Falklands 30 Years On

[Beretta28g]

Its 30 years to the day since Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, What do you remember about it?

[English]

Its 30 years to the day since Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, What do you remember about it?

 

I remember watching the Vulcans doing circuits over RAF Waddington

 

And a couple of weeks later I built the first 16 of these for the RN:

 

http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNBR_2cm-85_GAM.htm

[Andy H]

I was working on the Vulcan's at Waddington at the time ,Mad panic in the squadrons engineering teams attempting to modify fuel systems to work with air to air re-fuelling ,Electronics tech's frigging the systems to fit Martel missiles and ECM pods and the Armaments section Receiving wagons with 1000 pound bombs scrounged from all over the UK as most that could fit the Vulcan's bomb bay system had been used as target practice bombing an island in Scotland , When I was first posted there in 1980 the bomb dump had 100's of them stacked up in the open air pit's.

Edited April 1, 2012 by Andy H

[amateur]

Its 30 years to the day since Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, What do you remember about it?

 

I was doing some work at "The Observer" the Sunday broadsheet, and was appalled to hear the (almost universal) journalists' views as the crisis developed - which were that the UK should abandon the Falklands to the Argentines.

 

My belief that the UK should at least try to recover the islands was generally scoffed at.

 

So, as the situation continued, the task-force sailed, the Brits started winning and the journo's started changing tack, I took some satisfaction in June 1982 that my faith was rewarded.

 

By then, of course, all the hacks were playing the patriotic card.

[scolopax]

I was only 11 but I remember thinking that those Argentinian Skyhawk pilots were incredibly brave chaps. I also remenber thinking that it was going to be touch and go whether HM armed forces would be able to pull it off. Glad they did. Last war involving a western nation that had more or less equally matched adversaries I would guess?

Edited April 2, 2012 by scolopax

[Robin128]

I remember our ships getting hit...Sheffield, Sir Galahad, Atlantic Conveyor...very sad, very annoying!!

 

Our intel is so good and our resolve so strong that any other attempt would be crushed in a day.

 

We would flatten them...and they know it!

 

But it would be a different war.

 

[wymberley]

Having to check that the Jaguar aircrafts' arrestor hook could be raised and secured clear of the ground to permit the aircraft to taxi while the No 2 was turning and burning.

[Aled]

Crikey guys some stirring comments there. I was 10 years old, I remember the Welsh news mentioning those from Wales who had died, some of them from my home town.

Aled

[88b]

Lost friends, and a man who is so insperational Simon Weston.

[Bloke]

It was my daughter's second birthday, and my son was only 2 months old, and coming from an armed forces background, I could only look at them and fear for the other parents whose sons and daughters were being prepared to go out and risk and give their lives for our freedom. I watched the newsreels with a mixture of horror, sadness and incredible pride in our forces, but with fury at the politicians around the world who stood by and did nothing. Click forward to today and it seems little has changed. My thoughts go out to all involved in that, what seems now a distant war, and to all the armed forces around the world who continue today to put themselves in harms way for us.

[AVB]

I was 19 and very, very angry. Made me want to join up on the spot (glad I didn't though). Followed it closely and bought a lot of books on the subject.

[Grandalf]

I was a First Officer (Co-pilot) with Heavylift Air Cargo flying the SH5 Belfasts.

We did hundreds of trips from UK and German RAF airfields to Ascension Island carrying just about everything that a modern army needs to fight a war.

Bombs, missiles, guns, fighters (Harriers), aircraft tugs, bowsers, mysterious sealed crates and later even a mobile bath and laundry unit!

 

Got to The Falklands 12 years later - on holiday - to see what it was all about.

Great place to visit and super people.

[shotgun sam]

I lost a school friend at goose green

[humperdingle]

I was only 10 at the time, but can remember it being the 1st time actually WANTING to sit down and watch the news.

[Gimlet]

I was wizzing around on an FS1E moped (illegally, I was only 15) with 'The Falkland Islands are British' stickers all over it. Those stickers were everywhere, on cars, in windows, on public buildings - wouldn't get away with that now. And I remeber sitting in a school assembly listening to the Headmaster pay tribute to a former pupil who had been killed out there. He'd only left school a couple of years before and his younger brother was still there. That brought home what war meant.

 

Four years later I was in college. A lecturer, an idiot Welsh communist who liked the sound of his own voice, came in one Monday morning with two atrocious black eyes. He'd been in pub in Cardiff spouting off that the Falklands should be returned to Argentina, Margeret Thatcher was the real enemy and the war had been a waste of time. It turned out the pub was full of matelots.

[Jega]

The sheer horror of watching the early evening news every night,and waiting in dread for the then defence minister John Nott to appear with more news (usually bad).The worst ones though where the news flashes which inevetably meant our forces had come to harm in some way .

[Dunkield]

Trivial compared to others, but I had gone on holiday to the States with a mate just as it was about to kick off, he made his flight but mine was full so I didn't. I was sat in a bar considering my options to get home one of which was going via Buenos Aires. I had no idea what had been brewing up, the brit I was chatting to said "I wouldn't do that if I were you" wise words indeed.

After it started, watching the news each day numb in disbelief that this was happening.

[oisin og]

I remember reading the front page headline about the sinking of the Belgrano and feeling sick and ashamed.

[spanj]

I remember reading the front page headline about the sinking of the Belgrano and feeling sick and ashamed.

 

Why ?

[wymberley]

Why ?

+255

+1

[Thunderbird]

I was only 10 at the time, but can remember it being the 1st time actually WANTING to sit down and watch the news.

 

Me too!! I was 11. I can remember the events unfolding, and as they did, and as the weeks went by, the situation went from being first referred to as The Falklands Crisis, then to The Falklands Conflict, then, finally, The Falklands War.

 

This was when we were still living in genuine fear of a nuclear war and any international event (like the problems in Poland around that time) had the power to ignite a powder keg in one's imagination.

 

Scary times.

 

When I was at university some years later one of my housemates read a book which alleged that Margaret Thatcher 'made it known' diplomatically that should Argentine invade then Britain would effectively not do anything about it, as a strategy for garnering support for her government, but I don't profess to anywhere near enough about that to comment. Maybe have just been student right-on-ness. Maybe not.

[mudpatten]

Yes, I can understand why you felt sick and ashamed when the Belgrano was sunk.

 

Sick and ashamed that the Argentinian high command had been so moronic as to send a powerful warship into a war zone and be so stupid as to think the the British Navy would not attack it!

 

Such a waste of life. You really have to ask what the Argentinian generals were thinking when they killed all those sailors.

 

To paraphrase the newspaper cartoon of the time - The Argentinians have tweaked the tail of an old and moth eaten British lion. But you`d best be ready for the consequences because, no matter how old or motheaten, it`s still a bloody lion!

Edited April 2, 2012 by mudpatten

[Muggins.]

I was 21 at the time and remember it quite well.

One tale of heroism that still sticks in my mind is that of Colonel H. Jones, there were many others. I`ve wondered in the past about how ours and the Argentinian forces families felt about having their loved ones buried where they fell. The battles of Goose Green, Port Stanley and San Carlos still rage in many peoples minds even though they happened thirty years ago.

After the Falklands war ended i collected the magazine series that came out which i still have.

 

They will always be remembered .....................

[Imperfection]

A cousin was was in the navy was sent there when it all kicked off.Have no idea what he did in particular,but he's never spoken about the Falklands war ever.

[henry d]

Its 30 years to the day since Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands, What do you remember about it?

 

Getting sent down there instead of getting a nice break in the sun at Gibraltar, getting a bomb through the ships side and out the other side without it exploding and getting sent home again...... then they sent us back when we were patched up so I missed seeing my daughter being born. However I did manage to go fishing there during Oct/Nov of `82 and caught a zebra trout and a sea trout.