The Falklands War

Diplomatic tensions between the UK and Argentina reached boiling point in 1982, when the Argentinian flag was raise over the remote island of South Georgia in the South Atlantic.

Within two weeks, Argentinian troops landed on the Falkland Islands and the UK became involved in an undeclared war with Argentina on 02 April 1982. The Falkland islands are 8,000 miles away from the UK, and were soon to become a warzone.

The Falklands War lasted for 74 days, and would test the endurance and tolerance of British Forces.  255 British military personnel, 649 Argentine troops and three Islanders lost their lives.

It was an intense period of valour, sacrifice, endeavour and tragedy. The small cluster of islands known as the Falklands were inhabited by 1,820 people and 400,000 sheep. The ruling military junta in Buenos Aires believed Britain would not attempt to regain the islands, but a Task Force of 20,000  British troops was hastily assembled, with warships and refitted merchant ships bearing south from British ports.

 

SS Canberra in the Falklands

The P&O cruise liner SS Canberra was sailing in the Mediterranean as a leisure ship, when the MOD swiftly re-purposed it for use in the Falklands war. The Cruise liner set sail from Southampton on 09 April loaded with supplies, ammunition, and the 2,000 troops who formed 3 Commando Brigade. It was bound for Ascension Island, where British forces were mustering.

“We travelled on board SS Canberra down to Ascension Island and there was a real holiday atmosphere at first. The bars were still open and there were waiters with silver service every night, so it was hardly conducive to going to war.” – John Phillips tells his story of the Falklands War

QE2 in the Falklands War

The QE2 liner cast off three days later with 5th Infantry Brigade on board to complete a Task Force of 127 ships. The QEII’s superior speed and size allowed her to transport much of Britain’s land force to Ascension island, before the harsh weather of the South Atlantic made such an effort impossible.

Ascension Island

Ascension Island is a British overseas territory 1,000 miles east of Africa, just south of the Equator. An RAF base, it is located about 4,000 miles form both the UK and the Falkland Islands, making it the halfway point between the two. British ships used this as a muster point on their journey to the Falklands, and many soldiers will have memories of stopping here to train and prepare their equipment before travelling on to the Falklands.

“The mood was determined yet relaxed until we got to Ascension Island where we could train on land. A lot of people thought this was all just sabre-rattling and that we’d turn back for home before even getting there. But there was no going back after that – we were fully committed.” Blesma Member Denzil Connick remembers travelling to Ascension Island during the Falklands.

Operation Black Buck

With Argentinian troops digging in across the Falklands and surrounding its capital, Stanley, with defensive positions, the first blow was struck in Operation Black Buck.

Operations Black Buck 1 to Black Buck 7 were a series of extremely long distance air borne attacks, in which RAF Vulcan bombers flew 16-hour, 6,000- mile missions from Ascension Island with airborne refuelling en-route to bomb Stanley’s airport and strategic positions.

At the time these operations were the longest ranged bombing raids in history, until the Gulf War of 1991.

HMS Conqueror

Then came the devastating and controversial maritime intervention of the Royal Navy submarine HMS Conqueror, which sunk the Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano on 2 May with the loss of 323 lives. The Conqueror remains the only nuclear powered Submarine to have engaged an enemy in combat.

ARA General Belgrano

Having started life as the USS Phoenix, the General Belgrano was mobilised in WWII as part of the United States Navy, surviving the fateful attack on Pearl Harbour.

Having been sold by the US to Argentina in 1951, the renamed ARA General Belgrano was sunk by two missiles fired from the HMS Conqueror. The loss of life from the sinking of the General Belgrano equalled nearly half of the Argentine casualties caused by the Falklands war.

 

22 SAS D Squadron Falklands

The ground war began on 21 May when British Forces landed at San Carlos Water. This followed advance SAS units – including former Blesma chairman Sir Cedric Delves, then a 35-year-old Major in command of D Squadron 22 SAS – retook South Georgia and led raids and diversionary tactics in support of Infantry units.

This elite Squadron would play a vital role in the conflict, by conducting the Pebble Island raid. Pebble Island is a remote island in the West of the Falklands. At the time of the war it held an airstrip, which was home to a number of Argentinian Pucara ground attack aircraft. Pebble island being under the control of the Argentinians provided them with a considerable strategic advantage.

With civilians close by, an airstrike on the island was ruled out, leaving the SAS Squadron to launch the raid. Within 30 minutes of operations, they had neutralised over half of the Pucara aircraft held by the Argentinians on the island.

 

British Ships lost in the Falklands War

As the Marines and Paratroopers advanced from the San Carlos beachhead, the Task Force vessels  came under sustained attack from the Argentine Air Force with devastating effects, including the loss of HMS Sheffield, HMS Antelope, HMS Ardent and HMS Coventry, as well as a container ship and a Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) vessel.

HMS Sheffield

The second Navy ship to be named after the City in Yorkshire, the HMS Sheffield was a guided missile destroyer, which set out for the Falklands islands on April 10^th 1982.

Tasked with defending the HMS Hermes, the ship was struck by an Argentinean Exocet Missile on May 10^th, 1982. This led to the death of Twenty British Servicemen, and the sinking of the vessel.

“HMS Sheffield had been lost and there was a sombre realisation that this was the real deal” – Blesma Member Denzil Connick

HMS Antelope Falklands war

A 21 Type Frigate, the HMS Antelope arrived at the Falklands on May 21^st 1982. She came under attack from Argentinean forces just two days after entering the area of operations, while guarding the port of San Carlos. Argentine aircraft attacked the vessel, which headed for safer waters after initial damage control efforts.

Blesma Member John Phillips and his comrade Staff Sergeant Jim Prescott were then called in to defuse two unexploded bombs which had entered the vessel. One was inaccessible due to the wreckage, while the other was damaged and in a particularly dangerous condition.

Three attempts to defuse the bomb remotely failed, and the fourth attempt caused the bomb to explode, in one of the most sobering and iconic moments of the conflict on May 23^rd 1982. 22 British servicemen lost their lives.

“Sunday 23 May, we were tasked to HMS Antelope. As we approached, we could see a hole in its side. The ship had been crippled by two bombs which, although they hadn’t exploded, had ripped through the communications and controls units.”

“We approached the first bomb and deployed the same techniques that we had used on HMS Argonaut, but when we fired the means to disrupt the bomb, it didn’t work. We tried again, nothing. After the third time, it exploded as we went to inspect it. Jim was standing right next to me and we had enough time to look each other in the eye. That was the last time I saw Jim alive.” – Warrant Officer John Phillips

HMS Ardent

Just two days prior to the sinking of the HMS Antelope, another Frigate tasked to the Falklands war came under fire. The HMS Ardent sailed from Ascension island to reach the area of operations on the 7^th May, 1982.

After providing fire power in the battle for Goose Green, the ship took on damage following several bombardments by Argentinean Aircraft on May 21^st and sank the next day.

HMS Coventry

The Guided Missile Destroyer HMS Coventry proved of great importance early in the conflict, due to it’s effectiveness in preventing Argentine missiles hitting British ships and in taking out seven enemy planes.

On 25^th May 1082, Argentina’s National Day, the ship was attacked form aircraft travelling over land, which meant that the effectiveness of the ships radar in detecting their location was reduced. Three bombs sunk the ship, and caused the death of 17 British crew.

 

Support those who lost limbs in the Falklands war