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The Falklands War diary, 25 years later.

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  • #76
    Also had the Navy pilots and Air Force pilots talked with each other some things might have gone down differently.

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    • #77
      Originally posted by EUFighter View Post
      Also had the Navy pilots and Air Force pilots talked with each other some things might have gone down differently.
      Catastrophic, poisonous inter-service rivalry within the Argentine government was a significant (if by no means the only) driver for the invasion of the FI in the first place - if the various Argentine services had had good working relationships with each other the whole situation might never have arisen.

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      • #78
        A friend of a friend was one of the Harrier pilots down there who shot down a Skyhawk, one of three fleeing a raid. He was chasing the A-4, which was jinking wildly to evade and the Harrier couldn't get a lock with his missiles, so opened fire with his 30mm cannon. Between the A-4s manouvering and the turbulence from flying at low level, his shells were not hitting the A-4. He knew that he was running out of fuel and shells, as he could clearly see the rounds blasting the heather and he was about to give up firing the cannon and pull up for a missile shot when, at the very last second, the A-4 turned and ran right into a short burst of 30mm and immediately caught fire. The Harrier pilot instantly pulled up and broke away and the Skyhawk hit the ground and blew up, with no chance of the Argentinian ejecting. My friend said that the incident stuck with his friend right to this day and that the pilot was always mortified at having killed a man,even though it was a very intense war and he had fired at other aircraft and ground targets.

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        • #79
          Falkland Islands are now officially free of landmines -

          A UK-funded programme which started in 2009 has completed its dangerous mission to de-mine the Falkland Islands three years ahead of schedule.
          'History is a vast early warning system'. Norman Cousins

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          • #80
            Quite an achievement, given the terrain, and conditions, and the haphazard manner in which they were laid by Argentina.
            For now, everything hangs on implementation of the CoDF report.

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            • #81
              A lot of the mines had shifted from the action of the movement of sand and soil and were no longer confined to the boundaries of the declared minefields. They were also a nasty Italian mine which is designed to be difficult to defuse and resistant to explosive or vehicular demining.

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              • #82
                Tonight on Channel 4Falklands War: The Untold Story
                ”On the 40th anniversary of the conflict, senior commanders and ground troops reveal how a series of mistakes nearly cost Britain its hard-won victory over Argentina in the South Atlantic”
                Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum

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                • #83
                  It was quite revealing. The Bluff cove shambles was quite interesting. For many years after The 5 Brigade Commander was being blamed for what happened, however those in 5 Brigade knew who's fault it really was. Interestingly, Wilson was the only one of the Falkland Generals not knighted for his role in the Falklands. Goes without saying though, an Army Brig Gen does not have the power to decide to send 2 civilian crewed LSLs, loaded with troops & vital stores, to unload in daylight, within sight of enemy positions, without either Air Cover or Naval support. The Plan had been to do it with either or both RN LPDs, and transfer everyone ashore in LCU and LCVP, but someone decided against it, as on an earlier transfer, the Guards had not done well, and were rendered combat ineffective.
                  Unit rivalry almost cost them that war, as units raced to cross objectives and reach Stanley first.
                  For now, everything hangs on implementation of the CoDF report.

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                  • #84
                    Interesting series of Podcasts about the Falklands war, with some amazing interviews, for example the leader of the SBS team who were observing Argentine movements on Falklands, who came south aboard HMS Conqueror, and had to take over crew roles while on the journey south.

                    Battleground: The Falklands War - Hosted by Goalhanger Podcasts (acast.com)
                    For now, everything hangs on implementation of the CoDF report.

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                    • #85
                      As we reach the 40th anniversary of the final battles for the Island, BBC are showing an interesting series of interviews with Falkland veterans.
                      Our Falklands War: A Frontline Story
                      BBC2 at 2100
                      Forty years ago, British troops returned home victorious from a short and brutal war. This film is the story of ten ordinary men who fought on the front line alongside one another in the Falklands War.

                      Very little of the frontline fighting on the islands was captured on film. So if you want to know what the Falklands War was really like, you need to ask the men who fought it.

                      Tasked with liberating the Falkland Islands from Argentina, British troops set sail from England in April 1982, returning ten weeks later. In that time, their lives were changed forever.

                      In their own words, with unflinching honesty and detail – some speaking for the first time – their stories revisit some of the most dramatic, impactful, bloody and life-changing moments of the war. For these men, it remains as vivid as they day they fought it.
                      What I find interesting here is many of the lessons learnt during that conflict were passed on to us as recruits in the FCA (and PDF) of the 1980s. However, within a few years, it all went out the window, replaced by what had been learned during the First Gulf War, followed by the GWOT and the many overseas operations since.
                      Yet most of the weapons & equipment used in 1982 are still in frontline use today in the British Military (GPMG SF, M72 LAW, 81mm Mortar, CVR(T), Rapier, Gazelle Heli, Mexeflote). Equally hard to believe that the British army in 1982 did not have 12.7mm HMG available as a support weapon, (AA Mount only).and only realised the LAW and 84mm made good bunker busters by accident.
                      For now, everything hangs on implementation of the CoDF report.

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                      • #86
                        Most of the Argentinian trench systems were in a shambolic state because any trench cut in open ground usually filled with water and their kit had very little cold weather or waterproof gear, but the British did encounter some well-built linked bunkers that were reinforced with concrete and heaped over with rock and peat and some of them absorbed the 66mm LAW but were defeated by the Milan. What they also found was that the nearer sites to the capital or the airport had access to earth movers and concrete and wood and corrugated iron and stone and could build decent shelters but units positioned further out were living in very rough conditions and many of the conscripts were not used to such hard weather conditions.

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