Page 33 - History of War - Issue 10-14

FALKLANDS: THATCHER’S WAR

1MAY,1982
THE FIGHTING SHIPS ARRIVE
Rear Admiral Sandy Woodward arrives with
the two carriers, plus various destroyers
and frigates. His mission is to establish
PORTSMOUTH controloftheseaandtheairaround
the Falkland Islands in order to prepare
the ground for the invasion force. This is
following closely behind, but remaining out
ofrangeofArgentina’sairforce.
2MAY1982
BELGRANO SUNK
The nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror
hasbynowbeenintheSouthAtlantic
fortwoweeks.AstheTaskForceheads
south, its commander reports there are six
ships heading its way that could possibly
damage the carriers. He asks permission
to engage and sinks the Belgrano just over
200 miles east of the Falklands.
4MAY1982
HMSSHEFFIELDISSUNK President Galtieri and his generals may have had the
Inretaliationforthesinkingofthe uniformsandthemedals,butfewifanyweremilitary
Belgrano, the Argentine Air Force attack men with substantial combat experience
HMS Sheffield not far from where the
Argentinian cruiser was sunk. The destroyer storedbelowastheyshouldhavebeen,were
ishitbyanexocetmissile,whichdoesn’t rows of sea harriers and sea king helicopters
explodebutcausesafiretobreakout.20 –itwasThatcher’swayofshowingtheworld
men are killed in the blaze and the ship so Britain meant business.
badlydamagedshelatersinks. For many onboard, war seemed a remote
possibility. It would take three weeks for the
shipstocompletethe8,000-milevoyagetothe
bottom of the Earth and when they got there,
they fully expected the Argentinians to have
fled, scared off by Thatcher’s sabre-rattling.
Butasthenauticalmilesdriftedby,itwasclear
that Galtieri and Thatcher were in a standoff
ASCENSION andneitherwasgongtoblink.AUNSecurity
TASK FORCE BASE Council demand for Argentina to withdraw its
18MAY,1982 troops was ignored, while Haig’s diplomatic
THE INVASION FORCE ARRIVES mission was doing a great deal of travelling –
With the south-Atlantic winter getting bouncing between Buenos Aires and London
worse, and time running out, the invasion –butgettingnowhere.
isorderedwithouttheestablishmentofair While Reagan’s administration remained
superiority. After troops are landed at San outwardlycommittedtoadiplomaticsolution,
CarlosbayonEastFalkland,enemyaircraft Britain wasn’t without allies. Cold warrior,
attack their transport ships for four days. lifelong Anglophile and US Secretary of
Defence Caspar Weinberger believed that the
US needed to support its key NATO partner
or risk undermining the whole alliance in full
view of the world – particularly the watchful
Soviet Union – and was privately scornful of
Haig’s efforts. The level of approval Weinberger
received from the White House is still disputed,
buttheSecretaryfast-trackedaBritishorder
for the cutting-edge sidewinder missiles – the
latest in air-to-air warfare and Britain’s best
DARWIN - chance of cutting down Argentinian fighters
- STANLEY 25MAY,1982 before they let slip their deadly French-made
- THEATLANTICCONVEYORISSUNK exocet missiles. Thatcher observed in her
GOOSE GREEN JustoffSanCarlos,thecargoship memoirs that “America never had a wiser
bringing vital helicopters to the theatre of patriot,norBritainatruerfriend.”Shewasa
operations is sunk, transforming the war. true friend in return and in 1988 Weinberger
received a knighthood.
8JUNE,1982
BLUFFCOVEATTACK Adiplomaticdeadend
SOUTH GEORGIA Troopshipsrammedwith500meninBluff In London, Haig and his team met with
Coveareattackedfromtheair–50men Thatcher’s newly formed War Cabinet,
arekilled,another150wounded. comprised of her most trusted political and
military advisors, including the chief of the

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