From San Carlos to Stanley - A Conflict Timeline Quiz

Answer: Rex Hunt

The British garrison on the Falkland Islands numbered just sixty eight members of the Royal Marines and the Royal Navy. After a series of gun battles it became clear that continued British resistance would result in an unacceptable level of casualties.

It was after giving consideration to this fact that the Governor, Rex Hunt, agreed to surrender to the Argentine commander, General Mario Menendez, that same day. The following day the Argentine invasion was condemned by the UN Security Council.

Answer: General Leopoldo Galtieri

General Galtieri took control of Argentina in December 1981 the last of the military junta that had been in power in Argentina since 1976 after a coup against the civilian government at the time. At the time of the invasion Argentina was experiencing serious economic difficulties and it is generally believed that the invasion was used by the junta to divert attention away from the dire situation at home.

Answer: SS Canberra and the QE2

At the time of the Falklands conflict, the British were still able to assemble an effective naval force to counter the Argentine invasion; the military vessels available included the aircraft carriers HMS Hermes and HMS Invincible along with a fleet of destroyers and frigates for protection.

However, a lack of suitable troop carrying vessels forced the British government to press a number of civilian ships into service with the two large liners, the Canberra and the QE2 transporting 3 Commando Brigade and 5th Infantry Brigade respectively. Who can forget the news reports of the time showing soldiers training aboard these ships whilst living in the relative lap of luxury! The Uganda, a ship that this author sailed on as a schoolboy in the 1970s, was rapidly adapted for use as a hospital ship and provided essential medical facilities for the task force so far from home.

Answer: South Georgia

Under 'Operation Paraquet', the tiny island of South Georgia was retaken by a combined force made up from members of the Royal Marines, Special Air Service and Special Boat Service on 25th April 1982, a full five days before the arrival of the main party in the two hundred mile exclusion zone imposed around the Falkland Islands by the British. Prior to the British assault on Argentine forces on South Georgia, the submarine ARA Santa Fe had been attacked and badly damaged whilst on the surface by helicopters from HMS Antrim, HMS Brilliant and HMS Plymouth, an action which led to the vessel being abandoned by its crew in the harbour at King Edward Point.

After a short bombardment of Argentine positions by Royal Navy vessels, the Argentine troops there surrendered without further fighting.

Answer: True

Former US Navy cruiser USS Phoenix had been purchased by Argentina after WW2 and had been commissioned as the cruiser ARA General Belgrano. In perhaps the most controversial incident of the entire conflict, she was torpedoed and sunk by British nuclear submarine HMS Conqueror, killing more than 320 of her crew; this was the single largest loss of life in the entire conflict. Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, faced criticism over the sinking of the General Belgrano as the vessel was reportedly outside the 200-mile exclusion zone around the Falklands and steaming away from the British task force.

As in all wars, the first casualty is the truth and still, to this day, there is disagreement as to whether the vessel was steaming towards or away from the exclusion zone. British efforts would later be dealt a devastating blow on May 25th when a vast quantity of stores and materiel was lost when a container ship, the SS Atlantic Conveyor, was struck by two Argentine Exocet missiles which killed twelve members of her crew and which eventually sent her to the bottom whilst she was being towed three days later.

Answer: Exocet

The first of the British naval losses occurred on May 4th when the destroyer HMS Sheffield was abandoned after being hit by missile which killed twenty of her crew. The Royal Navy suffered a further loss on May 21 when the Type 21 frigate HMS Ardent was sunk by Argentine aircraft which resulted in the deaths of a further twenty two British sailors; however losses were not restricted to the British and the Argentine Air Force lost a total of fifteen aircraft shot down. On May 24th the British task force received another blow when the Type 21 frigate HMS Antelope had to be abandoned after an Argentine bomb that had penetrated to the interior of the ship detonated while it was being defused by Royal Engineers Bomb disposal officer, Staff Sergeant James Prescott.

The following day a further British loss was recorded when HMS Coventry, a Type 42 destroyer, was sunk by Argentine Skyhawk attack aircraft, killing 19 of her complement.

Answer: False

The action known as the Battle of Goose Green resulted in the deaths of seventeen soldiers from the Parachute Regiment during the two days of fierce fighting that took place there. The action ended with the surrender of the Argentine forces; dozens of their soldiers, mainly conscripts, were killed and a further thousand or so were taken as prisoners of war.

It was during the action at Goose Green that the commanding officer of the 2nd Para, Lt Col Herbert Jones, was killed and who later received a posthumous award of Britain's highest award for valour in the face of the enemy, the Victoria Cross.

A raid by members of the British Special Air Service took place at Pebble Island on 14th May in which a number of Argentine FMA IA 58 'Pucará' ground-attack aircraft were destroyed or damaged reducing the threat to British ground troops from air attack by Argentine forces.

Answer: Bluff Cove

It was in this action that the British task force suffered some of its heaviest casualties of the conflict. Members of the Welsh Guards had been sent to support the ground forces advancing on Port Stanley on board the two RFA ships selected for the purpose as they were both of a type known as LSLs or Landing Ship Logistics. Poor communication, uncertainty and some might say arrogance on the part of some senior British officers, led to the Welsh Guards remaining on board despite both being prime targets for air attack.

The attack eventually came and the RFA Sir Galahad, still almost fully loaded with both troops and supplies, was hit by three 500 pound bombs and set alight. The disaster at Bluff Cove delayed the final assault on Port Stanley by two days and led the Argentine commander at Stanley to assume that British morale would collapse at the news. Few can forget the television news footage beamed across the world of the casualties coming ashore from the stricken ship. Welsh Guardsman Simon Weston became an inspirational figure after suffering 46% burns in the attack on RFA Sir Galahad. Since the Falklands conflict, Weston has been a tireless campaigner for burns injury victims and was awarded an OBE in 1992 in the Queen's Birthday Honours and was honoured again in 2016 with a CBE in the New Year Honours List.

Answer: Sergeant Ian McKay

As the final actions of the conflict approached, the British county class destroyer HMS Glamorgan was severely damaged in an Exocet missile attack on the 12th of June and which killed thirteen members of her crew. The night before this attack British ground forces had began the final assault on the Falkland Island's capital, Port Stanley. Port Stanley, surrounded by high ground, was the final objective for the British. The actions were concentrated around the peaks of the Two Sisters, Mount Harriet and Mount Longdon with both sides suffering casualties. It was a the Battle of Mount Longdon that 29 year old Sergeant Ian John McKay received the award of the Victoria Cross for his efforts in subduing an Argentine bunker. Guardsman Simon Weston was a member of the Welsh Guards who was severely burned in the air attack on the RFA Sir Galahad in which we have examined earlier.

Mr John Leake had a remarkable campaign; he was a former member of the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment who had volunteered as a civilian canteen manager aboard the Royal Navy frigate HMS Ardent. During the action in which the Ardent was struck by a number of bombs and missiles, Leake manned a General Purpose Machine Gun and was credited with downing an attacking Argentine Skyhawk aircraft before the vessel was abandoned. Major Cedric Delves was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his exploits as the OC 'D' Sqn, 22 SAS during the Falklands conflict and was, incidentally, my first Company Commander when I joined the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment in Germany in 1978. The final battle of the conflict took place on 13th June when fighting at Wireless Ridge and Mount Tumbledown cost the lives of thirteen British and fifty-five Argentine soldiers.

Answer: False

Brigade General Mario Menendez, to give him his full title, signed the surrender of Argentine forces on the Falkland Islands in the presence of Major General Jeremy Moore. It was to be a further six days before hostilities were finally declared over after the British had retaken the South Sandwich Islands near South Georgia. After the conflict the British task force returned home to a tumultuous welcome.

The success of the British forces in the South Atlantic increased the popularity of the Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, and led to the re-election of the Conservative Party the following year. The war highlighted the vulnerability of surface vessels to air attack; a lesson clearly not fully learned by the British after WW2. The Argentine government was not so fortunate and neither were her armed forces. On 17th June 1982, the Argentine President, General Leopoldo Galtieri, resigned as leader of the country's military junta and in the following year the ruling military junta was ousted in the first free elections in Argentina since 1973. Relations were suspended between the United Kingdom and Argentina until 1989 and in 1994 Argentina reinforced its claim to the Falkland Islands adding their claim to 'Las Malvinas' to their constitution.