Falklands War Argentine surrender
Encyclopedia
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...
was the surrender
Surrender (military)
Surrender is when soldiers, nations or other combatants stop fighting and eventually become prisoners of war, either as individuals or when ordered to by their officers. A white flag is a common symbol of surrender, as is the gesture of raising one's hands empty and open above one's head.When the...
of the Argentine Governor at Port Stanley.
Background
With the last natural defence line at Mount Tumbledown breached, the Argentine town defences of Port Stanley began to falter. In the morning gloom, one company commander got lost and his junior officers became despondent. Private Santiago Carrizo of the 3rd Regiment described how a platoon commander ordered them to take up positions in the houses and "if a KelperKelpers
Kelpers is a nickname given to Falkland Islanders because the islands are surrounded by large seaweeds called kelp.This term is no longer used as commonly as it once was . Instead most prefer "Falkland Islanders" or even "Bennies".The term is used to describe the population in Argentine research...
resists, shoot him", but the entire company did nothing of the kind.
On 14 June, the commander of the Argentine garrison in Stanley, Mario Menéndez
Mario Menéndez
Mario Benjamin Menéndez was an Argentine governor of the Falkland Islands. He also served in the Argentine Army. He surrendered Argentine forces to Britain during the Falklands War.-Pre-Falklands War:...
, surrendered to the Major General Jeremy Moore
Jeremy Moore
Major General Sir John Jeremy Moore KCB, OBE, MC & Bar was the commander of the British land forces during the Falklands War in 1982. Moore received the surrender of the Argentine forces on the islands.-Military career:...
. The surrender was in conflict with the Argentine Army code stating that a surrender was illegal unless more than 50% of the men were casualties and 75% of the ammunition was spent.
The terms of the surrender document were slightly changed after negotiation by General Menéndez.
The phrase unconditional surrender
Unconditional surrender
Unconditional surrender is a surrender without conditions, in which no guarantees are given to the surrendering party. In modern times unconditional surrenders most often include guarantees provided by international law. Announcing that only unconditional surrender is acceptable puts psychological...
was changed for the term surrender
Surrender (military)
Surrender is when soldiers, nations or other combatants stop fighting and eventually become prisoners of war, either as individuals or when ordered to by their officers. A white flag is a common symbol of surrender, as is the gesture of raising one's hands empty and open above one's head.When the...
. The Argentines were granted:
- The Argentines units will retain their flags.
- The units will remain under control of their respective officers
- The surrender ceremony will be private (not public)
- The Argentine officers will retain their sidearms, this is because many of them feared being lynched by their own conscripts
- The final point about the returning of the 11,313 prisoners of war in own ships was not accepted and 4,167 of them were repatriatedRepatriationRepatriation is the process of returning a person back to one's place of origin or citizenship. This includes the process of returning refugees or soldiers to their place of origin following a war...
to Argentina on the ocean liner CanberraSS CanberraSS Canberra was an ocean liner, which later operated on cruises, in the P&O fleet from 1961 to 1997. She was built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland at a cost of £17,000,000. The ship was named on 17 March 1958, after the federal capital of Australia, Canberra...
alone. The JuntaNational Reorganization ProcessThe National Reorganization Process was the name used by its leaders for the military government that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983. In Argentina it is often known simply as la última junta militar or la última dictadura , because several of them existed throughout its history.The Argentine...
had falsely claimed that the liner had been crippled during the Battle of San CarlosBattle of San Carlos (1982)The Battle of San Carlos was a major battle between aircraft and ships that lasted from 21 to 25 May 1982 during the British landings on the shores of San Carlos Water in the 1982 Falklands War . Low-flying land-based Argentine jet aircraft made repeated attacks on ships of the British Task Force...
.
Surrender document
Present at the signing of the letter of surrender were:- Captain Melbourne Hussey, Argentine NavyArgentine NavyThe Navy of the Argentine Republic or Armada of the Argentine Republic is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the Army and the Air Force....
Translator - General de Brigada Mario Menéndez Argentine ArmyArgentine ArmyThe Argentine Army is the land armed force branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic and the senior military service of the country.- History :...
- Vicecomodoro Carlos Bloomer-Reeve, Argentine Air ForceArgentine Air ForceThe Argentine Air Force is the national aviation branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic. , it had 14,606 military and 6,854 civilian staff.-History:...
- An Argentine legal advisor
- Captain Rod Bell, Royal MarinesRoyal MarinesThe 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...
Translator - Lieutenant-Colonel Geoff Field, Royal EngineersRoyal EngineersThe Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
- Colonel Brian PennicottBrian PennicottMajor-General Sir Brian Thomas Pennicott, KCVO, a senior British Army officer. He was Defence Services Secretary 1991-1994, and additionally Assistant Chief of Defence Staff 1992-94....
, Royal ArtilleryRoyal ArtilleryThe Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:... - Major General Jeremy Moore, Royal Marines
- Colonel Reid, Special Air ServiceSpecial Air ServiceSpecial Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
- Colonel Tom Seccombe, Royal Marines
- A Royal Signals Corporal
The letter of surrender read:
Confiscated Argentine equipment
- 100 Mercedes-BenzMercedes-BenzMercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
MB 1112/13/14 trucks - 20 Unimogs
- 20 Mercedes-Benz G-ClassMercedes-Benz G-ClassThe original 460-series Geländewagen went on sale for civilian buyers in 1979, after having debuted in February of that year. It was offered with two wheelbases, a short wheelbase of 2,400 mm and a long one of 2,850 mm. One could choose between three body styles: A two-door short...
jeeps - 12 Panhard 90mm vehiclesPanhard AML-Former Operators:: unknown number of AML-60s and AML-90s in service between 1960-1975.: 34 Eland 90s and Eland 60s in service with the Rhodesian Security Forces in 1979, passed on to successor state.-Trivia:...
- 1 SAM Roland launcher
- 3 SAM TigercatsSea Cat missileSea Cat was a British short-range surface to air missile system intended to replace the ubiquitous Bofors 40 mm gun aboard warships of all sizes. It was the world's first operational shipboard point-defence missile system and was designed so that the Bofors guns could be replaced with minimum...
launchers - 1 Improvised Exocet launcher
- 3 CITER 155mm L33 GunCITER 155mm L33 GunThe 155mm L33 Argentine Model Gun is an Argentinian artillery field gun in service with the Argentine Army.-Development:...
s - >10 Oto Melara 105mmOTO Melara Mod 56The OTO-Melara Mod 56 is an Italian-made 105 mm pack howitzer built and developed by OTO-Melara. It fires the standard US type M1 ammunition.-History:...
cannons - >15 Oerlikon twins 35 mmOerlikon 35 mm twin cannonThe Oerlikon 35 mm twin cannon is a towed anti-aircraft gun made by Oerlikon Contraves . The system was originally designated as 2 ZLA/353 ML but this was later changed to GDF-001...
and Rheinmetall twin 20 mmRheinmetall 20 mm Twin Anti-Aircraft CannonRheinmetall Zwillingsflak twin-gun anti-aircraft system began development in 1968 to meet the requirements of the low-level air defence units of the German Air Force, i.e...
air defence cannons - 1 AN/TPS-43AN/TPS-43The AN/TPS-43 is a transportable 3-dimensional air search radar produced in the United States originally by Westinghouse Defense and Electronic Division, which was later purchased by Northrop-Grumman. It completed development in 1963 and entered US service in 1968. The entire system can be broken...
3D mobile air search radar - >10 Skyguard, Super Fledermaus and RASITRASITRASIT is a ground-surveillance pulse doppler radar developed by Thomson-CSF , and fielded by several militaries. The original version of RASIT had a range of 30 kilometers and could distinguish between personnel, vehicles, and aircraft. RASIT operates in the I band and has a peak power of two...
fire control radars - Blowpipes Manpads
- SAM-7Strela 2The 9K32 “Strela-2” is a man-portable, shoulder-fired, low-altitude surface-to-air missile system with a high explosive warhead and passive infrared homing guidance...
Manpads (bought in late May from Gaddafi'sMuammar al-GaddafiMuammar Muhammad Abu Minyar Gaddafi or "September 1942" 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011.He seized power in a...
Libya) - 14 flyable helicopters (2 Agusta A109, 2 Bell 212, 8 UH-1H, 1 Chinook and 1 Puma)
- >10 FMA IA 58 PucaráFMA IA 58 PucaráThe FMA IA 58 Pucará is an Argentine ground-attack and counter-insurgency aircraft. It is a low-wing two-turboprop-engined all-metal monoplane with retractable landing gear, manufactured by the Fábrica Militar de Aviones.-Development:...
- 1 Aermacchi MB-339Aermacchi MB-339The Aermacchi MB-339 is an Italian military trainer and light attack aircraft. It was developed as a replacement for the earlier MB-326.-Design and development:...
- Patrol boat Argentine Coast Guard GC82 Islas Malvinas renamed HMS Tiger BayHMS Tiger BayHMS Tiger Bay is a former Argentine Z-28 patrol boat that was captured by the British and brought into service with the Royal Navy at the end of the Falklands War on 14 June when she had suffered engine failure which reduced her top speed by 50%...
- >11,000 personal weapons
- >4 million 7.62 munition rounds (10,500 from Goose Green)
- >11,000 105mm ammunitions
Some of the equipment was rendered useless by Argentine personnel before the surrender.
The Argentine Rattenbach commission was assembled after the war to investigate the causes of defeat. It recommended serious penalties for some of the officers in charge, but its influence on the later trial was practically nil.
Aftermath
On 20 June, the British retook the South Sandwich Islands and declared hostilities to be over after removing Argentina's Southern ThuleSouthern Thule
Southern Thule is a collection of the three southernmost islands in the South Sandwich Islands: Bellingshausen, Cook, and Thule . Southern Thule is British territory, though claimed by Argentina. The island group is barren, windswept, bitterly cold, and uninhabited. It has an extenzive EEZ rich...
garrison at the Corbeta Uruguay
Corbeta Uruguay
Corbeta Uruguay was an Argentine military outpost established in November 1976 on the island of Thule, Southern Thule, in the South Sandwich Islands. The base was established by order of the then-military junta governing Argentina as a way to back up its territorial claims on British territory in...
base. Corbeta Uruguay was established in 1976, but the Argentine base was only contested through diplomatic channels by the UK until 1982.
The war lasted 74 days, with 255 British and 649
Argentine Military Cemetery
The Argentine Military Cemetery, , is a military cemetery on East Falkland that holds the remains of 237 Argentine combatants killed during the 1982 Falklands War...
Argentine soldiers, marines, sailors, and airmen, and three civilian Falklanders killed.
The British Government decreed that all classified information
Classified information
Classified information is sensitive information to which access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of persons. A formal security clearance is required to handle classified documents or access classified data. The clearance process requires a satisfactory background investigation...
would be available to the public in the year 2082. However, following the Freedom of Information Act
Freedom of information in the United Kingdom
Freedom of information legislation in the United Kingdom is controlled by two Acts of the United Kingdom and Scottish Parliaments respectively, which both came into force on 1 January 2005.* Freedom of Information Act 2000...
, a great deal of formerly classified material is now available.
The surrender document is on display at the Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. The museum was founded during the First World War in 1917 and intended as a record of the war effort and sacrifice of Britain and her Empire...
in London. As noted in the museum, the time of surrender was backdated three hours in order that both Zulu time (UTC) and the local time were recorded as 14 June even though technically it was already 15 June in London, in order to prevent possible confusion by Argentine troops who might have mistakenly thought that they were permitted to keep fighting until the next day, June 15, 1982.
Relations between the UK and Argentina were not restored until 1989 and only under the umbrella formula which states that the islands sovereignty dispute will remain aside.