1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands
Encyclopedia
On 2 April 1982, Argentine
forces mounted amphibious landings of the Falkland Islands
. The invasion involved an initial defence force organised by the Falkland Islands' Governor
Sir Rex Hunt
giving command to Major Mike Norman of the Royal Marines
, the landing of Lieutenant-Commander Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots' Amphibious Commandos Group
on Mullet Creek
, the attack on Moody Brook barracks, the engagement between the amphibious
personnel carriers
of Hugo Santillán and Bill Trollope marines east of Stanley
, and the battle and final surrender of Government House
. It marked the beginning of the Falklands War
.
stating:
Major Mike Norman was given overall command of the Marines due to his seniority, while Major Gary Noott became the military advisor to Governor Hunt. The total strength was 68 Marines and 11 sailors, which was greater than would normally have been available because the garrison was in the process of changing over. Both the replacements and the troops preparing to leave were in the Falklands at the time of the invasion. This was decreased to 57 when 22 Royal Marines embarked aboard the Antarctic
patrol ship HMS Endurance
to observe Argentine soldiers based at South Georgia
. The Royal Navy
, on the other hand, states that a total of 85 marines were present at Stanley. Their numbers were reinforced by at least 25 Falkland Islands Defence Force
(FIDF) members. Graham Bound, an islander who lived through the Argentine occupation
, reports in his book Falkland Islanders At War that the higher figure of approximately 40 (both serving and past) members of the FIDF reported for duty at their Drill Hall. Their commanding officer, Major Phil Summers, tasked the volunteer militiamen with guarding such key points as the telephone exchange
, the radio station
and the power station
. Skipper Jack Sollis, on board the civilian coastal ship Forrest operated his boat as an improvised radar screen station off Stanley. Two other civilians, former Marine Jim Alister and a Canadian citizen, Bill Curtiss, also offered their services to the Governor.
ARA Santisima Trinidad disembarked special naval forces south of Stanley. The bulk of the Argentine forces was to land some hours later from the amphibious warfare ship
ARA Cabo San Antonio near the airport, on a beach previously marked by frogmen from the submarine ARA Santa Fe.
The operation had been called Azul (Blue) during the planning stage, but it was finally renamed Rosario (Rosary
).
by the submarine ARA Santa Fe and the landing of 14 members of the tactical divers group near Cape Pembroke, including the commander of this elite unit, Captain Cufré. The recce mission began as early as 31 March, when the trawler Forrest was spotted through the periscope at 10:00 PM off Port Stanley. The next day, the Santa Fe learned that the authorities in Stanley were aware of the Argentine intentions, so a change of plans was in order. Instead of landing right on Pembroke, the commandos would initially take a beach near Menguera Point, south of Kidney Island
. They left the Santa Fe at 1:40 PM. From the beach, they headed towards Pembroke peninsula in Zodiac boat
s. They reached Yorke Bay at 4:30 AM of 2 April. After planting beacons for the main landing, they took over the airstrip and the lighthouse without resistance. Argentine sources claim that they captured a few prisoners. This team was later given the task of gathering and taking in custody the Royal Marines in their flight out of the islands after the British surrender.
into the water. They contained 84 special forces troopers of Lieutenant-Commander Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots' 1st Amphibious Commandos Group and a small party under Lieutenant-Commander Pedro Giachino
, who was normally 2IC of the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion, that was to capture Government House. The Argentine Rear Admiral Jorge Allara, through a message radioed from Santisima Trinidad, had requested to Rex Hunt a peaceful surrender, but the proposal was rejected.
Giachino's party had the shortest distance to go: two and a half miles due north. Moody Brook
Barracks, the destination of the main party, was six miles away, over rough Falklands terrain. Lieutenant-Commander Sánchez-Sabarots, in the book The Argentine Fight for The Falklands, describes the main party's progress in the dark:
The main party of Argentine Marines assumed that the Moody Brook Barracks contained sleeping Royal Marines. The barracks were quiet, although a light was on in the office of the Royal Marine commander. No sentries were observed, and it was a quiet night, apart from the occasional animal call. Lieutenant-Commander Sánchez-Sabarots could hear nothing of any action at Government House, nor from the distant landing beaches; nevertheless, he ordered the assault to begin. Lieutenant-Commander Sánchez-Sabarots continues his account:
The noise of the grenades alerted Major Norman to the presence of Argentines on the island, and he thus drove back to Government House. Realising that the attack was coming from Moody Brook, he ordered all troop sections to converge on the house to enable the defence to be centralised.
Although there were no Royal Marine witnesses to the assault, British descriptions of the state of Moody Brook barracks afterward contradict the Argentine version of events. After the action, some of the Royal Marines were allowed to return to barracks to collect personal items. Major Norman describes walls of the barracks as riddled with machine gun fire and bearing the marks of white phosphorus grenades—"a classic houseclearing operation".
There was a more pressing action on the eastern edge of Stanley
. Twenty US-built LVTP-7A1
Argentine tracked amphibious armoured personnel carriers from the 1st Amphibious Vehicles Battalion, carrying D and E Companies of the 2nd Marine Infantry Battalion (BIM-2) from Puerto Belgrano
, had been landed from the tank landing ship ARA Cabo San Antonio at Yorke Bay, and were being watched by a section of Royal Marines under the command of Lieutenant Bill Trollope. The armoured column trundled along the Airport Road into Stanley, with three Amtracs (Numbers 05, 07 and 19) in the vanguard, and, near the Ionospheric Research Station, at exactly 7:15 am, was engaged by a section of Royal Marines with anti-tank rockets and machine guns. This from Lieutenant-Commander Hugo Santillán's official post-battle report:
The Amtrac on the right manoeuvred itself off the road into a little depression and as it did so, disembarked the Marines inside out of view. This encouraged the Royal Marines to think that Marine Mark Gibbs had scored a direct hit on the passenger compartment of the APC.
Lieutenant Bill Trollope, with No. 2 Section, describes the action:
Lieutenant Trollope and his men withdrew along Davis Street, running behind the houses with Argentine Marines in hot pursuit, and went to ground firing up the road when it became obvious they could not reach Government House.
faced the difficulty of capturing this important objective with no radio and with a force of only sixteen men. He split his force into small groups, placing one on either side of the house and one at the rear. Unknown to them, the Governor's residence was the main concentration point of the Royal Marines, who outnumbered the Commandos by two to one.
The first attack against this building came at 6.30 a.m., barely an hour before the Yorke Bay amphibious landing, when one of Giachino's platoons, led by Lieutenant Gustavo Lugo, started to exchange fire with the British troops inside the house.
At the same time, Giachino himself, with four of his subordinates, entered the servants' annexe, believing it to be the rear entrance to the residence. Three Royal Marines, Corporal
s Sellen and Fleet and Marine Dorey, who were placed to cover the annexe, beat off the first attack. Giachino was hit instantly as he burst through the door, while Lieutenant Diego Garcia Quiroga was shot in the arm. The remaining three retreated to the maid's quarters.
Giachino was not dead, but very badly wounded. An Argentine paramedic, Corporal Ernesto Urbina, attempted to get to Giachino but was wounded by a grenade. Giachino, seeing what had happened, pulled the pin from a hand grenade and threatened to use it. The Royal Marines then attempted to persuade the officer to get rid of the grenade so that they could give him medical treatment, but he refused, preventing them from reaching his position. After the surrender of the British forces at Government House, some three hours later, Giachino was taken to Stanley Hospital but died from loss of blood.
At the Governor's office, Major Norman received a radio report from Corporal York's section, which was positioned at Camber peninsula, observing any possible Argentine ship entering Stanley Harbour. The Corporal proceeded to report on three potential targets in sight and which should he engage first. What are the targets? the Major enquired. Target number one is an aircraft carrier
, target number two is a cruiser
, at which point the line went dead.
Corporal York decided to withdraw his section and proceeded to booby trap their Carl Gustav recoilless rifle
, before paddling their Gemini assault boat north across Port William. As he did so, York claimed an Argentine destroyer began pursuing them (the corvette
ARA Granville according to Argentine sources). His initiative led to the Gemini reaching an anchored Polish
fishing vessel, hiding the small assault boat under her shadow. They patiently waited for a chance, before moving to the shore and landing on a small beach.
Back at Government House, the Argentine commandos' pressure continued unabated. There is some evidence that their use of stun grenades and their continuous shift of firing positions during the battle led the Royal Marines inside to believe they were facing a company of marines and were hopelessly outnumbered. Actually, after the failure of Giachino's platoon to break into the residence, the British were surrounded by only a dozen elite troops. These men were under Lieutenant Lugo, Giachino's Second-in-Command
. The Land Rover
s used by the Royal Marines were disabled by automatic gunfire
from the commandos. Governor Hunt called Patrick Watts (at the radio station, Radio Stanley), by telephone and said he believed the assaulting force to be the equivalent of a reinforced company:
Consequently, Hunt decided to enter talks with Argentine commanders around 8 o'clock. The liaison was Vice-Commodore Hector Gilobert, the head in the islands of LADE
, the Argentine government's airline company. Gilobert and a Governor's deputy went to the Argentine headquarters
displaying a white flag. A de facto ceasefire was put in place at that time which was occasionally breached by small arms fire.
The Governor's envoys found the Argentine commanding post at Stanley's Town Hall. The Argentine chief accepted the British offer of a face to face meeting with Rex Hunt at his battered office.
While the negotiations were still going on, another incident occurred inside the residence. Three Argentine survivors of the first skirmish along the compound inadvertently alerted Major Noott to their presence, while they had been preparing to leave their hiding place. The Major fired his Sterling submachine gun
into the ceiling of the maid's room. According to British reports, the stunned commandos tumbled down the stairs, laying their weapons on the ground.
They became the first Argentine prisoners of war
of the Falklands War, albeit by then, Governor Hunt had already been in contact with Argentine officials negotiating the terms of surrender.
The version of the commander of these men, Captain Cufré, who was then at Stanley airport, is that his three subordinates kept their fighting position right to the end of the hostilities.
Admiral Busser, commander in chief of the operation, states that a cease fire was already in place when the three commandos, after realising that the battle was coming to a close and that any loss of life at the time would be futile, laid down their arms to the marines in order to assist the wounded. Just a few minutes after this event, Government house had capitulated.
Meanwhile, the Royal Marines in the House saw the approaching Amtracs that had been engaged earlier by Lieutenant Trollope and his section. The vehicles pushed on toward Moody Brook to link up with Sánchez-Sabarots forces. His amphibious commandos were plodding slowly along the road to reinforce their colleagues besieging Government House after taking some prisoners near the racecourse. Major Norman had earlier advised Rex Hunt that the Royal Marines and the Governor could break out to the countryside and set up a 'seat of government' elsewhere, but when he finally met the commander-in-chief of the Argentine operations, Admiral Busser, he agreed to surrender his troops to the now overwhelming Argentine forces at 9:30 AM.
After the surrender, the Royal Marines and the members of the FIDF were then herded onto the playing fields. Pictures and film were taken of the British prisoners arranged face-down on the ground. This was probably an attempt by Argentina to demonstrate the lack of British casualties, but it backfired: The images galvanised the British public when they were broadcast on television and increased public opposition to the invasion.
Soon afterward, the Royal Marines were moved to a C-130 Hercules
transport aircraft, which would take them to Comodoro Rivadavia
, where they were to be picked up by another airliner to Uruguay
and on to the United Kingdom
. Members of FIDF were not taken to Argentina along with members of NP 8901; instead they were disarmed and returned to their homes. As the Marines were being taken to Montevideo
, one of them said to an Argentine guard "don't make yourself too comfy here mate, we'll be back".
Corporal York's section remained at large. On 4 April, they reached a secluded shepherd's hut owned by a Mrs Watson. York had no radio, and due to worries about possible civilian deaths chose to surrender to Argentine forces. They gave their position to the Argentine Army using a local islander's radio, and York subsequently ordered his men to destroy and then bury their weapons.
In Buenos Aires
, huge flag-waving crowds flooded the Plaza de Mayo
upon hearing the news. Argentina's losses in the operation were one dead and three wounded. In London
, where the bad news was fully known from Argentine sources, the government was in a state of shock. The crisis prompted the resignation of the British Foreign Secretary
, Lord Carrington
.
The next day, Argentine forces captured the island chain of South Georgia, 1350 km to the east of the Falklands. In that action, the Argentines suffered one sailor from the corvette ARA Guerrico
and two marines killed (Navy Corporal Patricio Guanca and marine conscripts Mario Almonacid and Jorge Aguila). One British Royal Marine was wounded in an exchange of fire with the Argentine troops. The Marines eventually surrender when his position was fired on by the Guerrico's 40 mm cannons.
operator had this conversation with a Ministry of Defence
operative in London, announcing that the islands were under Argentine control.
The timeline of the operation was as follows:
comprising the 5 permanent members and the 10 elected members (Poland
, Spain
, Ireland
, Panama
, Guyana
, Japan
, Jordan
, Uganda
, Zaire
, and Togo
) passed the Resolution 502
demanding an immediate withdrawal of all Argentine forces from the islands and called on the governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom to seek a diplomatic solution to the situation and refrain from further military action. Panama
voted against this resolution, with China
, Poland
, Spain
and the USSR abstaining. All 10 remaining members voted for the resolution.
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
forces mounted amphibious landings of the Falkland Islands
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
. The invasion involved an initial defence force organised by the Falkland Islands' Governor
Governor of the Falkland Islands
The Governor of the Falkland Islands is the representative of the British Crown in the Falkland Islands, acting "in Her Majesty's name and on Her Majesty's behalf" as the islands' de facto head of state in the absence of the British monarch...
Sir Rex Hunt
Rex Masterman Hunt
Sir Rex Masterman Hunt KCMG is a British diplomat and colonial administrator. He was Governor, Commander-in-Chief and Vice Admiral of the Falkland Islands between 1980 and September 1985.- Career :After attending Coatham School, Redcar and St Peter's College, Oxford, Rex Hunt joined the Royal...
giving command to Major Mike Norman of the Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
, the landing of Lieutenant-Commander Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots' Amphibious Commandos Group
Amphibious Commandos Group
The Amphibious Commandos Group is a special operations force of the Argentine Marine Corps, trained to perform quick and objective amphibious reconnaissance, assault raids, and direct action operations. It was created in 1952 by the Vigilance and Security Company of Submarine Bases...
on Mullet Creek
Mullet Creek
Mullet Creek is a small river in East Falkland. It is not a major watercourse, but is best known for its part in the Falklands War On April 2, 1982, Argentinian marines led by Guillermo Sanchez-Sabarots, landed his squadron of special forces at Mullet Creek, and advanced on Stanley...
, the attack on Moody Brook barracks, the engagement between the amphibious
Amphibious vehicle
An amphibious vehicle , is a vehicle or craft, that is a means of transport, viable on land as well as on water – just like an amphibian....
personnel carriers
Armoured personnel carrier
An armoured personnel carrier is an armoured fighting vehicle designed to transport infantry to the battlefield.APCs are usually armed with only a machine gun although variants carry recoilless rifles, anti-tank guided missiles , or mortars...
of Hugo Santillán and Bill Trollope marines east of Stanley
Stanley, Falkland Islands
Stanley is the capital and only true cityin the Falkland Islands. It is located on the isle of East Falkland, on a north-facing slope in one of the wettest parts of the islands. At the 2006 census, the city had a population of 2,115...
, and the battle and final surrender of Government House
Government House (Falkland Islands)
Government House in Stanley has been the home of the Falkland Islands' London-appointed Governors since the mid-19th century. The official residence was built in 1845....
. It marked the beginning of the Falklands War
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
.
Defence
Governor Sir Rex Hunt was informed by the British Government of a possible Argentine invasion on 1 April. At 3:30 pm that day he received a telegram from the Foreign and Commonwealth OfficeForeign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
stating:
Forces involved
The Governor summoned the two senior Royal Marines officers of Naval Party 8901 to Government House in Stanley to discuss the options for defending the Falklands. He said during the meeting, "Sounds like the buggers mean it", remaining composed despite the seriousness of the situation that the islands faced.Major Mike Norman was given overall command of the Marines due to his seniority, while Major Gary Noott became the military advisor to Governor Hunt. The total strength was 68 Marines and 11 sailors, which was greater than would normally have been available because the garrison was in the process of changing over. Both the replacements and the troops preparing to leave were in the Falklands at the time of the invasion. This was decreased to 57 when 22 Royal Marines embarked aboard the Antarctic
Antarctic
The Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...
patrol ship HMS Endurance
HMS Endurance (1967)
HMS Endurance was a Royal Navy ice patrol vessel that served from 1967 to 1991. She came to public notice when she was involved in the Falklands War of 1982.-Service history:...
to observe Argentine soldiers based at South Georgia
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union in the southern Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote and inhospitable collection of islands, consisting of South Georgia and a chain of smaller islands, known as the South Sandwich...
. The Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
, on the other hand, states that a total of 85 marines were present at Stanley. Their numbers were reinforced by at least 25 Falkland Islands Defence Force
Falkland Islands Defence Force
The Falkland Islands Defence Force is the locally maintained volunteer defence unit in the Falkland Islands. The FIDF works alongside the military units supplied by the United Kingdom to ensure the security of the islands.-History:...
(FIDF) members. Graham Bound, an islander who lived through the Argentine occupation
Occupation of the Falkland Islands
The Military Administration of the Falklands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands was the short-lived, Argentine-controlled government of a long disputed group of islands in the South Atlantic which had been governed by the United Kingdom since the 1833 re-establishment of British rule ...
, reports in his book Falkland Islanders At War that the higher figure of approximately 40 (both serving and past) members of the FIDF reported for duty at their Drill Hall. Their commanding officer, Major Phil Summers, tasked the volunteer militiamen with guarding such key points as the telephone exchange
Telephone exchange
In the field of telecommunications, a telephone exchange or telephone switch is a system of electronic components that connects telephone calls...
, the radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
and the power station
Power station
A power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....
. Skipper Jack Sollis, on board the civilian coastal ship Forrest operated his boat as an improvised radar screen station off Stanley. Two other civilians, former Marine Jim Alister and a Canadian citizen, Bill Curtiss, also offered their services to the Governor.
Operation Rosario
The Argentine amphibious operation began in the late evening of Thursday 1 April, when the destroyerDestroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
ARA Santisima Trinidad disembarked special naval forces south of Stanley. The bulk of the Argentine forces was to land some hours later from the amphibious warfare ship
Tank landing ship
Landing Ship, Tank was the military designation for naval vessels created during World War II to support amphibious operations by carrying significant quantities of vehicles, cargo, and landing troops directly onto an unimproved shore....
ARA Cabo San Antonio near the airport, on a beach previously marked by frogmen from the submarine ARA Santa Fe.
The operation had been called Azul (Blue) during the planning stage, but it was finally renamed Rosario (Rosary
Rosary
The rosary or "garland of roses" is a traditional Catholic devotion. The term denotes the prayer beads used to count the series of prayers that make up the rosary...
).
ARA Santa Fe
The very first move of Operation Rosario was the reconnaissance of Port WilliamPort William, Falkland Islands
Port William is a large inlet on the east coast of East Falkland island. A strait called "the Narrows" leads into Stanley Harbour....
by the submarine ARA Santa Fe and the landing of 14 members of the tactical divers group near Cape Pembroke, including the commander of this elite unit, Captain Cufré. The recce mission began as early as 31 March, when the trawler Forrest was spotted through the periscope at 10:00 PM off Port Stanley. The next day, the Santa Fe learned that the authorities in Stanley were aware of the Argentine intentions, so a change of plans was in order. Instead of landing right on Pembroke, the commandos would initially take a beach near Menguera Point, south of Kidney Island
Kidney Island
Kidney Island The island is at the east end of Berkeley Sound near Kidney Cove, and is separated from Port William by Menguera Point.During the Falklands War, on 1 May 1982, Islas Malvinas GC82, an Argentine Z-28 type naval patrol boat was damaged near the island by a Westland Lynx HAS.Mk.2/3...
. They left the Santa Fe at 1:40 PM. From the beach, they headed towards Pembroke peninsula in Zodiac boat
Inflatable boat
An inflatable boat is a lightweight boat constructed with its sides and bow made of flexible tubes containing pressurised gas. For smaller boats, the floor and hull beneath it is often flexible. On boats longer than , the floor often consists of three to five rigid plywood or aluminium sheets fixed...
s. They reached Yorke Bay at 4:30 AM of 2 April. After planting beacons for the main landing, they took over the airstrip and the lighthouse without resistance. Argentine sources claim that they captured a few prisoners. This team was later given the task of gathering and taking in custody the Royal Marines in their flight out of the islands after the British surrender.
Attack on Moody Brook barracks
On the night of 1/2 April, the destroyer ARA Santísima Trinidad halted 500 metres off Mullet Creek and lowered 21 Gemini assault craftRigid-hulled inflatable boat
A rigid-hulled inflatable boat, or rigid-inflatable boat is a light-weight but high-performance and high-capacity boat constructed with a solid, shaped hull and flexible tubes at the gunwale. The design is stable and seaworthy...
into the water. They contained 84 special forces troopers of Lieutenant-Commander Guillermo Sánchez-Sabarots' 1st Amphibious Commandos Group and a small party under Lieutenant-Commander Pedro Giachino
Pedro Giachino
thumb|300px|Captain Giachino portrait Capitan de Corbeta Pedro Edgardo Giachino, Mendoza, 28 May 1947 - 2 April 1982, Port Stanley was an Argentine Navy officer who became the first serviceman killed in action during the Falklands War .He was the leader of a platoon of Comandos anfibios and died...
, who was normally 2IC of the 1st Marine Infantry Battalion, that was to capture Government House. The Argentine Rear Admiral Jorge Allara, through a message radioed from Santisima Trinidad, had requested to Rex Hunt a peaceful surrender, but the proposal was rejected.
Giachino's party had the shortest distance to go: two and a half miles due north. Moody Brook
Moody Brook
Moody Brook is a small watercourse that flows into Stanley Harbour on East Falkland, Falkland Islands. It is near Stanley, just to the north west, and was formerly the location of the town barracks, which were attacked in Operation Azul, the 1982 Argentine Invasion of the Falkland Islands.It is...
Barracks, the destination of the main party, was six miles away, over rough Falklands terrain. Lieutenant-Commander Sánchez-Sabarots, in the book The Argentine Fight for The Falklands, describes the main party's progress in the dark:
The main party of Argentine Marines assumed that the Moody Brook Barracks contained sleeping Royal Marines. The barracks were quiet, although a light was on in the office of the Royal Marine commander. No sentries were observed, and it was a quiet night, apart from the occasional animal call. Lieutenant-Commander Sánchez-Sabarots could hear nothing of any action at Government House, nor from the distant landing beaches; nevertheless, he ordered the assault to begin. Lieutenant-Commander Sánchez-Sabarots continues his account:
The noise of the grenades alerted Major Norman to the presence of Argentines on the island, and he thus drove back to Government House. Realising that the attack was coming from Moody Brook, he ordered all troop sections to converge on the house to enable the defence to be centralised.
Although there were no Royal Marine witnesses to the assault, British descriptions of the state of Moody Brook barracks afterward contradict the Argentine version of events. After the action, some of the Royal Marines were allowed to return to barracks to collect personal items. Major Norman describes walls of the barracks as riddled with machine gun fire and bearing the marks of white phosphorus grenades—"a classic houseclearing operation".
Amphibious landing at Yorke Bay
Stanley, Falkland Islands
Stanley is the capital and only true cityin the Falkland Islands. It is located on the isle of East Falkland, on a north-facing slope in one of the wettest parts of the islands. At the 2006 census, the city had a population of 2,115...
. Twenty US-built LVTP-7A1
Amphibious Assault Vehicle
The Assault Amphibious Vehicle —official designation AAV-7A1 is a fully tracked amphibious landing vehicle manufactured by U.S. Combat Systems .The AAV-7A1 is the current amphibious troop transport of the United States Marine Corps...
Argentine tracked amphibious armoured personnel carriers from the 1st Amphibious Vehicles Battalion, carrying D and E Companies of the 2nd Marine Infantry Battalion (BIM-2) from Puerto Belgrano
Puerto Belgrano
Base Naval Puerto Belgrano is the largest naval base of the Argentine Navy, situated next to Punta Alta, near Bahía Blanca, about south of Buenos Aires...
, had been landed from the tank landing ship ARA Cabo San Antonio at Yorke Bay, and were being watched by a section of Royal Marines under the command of Lieutenant Bill Trollope. The armoured column trundled along the Airport Road into Stanley, with three Amtracs (Numbers 05, 07 and 19) in the vanguard, and, near the Ionospheric Research Station, at exactly 7:15 am, was engaged by a section of Royal Marines with anti-tank rockets and machine guns. This from Lieutenant-Commander Hugo Santillán's official post-battle report:
The Amtrac on the right manoeuvred itself off the road into a little depression and as it did so, disembarked the Marines inside out of view. This encouraged the Royal Marines to think that Marine Mark Gibbs had scored a direct hit on the passenger compartment of the APC.
Lieutenant Bill Trollope, with No. 2 Section, describes the action:
Lieutenant Trollope and his men withdrew along Davis Street, running behind the houses with Argentine Marines in hot pursuit, and went to ground firing up the road when it became obvious they could not reach Government House.
Battle of Government House and surrender
Lying on a small hillock south of Government House, Lieutenant-Commander Pedro GiachinoPedro Giachino
thumb|300px|Captain Giachino portrait Capitan de Corbeta Pedro Edgardo Giachino, Mendoza, 28 May 1947 - 2 April 1982, Port Stanley was an Argentine Navy officer who became the first serviceman killed in action during the Falklands War .He was the leader of a platoon of Comandos anfibios and died...
faced the difficulty of capturing this important objective with no radio and with a force of only sixteen men. He split his force into small groups, placing one on either side of the house and one at the rear. Unknown to them, the Governor's residence was the main concentration point of the Royal Marines, who outnumbered the Commandos by two to one.
The first attack against this building came at 6.30 a.m., barely an hour before the Yorke Bay amphibious landing, when one of Giachino's platoons, led by Lieutenant Gustavo Lugo, started to exchange fire with the British troops inside the house.
At the same time, Giachino himself, with four of his subordinates, entered the servants' annexe, believing it to be the rear entrance to the residence. Three Royal Marines, Corporal
Corporal
Corporal is a rank in use in some form by most militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. It is usually equivalent to NATO Rank Code OR-4....
s Sellen and Fleet and Marine Dorey, who were placed to cover the annexe, beat off the first attack. Giachino was hit instantly as he burst through the door, while Lieutenant Diego Garcia Quiroga was shot in the arm. The remaining three retreated to the maid's quarters.
Giachino was not dead, but very badly wounded. An Argentine paramedic, Corporal Ernesto Urbina, attempted to get to Giachino but was wounded by a grenade. Giachino, seeing what had happened, pulled the pin from a hand grenade and threatened to use it. The Royal Marines then attempted to persuade the officer to get rid of the grenade so that they could give him medical treatment, but he refused, preventing them from reaching his position. After the surrender of the British forces at Government House, some three hours later, Giachino was taken to Stanley Hospital but died from loss of blood.
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
, target number two is a cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
, at which point the line went dead.
Corporal York decided to withdraw his section and proceeded to booby trap their Carl Gustav recoilless rifle
Carl Gustav recoilless rifle
The Carl Gustav is the common name for the 84 mm man-portable reusable multi-role recoilless rifle produced by Saab Bofors Dynamics in Sweden...
, before paddling their Gemini assault boat north across Port William. As he did so, York claimed an Argentine destroyer began pursuing them (the corvette
D'Estienne d'Orves class
The A69 type Avisos are small warships mainly designed for coastal anti-submarine defence, but are also available for high sea escort missions . Built on a simple and robust design, they have an economical and reliable propulsion system which allows them to be used for overseas presence missions...
ARA Granville according to Argentine sources). His initiative led to the Gemini reaching an anchored Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
fishing vessel, hiding the small assault boat under her shadow. They patiently waited for a chance, before moving to the shore and landing on a small beach.
Back at Government House, the Argentine commandos' pressure continued unabated. There is some evidence that their use of stun grenades and their continuous shift of firing positions during the battle led the Royal Marines inside to believe they were facing a company of marines and were hopelessly outnumbered. Actually, after the failure of Giachino's platoon to break into the residence, the British were surrounded by only a dozen elite troops. These men were under Lieutenant Lugo, Giachino's Second-in-Command
Second-in-command
The Second-in-Command is the deputy commander of any British Army or Royal Marines unit, from battalion or regiment downwards. He or she is thus the equivalent of an Executive Officer in the United States Army...
. The Land Rover
Land Rover
Land Rover is a British car manufacturer with its headquarters in Gaydon, Warwickshire, United Kingdom which specialises in four-wheel-drive vehicles. It is owned by the Indian company Tata Motors, forming part of their Jaguar Land Rover group...
s used by the Royal Marines were disabled by automatic gunfire
Automatic firearm
An automatic firearm is a firearm that loads another round mechanically after the first round has been fired.The term can be used to refer to semi-automatic firearms, which fire one shot per single pull of the trigger , or fully automatic firearms, which will continue to load and fire ammunition...
from the commandos. Governor Hunt called Patrick Watts (at the radio station, Radio Stanley), by telephone and said he believed the assaulting force to be the equivalent of a reinforced company:
We're staying put here, but we are pinned down. We can't move.(...) They must have 200 around us now. They've been throwing rifle grenades at us; I think there may be mortars, I don't know. They came along very quickly and very close, and then they retreated. Maybe they are waiting until the APCs [Amtracs] come along and they think they'll lose less casualties that way.
Consequently, Hunt decided to enter talks with Argentine commanders around 8 o'clock. The liaison was Vice-Commodore Hector Gilobert, the head in the islands of LADE
Lade
Lade may refer to:People* Brendon Lade , Australian rules footballer* Sir John Lade , baronet and Regency horse-breeder* Heinrich Eduard von Lade , German banker and amateur astronomer...
, the Argentine government's airline company. Gilobert and a Governor's deputy went to the Argentine headquarters
Headquarters
Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...
displaying a white flag. A de facto ceasefire was put in place at that time which was occasionally breached by small arms fire.
The Governor's envoys found the Argentine commanding post at Stanley's Town Hall. The Argentine chief accepted the British offer of a face to face meeting with Rex Hunt at his battered office.
Sterling submachine gun
The Sterling submachine gun is a British submachine gun which was in service with the British Army from 1944 until 1994, when it was phased out with the introduction of the L85A1 assault rifle.-History:...
into the ceiling of the maid's room. According to British reports, the stunned commandos tumbled down the stairs, laying their weapons on the ground.
They became the first Argentine prisoners of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
of the Falklands War, albeit by then, Governor Hunt had already been in contact with Argentine officials negotiating the terms of surrender.
The version of the commander of these men, Captain Cufré, who was then at Stanley airport, is that his three subordinates kept their fighting position right to the end of the hostilities.
Admiral Busser, commander in chief of the operation, states that a cease fire was already in place when the three commandos, after realising that the battle was coming to a close and that any loss of life at the time would be futile, laid down their arms to the marines in order to assist the wounded. Just a few minutes after this event, Government house had capitulated.
Meanwhile, the Royal Marines in the House saw the approaching Amtracs that had been engaged earlier by Lieutenant Trollope and his section. The vehicles pushed on toward Moody Brook to link up with Sánchez-Sabarots forces. His amphibious commandos were plodding slowly along the road to reinforce their colleagues besieging Government House after taking some prisoners near the racecourse. Major Norman had earlier advised Rex Hunt that the Royal Marines and the Governor could break out to the countryside and set up a 'seat of government' elsewhere, but when he finally met the commander-in-chief of the Argentine operations, Admiral Busser, he agreed to surrender his troops to the now overwhelming Argentine forces at 9:30 AM.
After the surrender, the Royal Marines and the members of the FIDF were then herded onto the playing fields. Pictures and film were taken of the British prisoners arranged face-down on the ground. This was probably an attempt by Argentina to demonstrate the lack of British casualties, but it backfired: The images galvanised the British public when they were broadcast on television and increased public opposition to the invasion.
Soon afterward, the Royal Marines were moved to a C-130 Hercules
C-130 Hercules
The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built originally by Lockheed, now Lockheed Martin. Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medical evacuation, and cargo transport...
transport aircraft, which would take them to Comodoro Rivadavia
Comodoro Rivadavia
Comodoro Rivadavia is a city in the Patagonian province of Chubut in southern Argentina, located on the San Jorge Gulf, an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, at the foot of the Chenque Hill. Comodoro Rivadavia is the most important city of the San Jorge Basin....
, where they were to be picked up by another airliner to Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
and on to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Members of FIDF were not taken to Argentina along with members of NP 8901; instead they were disarmed and returned to their homes. As the Marines were being taken to Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
, one of them said to an Argentine guard "don't make yourself too comfy here mate, we'll be back".
Corporal York's section remained at large. On 4 April, they reached a secluded shepherd's hut owned by a Mrs Watson. York had no radio, and due to worries about possible civilian deaths chose to surrender to Argentine forces. They gave their position to the Argentine Army using a local islander's radio, and York subsequently ordered his men to destroy and then bury their weapons.
In Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, huge flag-waving crowds flooded the Plaza de Mayo
Plaza de Mayo
The Plaza de Mayo is the main square in downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is flanked by Hipólito Yrigoyen, Balcarce, Rivadavia and Bolívar streets....
upon hearing the news. Argentina's losses in the operation were one dead and three wounded. In London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where the bad news was fully known from Argentine sources, the government was in a state of shock. The crisis prompted the resignation of the British Foreign Secretary
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, commonly referred to as the Foreign Secretary, is a senior member of Her Majesty's Government heading the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and regarded as one of the Great Offices of State...
, Lord Carrington
Peter Carington, 6th Baron Carrington
Peter Alexander Rupert Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, is a British Conservative politician. He served as British Foreign Secretary between 1979 and 1982 and as the sixth Secretary General of NATO from 1984 to 1988. He is the last surviving member of the Cabinets of both Harold Macmillan and Sir...
.
The next day, Argentine forces captured the island chain of South Georgia, 1350 km to the east of the Falklands. In that action, the Argentines suffered one sailor from the corvette ARA Guerrico
ARA Guerrico (P-32)
ARA Guerrico is a Drummond class corvette of the Argentine Navy. She is the first vessel to be named after Rear Admiral Martin Guerrico who fought in the 19th century War of the Triple Alliance....
and two marines killed (Navy Corporal Patricio Guanca and marine conscripts Mario Almonacid and Jorge Aguila). One British Royal Marine was wounded in an exchange of fire with the Argentine troops. The Marines eventually surrender when his position was fired on by the Guerrico's 40 mm cannons.
Informing London
At 4.30pm on 2 April, the Governor's telexTelex
Telex may refer to:* Telex , , a communications network** Teleprinter, the device used on the above network* Telex , a Belgian pop group...
operator had this conversation with a Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
operative in London, announcing that the islands were under Argentine control.
LON (London): HELLO THERE WHAT ARE ALL THESE RUMOURS WE HEAR THIS IS LON
FK (Falklands): WE HAVE LOTS OF NEW FRIENDS
LON: WHAT ABOUT INVASION RUMOURS
FK: THOSE ARE THE FRIENDS I WAS MEANING
LON: THEY HAVE LANDED
FK: ABSOLUTELY
LON: ARE YOU OPEN FOR TRAFFIC IE NORMAL TELEX SERVICE
FK: NO ORDERS ON THAT YET ONE MUST OBEY ORDERS
LON: WHOSE ORDERS
FK: THE NEW GOVERNORS
LON: ARGENTINA
FK: YES
LON: ARE THE ARGENTINIANS IN CONTROL
FK: YES YOU CAN'T ARGUE WITH THOUSANDS OF TROOPS PLUS ENORMOUS NAVY SUPPORT WHEN YOU ARE ONLY 1600 STRONG. STAND BY.
Operation timeline
- A. 21:30 1 April – The Type 42 destroyerType 42 destroyerThe Type 42 or Sheffield class, are guided missile destroyers used by the British Royal Navy and the Argentine Navy. The first ship of the class was ordered in 1968 and launched in 1971, and today three ships remain active in the Royal Navy and one in the Argentinian Navy...
ARA Santisima Trinidad begins loading naval commandos of the Amphibious Commandos GroupAmphibious Commandos GroupThe Amphibious Commandos Group is a special operations force of the Argentine Marine Corps, trained to perform quick and objective amphibious reconnaissance, assault raids, and direct action operations. It was created in 1952 by the Vigilance and Security Company of Submarine Bases...
into 21 small inflatable motor boats. These set out for Mullet Creek but sail too far north and are caught up in beds of kelpKelpKelps are large seaweeds belonging to the brown algae in the order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genera....
, which cause problems for the boats. They decide to head for the nearest beach, which is near Lake Point. - B. 23:00 1 April – The first group of 84 men lands on an unnamed beach at Lake Point. The group splits into a smaller force led by Lieutenant-Commander Giachino which heads towards Government House, and a larger force commanded by Lieutenant-Commander Sabarots which heads towards Moody Brook barracks.
- C. 04:30 2 April – A small advanced team of the Tactical Divers Group is landed undetected from the Submarine ARA Santa Fe near Yorke Bay.
- D. 05:30 2 April – Lieutenant-Commander Sabarots' force reaches and surrounds the barracks. They throw tear gas grenades into the buildings and storm the buildings with heavy machine gun fire. They find the buildings deserted.
- E. 06:00 2 April – 20 FMC Amtracs and several LARC-VLARC-VLARC-V , is an aluminium-hulled amphibious cargo vehicle capable of transporting 5 tons. It was developed in the United States during the 1950s, and is used in a variety of auxiliary roles to this day....
stores-carrying vehicles land on Yorke Bay from the assault shipAmphibious assault shipAn amphibious assault ship is a type of amphibious warfare ship employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory by an amphibious assault...
ARA Cabo San AntonioARA Cabo San Antonio (Q42)ARA Cabo San Antonio was a tank landing ship in the Argentine Navy, built in Argentina at AFNE, Río Santiago shipyard. She was based on the US Navy's De Soto County-class tank landing ship design....
. The force splits into 3 groups:- A four Amtrac vanguard. Including one carrying the Army Platoon.
- The main force of 14 Amtracs.
- The second in command, a recovery Amtrac and LARC vehicles.
- F. 06:30 2 April – The first Amtracs meet no resistance. The Army platoon secures the deserted airport, previously swept by Navy tactical divers.
- G. 06:30 2 April – An Argentine force of 16 naval commandos reaches Government House, where they are stopped by 31 Royal Marines, 11 armed Royal Navy personnel and 1 local. Three Argentines are wounded, including the leader of the platoon, Lieutenant-Commander Giachino, who later dies. Another three are later captured inside the House, although by then (around 8:00) talks with Argentine officials about the surrender had already begun.
- H. 07:15 2 April – Having met no resistance, the Argentine Amtracs advance on Stanley, when they are ambushed from a house about 500 metres from the road. Royal Marines use rockets and machine guns. The Royal Marines fall back to government house. One of the Amtracs is scarred by machine gun fire, and there is one minor injury.
- I. 08:30 2 April – The Argentine Amtrac force secures Stanley.
- J. Lieutenant Colonel Seineldín's Regiment 25th platoon begin to clear the runway, while Navy tactical divers provide security on the airport and seize the lighthouse.
Reaction in the United Nations
On 3 April 1982 the United Nations Security CouncilUnited Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...
comprising the 5 permanent members and the 10 elected members (Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, Guyana
Guyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
, Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
, Zaire
Zaire
The Republic of Zaire was the name of the present Democratic Republic of the Congo between 27 October 1971 and 17 May 1997. The name of Zaire derives from the , itself an adaptation of the Kongo word nzere or nzadi, or "the river that swallows all rivers".-Self-proclaimed Father of the Nation:In...
, and Togo
Togo
Togo, officially the Togolese Republic , is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lomé is located. Togo covers an area of approximately with a population of approximately...
) passed the Resolution 502
United Nations Security Council Resolution 502
United Nations Security Council Resolution 502 was a resolution adopted on 3 April 1982. After expressing its concern at the invasion of the Falkland Islands by the armed forces of Argentina, the Council demanded an immediate cessation of hostilities between Argentina and the United Kingdom and a...
demanding an immediate withdrawal of all Argentine forces from the islands and called on the governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom to seek a diplomatic solution to the situation and refrain from further military action. Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
voted against this resolution, with China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and the USSR abstaining. All 10 remaining members voted for the resolution.
See also
- An Ungentlemanly ActAn Ungentlemanly ActAn Ungentlemanly Act is a 1992 BBC television film about the first days of the invasion of the Falkland Islands in 1982.-Production:The film was written and directed by Stuart Urban, and commissioned to mark the tenth anniversary of the Falklands War...
- Events leading to the Falklands WarEvents leading to the Falklands WarThere were many events leading to the 1982 Falklands War between the United Kingdom and Argentina over possession of the Falkland Islands and South Georgia .-Background:...
- Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute
- Falklands WarFalklands WarThe Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
(1982) - Occupation of the Falkland IslandsOccupation of the Falkland IslandsThe Military Administration of the Falklands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands was the short-lived, Argentine-controlled government of a long disputed group of islands in the South Atlantic which had been governed by the United Kingdom since the 1833 re-establishment of British rule ...
- Re-establishment of British rule on the Falklands (1833)
External links
- Lieutenant Commander Richard D. Chenette, Marine Corps Command and Staff College "Operation Rosario":Argentine Marine Seizure Of The Malvinas (Falkland) Islands
- Falklands Island Invasion, Operation Rosario
- Falklands Islands Defence Force remembers its role
- RAF account of the Invasion, apparently an excerpt from Way's book
- British veteran returns to South Georgia Islands