The long shadow of the Falklands War

IN CONTEXT

THE FALKLANDS WAR

On 3 April 1982, Margaret Thatcher stood before the House of Commons – its first meeting on a Saturday for 25 years – and announced that Argentina had seized the Falkland Islands.

A day earlier, Argentine forces – on the orders of a notorious and increasingly unpopular military junta – had launched an amphibious assault that rapidly overwhelmed a small garrison of Royal Marines and volunteers of the Falkland Islands Defence Force.

In response, Margaret Thatcher ordered a task force to set sail for the south-west Atlantic, despite the misgivings of several members of her cabinet.

As that task force assembled at its destination, numerous flashpoints erupted between the British and Argentine forces in the skies above and waters surrounding the Falkland Islands. These led to casualties on both sides, including the sinking of several Royal Navy ships and – perhaps most controversially, given its position outside the British-enforced exclusion zone around the islands – the sinking of the Argentine light cruiser the General Belgrano, with the loss of 323 lives.

British forces launched a perilous amphibious landing on 21 May on the beaches around San Carlos Water, a bay that became known as Bomb Alley due to the frequent bombing runs conducted by low-flying aircraft piloted by highly skilled Argentine officers.

Once ashore, the British engaged the enemy in land battles across the islands, at places such as Goose Green – arguably most famous for the death of Lieutenant Colonel H Jones while leading an attack on enemy positions – and summits around the islands’ capital, Stanley.

With the British closing in on the capital, Argentine forces surrendered on 14 June 1982, now known in the Falklands as “Liberation Day”.

The battle to reclaim the Falklands