Falklands Wars – the History of the Falkland Islands: with particular regard to Spanish and Argentine pretensions and taking some account of South Georgia, the South Sandwich Islands and Britain's Antarctic Territories by Roger Lorton 1 Paper 122 74 days in 1982 Trial by Combat “Between a heavyweight diplomatic machine which had been playing power politics on the world stage for more than four centuries, and a foreign ministry that could just about manage relations with a few of its Latin American neighbours”3 ◈ United Nations support for negotiation on the issue of Falklands sovereignty had proven insufficient. Talks had not proven fruitful for Argentina; unable to persuade the UK that it had any historic claim. Therefore, unwilling to take a case to the International Court of Justice, Argentina chose the one route left open to it – invasion. By taking such drastic action the military junta in Buenos Aires hoped to present Britain with a fait accompli; a situation that could not be overturned. The junta’s expectation was that Britain would see the futility of its position and recognise that any attempt to restore islands 8,000 miles away was tactically doomed to failure. In this the junta was naive. After 150 years of dealing with the British, Argentina had clearly learned very little. Historically, trial by combat was always the final act – for someone. It is worth remembering that at dawn on April 2nd, 1767, Spain first raised its flag over East Falkland. It seems unlikely that Argentina, which claims to be the heir to Spain, invaded on that date by coincidence. Day 14 April 2nd – a little after midnight, Governor Rex Hunt addresses the Islanders by radio. “You probably heard the outcome of the security Council Meeting on the BBC – both Britain and Argentina were called upon not to use force to settle their dispute over the Falkland Islands. We must now wait and see what effect this has upon the Argentine Government. As I speak there is no indication that the Argentine Navy task force heading this way has changed course. Unless it does, we can expect it off Cape Pembroke by dawn. Now please don't be inquisitive and go see for yourselves. You'll just get in the way. Stay indoors and we shall keep you informed by radio.” 5 1 Falklands Wars – the History of the Falkland Islands: with particular regard to Spanish and Argentine pretensions and taking some account of South Georgia, the South Sandwich Islands and Britain's Antarctic Territories Roger Lorton LL.B(Hon), M.Phil. 2011 – 2019. Roger Lorton has asserted his rights under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work. 2 Citation = Lorton, Roger. Falklands Wars: Timeline History of the Falkland Islands. Wordpress 2011 Paper 12 3 The Falklands War 1982 Duncan Anderson 2002 4 See Paper 11 for the events that led up to Argentina’s invasion. 5 Quoted in Strangers in the Night: The Falklands conflict as a Radio War Alasdair Pinkerton 2007 1 “Coups and battles had been covered before on live radio, but Patrick Watts, the manager of the government- owned Falkland Islands Broadcasting Station (FIBS), made broadcasting history with the first invasion phone-in. Rex Hunt had a dedicated line to the FIBS studio and used it to update Islanders and issue whatever instructions he thought necessary. But before the day was out locals would be calling in with tactically useful reports of the Argentine advance.” 6 At 0127, London time, HM Ships Hermes, Invincible, Fearless, Alacrity, Antelope and RFA Resource are put on four hours notice for operations in the South Atlantic. Antrim, Glamorgan, Glasgow, Coventry, Brilliant, Arrow, Plymouth and RFAs Applefleet and Tidespring are ordered to Ascension Island. 7 British Petroleum tankers British Esk and British Tamar are taken up from trade (STUFT). 8 At 0325 in the Falklands, Governor Hunt makes a declaration before deploying his available forces. “I have no alternative other than to declare a state of emergency with immediate effect under the Emergency Powers Ordinance of 1939. Under these emergency powers I can detain any person, authorise entry to any premises, acquire any property, and issue such orders as I see fit. I must again warn people in Stanley to stay indoors. Anyone seen wandering on the streets will be arrested by the security forces. I have no further news about the Argentine Navy task force, but may I just say that the morale of the Royal Marines and the Defence Force is terrific, and it makes me proud to be their Commander in Chief.” 9 The men of the local Defence Force are positioned as observers on Sapper Hill and in Cape Pembroke. 10 “Norman based one third of his small force in and around Government House, and the remainder he split into sections to cover the airport peninsula and the approaches to the harbour and the town.... The airport runway was blocked with vehicles and oil drums.” 11 0530 Moody Brook barracks is attacked by Lt.-Commander Sabarots' specialist force. “Everything was silent and dark. On my watch I saw that it was five o'clock when the first shots were heard. Machine gun bursts and mortar blasting. Very close, in the governor's house. We listened, without being able to decipher, the orders that the sailors gave to organize the defense.” 12 6 Invasion 1982: the Falkland islanders’ Story Graham Bound 2007 7 It would be the 5th before the first of these was ready to sail. RFA Tidepool had been sold to Chile and was en-route when London asked if the UK could have her back. Chile promptly agreed and the ship (a tanker) was turned around. Ascension Island was a British Dependency (now part of the St. Helens Overseas Territory) albeit leased out at various times to the USAF, NASA, Cable & Wireless and the BBC. Wideawake airfield, built by the USA in the 1940's, had a 10,000 ft runway and was operated by the USAF in 1982. Currently operated jointly by the RAF and USAF jointly, the airport is a military base and only available to military and diplomatic flights. There were rumours in 1982 that the USA had initially objected to any use of the airfield. There is little evidence to support this. 8 British Tay was taken up shortly after. 9 Quoted in Bound 2007 10 The contents of Hunt's radio messages appear to have been quickly passed to the Argentine commander. Suspicion later fell on the LADE representative, Hector Gilobert, who had returned to Stanley unexpectedly on March 31st. Phillips (The First Casualty R. D. Phillips 2017 p.125) suggests that a message had been received in Stanley the night before the invasion, from the Argentine fleet, calling for the surrender of the Islands. I can find no evidence to support this. 11 Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 2: War and Diplomacy L. Freedman 2005 vol.2 12 Argentine photo-journalist Rafael Woolman quoted in La Gesta de Malvinas y sus protagonistas, conocidos y no tanto in El Diario del Fin del Mundo January 4, 2008 citing Malvinas. El desembarco de una primicia Rafael Woolman in La Nueva Provincia de Bahía Blanca April 2, 2007 2 “It was still completely dark. We were going to use tear-gas, to force the British out of the buildings and capture them. Our orders were not to cause casualties if possible.... We surrounded the barracks with machine- gun teams, leaving only one escape route along the peninsula north of Stanley harbour, so that anyone who did get away would not reach the town and reinforce the British there. Then we threw the tear-gas grenades into each building. There was no reaction; the barracks were empty.” 13 “The commandos undoubtedly planned to hit both targets (Moody Brook and Government House) simultaneously, but their timing was out and the abandoned barracks were attacked some ten minutes before Government House. Their attack was supposed to be a coup de main; so sudden, precise and overwhelming that the Marines would not have been adequately organised to defend themselves or the Governor, and would have surrendered quickly in disarray.” 14 Governor Hunt makes a further radio transmission to the Islands’ population. “This is just to let you know that the first Argentine ships have been sighted in Port William and one landing craft approaching the narrows. Everything is under control, we are keeping them under surveillance. That is all for now. There have been one or two bangs at Moody Brook, but we consider that this is a diversion… That’s all for now.” 15 0615 Giachino's detachment attack Government House. “At 6.15 I heard a call. Someone shouted: "Álvarez ...!" And then an unintelligible phrase. We look at each other. The English asked me if those words had been pronounced in Spanish. I told them yes. There were no doubts: the Argentine soldiers were in the Falkland Islands.... At 6.25, abruptly, the fire stopped. From the terrible silence we heard the screams of a man who, in perfect English, asked Governor Rex Hunt to surrender. It was still dark.” 16 “The lack of detailed plans caused an early failure. Giachino and his party did find a door, broke it open and entered, but they were in a separate, smaller building which contained the servant's quarters. It was empty. The five Argentines came out again and made for the back of the main building. … A hail of fire from the defenders in the rear of the house fell on Giachino and his men.