On this day - Falklands

its now the 3rd day since the end of hostilities and we've been stuck o Mt Estancia as everyone converges on Port Stanley. Our boss finally managed to get a couple of Wessex allocated to bring us down and we ended up in the school billeted with the rest of the odds and sods in the "clearing system".

I made a sill mistake. Although we didn't have showers I managed to get a bowl full of hot water and had a strip wash and put on as many clean clothes as I could muster. The problem was that nobody else could and I found out how much squaddies who haven't had a good wash for 2 weeks or so really smell!

The one thing that struck me as I walked round Port Stanley was the compassion shown by the Paras and Marines to the Argentine conscripts. They were offering cigarettes and helping the injured as much as they could. There was even some friendly banter with those who could speak English.

This should be compared to the way the officer corp was treated. There was nothing but contempt for them. We had all seen the way that they were given special privileges over the conscripts and heard stories of how the conscripts had been left to their own devices when things got tight.

On this day - Falklands

Having been away I've missed a few memorable incidents, maybe next year. Anyway, on this day:

The British 3-Para mounts an assault on Mount Longdon. The battle on this
heavily defended position, which was supposed to last until dawn, proves much
tougher and longer than expected. Mount Longdon and its surroundings are finally
taken after hand to hand and bayonet fighting with the Argentine troops position by position. The British casualties mount to 23 men, one of which, Sergeant Ian John McKay of 3-Para is later awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross, 47 more British are wounded. The Argentine forces suffer over 50 dead and many more injured. 6 more British die shortly afterwards.

British 45 Commando takes Two Sisters and 42 Commando takes Mount Harriet with support by the guns of 29th Commando regiment and naval gunfire from a number of Royal Navy frigates.

The 2nd Scots Guards seize Mount Tumbledown in another bloody battle. 9 British and about 40 Argentine die. Another 34 Argentine soldiers surrender and taken prisoners. 32 British are wounded. [Source: Tactics of Modern Warfare by Mark Lloyd].

By now we were on Mount Estancia, overlooking Mount's Kent and London and we could hear the battles raging. We have done all we could on the EW front and had made some very useful intercepts which added to captured maps and allowed the artillery to make a number of softening up barrages on the Argentine positions. We also managed to jam one of the Argentine forward artillery controllers long enough for him to be taken out by our artillery.

As the final battle waged on we listened to our own command nets to see how things were going. I wish I had kept the tapes because they would have been great in the archives, especially one message to the Sots Guards who were really struggling, it went something like - The General says if the Scots Guards don't get a fucking move on he'll personally come down their and kick their arses.

On this day - Falklands

British 2nd battalion, Parachute Regiment (2-Para), take Darwin and Goose Green in what was arguably the longest and toughest battle of the War.

We had sent a couple of guys down with a jammer to support the attack but they got bogged down and couldn't get there in time. They also became of interest to an Argentine pilot but thankfully he missed and was chased away by a Harrier.

Meanwhile we had dropped in to a routine of sorts in San Carlos and weren't being effective because we were in a basin and weren't getting mush intercept traffic. Our boss was agitating for us to get forward but we didn't have enough helicopters and was available was being used for ammunition distribution and casevac. Our plan was to get on a boat to the soon to infamous Teal Inlet.

One memory that still sticks is listening to a World Service discussion about the war. It had become well know that the Argentinian bombs weren't exploding but we weren't publishing I, however it was the discussion on the world service. One expert described what was happening - they were dropping the bombs too low and the screw that armed them wasn't given enough time to engage the mechanism.

Being an expert this clown then went on to explain that the pilots needed to go higher, which was very dangerous, or sort of tilt up just as they dropped the bomb, so that it would be lobbed. This was inaccurate and finally they could put a parachute on the bomb to slow its descent. The Argentine Air force chose the latter option so we then had to live with more bombs exploding.

Isn't it good to have such a neutral and informative national broadcaster?

On this day - Falklands

We got ashore overnight but without our equipment. Our boss had done well to get us on a landing craft but there was no plan for us to go anywhere and as it was dark we just dossed down in the first bit of shelter we cam across. When dawn came we realised it was the back blast are of the Blowpipe anti aircraft missile team - shit that could have been very bad.

We eventually commandeered the school so we could set up out intercept kit indoor and we had somewhere to work. It had a small kitchen so cooking was OK. This was to be our home for a god week or so.

During the day we had more air raids. I was really surprised to see everyone firing at them, even officers with 9mm pistols. This was even more dangerous than the Argentinians with rounds coming down all over the place. 40 Commando's OC went berserk as his troops were in the hill over looking San Carlos and and they took the brunt of the friendly fire, although to my knowledge nobody was injured or killed. It dis mean that we had to put a fire plan together very quickly.

Most of the air attacks were aimed at the ships, which was a good tactic because we still had most of our stores on board. One bomb did hit a troop of Engineers at the other end of the settlement and killed a Sapper. It was a solemn occasion as his flag draped body was brought past us for burial, followed by his troop. Irrespective of religion it is very important that the military honour the dead, it makes us all feel we are part of something worthwhile.

On this day - Falklands

in 1982, The British manage to make an amphibious landing near Port San Carlos, on the northern coast of East Falkland.

It was really eerie when light dawned in San Carlos water - it was really still and quiet except for the demented buzzing of the rigid raiders whizzing about. Landing craft had been shipping troops ashore for some time but we weren't even given a time and were stuck on board the LSL in the middle of the waters knowing we were a siting duck when the Argentinian Air force eventually attacked - it was probably the scariest time of the whole war and I don't mind admitting I questioned my own agnostic approach to religion.

Our intercept guys had picked up an interesting comment from the Argentinian forward troops who had seen us. Apparently they were under the illusion that Maggie was going to give some notice before we attacked - bloody idiots. Their description of us was quite prosaic though, until they became the first Argentinians to be captured.

On this day - Falklands

Three Argentine Skyhawks are shot down. Prime Minister Thatcher warns that peaceful settlement may not be possible. Special British forces night raid on Pebble Island; 11 Argentine aircraft destroyed on the ground.

The only people who believed there would be a peace settlement were deluded politicians in the UN. We were making final preparations. We didn't have a clue where we were but we knew we were getting close. It was getting cold wet and windy and we stayed off deck as much as possible.

One of the weird things that happened on the way down is that we stayed on GMT, which meant that we were getting up in what was effectively the middle of the night and going to bed "early". This would put us in good stead for the landings but I remember having a slight sense of jet lag and disorientation.

On this day - Falklands

Argentine air attacks from Super Etendard fighter planes using Exocet air to surface missiles sink the British destroyer HMS Sheffield with twenty men on board. One British Harrier plane is shot down.

The mood is solemn, we expected it but it is still a shock. We all know that being in the armed forces means death and mutilation are an occupational hazard, but we still have a sense of duty and rather bizarrely a desire to put our training to the test. It is obvious that some people are starting to feel the strain of the delay and the thought of going to war harder than others.

Above all this though is a real belief that we are doing the right thing and we can't back down. Maggie is revered for her stance and their is a growing contempt for the appeasers.

On this day - Falklands

in 1982, the British submarine HMS Conqueror sinks the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano outside the war zone and while sailing away from the islands. Almost 400 crewmen die.

That was it, any faint hopes that any of us had of had were gone and we could concentrate on the job at hand. There has been a notable increase in the number of people attending church services and prayer meeting, not that I did (I'm agnostic if you must know) but I did see the room filling up there are no atheists in a fox hole! There was also sadness at the needless loss of life, by that I mean the invasion led to it.

As an after comment - I was amazed when we got back to find that people thought there was no need to sink the Belgrano, it was out of the way and steaming away from the exclusion zone. Have these people never heard of ships turning round? Don't they realise that the planes on board don't have to fly in the direction the ship is pointing. If the Belgrano had been lost and go into our fleet it would have been carnage.

On this day - Falklands

in 1982, Alexander Haig's mission is officially terminated. President Ronald Reagan declares US support for Britain and economic sanctions against Argentina. The British war exclusion zone comes into effect.

There was no surprise at this on board although Reagan’s public support did lift spirits s we knew they could supply good intel. Indeed history tells us that they already had been.

By now I had been across to another landing ship to see if I could get the other jammer working. When I got there most bits were still in boxes but I had a go. The problem was I couldn’t test it because we were still on Emcon and for those who aren’t aware a radio jammer needs to shove out a lot of power tow work. Imgaine trying to drown out a conversation that is taking place 20m from you by shouting at the people having that conversation. So any emissions from the jammer would have been picked up by the Argentine EW guys within seconds.

There was a problem getting back from the ship, the weather closed in and the helicopter despatch service didn’t fly for 3 days. I didn’t have my kit with me so had to scrounge toothpaste etc. By the time I got back my hosts were glad to see the back of me given how crowded the ships were.

When I did eventually get a helicopter ride back they decided it was too dangerous to land and I had to jump from about 6 foot on to a rolling ships helicopter deck. Its amazing how deep you can get you nails in to a steel decking when the alternative is being pitched in to a freezing South Atlantic!

On this day - Falklands

The mood is changing as we head south, well as we head all over the place really. We are on emcon which means that there is no electronic communication and only a minimum of radar from the ships on the periphery of the task force which are guarding us. We have been practicing action station and anti Exocet drills. The scary partis that as embarked forces all we can do is return to our cabins and site, with 24 (or so) other souls and wait for things to happen. That is scary.

Despite all the efforts to get organised on Ascension Island one of our Landrovers is on another ship. This is one of our jammers that hasn't been fully built and commissioned and I have to get there to build it so it can be made operational quickly when we land. I am trying to hitch a lift on the Helicopter Dispatch Service but as the weather is closing in an d the sea getting lumpy they are frequently cancelled.

Meanwhile in the outside world its starting to look like the inevitable will happen as also on this day:

A small British commando force re-takes the Georgia Island. The Argentine submarine ``Santa Fe'' is attacked and disabled. The commander of the Argentine forces on the island, Captain Largos, signs an unconditional surrender document on board the British HMS Antrim. The notorious Alfredo Astiz, who is at the time, a Lieutenant Commander in charge of a small party based in Stromness surrenders with his company and signs an unconditional surrender document on board the British HMS Plymouth without firing a single shot violating the military code's article 751:
"A soldier will be condemned to prison for three to five years if, in combat with a foreign enemy, he surrenders without having exhausted his supply of ammunition or without having lost two thirds of the men under his command."

On this day - Falklands

Well on or about this day as I can't find the exact date that our time on Ascension island came to an end and we set off on the final leg of the journey.

The time on Ascension had been relatively quiet, even boring. My only memories of not were a fight in one of the clubs between 2 junior officers (one RAF and one Navy). As this was a civilian club and was witnessed by the other ranks it turned out to be quite embarrassing for the top brass. In true military style and to save embarrassment the military arranged for the club to be officers only and posted a military policeman outside to stop the rest of us going on.

After that we were confined to the USA servicemen's club, which was OK except we had to use US currency. Whilst sitting outside one afternoon a helicopter (one of many) dropped its under-slung load from about 500ft. When it landed the box burst open and about 100 tin hats flew in to the air like a huge fountain. Fortunately it wasn't an are where people were likely to be.

So it was on to Sir Tristan, a troop carrier, and now a major change of mindset. The politicians kept talking but it was getting harder to see a peaceful resolution neither national leaders could back down.

On this day - Falklands

After a weekend at Lympstone it was time to set of to join the task force which had left in a bit of a rush. Whilst it had been a good move politically to dispatch the task force as soon as possible it wasn't necessarily the best move militarily. Equipment and troops had been loaded on the nearest ship, with troops not always being on the same one as their kit.

We had spent the Easter weekend trying to buy decent equipment - rucksacks, sleeping bags, waterproofs and other bits and pieces. The armed forces have always provided their own kit on the basis that equipment supplied is barely functional, cheap and designed by someone who has never left a warm office*.

We were heading for Ascension Island where we would meet our equipment which was already on a ship, but nobody was sure which one. Our journey was going to be by Hercules via Gibraltar and Senegal for refueling. We shared the plane with members of 8901 Naval Platoon, you may remember them as the guys who were on Stanley when the Argentinians invaded. They were quiet and didn't talk much but our Marines did get from them that they were pretty determined to make amends, not that anyone blames them.

On Gibraltar we went to the cook house to get a bite to eat and wait for the plane to get clearance for the next leg to Senegal. There was a function on in one of the rooms and everyone was having fun whilst we looked on through the windows like some modern day Oliver.

Senegal was just a refueling and quick smoke break and on to Ascension. We landed amidst utter chaos, helicopters, truck and land rovers whizzing all over the place like demented ants. We spent the first night sleeping in the ammo compound whilst the boss went off to find someone in authority who knew what we were supposed to be doing.

*When I was at the School of Signals we did invite equipment designers to a yearly day out where we would dress them in full NBC equipment and ask them to operate their equipment. We had one guy who had designed a radio that had a very noisy fan so we locked him in the vehicle with it running for 2 hours, he soon got the message.

On this day - Falklands

in 1982 it was Maundy Thursday and for us the log weekend had started. I wasn't formally taking leave so couldn't leave Germany - as part of BAOR (British Army Of The Rhine) there had to be a certain level of forces and unless you had a formal leave pass you couldn't leave country. In truth I was preparing to get the train to Copenhagen for some sight seeing and maybe a visit to Lego Land.

I had just had breakfast and was sitting in the lounge having a cup coffee when my boss walked in and asked what I was planning. Obviously I couldn't admit my plans so mumbled something about not much. Anyway, it turns out than an Electronic Warfare troop was being put together as part of the Task Force, under the command of the Marines. I was a specialist in maintaining EW equipment I was being seconded to the troop, along with 2 of our best operators. We would be joining language and other experts at Lympstone, the home of the marines.

This was an informal discussion because I had to complete certain forms. We went to the Regimental HQ where the Adjutant and Chief Clerk were waiting. I was given life insurance forms to complete and sign and then formerly told that I was under orders for active service and would be flying to Lympstone the next morning.

Nobody seriously thought it would end in full blown was so it was all rather light hearted and I spent the rest of the day preparing equipment and packing.

On this day - Falklands

Its the first full day of the Islands being under Argentine control and like many I am still getting my head round the idea that the Falklands are in the South Atlantic and not somewhere near the Hebrides.

The UN demands that Argentina withdraws and starts a dance that shows how ineffectual it was, and still is.

On this day - Falklands

March 26, 1982.

The Argentine military junta decides to invade the islands. (Although most of us didn't know it I wouldn't be surprised if the security services had some idea that something was brewing.)

Background:

Argentina is in deep economic trouble; Throughout 1981, inflation sky-rockets to over 600%, GDP is down 11.4%, manufacturing output is down 22.9%, and real wages by 19.2% [Rock: p 375-378]. In addition, Mass disappearances of people in the hands of the military juntas causes significant unrest.

The third dictatorship president since the 1976 coup, General Leopoldo
Galtieri launches a military invasion of the islands, code named Operación Rosario. The invasion is planned by the commander of the Navy Admiral Jorge Anaya to be launched on one of the most important national celebrations (The revolution anniversary on May 25th or Independence day on July 9th). Its main purpose is to divert public attention from the distressing internal problems and restore the long lost popularity and prestige of the dictatorship.

Due to the mounting pressures on the government, and mass union
demonstrations in late March, the date of the invasion is moved earlier to April
2nd in an act of desperation.

Source:http://www.yendor.com/vanished/falklands-war.html

I have highlighted the sentence about the purpose because despite what some on the left like to claim it was the typical response of an unpopular dictator - find a distraction when things aren't going well at home. I have yet to see any convincing data that claims otherwise but if the racts change.....

At this time I was still in Germany going about my normal business and oblivious to what was going on, like most of the UK population I suspect.

On this day - Faklands

in 1982,A group of Argentine scrap metal merchants working in the South Georgia island is escorted by some military personnel. Britain calls Argentina to remove the military personnel without response.

I was serving in Germany at the time and like most people wondered what this was all about. I'd never heard of the place and it took some time for the political history and significance, oil it was believed, to sink in.

The eagle eyed readers will notice the the title of this post includes the Falklands reference. This subject is going to be a bit of a personal indulgence over the next few months so I'll use this to indicate one of those indulgences and save those who aren't interested some time.