Figure 1.-- The British had to quicjly move to put together an invasion force and flotila to transport it to the South Atlantic. Onne ship that was needed was a hospital ship for the wounded. The cruise ship 'Uganda' was selected. The first step was to get the people on the ship who were participating in an educatiionaln cruise. The press caption read, "Childten taken from the cruise ship 'Uganda' at Naples yesterday arriving at Gatwick last night after being bflown home. The childrenn were on an educatiinal cruise but theuir holiday was cut short to enable the vessel to join the Falklands task force as a hospital ship after a speedy refit at Gibraltar."

A substantial British task force set out on a 7,500 mile voyage to liberate the Falklands (April 5). It proved to be the largest naval action since World war II. The Royal Navy was pitted against a formidable Argentine Air Force and large entrenched ground forces. The Argentine Junta crammed a large conscript force on the Islands, concentrated around Port Stanley. They were supoorted by a modern, well trained Air Force, but as tge British had disabled the aur fiekd at Stanley, they had to ooerate from the mainland. The British in a dramatic naval, air, and ground operation invaded the Islands. The British had a substantial naval force, but very limited air cover, only a small carrier. If the Junta had waited a little longer, this last carrier would have been decommissioned. The British invasion began (May 21). The very professional British military against all odds suceeded. This is the only modern amphibious invasion we know of that was sucessful without air superiority. The lightly armed Royal Marines managed to overwealm a much larger, but dispirited Argentine force.

Pre-invasion Operations

British SAS commandos staged a surprise night raid, blowing up an Argentine ammunition dump on the Falklands and destroying 11 Argentine planes. Tragically, 18 commandos drowned when an albatross flew into the engine of the helicopter carrying them back to HMS Hermes, causing the helicoptor to crash into the sea.

Air Campauign

The Royal Navy was pitted against a formidable Argentine Air Force and large entrenched ground forces. One of the pivotal moments of the campaign was when an out of date Vulcan bomber bombed Port Stanley (May 1). The bomber flew from Ascencion Island, re-fuelled 15 times by adapted Victor tankers,and bombed the sole airport in the Falklands at Stanley. It was a 7,000 miles round trip. It was then the longest bomber raid in history. It prevented any Argentine forces landing by air or resupply by air. It also meant that all Argentine ir operations had to be conducted from the Argentine mainland rather than the Falklnds. Because of the distances involved, this limited the time Argentine plins could ctually spend over the Island. It also scared the Argentines in to realising that their country was not out of range of British Bombers. The Argentines had modern ircraft including French-built Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard planes armed with Exocet missles. There was much resentment in Britain at the time because the Argentine planes and missiles were French. The Brits at the time believed, French advisors directing the offensive with their Exocet missiles. This is probably untrue, but believed at the time. The Exocets inflicted serious damage on British ships, especially the cargo vessel Atlantic ConveyorHMS Sheffield which were destroyed and suffered many casuakties. The Argentine pilots were highly effective, but operating at bases on the mainland put them at a disadvantage. Their major problem, however, ws that their bombs wee incorrectely fused. They were et to explode after hitting hevy hulls. Many of the British ships had light hulls. Thus quite a number of bombs passed throiugh the British ships before exploding. Had the bombs been correctly fused, the British casualties woukd have forced the tsk firce to withdraw. A Canadian reader writes, "A few years after this War the HMS Devonshire made a tour visit here in Montreal and I got into an interesting conversation with some of the crew who showed me where a bomb went through the deck at an angle and out the side of the hull near the stern helicopter landing platform. Had it exploded there it would have ignited the fuel supply for the copters and the ship would have been destroyed."

Naval Campaign

The British had a substantial naval force, but very limited air cover, only a small carrier--the HMS Ark Royal. If the Junta had waited a little longer, this last carrier would have been decommissioned. With the arrival of the British task force, the Argentine forces on the Falklands were cut off from ressuply. The Argentine Air Force could have attacked any surface ships attempting to blockade the Islands, but not submarines. And the Harries from the Arl Royal could also interdict Argentine shipping. While the Agentines had a modern air force, their navy consisted of lrgely obsolete vessels. The most powerful ship was the Belgrano-an American World War II-era light cruiser. (She was the USS Phoenix CL-46 sold to the Argentines after the War. It is often described by the Argentine as a heavy cruiser, but its 6 inch guns make it a light cruiser.) After a British submarine torpedoed Belgrano, the Argentine Navy made no further efforts to participate in the conflict. This was the first submarine attack since World War II. As a result the Argenine garrison in the Island was cut off. There was some thought of simply starving them out rather than taking Port Stanley with ground attack.

Ground Campaign

The Argentine Junta crammed a large force of 9,000 men, mostly poorly trained conscripts. They were concentrated around Port Stanley. They were supoorted by a modern, well trained Air Force. The British invasion began (May 21). The very professional British military against all odds suceeded. This is the only modern amphibious invasion we know of that was sucessful without air superiority. Some 3,500 Welsh and Scots Guards and a Gurkha regiment arrived off the Falklands aboard the Queen Elizabeth II. The British invasion began (May 21). The British lndings were unopposed by Argentine ground forces. The British established a beachhead near Port San Carlos on East Falkland, 50 miles from Port Stanley. The Argentines did respond with a powerful air assault on the British naval force. The Argentines sank the Royal Navy frigate HMS Ardent and damaged four other ships, losing 16 warplanes in the process. The British strategy plan was to isolate the Argentine main force at Port Stanley from garrisons at Goose Green and Fox Bay. In the first important land engagement was launched by the British 2nd Parachute Battalion which seized Goose Green, overwealming a larger but pootly led Argentine force. Major Chris Keeble, 2nd Para's second-in-command reports, "Their weakness was that they did not really want to fight." To the north, the Royal Marines with Scorpion tanks drove on Port Stanley. As the British made headway on land, Argentine Skyhawks and Mirages sank two British ships landing Welsh guards. At the same time the British with lanb artillery, naval gunfire, and Harriers aircraft pounded the 7,500 Argentine troops at Port Stanley. Major General John Jeremy Moore, the British land commander began the final assault, resulting in hand-to-hand fighting. The Argentines broke and ran. The Argentine commander General Mario Menendez surrendered (June 14). The smaller lightly armed Royal Marines had managed to overwealm a much larger Argentine force.

Created: 12:33 PM 7/16/2018
Last updated: 12:33 PM 7/16/2018