a panel of officers found him “ grossly negligent and incompetent” in his handling of the Falklands conflict and recommended that he be formally charged with serious violations of the military code. McMillan-Scott Associates Public Affairs 41 Whitehall London SW1A 2BZ Telephone: 01-9306935 md l ; l ! The Standard 30th November 1983 Diver beat danger to reach secrets i THE courage of Navy i diver Michael Harrison by Marion Ellis was rewarded today when he received the Queen’s Gallantry Medal at Buckingham Palace. The 33-year-old Petty Officer won the medal after taking part in “ possibly the most MICHAEL HARRISON: dangerous task ever under­ taken by a Royal Navy diving “ pul himself at grave risk.* team." He was one of a team of divers who set out to recover secret documents and equip­ Daily Mail ment from HMS Coventry and 30th November 1983 other ships which sank north of the Falklands during the South Atlantic campaign last year. Harrison and his colleagues were searching the wreckage of the Coventry in depths of more than 300 feet. They went down in a diving bell and remained connected to it while searching for the secret documents in the sun­ ken ships. The citation with the award states: "Though working in extremely unpleasant, hazard­ ous and dark conditions, and despite becoming entangled on ZURICH: Af ormer two separate occasions with Argentine policeman hanging debris, Harrison per­ charged with kidnapping severed with the task, putting told a court yesterday himself at grave personal risk. that he took part in numerous executions of Secrets Argentine political pri­ "Throughout the operation he showed the very finest soners. example of skill and courage A hundred and fifty of to his colleagues which them were pushed from a inspired a notable success in plane over the open sea. what was possiblv the most Luis Alberto Martinez dangerous task ever under­ said there was always taken by a Royal Navy ‘great confusion’ diving team. ‘Once, three Argentine . "His outstanding profes­ Army sergeants were acci­ sionalism. bravery and total dentally thrown into the disregard for his own safety sea. too.’ he saitf. were in the highest tradi­ He and four othevr-, are tions of the Service.” on trial for the 1981 kid*' The Royal Navy has been napping of a banker reluctant to reveal the nature of the material recovered but it is thought to have included top secret code books and cryptographic equipment. GUARDIAN 29 11 83 The media message of a Falklands cover-up Sir, — Lord Avebury is We have a copy of an in­ documents to which Lord right (Guardian, November ternal memorandum from the Avebury refers, documents 11) : during the Falklands then editor of the Sunday which demonstrate beyond war, the Government did in­ Times, Frank Giles, to a re­ doubt that, historically, the deed suppress documents re­ porter who had been in Foreign Office has always had lating to British sovereignty touch with Dr Beck: “The serious reservations about the over the islands. time to publish this stuff is British claims to sovereignty I after the fighting has stopped over the Falkland Islands. J That was predictable, but ... I am by no means kill­ Media reaction ? Scarcely a I what’s more surprising is the ing the idea, but I don’t ripple. The fact that your I role the British media played want it to surface at the correspondent, Julia Lang- I in colluding in this censor­ moment.” The story was sub­ don, still seems to think the I ship, for copies of the papers sequently buried on an inside papers aren’t available bears I in question were available to page, after the war was over. eloquent. testimony to the I them at the time. They were Our programme, broadcast efficiency of the cover-up, by I in the possession of a well- on January 7, detailed the both the Government and the PSome wounds known archivist, Dr Peter way the British media media. — Yoursi faithfully, Beck who repeatedly tried to allowed themselves to be Steve Hewlett. get the BBC and Fleet Street manipulated by the Govern­ — including the Guardian — ment in their coverage of the Barry Flynn. don’t bleed to show an interest. He. was Falklands war. During the The Friday Alternative, j War is a calamity. Mental breakdown is unsuccessful. programme, • we showed the London W14. | a tragedy. If mental breakdown is caused by war, one might think that such a double sorrow would arouse our readiest sym- Ironically, this problem is directly- attri­ pathies and charitable impulses. The reality, butable to the armed forces, success in rais­ however, is rather different, as Polly Toyn­ ing the calibre of its recruits. They pride DAILY TELEGRAPH themselves on attracting people with high bee revealed in these pages a few days ago. 29 11 83 In the aftermath of the Falklands campaign, intelligence and good qualifications. But if members of the Task Force whose minds the armed forces attract thinkers it isn’t surprising that they then think carefully have been affected by the war and who have FALKLAND, MIGRANTS been invalided out of the armed forces about the morality of their actions and fail as a result have not received any money to succumb to the necessary indoctrination. By Our Political Staff Moreover, the ethos of the armed forces has Since June last year, 35 if il the South Atlantic Fund. Money from Falklanders have emigrated this fund has gone to no-one on the grounds — thankfully — become a touch removed from the islands while 40 have of psychiatric disability, even though many from a psyehed-up battle stations level. Pro­ gone there with the intention such cases are still being treated. Surgeon longed peace has meant that the armed of settling permanently, Mr forces can encourage recruits to join up to Bay Whitney, Under-Secretary Commander Morgan O’Connell, a naval psy­ at the Foreign Office, said chiatrist who was sent out with the Task show the flag and see the world, rather yesterday Force, has talked about the psychiatric dis­ than expect to rush off immediately and orders arising from the war. One man, a start killing people. When a real war WHALES KILL Fleet Chief Petty Officer who had been in happens, as with the Falklands campaign, it / the navy for 22 years, was described by the is difficult to change psychological gear. THEMSELVES And the sheer terror of the situation should i surgeon commander as suffering from “ re­ active psychosis.” The essence of this dis­ not be underestimated. It is hard to imagine IN FALKLANDS order was a conflict of ideology and a loss of anything more terrifying, for example, than touch with reality because this officer felt acting as a decoy to attract Exocet missiles By Our Port Stanley away from the major battleships. Small Correspondent the war should never have happened. More than 100 pilot whales During the war he was ferried by heli­ ships literally offered themselves as targets, have “ committed suicide ” in copter from ship to ship wherever his putting on all their radios and drawing the west Falklands seemingly specialist skills were needed, and although maximum attention to themselves with the by following their leader on to he himself did not come under fire all the sole purpose of causing the Exocets to hit sand beaches and then being them rather than the Hermes or Invincible. unable to return to the water. ships he was on were in constant danger Local pilots who have flown and he knew many of the men who were Just because, by supreme good fortune, the over the beach on Saunders killed. When he returned home he suffered decoy ships were not actually hit does not • Island have said that already a ^rvous breakdown and was invalided out mean that those on board would not have there are signs that many of the been wholly terrified and possibly unable to whales have reached an ad-: | oi }le navy with the DHSS stating that his vanced stage of decomposition^ condition was attributable to service. cope with the fight. There seems no known reason' The Fund, however, was not convinced. Mental breakdowns, arising from such why the whales should simply Their attitude seemed to be that nervous situations may not be as visible as physical give up life, but there have been several instances of it in the breakdown could be caused by anything and injuries, but they are nevertheless as real past in the Falklands.