1982 Falklands Peter and Dan Snow: 20th Century Battlefields



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In April 1982, an invasion by Argentina provoked

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one of the most ambitious military undertakings in British history.

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Britain sent a naval task force and 15,000 men

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to fight for a small group of islands on the edge of the Antarctic.

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Britain was at war with Argentina but the odds were spectacularly uneven.

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I'll look at the challenges that faced the British struggling to fight

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8,000 miles from home,

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while the Argentinians were fighting on their own doorstep.

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They had to fight up here in freezing conditions

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on exposed hilltops and across wide open ground.

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I'll experience how the British troops

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-used darkness to their advantage against a well defended enemy.

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In a way it was one of the most improbable conflicts ever.

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More than 30,000 men went to war over a group of barren and windswept islands,

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that were home to only 2,000 people.

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This is the story of the battle for the Falklands.

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This may look like a sleepy little seaside town somewhere in the British Isles.

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In fact, the United Kingdom is 8,000 miles away.

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These are the Falkland Islands, a remote British territory in the South Atlantic.

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The nearest mainland is Argentina, just 400 miles to the west.

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Life for the 2,500 people who live here is isolated,

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hardy and undisturbed, but in April 1982,

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all that changed, when these islands became the setting

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for the last invasion of British territory.

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On April 2nd 1982,

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about 100 Argentinian marines landed here on the Falklands.

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Their objective - to capture the capital, Stanley.

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They were the advance party.

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There were 2,000 more men on their way,

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but the job of these marines was to seize the town

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and force the British governor of the islands to surrender.

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Soon, the extraordinary news of the Argentinian invasion hit bulletins across the world.

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The Falkland Islands, the British colony in the South Atlantic

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has fallen, that's what Argentina is saying.

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It claims its marines went ashore as a spearhead this morning

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to capture key targets, including the capital Port Stanley.

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The Islands were defended by just 69 Royal Marines and the invading

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Argentinians in their hundreds overwhelmed this tiny force.

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They moved up here and surrounded Government House, demanding the surrender of the Falkland Islands.

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As Argentinian armoured vehicles rolled towards Government House, a fire fight broke out.

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Trapped inside, the British Governor, Rex Hunt,

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broadcast a defiant message on the local radio station.

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The invasion of the Falklands transformed a long-running dispute

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between Britain and Argentina into a major international crisis.

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For two centuries, both countries have claimed the Falklands.

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The Argentinians did control the Islands for nearly a decade

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until 1833, when the British expelled them.

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Britain has governed the Falklands ever since.

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The Argentinians call the islands the Malvinas, and they tried to persuade the British to give them up.

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Britain had long considered handing over this small relic of Empire to Argentina, but the Falkland Islanders

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liked their British identity and didn't want to give it up.

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It became clear to the British government

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that overriding the wishes of the islanders was out of the question.

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The people here wanted the Islands to stay British sovereign territory.

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This made agreement between Britain and Argentina almost impossible.

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Talks got nowhere and the future of the Falkland Islands remained in an uneasy deadlock.

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But in 1981, a new military government seized power in Argentina.

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At its head was the Army Commander, General Leopoldo Galtieri.

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His regime was a rule of terror, and the country's economy was collapsing.

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He badly needed to find a cause that would win his government popularity.

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There was one issue Galtieri knew his people cared passionately about -

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their claim to the Falkland Islands.

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Galtieri would unite the Argentinian nation by seizing the Falkland Islands from Britain by force.

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It looked like the perfect answer to his problems.

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And on April 2nd 1982,

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Galtieri's repossession of the Falklands was going exactly to plan.

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Within hours of landing, hundreds of Argentinian troops were all over Stanley.

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They had even seized the radio station.

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The Governor, Rex Hunt, had little choice but to surrender.

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He broadcast a final message to the islanders from Government House.

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The governor and the royal marines were escorted off the Islands and sent back to Britain.

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The civilians were left wondering what would happen next.

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We heard these tremendous bangs on the back door

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and there were shouts for us to come out.

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We had to go out and sit in the yard,

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and this Argentine was there with a machine gun trained on us.

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Mum thought we were going to be shot.

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8,000 miles from Britain, the islanders were left unprotected and isolated.

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CAR HORNS BLARE

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When the news of the British surrender hit Buenos Aires that afternoon, 200,000 Argentinians

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poured into the main square, wildly applauding the liberation of the Islas Malvinas.

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Galtieri's plan had worked.

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As the crowds celebrated, Galtieri was confident

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that Britain would not react. He assumed that because

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the distant Falklands was hardly a vital British interest, Britain would not fight for them.

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But Galtieri was making one crucial error. He'd seriously underestimated

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Britain's prime minister, Margaret Thatcher.

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In 1982, Britain's first female prime minister

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was governing a country in trouble.

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Britain was in recession, unemployment had just passed the three million mark,

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and there'd been some of the worst rioting of the 20th century.

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But Thatcher was a formidable character.

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She knew that to hesitate could spell doom for her unpopular government.

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She summoned parliament and gave a defiant response to Argentina's invasion.

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We are here because for the first time for many years,

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British sovereign territory has been invaded by a foreign power.

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The government has now decided that a large task force will sail

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as soon as all preparations are complete.

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HMS Invincible will be in the lead and will leave port on Monday.

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And so, in the spring of 1982, a British task force set sail.

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Ahead lay an 8,000-mile journey across the Atlantic Ocean to the Falkland Islands.

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In all, 93 ships would sail to the Falklands, a hastily gathered

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fleet of warships, supply ships, and even cruise liners like the QE2.

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At the heart of the fleet were two aircraft carriers - HMS Invincible and HMS Hermes.

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Hermes was the flagship and home to the Task Force Commander, Rear Admiral Sandy Woodward.

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Woodward's fleet would take three weeks to reach the Falklands.

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During that time, Britain would try for a diplomatic solution,

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but if that failed, the task force would have to go to war when it got there.

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By April 17th, the first wave of the task force had sailed

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right down into the South Atlantic and was just off Ascension Island,

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the nearest British base to the Falklands.

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There were still another 3,500 miles to the Falkland Islands themselves.

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The ships were in two groups. To the south was Woodward's naval fleet.

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This was the advance party, made up of two aircraft carriers and fighting ships that would

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battle for the control of the air and the sea around the Falkland Islands.

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Once they had gained air superiority,

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then the men carried in the second group of ships

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would launch an amphibious landing.

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The only way to win back the Falklands would be to have troops fighting on the ground there.

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As the fleet sailed south, United Nations and US diplomats tried for a peaceful settlement.

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But by April 30th, any hope of a diplomatic solution evaporated.

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Neither side would back down.

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Neither Britain nor Argentina had officially declared war but now war seemed inevitable.

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The Argentinian garrison of these islands watched the British military response to their invasion with

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growing concern. The race was now on to get organised and re-supplied before the British arrived.

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The Argentinian army did have some professional soldiers

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but the majority of its men were young conscripts.

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To strengthen its forces, the army recalled reservists, more experienced men who could

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stiffen the ranks of those who had just begun their military service.

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My commanding officer came on the radio at four o'clock in the morning

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and told me to wake up all the men.

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We had to be in the Malvinas in 36 hours.

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You could see that the soldiers felt very proud.

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By the end of April,

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there were 13,000 Argentinian troops on the Islands,

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and with them, their new commander.

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The man in charge was Brigadier General Mario Menendez.

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Menendez was a tough soldier who had made his name fighting rebels in remote parts of Argentina.

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He was quickly sworn in as the new governor of the Falklands.

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His first task was to prepare his defences.

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Strategically, Menendez's position was strong.

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As you can see, the Falkland Islands are about 400 miles from Argentina.

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That put the islands just within range

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of Argentina's air force, based on the mainland.

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The main two islands are West and East Falkland, each around 50 miles from end to end.

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Menendez positioned 2,000 of his men on West Falkland,

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1,000 men here at Goose Green,

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and about 10,000 in the hills to the west of Stanley.

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These hills were the Argentinians' last line of defence.

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But Menendez hoped his ground troops wouldn't have to fight at all.

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He planned to neutralise the British task force out at sea

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before they had a chance to set foot on land.

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The Argentinian air force was well trained and could launch

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high-performance fighter bombers from bases on the mainland.

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These aircraft could attack the task force once they were within range.

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Against this force, the British could only take as many fighters

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as they could fit onto their two aircraft carriers, that was just 34 planes.

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34 against nearly 100 Argentinian fighters.

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This small force was supposed to gain air superiority,

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protect the British fleet and prepare the way for the amphibious landings,

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all this from the confined flight decks of the two carriers

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as they ploughed through the heaving South Atlantic seas.

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It was an enormous challenge.

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On 1st May 1982, the battle for the Falklands began.

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The first clash between Britain and Argentina was in the air.

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But despite being the underdog, the British immediately showed

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they were a force to be reckoned with.

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There was one thing that the Argentinians hadn't expected.

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Britain's latest acquisition, the Sea Harrier.

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God, you can feel the power of that thing. It's unbelievable.

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That's what's required to get it off this tiny deck. Whoa!

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This aircraft was brand new, untested in combat when it was sent to the Falklands.

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Unique in its ability to take off and land vertically and operate from short runways,

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the Harrier quickly proved it was versatile and extremely reliable.

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And the Harrier had another killer advantage.

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It was armed with the latest air-to-air heat-seeking missile, called Sidewinder.

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Four Argentinian aircraft were shot down on the first day by Sidewinder. Another 15 would follow.

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The British seemed to be smashing the Argentinian air force, but they could only maintain

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their advantage in the air while their ships below remained safe.

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The most important ships in any naval task force are the aircraft carriers.

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If the carriers are lost, so too are their vital aircraft.

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The two aircraft carriers in the Falklands had to be protected at all costs, and although

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the action continued in the skies, the focus of the battle shifted to the rough seas of the South Atlantic.

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On 1st May, Woodward's main task force was 100 miles northeast of the Falklands.

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The British government had declared a 200-mile exclusion zone

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around the Islands and said it would attack anyone entering it.

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Up here, to the northwest, a cluster of Argentinian warships was approaching, among them

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the Argentinian flagship, the aircraft carrier, the Veinticinco de Mayo.

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She carried aircraft that would soon be within close range of the British fleet.

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But even more menacing, the British reckoned, was another group of ships to the south of the Falklands.

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A cruiser, the General Belgrano and two destroyers,

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which the British believed were armed with lethal Exocet missiles.

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These missiles could sink the British aircraft carriers if they got within range.

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The Royal Navy could not afford to risk an Exocet attack on its vital carriers.

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The loss of even one carrier and her combat aircraft could mean defeat.

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Without both, the British task force would have to withdraw from the fight completely.

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The Argentinians appeared to be threatening a pincer movement against the British fleet.

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The carrier, the Veinticinco de Mayo, from the north

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and the Belgrano group from the south.

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The Belgrano group was being tracked

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by a submerged British submarine, the Conqueror.

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Conqueror's captain feared that if the Belgrano turned north,

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it would move into these shallow waters.

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The Conqueror would struggle to track the ship in the shallow water

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and risked losing sight of it.

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The Belgrano might then head for the British fleet and put the task force in grave danger.

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Beneath the waves, Conqueror's commanding officer saw that the Belgrano was steering

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an erratic course just outside the exclusion zone.

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The situation was so critical that the Prime Minister herself was consulted.

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She gave the order to attack. The Conqueror launched its torpedoes.

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There were masses of injured men.

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Most of them had been burnt and there were men covered in oil.

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When I got to my life raft, I asked a sailor to come with me again

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and look for the people that were missing, including the commander.

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Within 45 minutes, the Belgrano had sunk.

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Immediately, the entire Argentinian navy,

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fearful of further submarine attacks, turned round and headed home.

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The British had scored a huge military success and Galtieri's plan seemed to be faltering.

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But he was still able to unleash the weapon the British feared most.

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The Argentinians had recently bought five air-launched Exocets.

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These half-ton missiles could seek out and destroy a ship

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from over 30 miles away.

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On the morning of 4th May, two Argentinian strike aircraft,

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each armed with an Exocet, took off from the mainland.

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On that particular day in 1982, Woodward posted three ships like this as his front line of defence.

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They were destroyers. HMS Coventry, HMS Glasgow and HMS Sheffield.

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They were armed with anti-aircraft missiles.

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These ships could shoot down aircraft,

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but they were unreliable against low altitude targets like Exocets.

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That morning, things had been relatively quiet for the British task force.

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Then, just before two o'clock, the Argentinian aircraft were picked up

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by the radar room on board HMS Glasgow.

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Glasgow immediately sent an urgent warning to all the other ships and went to full action stations herself.

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But 20 miles away, onboard HMS Sheffield,

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the scene couldn't have been more different.

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Here, the ops room wasn't fully manned

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and only part of the message from the Glasgow was picked up. But it was worse than that.

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At that exact moment, HMS Sheffield was using its satellite equipment

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to send a message back to Britain and that blocked its radar.

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The Sheffield couldn't see the Argentinian aircraft approaching.

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Back on the Glasgow, two fast moving dots, possible Exocet missiles,

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suddenly appeared on the radar screen and were closing in at 700mph.

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With a mixture of relief and horror,

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the captain of the Glasgow realised that the missiles

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were headed not for them, but straight for the Sheffield.

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HMS Sheffield was the first British ship to be destroyed by enemy action

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since the Second World War.

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Of the 281 men aboard, 20 were killed and 26 were wounded.

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Blood had now been shed on both sides of the conflict.

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By mid-May, the South Atlantic winter was closing in.

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Some Harriers had been lost in combat and now the bad weather was beginning to hinder the pilots.

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The success of the British plan relied on having complete control of the air

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to provide cover for landing the ground troops,

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but the British didn't have that cover and now time was running out.

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It was politically unthinkable to abandon the operation now,

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they would have to take the huge risk of putting in the ground troops without total air cover.

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On 18th May, the second wave of ships, including ferries

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and the cruise liner the Canberra, arrived just off the Falklands.

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On board was the amphibious landing force.

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The 3,000 men were a mixture of Royal Marine Commandos and Army Paratroopers

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and they were led by Brigadier Julian Thompson.

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Thompson was an experienced commander. He knew that his troops were vulnerable

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without air superiority, but the pressure of time meant the landings had to go ahead.

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The British had looked at all the landings site options

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on both West and East Falkland.

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Since Stanley over here was their ultimate target,

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it made sense to land here on East Falkland.

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They plumped for this natural harbour here at San Carlos Bay.

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It would be out of range of enemy artillery

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and was only very lightly defended,

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a great advantage for any amphibious landing.

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And here I am with San Carlos Bay behind me

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and that's the entrance over there,

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that's where the British landing force came in.

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These hills also offered Thompson's men and ships

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some protection against low level air attack, but there was one problem with this landing site.

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It was a long way from San Carlos here across to the spot

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where Thompson knew the decisive battle would be fought.

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Here in the strongly defended mountains just west of Stanley.

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Between the two was 50 miles of difficult country.

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Thompson planned to move his landing force right across the island

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with a shipment of helicopters that were due to arrive any day.

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But now the priority was to get his men on dry land as soon as possible.

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In the early hours of 21st May,

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3,000 British troops headed for the landing beaches.

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Each man carried his rifle, ammunition and enough rations

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for two days. This was the moment they'd been waiting for, for weeks.

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Once ashore, the British troops made their way up into the hills and dug themselves into strong positions.

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One unit, the second battalion of the Parachute Regiment, known as 2 Para,

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were based up here on the Sussex Mountains overlooking the bay.

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It was just a question of time before the Argentinians arrived.

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The men braced themselves for an air attack.

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Then, at 10.30, all hell broke loose.

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The Argentinian High Command sent in wave after wave of their fighter bombers from the mainland.

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For five hours, these aircraft bombed and strafed the fleet sitting in the bay.

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The surrounding hills made it almost impossible for the ships' radars to detect the enemy aircraft,

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so the British were unable to get a fix on the attacking planes until it was too late.

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From these positions up here, the Paras had a grandstand view of the action in the bay.

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All their supplies for the land campaign were still

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being unloaded from those ships coming under attack.

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The Paras had to watch helplessly as their lifeline was under fire.

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By the end of the day, five British warships were hit

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and one ship, HMS Ardent, was sinking.

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And the attacks continued on the next day.

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The British had positioned anti-aircraft missiles around the bay,

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but it would be days before these delicate units were operational.

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On the water, the men had resorted to strapping

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machine guns onto the ships' rails in a desperate attempt to hit the low-flying Argentinian jets.

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More conventional anti-aircraft guns,

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some operated by sailors as young as 17, did score a few successes.

0:29:560:30:00

But all these efforts did little to blunt the relentless onslaught of the Argentinian air force.

0:30:020:30:08

The British ships unloading vital supplies for the land campaign made easy targets.

0:30:130:30:20

On May 23rd, HMS Antelope, just out there,

0:30:200:30:25

was the next vessel to take a fatal hit.

0:30:250:30:28

We watched with lumps in our throats

0:30:320:30:35

as Antelope raged with fire and finally sank.

0:30:350:30:37

She was our escort and everybody felt a great loss,

0:30:390:30:43

as she was more than just a ship to us.

0:30:430:30:45

In four days, eight British ships were damaged and two sunk.

0:30:500:30:56

During these attacks, 25 men died and many more were injured.

0:30:560:31:03

While the British were reeling from the attacks in San Carlos water,

0:31:030:31:07

the Argentinians were celebrating their triumphs.

0:31:070:31:10

On 25th May, it was Argentina's National Day,

0:31:180:31:22

a day of patriotic ceremony, and after the successes of their air campaign,

0:31:220:31:27

Menendez and his troops in the Falklands had even more reason to celebrate.

0:31:270:31:32

SPEAKS IN SPANISH

0:31:320:31:35

But it wasn't over yet.

0:31:370:31:40

The Argentinian air force was preparing another raid

0:31:400:31:44

that would hit the British land campaign where it really hurt.

0:31:440:31:48

A massive container ship, the Atlantic Conveyor,

0:31:500:31:53

had just arrived from Britain. She was loaded with thousands of tons

0:31:530:31:58

of supplies, but, more importantly, the helicopters needed by the British forces to get them to Stanley.

0:31:580:32:05

She was preparing to go into San Carlos that night.

0:32:050:32:10

At 3.36pm on 25th May, two Argentinian aircraft flying from

0:32:100:32:16

the mainland picked up the British carrier group just off East Falkland.

0:32:160:32:22

Once in range, they released their Exocets.

0:32:230:32:26

The missiles locked onto two frigates.

0:32:280:32:31

The ships fired up metal foil to confuse the missiles radar and the Exocets veered away.

0:32:310:32:38

But then they found another target, the defenceless Atlantic Conveyor.

0:32:400:32:46

Fire ripped through the ship

0:32:550:32:56

and all nine helicopters still onboard were destroyed.

0:32:560:33:00

Thompson was relying on them to carry his men across East Falkland to Stanley.

0:33:030:33:09

At one stroke, most of his transport had now disappeared.

0:33:090:33:13

Margaret Thatcher wanted Stanley back in British hands quickly,

0:33:180:33:23

but the main British force was still 50 miles away.

0:33:230:33:26

And with no helicopters, the only way

0:33:310:33:34

for the troops to get there was to walk.

0:33:340:33:37

The marines called it yomping and this was to be one of the classic yomps of all time.

0:33:370:33:42

Men carried up to 120lbs of kit on their backs

0:33:480:33:52

through very uneven ground and with the rain lashing down.

0:33:520:33:57

The men had four days of hard marching ahead of them.

0:33:590:34:03

And at the end of this slog, they would have to fight a battle.

0:34:080:34:11

The British main force of 2,000 men were on the move to Stanley,

0:34:130:34:17

but one unit of around 500 men was going in a completely different direction.

0:34:170:34:23

The men of 2 Para weren't heading east towards Stanley,

0:34:260:34:29

they were heading south towards a settlement that was heavily garrisoned by Argentinian troops.

0:34:290:34:35

They had been ordered to win a quick and morale-boosting victory.

0:34:350:34:38

But the battle that lay ahead of them wouldn't go as planned.

0:34:380:34:42

The name of the settlement was Goose Green.

0:34:420:34:45

The Argentinians had a base at Goose Green

0:34:570:35:00

because of its strategic importance.

0:35:000:35:03

It's on a narrow strip of land just five miles long by a mile wide.

0:35:030:35:08

So the Argentinians had stationed an infantry regiment here,

0:35:110:35:16

centred around a small grassy airstrip.

0:35:160:35:18

This is Goose Green Settlement and San Carlos is beyond those mountains way over in the distance there.

0:35:180:35:26

Here's Goose Green on the map case.

0:35:260:35:28

Aware of the British landing in San Carlos, the Argentinians reinforced

0:35:280:35:32

their garrison here at Goose Green, fearing an attack from the north.

0:35:320:35:36

Ready for a British assault, all they could do now was wait.

0:35:360:35:41

The man in command of 2 Para was Colonel H Jones.

0:35:420:35:46

Known as H to his men, he was brave but impulsive and he believed in leading from the front.

0:35:460:35:53

Jones knew Goose Green would be a formidable target and he drew up a detailed battle plan.

0:35:530:36:00

The ground at Goose Green was wide open and featureless, offering little protection.

0:36:010:36:06

Jones' objectives were the airstrip and the settlement of Goose Green, held by the Argentinians.

0:36:060:36:13

2 Para was split into several companies.

0:36:130:36:16

They would fight their way south in the dark and then close in on the airfield.

0:36:160:36:21

Then they would take the settlement in daylight.

0:36:210:36:25

But the Argentinians held a strong position

0:36:250:36:28

on the high ground of Darwin Hill.

0:36:280:36:31

They were protected by minefields in front

0:36:310:36:34

and supporting artillery back behind the airfield.

0:36:340:36:38

At 10.30 that night, the British began the attack.

0:36:400:36:44

One company, about 100 men, moved rapidly up here on the left,

0:36:440:36:48

clearing out any enemy positions that they came across.

0:36:480:36:51

2 Para were making good progress

0:37:010:37:03

until they reached this spot on the north side of Darwin Hill.

0:37:030:37:07

This was the point at which Colonel H Jones' plan started to go badly wrong.

0:37:070:37:12

One company were pinned down there by fire from well-placed machine guns up on the hill.

0:37:120:37:18

It was rapidly becoming clear that there were more Argentinians

0:37:180:37:21

than they had thought and what's more,

0:37:210:37:23

their will to fight was strong.

0:37:230:37:25

Then the sun began to rise and light flooded across Goose Green,

0:37:270:37:31

illuminating the men on the wide open battlefield.

0:37:310:37:34

The men of 2 Para on the low ground were completely exposed

0:37:340:37:38

to Argentinian fire and couldn't advance.

0:37:380:37:40

Somebody had to do something.

0:37:400:37:43

It was time for Colonel H Jones to do what he thought he did best - lead from the front.

0:37:430:37:49

He identified an isolated Argentinian position just up there

0:37:490:37:52

that he thought that he could take out on his own.

0:37:520:37:55

Clutching his submachine gun, he charged up the hill,

0:37:550:37:58

but immediately, withering fire broke out

0:37:580:38:00

from this hill up there, other Argentinian positions.

0:38:000:38:03

He was seen to fall over but he got back up and kept charging,

0:38:030:38:06

then he was shot in the back and collapsed mortally wounded only metres away from his target.

0:38:060:38:12

This memorial marks where Jones fell.

0:38:170:38:20

As their commanding officer lay dying,

0:38:220:38:24

it now fell to the second in command, Major Chris Keeble, to lead the men.

0:38:240:38:29

2 Para were pinned down out in the open and they were still

0:38:290:38:32

a mile short of their objective - the airstrip at Goose Green.

0:38:320:38:36

This was 2 Para's position. This is where they were pinned down

0:38:380:38:43

by heavy fire coming from the Argentinians dug in along this ridge.

0:38:430:38:48

Keeble decided that rather than risk more losses,

0:38:480:38:52

he'd bring heavy fire down on the Argentinian defences on the ridge.

0:38:520:38:57

While this was happening, two of his other companies

0:38:580:39:01

moved around to the west to bring pressure on the Argentinians' flank.

0:39:010:39:05

Slowly, 2 Para pushed forward as Argentinian fighter bombers hit them from the air.

0:39:050:39:12

Then their luck turned and they got their first air support of the fight.

0:39:120:39:18

Two Harriers swept over the battle

0:39:180:39:20

and dropped cluster bombs on the Argentinian artillery positions.

0:39:200:39:24

After 14 hours of intense fighting,

0:39:240:39:27

the Para's steady progress saw them closing in on the Argentinians.

0:39:270:39:33

But they'd taken a lot of casualties and they were utterly exhausted.

0:39:330:39:37

That night, Keeble decided on a cunning ploy

0:39:390:39:43

to try and bluff the Argentinians into an early surrender.

0:39:430:39:47

He sent a letter to the Argentinian Commander.

0:39:470:39:51

In a highly confident tone, he demanded an Argentinian surrender

0:39:510:39:57

and warned them that he would bombard them heavily and hold

0:39:570:40:01

them responsible for any civilian casualties if they went on fighting.

0:40:010:40:06

Amazingly, the gamble worked. The Argentinians agreed to surrender.

0:40:060:40:12

The next day,

0:40:160:40:18

the Paras were astonished to see over 900 Argentinians,

0:40:180:40:21

nearly twice their own number and nearly three times more than they had expected,

0:40:210:40:27

lay down their weapons.

0:40:270:40:28

CHEERING

0:40:350:40:38

After six weeks under Argentinian occupation, Goose Green was back

0:40:400:40:44

in British hands, and the soldiers of 2 Para were heroes.

0:40:440:40:49

But the battle for this tiny place had come at a huge cost.

0:40:490:40:53

Lieutenant Colonel Jones, Captain Wood,

0:40:560:41:00

Captain Dent, Lieutenant Fari,

0:41:000:41:04

Corporal Hardman, Corporal Sullivan.

0:41:040:41:09

More than 70 soldiers were dead, 16 British and over 50 Argentinians.

0:41:090:41:15

What had begun as a quick raid to seize back the airstrip and liberate the community

0:41:200:41:25

had turned into a bloody battle in the struggle for the Falkland Islands.

0:41:250:41:29

The British had won the first round of their land campaign against

0:41:310:41:35

all the odds, but ahead of them still was the battle to regain Stanley.

0:41:350:41:41

While 2 Para had been fighting at Goose Green,

0:41:480:41:51

the main British force had crossed the island

0:41:510:41:54

and was now just 12 miles from the capital.

0:41:540:41:58

But the soldiers knew they faced a tough fight between them and Stanley.

0:41:580:42:02

We've got to take Stanley.

0:42:020:42:03

There's no stopping us now, I don't reckon.

0:42:030:42:06

Got to get it done fast so the only way to do it is get in there.

0:42:070:42:11

Do you have any feelings of apprehension then?

0:42:110:42:13

Oh, yes, definitely. Without a shadow of a doubt.

0:42:130:42:18

Everything seemed to be going to plan, but then the British campaign suffered a massive blow.

0:42:190:42:26

What followed was the largest single British loss of life in the war.

0:42:260:42:32

Just a few miles away from the troops, two landing ships,

0:42:390:42:42

Sir Galahad and Sir Tristram, were anchored just off this bay.

0:42:420:42:47

They were packed with nearly 500 troops - reinforcements for the assault on Stanley.

0:42:470:42:52

These ships should have been off-loaded under cover of darkness,

0:42:520:42:56

but a series of delays and misunderstandings meant they were still here when the sun came up.

0:42:560:43:01

The Argentinians spotted the ships and called in their air force from the mainland.

0:43:010:43:07

Two Argentinian fighter bombers swept in on a deadly bombing run.

0:43:070:43:12

They caught both ships in broad daylight packed with troops and ammunition.

0:43:150:43:21

49 men were killed and a further 115 injured in the disaster.

0:43:310:43:37

But this British tragedy was a significant morale boost for the Argentinians.

0:43:470:43:51

Menendez was told that 900 British had died

0:43:510:43:56

and he now expected a slackening in the British momentum.

0:43:560:44:01

But he was in for a rude shock.

0:44:010:44:04

Nine days after the landings at San Carlos, a senior commander,

0:44:050:44:11

Major General Jeremy Moore, took overall control of the British land campaign.

0:44:110:44:16

Undeterred by the Argentinian air attacks, Moore moved around

0:44:160:44:20

9,000 troops into position near the hills surrounding Stanley.

0:44:200:44:25

The battle for Stanley was about to begin.

0:44:250:44:29

Here's Mount Kent, where we are now.

0:44:290:44:31

Heavy Argentinian forces lay between Moore here and the capital.

0:44:310:44:37

He would attack in two stages on two separate nights.

0:44:370:44:41

On the first night, his offensive would sweep from north to south -

0:44:410:44:46

a three-pronged attack on the Argentinians.

0:44:460:44:49

Moore planned to take this outer ring of hills,

0:44:490:44:53

the largest of which was Mount Longdon in the north here.

0:44:530:44:56

On the second night, the British would assault

0:44:560:44:59

another ring of hills nearer Stanley, centred here on Mount Tumbledown.

0:44:590:45:04

Success would leave them just two miles from Stanley.

0:45:040:45:08

The first targets were the Argentinian troops dug in all over Mount Longdon.

0:45:120:45:18

Mount Longdon is a natural fortress.

0:45:180:45:21

Over 500 feet at its highest point,

0:45:210:45:24

it dominates the surrounding moorland.

0:45:240:45:27

For the British forces, this was a dangerous place to attack

0:45:270:45:32

and after their experiences at Goose Green, they didn't

0:45:320:45:35

want their troops caught advancing in the open terrain in daylight.

0:45:350:45:39

So they made a key decision. All the battles to retake Stanley would be fought at night.

0:45:390:45:46

Night fighting is a highly effective strategy.

0:45:500:45:54

Every soldier in the British forces has to be as good at fighting in the dark as in daylight.

0:45:540:46:00

I joined the British Army on a training exercise to experience what it's like.

0:46:000:46:05

The attack began with flares and machine gun fire once we'd crept as close as we could in the pitch dark.

0:46:110:46:17

It's incredibly noisy. It's actually quite bewildering.

0:46:170:46:20

Just moving around in these positions is very difficult, you're weighed

0:46:200:46:24

down by your equipment, there's people tripping over, falling in the frozen stream and turning ankles.

0:46:240:46:30

The enemy is not the only challenge in this dark and difficult terrain.

0:46:300:46:35

Despite how hard it is to operate in the dark,

0:46:380:46:41

it's imperative that the attacking troops don't get pinned down.

0:46:410:46:44

One of the most important things... We've done our attack, we've gotta keep up the momentum,

0:46:460:46:51

keep up speed, I guess to keep the enemy off balance.

0:46:510:46:55

We're about to go over this rise now and interestingly the commander here

0:47:060:47:10

is constantly telling everyone what's going on in the rest of the battlefield, even though it's only

0:47:100:47:15

50 or a 100 metres away, it's very confusing. We can just hear firing and lots of shouting.

0:47:150:47:20

So he's constantly going round telling everyone at what stage

0:47:200:47:22

we're at, trying to keep everything going to plan.

0:47:220:47:25

For the British troops on the Falklands,

0:47:270:47:30

keeping to the plan and maintaining momentum would be the key to their success when fighting at night.

0:47:300:47:35

At 8pm on 11th June, the British forces began their attack on Mount Longdon.

0:47:430:47:49

But 3 Para, who were spearheading the advance,

0:47:550:47:59

found themselves trapped in a bewildering maze of steep-sided alleyways.

0:47:590:48:03

These narrow gullies here channelled the men into the killing grounds of

0:48:080:48:13

the Argentinian machine gunners and snipers up above and then grenades

0:48:130:48:17

were rolled down in amongst them. One officer compared it to like being stuck in a bowling alley.

0:48:170:48:24

The grenades, they were just bouncing down

0:48:240:48:26

the side of the rock face.

0:48:260:48:28

We thought they were rocks falling until the first one exploded.

0:48:280:48:32

Despite mounting casualties, the men pushed forward.

0:48:330:48:38

One sergeant, Ian McKay, dashed up a slope

0:48:380:48:40

and knocked out a stubborn Argentinian position.

0:48:400:48:44

He was killed but later awarded the Victoria Cross.

0:48:440:48:47

For seven hours, the British forces battled their way up Mount Longdon.

0:48:520:48:56

Their assault was just too forceful for the Argentinians to hold off.

0:48:580:49:04

So desperate were the Argentinians to smash the British attack

0:49:040:49:09

that Menendez risked his own men's lives

0:49:090:49:12

by ordering his own artillery to bring down fire on their own positions here on Mount Longdon.

0:49:120:49:19

But it didn't do any good.

0:49:220:49:24

By 6.30am, the British had captured the mountain.

0:49:240:49:29

As day broke, the British brought in the dead and injured from both sides.

0:49:390:49:45

Most of the Argentinian casualties and prisoners

0:49:450:49:47

were conscript soldiers, young men drafted into the army.

0:49:470:49:53

While these soldiers had fought well, many of them

0:49:530:49:56

were worn down by the conditions before the battle had begun.

0:49:560:50:01

Some of them were even captured in their positions like this one,

0:50:020:50:06

huddled up in their sleeping bags trying to escape the battle and the cold.

0:50:060:50:10

I am tired, cold, unhappy.

0:50:100:50:14

I swear that I can't take it any more,

0:50:140:50:17

even though this is my duty as a man and a soldier of the fatherland.

0:50:170:50:21

Although this had been a bloody battle for both sides, the British

0:50:210:50:26

attacks had taken all the high ground they planned to on the first night.

0:50:260:50:30

But another night's fighting still lay ahead.

0:50:300:50:35

Of the remaining mountains that had to be captured on the second night,

0:50:350:50:40

by far the most vital was that one over there.

0:50:400:50:43

That's Tumbledown, the last major obstacle between the British and Stanley.

0:50:430:50:49

The men charged with recapturing Tumbledown were the 2nd Battalion of the Scots Guards.

0:50:490:50:56

Just eight weeks earlier, they had been on ceremonial duties, like guarding Buckingham Palace.

0:50:560:51:01

This would be the first experience of war for many of them,

0:51:010:51:05

and they now had to confront perhaps the toughest target of the campaign.

0:51:050:51:10

If the Argentinians lost Tumbledown, they lost Stanley.

0:51:140:51:18

So they had put their best men up here - the elite 5th Marines.

0:51:210:51:25

700 heavily-armed crack troops were dug into the protective

0:51:280:51:32

positions in the caves and rocks high in the mountain.

0:51:320:51:36

These Argentinian marines had been trained to fight at night

0:51:390:51:44

and they outnumbered the attacking British forces by almost two to one.

0:51:440:51:48

The Argentinians were confident they could hold the British off.

0:51:480:51:52

As soon as darkness fell, the fighting began.

0:51:520:51:56

Aye, it was murder.

0:51:590:52:02

We were coming under mortar fire, machine gun fire, sniper fire.

0:52:020:52:05

You name it, it was coming towards us.

0:52:050:52:07

Well, there's a saying, expect the unexpected, and that was unexpected.

0:52:070:52:13

You cannot really describe it,

0:52:130:52:15

nobody could describe it if they'd not been there.

0:52:150:52:18

Three hours into the battle, things were going badly for the British.

0:52:200:52:24

The Scots Guards' attack had come to a complete halt.

0:52:240:52:29

They were taunting us, the odd word in English,

0:52:290:52:32

calling us to come on, and I think they mentioned surrender.

0:52:320:52:35

The combination of cold, uncertainty and the general

0:52:350:52:39

awareness that we were stuck led to the group ego shrinking and shrinking and shrinking.

0:52:390:52:45

At that stage, I thought we had blown it.

0:52:450:52:48

That's Mount Tumbledown behind me up there,

0:52:480:52:52

and here it is on the Map Case.

0:52:520:52:54

The Scots Guards had approached Tumbledown from the west

0:52:540:52:58

and made their way up this slope here unopposed.

0:52:580:53:02

But now one company, about 120 men, were pinned down here by stiff

0:53:020:53:09

opposition from the Argentinians positioned in the rocks and crags up above, on top of the ridge here.

0:53:090:53:16

Then 30 Scots Guards climbed up onto higher ground to the north

0:53:160:53:21

undetected by the Argentinians down below.

0:53:210:53:25

Now they were able to bring sustained fire down on the Argentinians' exposed flank.

0:53:250:53:30

The rest of the company stormed the Argentinians' strong point.

0:53:300:53:35

The Scots had made the breakthrough.

0:53:350:53:38

As dawn broke, the battle was still raging on Tumbledown

0:53:400:53:44

and the British forces prepared to throw everything they had

0:53:440:53:48

into the fight for Stanley.

0:53:480:53:49

They hammered the remaining enemy positions in a final all-out bombardment.

0:54:020:54:08

Soon Argentinian troops could be seen fleeing.

0:54:260:54:30

The British troops had effectively destroyed their enemy's will to fight

0:54:300:54:35

and the Argentinians retreated,

0:54:350:54:37

flooding back into Stanley in their hundreds.

0:54:370:54:40

The Argentinian resistance was crumbling.

0:54:410:54:45

As the demoralised defenders poured into Stanley, the men were heard arguing with their superiors.

0:54:530:54:59

Discipline among the Argentinian troops was breaking down.

0:54:590:55:03

It wasn't long before they were surrounded.

0:55:080:55:10

And on 14th June, the British demanded the Argentinians surrender.

0:55:120:55:17

Realising that he had little choice, Menendez accepted.

0:55:190:55:24

After two-and-a-half months, the battle for the Falklands was over.

0:55:240:55:29

Gentlemen, I've just heard that the white flag is flying over Stanley.

0:55:290:55:34

The Argentinians had occupied Stanley for 74 days,

0:55:370:55:42

but now, as 2 Para marched into the capital, it was back in British hands.

0:55:420:55:48

A month later, the first British troops arrived back home to jubilant celebrations.

0:55:570:56:02

This victory had given people a renewed sense of pride in their country

0:56:020:56:06

and a feeling that Britain could lift itself out of its recent decline.

0:56:060:56:11

And riding on the crest of this success was Margaret Thatcher.

0:56:110:56:16

Within a year, she won the general election with a resounding majority.

0:56:160:56:20

The Iron Lady had cemented her position as a major world leader.

0:56:200:56:26

In Argentina, the news of the surrender was taken very badly.

0:56:260:56:30

Far from uniting the people, the war had left the Argentinians furious at the army and the government.

0:56:300:56:36

Just three days after Argentina's defeat,

0:56:390:56:42

Galtieri was forced from power and military rule collapsed in Argentina.

0:56:420:56:47

Over in the Falklands, the legacy of this bitter conflict lives on.

0:56:500:56:56

Nearly 1,000 people died in the war. 252 British servicemen,

0:56:560:57:01

three Falkland Islanders and almost 700 Argentinians.

0:57:010:57:05

After the war, the British government offered to return

0:57:050:57:08

the bodies of the Argentinian dead to Argentina for burial,

0:57:080:57:12

but their government refused.

0:57:120:57:13

They said that these islands were part of Argentina and the bodies would remain here.

0:57:130:57:19

For the Falkland Islanders, these graves are a daily reminder

0:57:240:57:28

that Argentina refuses to drop its claim to their homeland.

0:57:280:57:32

After the war ended, Britain greatly increased its permanent military presence on the islands.

0:57:350:57:42

Now there's one serviceman for every two civilians living here.

0:57:420:57:47

Today, the islanders are still determined the Falklands remain British.

0:57:470:57:53

As long as Britain continues to respect their wishes,

0:57:530:57:57

there'll be no early end to this bitter territorial dispute.

0:57:570:58:01

Next time...

0:58:110:58:12

In 1991, Kuwait was at the centre of the last major war of the 20th century.

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Saddam Hussein's Iraq had invaded,

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leading to a battle unlike anything seen before.

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I'll be getting to grips with some of the challenges

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faced by the men and women on the frontline.

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And I'm going to be explaining the tactics

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of a war dominated by cutting-edge technology.

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It was called Operation Desert Storm, The Battle For Kuwait.

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