The Falklands War

The sinking of the General Belgrano on May 2nd 1982 by a British submarine was one of the most controversial events of the Falklands War. The strike resulted in the deaths of 323 Argentine sailors, nearly half of Argentina’s total casualties during the conflict. But though the escalation over the preceding months was swift, in some ways, the Falklands War had been simmering for centuries. Argentina, the closest mainland nation to the islands, saw them as a part of its territory and national identity, while Britain defended its historical claim, citing the wishes of the islanders. In April 1982, decades of tension exploded into war, leaving nearly 1,000 dead. But how did the islands fall under British control in the first place? Why did the war break out after so many years of diplomacy? And how did the political situations in both countries contribute to one of the strangest conflicts in modern British history? This is a Short History Of The Falklands War. A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins. With thanks to Sir Lawrence Freedman, official historian of the Falklands Campaign. Written by Nicola Rayner | Produced by Kate Simants | Production Assistant: Chris McDonald | Exec produced by Katrina Hughes | Sound supervisor: Tom Pink | Sound design by Oliver Sanders | Assembly edit by Anisha Deva | Compositions by Oliver Baines, Dorry Macaulay, Tom Pink | Mix & mastering: Cody Reynolds-Shaw | Fact Check by Sean Coleman Get every episode of Short History Of… a week early with Noiser+. You’ll also get ad-free listening, bonus material and early access to shows across the Noiser podcast network. Click the subscription banner at the top of the feed to get started. Or go to noiser.com/subscriptions Go to https://surfshark.com/shorthistory or use code SHORTHISTORY at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN! ⁠A Short History of Ancient Rome⁠ - the debut book from the Noiser Network is out now! Discover the epic rise and fall of Rome like never before. Pick up your copy now at your local bookstore or visit ⁠⁠noiser.com/books⁠⁠ to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

• 0:00Speaker 00

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  It is the morning of May the 2nd, 1982, deep in the South Atlantic Ocean.

• 1:00Speaker 03

  The General Belgrano, a heavy Argentine cruiser carrying more than a thousand men, is heading westward.

• 1:09Speaker 03

  The Belgrano first took to the sea during the Second World War, under a different name: the USS Phoenix. Some sailors whisper that it's bad luck to change a ship's name.

• 1:21Speaker 03

  Onboard, Captain Hector Bonzo paces the command deck, keeping an eye on the ship's instruments. A career naval officer in his mid-50s, he is balding with a neat moustache and the calm, deliberate manner of a man who has spent many months of his life at sea.

• 1:38Speaker 03

  His gaze shifts now to the growing restlessness of the water.

• 1:45Speaker 03

  The Belgrano cuts a steady line, sailing south of what Bonzo calls Las Islas Malvinas. Known in English as the Falkland Islands, they have been under British rule since the 19th century. But they're only 300 miles from the coast of Argentina, and its new leadership seeks to claim them once and for all.

• 2:07Speaker 03

  The Belgrano is just outside what the British call "the total exclusion zone", a circle of ocean extending 200 nautical miles from the islands, inside which any Argentine ship or aircraft can be attacked without warning.

• 2:25Speaker 03

  For now, Bonzo keeps his crew at action stations, every man at his post, ready for combat.

• 2:32Speaker 03

  Outside, the wind is strengthening, blowing at more than thirty knots, and heavy waves roll in from the west, drumming against the cruiser's sides.

• 2:44Speaker 03

  Somewhere beyond the grey horizon, the British fleet is patrolling. Airstrikes are a risk. But the greater danger lies below the surface, where nuclear-powered submarines move silently through the depths.

• 3:00Speaker 03

  The Belgrano shudders as another wave strikes her bows. To ease the pounding, Bonzo orders a slight turn, bringing her onto a heading of two-hundred-and-seventy degrees, into the wind, the exclusion zone behind them. The helmsman repeats the order, and slowly the cruiser adjusts, her great hull meeting the waves at a better angle.

• 3:25Speaker 03

  Nearby, the two accompanying destroyers struggle to match her course and speed.

• 3:31Speaker 03

  Bonzo watches them through the bridge windows as they ease back a few knots, sparing their crews from the worst of the sea's fury.

• 3:40Speaker 03

  Later that afternoon, just as the Belgrano is nearing its sixteen-hundred watch change, Captain Bonzo is leaving the communications room. But as he begins to descend a set of steps, a tremendous explosion tears through the hull. The ship jolts violently, as if struck from above, but the blast from a torpedo has come from below.

• 4:04Speaker 03

  The lights overhead flicker, then die. The cruiser grinds to a sudden halt and begins to list sharply to port. Bonzo gropes his way back toward the command deck when a second underwater missile hits.

• 4:19Speaker 03

  A column of black smoke, water, and debris erupts eighty feet into the air.

• 4:26Speaker 03

  Water now surges through the jagged wound in the hull, and everywhere there is shouting, panicked men racing to assess the damage. Steam hisses from fractured pipes, and oil spreads across the decks. The list accelerates, creeping at nearly a degree a minute. There is only one option now. Captain Bonzo gives the orders to abandon ship.

• 4:55Speaker 03

  The sinking of the General Belgrano on May 2, 1982, was one of the most controversial events of the Falklands War. Despite being around forty nautical miles outside the exclusion zone imposed by the British forces, it was sunk after being struck with torpedoes from the British submarine HMS Conqueror. The strike resulted in the deaths of 323 Argentine sailors, nearly half of Argentina's total casualties during the conflict.

• 5:27Speaker 03

  But though the escalation over the preceding months was swift, in some ways, the Falklands War had been simmering for centuries. Argentina, the closest mainland nation to the islands, saw them as a part of its territory and national identity, while Britain defended its historical claim, citing the wishes of the islanders.

• 5:53Speaker 03

  In April 1982, decades of tension exploded into war, leaving nearly 1,000 dead.

• 6:01Speaker 03

  But how did the islands fall under British control in the first place? Why did the war break out after so many years of diplomacy? And how did the political situations in both countries contribute to one of the strangest conflicts in modern British history?

• 6:18Speaker 03

  I'm John Hopkins. From the Noiser Podcast Network, this is A Short History of the Falklands War.

• 6:32Speaker 03

  In 1690, John Strong, the English captain of HMS Welfare, is on his way to Chile. But a violent storm drives him east, until he finds a scattered chain of 740 islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, about 300 miles east of what is now Argentina. He has heard of these islands before, but as far as he knows, no one has ever set foot on their uninhabited shores.

• 7:00Speaker 03

  Stopping here awhile, Captain Strong notes that the islands offer good harbors, and discovers fresh water and an abundance of geese and ducks, easy prey for a hungry crew. Before sailing on his way, Strong names the sea between the two largest islands after the first lord of the Admiralty, Lord Falkland. Accordingly, the two main islands become, in British parlance at least, East and West Falkland. After Strong's departure, the islands remain uninhabited, but in 1713, the Treaty of Utrecht, made between several European states, confirms Spain's control of its American territories, including the Falklands.

• 7:43Speaker 03

  Half a century later, in 1764, a French explorer claims the islands in the name of Louis XV, and establishes a settlement he calls Port Louis on East Falkland. He names the archipelago Les Îles Malvines, after Saint-Malo, which later becomes the route of Argentina's Las Islas Malvinas. This occupation will lie at the root of all subsequent Argentine claims to the islands. The next year, British commodore John Byron, nicknamed Foul Weather Jack, lands on West Falkland. Hoisting the Union flag, he officially claims the islands for Britain, plants a vegetable

• 8:26Speaker 03

  patch, and sails away. In short order, another British captain sails out to consolidate Foul Weather Jack's landing, and to build a fort. But in doing so, he encounters, for the first time, the French at Port Louis. Neither party is happy to see the other, and most furious of all are the Spanish, who consider the claims of both nations to be in breach of the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht. France, at that time an ally of Spain, cedes its claim to the islands in exchange for handsome compensation for the French nobleman who claimed them. A new Spanish governor is appointed, and the French vacate the islands.

• 9:09Speaker 03

  But though the British do not give up so easily, they withdraw their garrison in 1774 for economic reasons, leaving behind a plaque that asserts their claim.

• 9:22Speaker 03

  Professor Sir Lawrence Friedman is the official historian of the Falklands Campaign.

• 9:27Speaker 04

  Various countries made various claims to the island. They were basically part of the Spanish Latin American Empire. When that started to collapse and what became Argentina was independent from Spain, they believed that this was theirs and semi-occupied it. It was very unclear exactly who was there for how long. And then in January 1833, in an incident which also involved the Americans, basically the Royal Navy expelled the Argentine garrison, such as it was, and occupied it and stayed there ever since.

• 10:07Speaker 03

  From 1833, Britain takes control of the islands and a small, permanent colony begins to take shape.

• 10:15Speaker 03

  The islanders make their living as whalers, sealers and sheep farmers, while the capital, Port Stanley, serves as a vital stopover for ships preparing to navigate the treacherous Cape Horn at the southern tip of the Americas. The islanders see themselves as British, though Argentina never fully surrenders its claim.

• 10:37Speaker 03

  Nothing much changes in the Falklands, the lives of the villagers adhering to the natural rhythms of the seasons. But even here, hundreds of miles from the nearest neighbour, the devastation left behind by the Second World War changes everything. The conflict redraws the map of the world, leaving old colonial empires diminished.

• 10:59Speaker 03

  As the tide of decolonisation sweeps through the world, Argentina seizes the moment, bringing the Falklands dispute back out of obscurity and onto the world stage. Because for Argentina, the Falkland Islands are more than just territory. They are a symbol of national pride.

• 11:19Speaker 03

  At the United Nations in New York, Argentina's diplomats argue before the General Assembly that the Islas Malvinas are a colonial leftover that must be decolonized by returning them to Argentine hands. In 1965, the UN's Resolution 2065 recognizes that a sovereignty dispute exists and urges negotiation.

• 11:43Speaker 03

  Diplomacy begins, but matters are not helped in September 1966 when a group of armed youths called the New Argentina Movement hijack a plane and land it on the islands. There, the rebels wave their flag in a brief, symbolic act of defiance.

• 12:01Speaker 04

  In the 1960s, when decolonization was the rage, the British were quite keen to find a way of transferring sovereignty to the Argentinians, who clearly wanted it. And they thought they'd reached an agreement in the late 1960s, 68. But there was a rebellion against this in the House of Commons on the grounds that the people who were living there didn't want to be part of Argentina, they wanted to be part of the United Kingdom. And at that point, a promise was made to the islanders that sovereignty would not be transferred or changes to their status would not be agreed against their wishes. Now, if they'd said against their interests, that would have allowed all sorts of possibilities about how you construct their interests. But once you said wishes,

• 12:46Speaker 04

  it effectively gave them a veto over whether they should have their sovereignty transferred or not.

• 12:58Speaker 00

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• 13:27Speaker 03

  The decade ends, and the talks are still getting nowhere. Even any ideas for power-sharing plans are met with strong resistance from the islanders, who refuse to consider any deal that would make them Argentine.

• 13:41Speaker 03

  The islands are now home to around fewer than 2,000 residents, living mostly in small settlements, with the largest concentration in the capital, Stanley. Life is almost entirely rural, dominated by farming, with hundreds of thousands of sheep and five species of penguins, who vastly outnumber their human neighbours.

• 14:03Speaker 03

  Another idea, mooted during negotiations, is that of paying each islander to move to New Zealand. But again, this one doesn't get off the ground. The islanders call instead for full British citizenship, which London hesitates to grant.

• 14:22Speaker 03

  By the 1970s, Britain is growing weary of its remaining colonies and the costs of keeping them, especially in a recession. And so it quietly begins looking for ways to lessen its overseas commitments.

• 14:35Speaker 04

  In 1971, the British persuaded the Argentinians that maybe the best way to handle this was just to improve communications between the mainland and the island, so establish an air bridge and a sea bridge, so get access to hospitals, to get easier food supplies and medicines, whatever. And this was agreed, the communications agreement was agreed. But it didn't particularly turn into greater enthusiasm to be part of the mainland.

• 15:06Speaker 03

  By the mid-1970s, Argentina has other things on its plate. After the death of her husband Juan Peron in July 1974, Isabel Peron assumes the presidency, a role she struggles to fill.

• 15:20Speaker 03

  Inflation soars, strikes grip the cities, and political violence rages between left-wing guerrillas and right-wing death squads. The military, firmly on the right, sees itself as the guardian of national order and grows impatient.

• 15:38Speaker 03

  Then, on March 24, 1976, the armed forces move in. Isabel Peron is removed from office and taken into custody. The coup installs a far-right three-man junta, or military group, headed by General Jorge Rafael Videla. The junta launches what it calls the "national reorganization process", promising to restore stability and eliminate left-wing subversion. In reality, they create one of the darkest dictatorships in Latin American history: the era of the Dirty War,

• 16:16Speaker 03

  in which the regime wages a brutal campaign against its own people. The same year, Argentina establishes an unauthorized, though unopposed, presence in the South Sandwich Islands, around 800 miles southeast of the Falklands. Thousands of miles away, in Britain, 1979 sees Margaret Thatcher, the daughter of a grocer, become the nation's first female prime minister. With her blue suits, pearls, and resolute poise, she has already won a reputation for steely conviction, promising tough economic reforms and a firm hand against strikes and public unrest.

• 17:00Speaker 04

  When the Thatcher government came in in 1979, the Foreign Office managed to persuade them that it was probably unwise to leave this too long and should try and do a deal. And they did agree a sort of deal with the junta, which involved leaseback, that is, the British would transfer sovereignty, but then sort of lease the islands back so that the population could carry on as they were. And this seemed sensible enough, but there were obvious problems. First, how long would the leaseback be? Secondly, could Argentina put its own people on the islands as the freeholder? And third, what about the wishes of the islanders? Going back to the 1968 commitment.

• 17:42Speaker 04

  So what happened was that the minister in charge in the Foreign Office, Nicklaus Ridley, went to the Falklands in late 1980 and was somehow trying to convince the islanders that it would be their idea to go for leaseback and they weren't at all convinced. And even less so was the Commons convinced when Ridley came back and tried to explain what he was up to. So effectively, negotiations ended at this point, at the end of 1918.

• 18:12Speaker 03

  By the early 1980s, Argentina's ruling junta is faltering and the economy is in freefall. Public trust in the leadership has also collapsed, not least thanks to years of so-called disappearances, in which anyone considered subversive is at risk of abduction and murder at the hands of the government.

• 18:33Speaker 03

  Into this turmoil steps General Leopoldo Galtieri. Energetic and impulsive, he is convinced that bold action can restore Argentina's prestige.

• 18:45Speaker 04

  And a new junta was formed in late 81 with General Galtieri, the army chief, in charge. But one of the key figures was Admiral Anaya, who was a navy chief who'd spent some time in the UK as a naval attache. And that hadn't unfortunately made him an Anglophile. And he made it a condition of joining the junta that they had to go to retrieve the Falklands. And the date they had in mind, and this is why the relevance of 1833, was January 1983, 150th anniversary of what they thought was the illegal British seizure.

• 19:23Speaker 03

  Meanwhile, in Britain, Margaret Thatcher's government faces its own troubles with recession and unrest. Galtieri and Anaya believe that in the current circumstances, their plan to retrieve the Falklands could be achievable.

• 19:37Speaker 04

  So, they developed a plan, once in government, which involved testing the British to see if they would agree a process to transfer sovereignty peacefully. And if this wasn't forthcoming, they would go back to the General Assembly in late 1982. And if still nothing was going on, then they would invade. So that was the plan with which they entered 1982. So what then happened was negotiations did in fact take place in New York between a British-Argentinian delegation. And they were actually quite amicable. The Argentinians pushed a bit and the British pushed back. But the hunter was pretty cross with what their Foreign Ministry had done. So they sort of disavowed the communique which came out of that.

• 20:22Speaker 04

  And that started ringing alarm bells in London that maybe something was up. And meetings were called and studies commissioned and so on. But before all that could happen, there was an incident in South Georgia.

• 20:38Speaker 03

  A remote, British-administered territory, South Georgia, is located about 800 miles southeast of the Falkland Islands. Though it has no permanent residents, it has a temporary population who work at research stations, such as those run by the British Antarctic Survey.

• 20:56Speaker 03

  In March 1982, a scrap metal merchant hired to clear an old whaling station arrives with help from Argentinian marines, who erect the country's flag on the island.

• 21:10Speaker 03

  When the British researchers discover them, London demands their withdrawal. Although the Argentines lower the flag, they don't leave, creating a tense diplomatic standoff. A small detachment of Royal Marines is sent to maintain a British presence, but the matter remains unresolved.

• 21:30Speaker 03

  Amid reports from London suggesting Britain may soon reinforce its South Atlantic defences, the Argentine junta sees a window of opportunity.

• 21:39Speaker 04

  And at this point, the junta decided to bring forward their plan. So the plan that they were going to implement later in the year, they were going to implement now. And they did so because of various leaks and news reports and so on from London, which persuaded them that those who wanted to hold on to the islands were going to press the British to strengthen their military position in the South Atlantic, so it would become much harder later in the year to take the islands back. So they were reinforced in this by an assumption the British just wouldn't bother, I mean as soon as they landed and clearly were in position, the British would accept the position.

• 22:19Speaker 03

  But in this belief, the junta is gravely mistaken.

• 22:25Speaker 03

  As Argentina moves its forces into position, British intelligence picks up warnings of an imminent invasion of the Falklands. In London, Thatcher convenes her ministers and officials to confront the unfolding crisis. But the meeting is interrupted by the arrival of Sir Henry Leach, first Sea Lord.

• 22:45Speaker 04

  He walked into this meeting because he'd seen the intelligence and realised what they might be discussing, and he explained that it would be possible to send a task force. Now, this is not at all what the Argentinians expected. I mean, they'd made a error here in that if they'd stuck with their original plan, it would have been far harder to assemble the task force later in the year because the previous year, 1981, a British defence review had recommended all sorts of cuts in the Royal Navy. But as it happened, a lot of the navy was at sea, some exercises in Gibraltar, it was Easter, a lot of the Marines and parachutists that were going to be sent were easily available.

• 23:24Speaker 03

  Even so, any plans they make in London now would be too late to prevent the invasion from happening 8,000 miles away.

• 23:35Speaker 03

  On the morning of the 2nd of April, Argentine ships carrying several thousand troops close in on the islands. Landing at key points across East Falkland, they begin to disembark. In Stanley, a small British garrison of just 68 Royal Marines prepares to defend the seat of colonial administration, Government House, home of the island's governor Rex Hunt. But they know the odds are against them. At around 6:30, Lieutenant Commander Pedro Edgardo Giacchino leads an Argentine assault on Government House. Gunfire erupts as the defenders fire from windows and sandbag positions.

• 24:18Speaker 03

  Giacchino is hit at the entrance and later dies of his wounds. For over two hours, the outnumbered Marines hold their ground. But at 9:30 in the morning, the British garrison surrenders. In total, four Argentinians die in the battle, with one British non-commissioned officer badly wounded. The Union Jack is lowered, and Argentine forces take control of Stanley. Dressed in full uniform, Rex Hunt departs for the airport, stopping briefly at the local radio station to record a farewell message to the islanders.

• 24:59Speaker 03

  The short, defiant stand is over, but the conflict for the Falklands has only just begun. President Geltieri appoints General Mario Menendez as the new governor of the islands and commander of the Argentinian force deployed to defend them. Meanwhile, the Falkland islanders adapt to the new situation.

• 25:22Speaker 04

  They weren't brutalized. We're talking about a very small population at the time, barely 1,800 people. It wasn't a big urban conurbation, one major town, capital, Port Stanley, and then settlements around the islands. So a lot of them moved out of Stanley, some moved out of the Falklands if they could, and they learned to cope. They listened to their radios and worked out what was going on. So, as well as they could, they got on with their lives.

• 25:56Speaker 03

  The next day, South Georgia also falls after a brief fierce clash.

• 26:03Speaker 03

  News of the victory reaches Buenos Aires, where crowds flood the streets waving blue and white flags, singing and cheering. To many Argentines, it feels like a moment of national redemption. The Malvinas are finally theirs.

• 26:24Speaker 00

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• 26:54Speaker 03

  Forewarned of the Argentine invasion, Margaret Thatcher convenes her war cabinet.

• 27:01Speaker 03

  Within days, a Royal Navy task force is assembled, eventually numbering some 127 ships, including the aircraft carriers HMS Hermes and HMS Invincible. Meanwhile, on April 3, 1982, the UN Security Council demands Argentina's immediate withdrawal. When diplomacy fails, Britain commits to retaking the islands by force. On April 5, the fleet sails from Portsmouth. It is the largest British naval deployment since the Second World War.

• 27:37Speaker 03

  Yet, for some in Britain, the very existence of the Falklands comes as a surprise.

• 27:44Speaker 03

  Often mistakenly located off the coast of Scotland, the island's position and history are now explained in the press, as newspapers seek to educate a curious public.

• 27:56Speaker 03

  Even in Argentina, reactions are mixed. The Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges later dismisses the conflict as a quarrel between two bald men over a comb.

• 28:09Speaker 03

  As the British navy powers south towards the Falklands, diplomacy continues, in the hope of brokering a settlement before the fighting begins. For a time, there seems to be movement, but though the British are willing to make significant concessions, the gap between the two sides remains too wide.

• 28:29Speaker 03

  The Argentine insistence that negotiations focus solely on the transfer of sovereignty is something Britain can't accept, especially now that the islanders themselves, shaken by invasion, are more determined than ever to remain British. So it is that as the prospect of a diplomatic solution fades, the path to war becomes inevitable.

• 28:54Speaker 03

  On April 25, 1982, British forces recapture South Georgia. But there's still 800 miles to go, and retaking the Falkland Islands won't be so easy. When it finally reaches its destination at the end of April, the task force will be operating nearly 8,000 miles from home. It's very different for the Argentinians, who are just 300 miles away, are a mere stone's throw in comparison.

• 29:22Speaker 04

  So the biggest problems the British were going to face was they were a long way from home and they were vulnerable to attack, possibly by Argentine submarines, certainly by Argentine aircraft. So the original plan when they arrived was that Admiral Woodward, in charge of the task force, gave the impression that the British were going to land on the islands to draw the Argentinians out, which worked. So there were a number of air encounters during the day which demonstrated that the UK Harrier aircraft probably had superiority over the Argentinian aircraft. But the Argentine fleet came out as well,

• 30:07Speaker 04

  and this led to one of the most significant encounters of the war.

• 30:16Speaker 03

  Since April the 12th, a maritime exclusion zone has been imposed by the British around the Falklands. Any Argentine naval vessel entering the zone can be attacked, though any vessel believed to pose a threat beyond it also risks engagement. But as the task force arrives, the area is upgraded to a total exclusion zone. Two hundred nautical miles in radius, uncovering all Argentine forces: ships, submarines, and aircraft. On May the 1st, the South Atlantic becomes a chessboard of ships and submarines. With the British inside the total exclusion zone,

• 30:56Speaker 03

  Argentine Admiral Juan Lombardo orders his naval forces to attack any units of the British task force they spot.

• 31:04Speaker 03

  His cruiser, the General Belgrano, moves from the south, while the carrier Ventis Cinco de Mayo advances from the north.

• 31:13Speaker 03

  Deep below the surface, the nuclear-powered submarine HMS Conqueror picks up the Belgrano group and begins to track it.

• 31:22Speaker 03

  But above sea level, Admiral John Woodward, commanding the main British fleet, can't find the Ventis Cinco de Mayo, which was earlier observed from the air.

• 31:33Speaker 03

  On the Argentine side, both naval groups are ordered to maintain holding positions. But Woodward fears a trap.

• 31:41Speaker 04

  Admiral Woodward thought he was going to be caught in a pinous movement because he knew that the Conqueror was tailing the Belgrano group. The other submarines hadn't been able to find the carrier group, but he knew it was coming because an aircraft had spotted them. So Woodward asked for the Conqueror to be able to attack the Belgrano. He couldn't order them to do so. The Conqueror was controlled from the UK headquarters in London, and anyway you needed to change the rules of engagement once again to allow the carrier to be attacked, because although it initially had seemed to be going into the exclusion zone, it was skirting it.

• 32:21Speaker 03

  Communications, however, are painfully slow. The submarine's antennae are far from reliable, as are the long-range radio signals that must carry messages across thousands of miles.

• 32:33Speaker 04

  Eventually, hours and hours after the original crisis, which had encouraged Woodward to ask for the conqueror to attack the Belgrano, it did attack and sank the Belgrano with a considerable loss of life. This created a great scandal because after the war, there were all sorts of conspiracy theories about why it was done. It was really about trying to stop diplomacy or anything. It wasn't anything like that. It was simply about the problems of communication over these distances at that time. These days, it would be extremely easy, but in those days, it was all very difficult.

• 33:12Speaker 03

  Three hundred and twenty-three men die with the sinking of the General Belgrano, the largest number killed in any single event during the conflict. Despite the loss of life, back in the UK, the Sun newspaper leads with the gleeful headline "Gotcha", and the attack sparks international controversy, with debates over its legality rippling across the world.

• 33:37Speaker 03

  Argentina's fleet retreats, but its air force continues to harass British ships, striking from the air whenever they can.

• 33:45Speaker 03

  Then, on May the 4th, the British destroyer HMS Sheffield is hit by an Exocet missile launched from an Argentine plane. Twenty sailors die instantly. It is the first British ship lost in combat since the Second World War, and a sign that the battle for the Falklands is far from over.

• 34:08Speaker 03

  After the sinking of the Belgrano, a new attempt at diplomacy begins. UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuéllar, a skilled negotiator from Peru, steps in to broker a peace agreement. But while talks continue, the British press on with their preparations.

• 34:28Speaker 03

  It's decided that the main amphibious landing will take place at Port San Carlos, on the north-western coast of East Falkland. With the Argentines expecting a landing near Stanley, this quieter spot gives the British the best chance to get ashore quickly.

• 34:45Speaker 04

  The problem was with San Carlos was it was just in range of the mainland so the Argentine aircraft could attack it, and they did. And you had a few days of very intensive attacks on the task force, which a number of ships were lost or badly damaged. It could have been worse because there were problems with the fusing of some of the Argentine bombs, but it was difficult enough. And it led to the British having to do a lot of the unloading at night and move backwards and forwards.

• 35:18Speaker 03

  As British forces land from May the 21st onwards, Argentine aircraft launch relentless attacks. The waters around San Carlos Bay soon earned the grim nickname "Bomb Alley". Amid these assaults, tragedy strikes the British with the loss of the Atlantic conveyor, a vital supply ship carrying helicopters and essential equipment. Its destruction proves critical. Without those aircraft, British troops must make the long, grueling march across East Falkland to Stanley on foot.

• 35:58Speaker 03

  Nevertheless, the task force manages to land some 4,000 troops at San Carlos and elsewhere on East Falkland. Now, on land, they prepare to face the larger, but mostly conscripted, Argentinian army. As the British troops march east, their first major land battle erupts at Goose Green, a small settlement slightly off the main route to Port Stanley. There, around 1,200 Argentine soldiers hold the settlement of just over 100 inhabitants, imprisoning many of them in the village hall.

• 36:34Speaker 04

  There was quite a substantial Argentinian garrison there. It could have been ignored, but politically, and I think there was a case militarily, it was quite important to show that it was possible to defeat the Argentinian forces in a direct fight. The problem was that the British had underestimated the size of the Argentinian garrison. They didn't send quite enough troops there. The colonel in charge, this was the Tucpara, was H. Jones, who was a very aggressive, tough-minded soldier. So he was sort of prepared to go on.

• 37:10Speaker 03

  The Battle of Goose Green becomes the first major land battle on Falkland soil. It is a short clash, but a turning point in the war.

• 37:25Speaker 03

  It is the evening of May the 28th in Goose Green, the small village on the narrow strip of land that connects the northern and southern parts of East Falkland. A mild, clear evening soon gives way to driving rain.

• 37:41Speaker 03

  From the upstairs room of his home, Eric Goss, a farm manager, has a ringside view of the fighting. The flat, wind-swept farmland stretches out beneath their window, dotted with low-slung buildings. On this narrow isthmus, they are never far from water.

• 37:59Speaker 03

  Shells explode at regular intervals from the ships in Grantham Sound in the west, sending shockwaves through the ground. Flares streak across the sky, and moments later, the sharp report of gunfire rattles through the darkness.

• 38:16Speaker 03

  At around 4:00 in the morning, he thinks he catches glimpses of Argentine troops retreating, though the exact course of the battle remains obscure.

• 38:25Speaker 03

  Now, Eric joins his wife, sons, and a few other friends and relatives downstairs, retreating into the safety of the shelters they've cut into the floor in the building's foundations.

• 38:37Speaker 03

  The only person who stays put is 82-year-old Nan McCullum, who rests swaddled in a den of mattresses and blankets designed to keep her safe from falling debris.

• 38:50Speaker 03

  Eric manages to snatch a little sleep, but at 7:30, he is jolted awake by something that sounds alarmingly like someone trying to force their way into the house. At first, everything seems to be secure. Then comes the crash of breaking glass in the pantry.

• 39:07Speaker 03

  Jumping to his feet, Eric rushes out to find a disheveled young Argentinian conscript, frantically scooping powdered milk into his mouth.

• 39:17Speaker 03

  Through gestures, the man makes it clear he is unarmed and starving.

• 39:24Speaker 03

  As a compromise, Eric leads him outside to the garage behind the house, where a sheep's carcass hangs. It is food meant for Eric's dog, but the soldier gratefully hacks off several chunks, then produces a field cooker from his pack and immediately sets to work preparing the meat. Eric doesn't intervene. Instead, he works quickly to patch up the shattered window, anxious to prevent any more intrusions.

• 39:51Speaker 03

  After checking on Nan McCollum, Eric joins the other nine members of the household in the shelter beneath the floor. Many uncomfortable hours pass.

• 40:03Speaker 03

  At around 10 o'clock that night, a loud knocking breaks the uneasy quiet.

• 40:10Speaker 03

  Eric goes to the door, and three Argentine soldiers push their way inside. Under the harsh electric light, they look filthy and exhausted. A friend of Eric's steps forward to translate. The soldiers say they want to call a meeting and to make contact with the British forces. It is the first clear sign that the Argentines are surrendering.

• 40:36Speaker 03

  After two grueling days of fighting at Goose Green, the British forces finally triumph, but not before Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Jones falls leading his men. His bravery will earn him a posthumous Victoria Cross.

• 40:51Speaker 04

  So Goose Green fell, and from that point on, I think the British had the morale advantage, that although it was going to be difficult, it was pretty clear that the professionalism of the forces, they were quite well-led. It's not a case of the Argentinians being conscripts and cowardly or anything. They fought quite bravely. Be wrong to say that, but they weren't particularly well-led. And basic things like doing patrolling to make sure they knew where the British were and how they were coming, they didn't do very much of that.

• 41:24Speaker 00

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• 41:54Speaker 03

  After the victory at Goose Green, the British continue their long advance east towards Port Stanley. The terrain of East Falkland is bleak and unforgiving, with wet peat bogs, treeless hills, and biting winds.

• 42:11Speaker 03

  With most of their helicopters lost with the Atlantic conveyor, many men must march the 56 miles on foot, carrying heavy packs through mud and rain.

• 42:21Speaker 04

  So you then had a number of days whereby the British essentially had to find a way across the island, which they did, by hopping over Mount Kent and then moving forward. Meanwhile, reinforcements arrived on the QE2, so there was another brigade available. And this other brigade moved around the coast so that they were going to be attacking Stanley from another direction.

• 42:48Speaker 03

  On June 8, at Bluff Cove on the east coast of East Falkland, Argentine aircraft attacks the British ships Sir Galahad and Sir Tristram, carrying reinforcements for the push towards the capital.

• 43:02Speaker 03

  The attack is devastating.

• 43:05Speaker 03

  While Sir Tristram is damaged, on Sir Galahad, the bombing causes a fire leading to a massive explosion when its ammunition ignites. Many men are trapped below decks, others leap into the sea to escape the flames. In total, 51 British servicemen are killed, most of them from the Welsh Guards, and many more are badly burned.

• 43:29Speaker 03

  Sir Galahad is later towed out to sea and sunk as a war grave. For the British, it is one of the darkest moments of the campaign.

• 43:40Speaker 03

  But there is still work to be done. The British launch night assaults on key hills surrounding Stanley, with fighting at close quarters in mud and darkness.

• 43:51Speaker 04

  When you read about the battles, they talk about Tumble Down Mountain and so on. They're not mountains at all, they're large hills. But they were quite well defended. And so there are a series of battles, sort of 13th, 14th of June we're now at, with different high ground surrounding Stanley being taken, with some quite tough fighting.

• 44:14Speaker 03

  The final chapter of the Falklands War unfolds on June the 14th. As Stanley is surrounded, the battered Argentine garrison inside the capital is starting to run out of options. Ammunition is running low, supplies have dwindled, and morale is collapsing under the pressure. Argentine units begin pulling back, with some soldiers abandoning positions and surrendering as the British advance.

• 44:41Speaker 03

  By afternoon, Argentine commander General Mario Menendez faces an unavoidable truth: Further resistance will only bring needless loss of life. That evening, in a subdued room, he signs a document of surrender and hands it to Major General Jeremy Moore. It ends 74 days of fighting.

• 45:03Speaker 04

  So it was really quite a short war, and quite a clear-cut ending. And partly that was because, for both sides, it was difficult to get people there. So it wasn't, you know, one of these conflicts where you can keep on pouring people in to continue the fight. You basically had to fight with what you had already taken with you. And that meant that the war came to a pretty natural conclusion.

• 45:26Speaker 03

  In the days after the surrender, 11,313 Argentinians are moved to the jetties to be loaded aboard British ships for repatriation. When they eventually reach the mainland, they will receive a miserable welcome. For the British troops, the arrival home is quite different.

• 45:49Speaker 03

  It is July the 21st, 1982.

• 45:53Speaker 03

  The great bulk of the aircraft carrier HMS Hermes moves slowly up the Solent, the narrow strip of water separating the Isle of Wight from the English south coast.

• 46:04Speaker 03

  The flagship of the Falklands Campaign, she dwarfs the scores of yachts and fishing boats that accompany her towards Portsmouth. Her grey hull towers above them like a moving wall, the flight deck lined with sea Harrier jets and Sea King helicopters.

• 46:22Speaker 03

  The crews are out in uniform, their white caps almost glowing against the carrier's grey hull as they stand to attention along the ship's perimeter. By the starboard rail, standing with his hands behind his back, a leading seaman watches the mist lift over Portsmouth Harbour. After weeks of the cold southern seas, this is his first glimpse of home in months.

• 46:47Speaker 03

  The roar of a flypast greets them overhead, and HMS Hermes answers with a seventeen-gun salute, a rare honour reserved for only the most special occasions.

• 46:59Speaker 03

  Across the water, HMS Dolphin, the shore-based submarine school, returns the salute in kind.

• 47:08Speaker 03

  The ship sounds her horn as she nears the narrow entrance to Portsmouth Harbour. In the distance, carried faintly over the waves, comes the music of the Royal Marines Band welcoming the sailors home.

• 47:21Speaker 03

  At last, HMS Hermes glides between the twin points of the harbour entrance, Fort Blockhouse to Port, and the round tower to Starboard. Then the narrow channel opens into the calm waters beyond.

• 47:35Speaker 03

  Now, the sound of the crowd on the quayside intensifies. The leading seaman scans the assembled masses, but they are far too dense and numerous for him to catch a glimpse of his wife and infant daughter just yet. Standing shoulder to shoulder, thousands of well-wishers wave their Union flags and homemade welcome signs, shouting and cheering for their returning heroes of the Falklands Campaign.

• 48:03Speaker 03

  The leading seaman can't help smiling. For the first time in weeks, the tension in his chest begins to ease. They've made it. They are home. But as the ship slows, his thoughts turn to his best friend. When they performed this ritual of lining the deck, known as manning the rail, on the way out in April, the two men had stood proudly side by side. But today, the man to his right is a sailor he barely knows. He thinks of the awful afternoon when his friend lost his life, and the promise he'd made to buy the first round once they were home, which will now never be kept.

• 48:44Speaker 03

  One last fly past rolls overhead as the carrier glides towards the dock. The crowds cheers, thunder across the water. Cameras flash from the shore, children wave furiously. The leading seaman lifts a hand in return, forcing himself to smile despite his heavy heart, and murmuring a promise under his breath to his fallen friend, that he will never be forgotten.

• 49:14Speaker 03

  A total of 907 lives are lost during the Falklands War: 649 Argentine soldiers, 255 British troops, and three islanders. But though many of those who survive now face long years of psychological trauma, the conflict becomes a turning point in the recognition of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. Attitudes towards the condition begin to change, and veterans of the campaign will be the last generation for whom the condition goes unrecognized, and to begin with at least, untreated. The Falkland Islands remains under British sovereignty to this day, and are defended by a permanent garrison.

• 49:59Speaker 03

  But though the war is over, its consequences will be felt for years to come.

• 50:06Speaker 04

  In Britain, it sort of made Margaret Thatcher. I mean, the Conservative Party was just recovering in the polls after some pretty tough economic times before the war. It was just starting to recover. So it wasn't the war that completely reversed their fortunes, but it gave Thatcher an enormous boost and strengthened her own position. Because she'd taken some big risks. I mean, it was a big call to send the task force to go to war in this way and sort of work for her. So it was one reason why the 1980s and into the 1990s, there was continuous Conservative government in the UK.

• 50:45Speaker 03

  In Argentina, things take a very different course. General Galtieri is forced from office on June 17, 1982, three days after the conflict ends. The junta collapses the following year, by which time it has been responsible for the disappearance of as many as 30,000 of its own citizens.

• 51:07Speaker 04

  So it was good for Argentina in that sense. I mean, if you're going to have a military dictatorship and they get involved in seizing territory and then they fail to hold it, that's not very good advert for the military. And they weren't very popular anyway. I mean, they were accused of gross human rights violations. So you've got a democratic government, didn't you still? It's quite tumultuous Argentinian politics, but you still have democratic government.

• 51:35Speaker 03

  For the Falklanders, the war, in some ways, improves their position. The uncertainty over the island's future and the economic decline that caused depopulation is to some extent reversed. After the war, the population roughly doubles and the Falklands become viable once again. The residents are able to register as full British citizens, securing the right to live and work in the UK and reinforcing their connection to Britain.

• 52:05Speaker 03

  A brief, but intense conflict. The Falklands War of 1982 left deep scars on both nations. Yet in some ways, the dispute between Britain and Argentina remains unresolved. The Argentinian people continue to call the islands Las Malvinas and assert that they rightfully belong to them.

• 52:27Speaker 04

  If they hadn't invaded, you can at least speculate that by now the islands would be Argentinian because they weren't wholly viable before 1982. The economy was not good. The youngsters were leaving. Population was going down. At some point, they just wouldn't have been viable. And it wasn't necessarily that far away. But because of the invasion and the British commitment, they became viable. So that's sort of one of the paradoxes of this episode. It's best not to be too impatient.

• 53:02Speaker 03

  Next time on Short History of, we'll bring you a short history of the Silk Roads.

• 53:09Speaker 02

  And everywhere is about how you rebuild the Silk Roads and those connections, partly because it speaks of past glories. But there is something also more real about how do people cooperate? And that that language of religion, of different ethnicities, of commonalities, of trade. Everybody's a winner because this is something that is our great legacy to the world. So, you know, I think there's lots of ways in which that history is alive and well and really important to tap into today, to understand it today.

• 53:38Speaker 03

  That's next time.

• 53:42Speaker 03

  If you can't wait a week until the next episode, you can listen to it right away by subscribing to Noiser Plus. Head to www.noiser.com/subscriptions for more information.

• 53:53Speaker 00

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