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ii FALKLANDS 25TH ANNIVERSARY SUPPLEMENT, APRIL 2007
marina Continued from page i
ramrod figure. Inwardly, he
possessed great wit, charm and
warmth.
First and foremost, he was
passionate about the Senior Service,
its ships, its men, its women.
“His creed was simple,” a
colleague observed. “What’s right
for the Navy is right for Great
Britain.”
Sir Henry’s father had given his
life for the Navy, lost as captain of
the Prince of Wales. As a gunnery
officer in HMS Duke of York, the
son had faced the guns of the
‘lucky’ Scharnhorst at the North
Cape; the ‘lucky’ Scharnhorst lost.
For more than four decades, the
admiral had served his country
loyally, but the decisions John Nott
took made Sir Henry’s blood boil.
Nott, a former infantry officer,
was a lawyer and banker by trade.
He set out to scythe the defence
budget.
Nott had little regard for Naval
● Task force commander Rear Admm
history; the Royal Navy would bear
at political interference as the shipss
the brunt of his cuts.
He jumped into his staff car and
Brand-new carrier Invincible
was whisked down Whitehall to the
would be sold to the Australians,
Commons.
six large destroyers would be sold
In full dress uniform the First
or paid off, a wave of Type 12
Sea Lord cut an impressive figure
frigates would go, so too several
as he strode into the premier’s
Leanders, and the assault ships
office.
Intrepid and Fearless.
Britain could not prevent the
And there was no room in John
Falklands from being invaded, but
Nott’s world for a small Antarctic
he could mobilise a task force to
patrol ship, HMS Endurance. With
sail within 48 hours. It would take
a £30m refit looming, the Red
a huge national effort: Britain’s two
Plum had to face the axe.
● Task force fl agship HMS Hermes, her fl ight deck crammed with Sea carriers Hermes and Invincible,
Kings and Sea Harriers, leaves Portsmouth for the South Atlantic and her assault ships Fearless and
The Foreign Office is not a place
(left) the less-than-helpful instructions sent to Falklands Governor Rex Intrepid, every single operational
where panic and alarm thrive, at
Hunt with invasion impending Sea Harrier, all of 3 Commando
least not outwardly.
But the decision taken just a
Brigade, the core of the surface
few yards along Whitehall in the naval assets” as he called them? He the British arrived.
fleet and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
Ministry of Defence perturbed the could not. In Puerto Belgrano, some
It was an “operation involving
civil servants and their political 900 miles north of Stanley, the
considerable risk”, but a risk worth
masters.
taking.
Not only would HMS Endurance
be paid off, she would not be
replaced. Almost whimsically, O
N January 17 1775 Captain officers of 2nd Marine Infantry
James Cook set down on a Battalion were holding a regular
John Nott blanched. “Henry
ragged, inhospitable land staff meeting.
was a sailor in the best Nelsonian
800 miles southeast of the Contraalmirante (Rear Admiral)
tradition, but he was not exactly
the MOD promised one of Her Falklands. Carlos Büsser, the head of the
a ‘cerebral man’.” Befitting his
Majesty’s Ships might visit the He proclaimed the land to be Marine Corps, burst into the room.
background, Nott wanted facts and
Falklands “from time to time”. British and named it in honour of “We’re going into serious business.
figures, not bold assurances.
Islanders fumed. Britain was the monarch, George III; the prefix We must be ready to sail in 72
“Could we really capture the
abandoning them at a time “other
a Portsmouth suburb for a mere but the Argentinian leaned across.
‘South’ would eventually be added hours.”
islands if they were invaded?” Mrs
powers” were growing in force in
£16,000 and an Austin Metro for “I tell you. There is to be war
to ‘The Isle of Georgia’. For the next three or four days
Thatcher buttonholed the admiral.
the South Atlantic.
£3,250. against the Malvinas. I don’t know
If there was a question mark over Büsser’s 20 staff worked around the
“Yes, we could – and in my
Foreign Secretary Lord
The Cold War had rarely when, but I know quite soon.”
the sovereignty of the Falklands, clock. They grabbed sleep whenever
judgment we should.”
Carrington agreed with the
been colder. Arms talks with the Russo immediately changed
there was no such ambiguity and wherever they could, on sofas,
“Why do say that?” the Prime
Falklanders. Buenos Aires,
Soviets had broken down. The subject. “This is very good brandy,
surrounding their far-flung chairs.
Minister snapped back.
he warned, would take note of
Polish government was ruthlessly captain.”
dependency. It wasn’t the invasion that needed
“Because if we do not in another
Endurance’s demise.
clamping down on the Solidarity
Neither Spain nor Argentina had planning, rather the logistical
few months we shall be living in
Take note Buenos Aires did –
movement in Gdansk. In Buenos Aires, the junta was
ever laid claim to South Georgia, support: no unit in Argentina was
a different country whose word
and much more besides.
The Royal Navy began the year pressing ahead with its plan to
or the even more remote South better prepared to re-take the
counts for little.”
with one battle won, another lost. seize the Falklands. Jorge Anaya
Shetland Islands. Malvinas.
Mrs Thatcher nodded. She gave
F
OR 30 years and more,
John Nott had been convinced and his cabal were working to a
But in the late austral summer The battalion was squeezed
Sir Henry Leach the order to begin
Argentina had been dogged
not to scrap Intrepid and Fearless deadline: the Falklands would
of 1982 it would be Argentina’s aboard the landing ship Cabo San
assembling his task force.
by political upheaval as
(the latter had staged a first-rate become Las Islas Malvinas once
occupation of South Georgia which Antonio: trucks, guns, men and
democracy and dictatorship
demonstration for the politician more before January 3 1983 – the
would turn a diplomatic incident flags, scores of flags to raise over
vied for control of the country.
which had won him over). 150th anniversary of British rule.
ultimately into war. sacred Argentinian soil once more.
Democracy lost. Since 1976 one
There was no reprieve for HMS A handful of senior staff officers
Throughout Sunday March 28,
form of military junta – literally
Invincible, however. worked in absolute secrecy. Yet
Three years earlier scrap metal Argentinian warships and auxiliaries
T
HE great naval city of
Portsmouth was not
feeling especially ‘great’ on
Thursday April 1 1982.
‘committee’ – or another had held
Her fate was decided in the back there was an air of unreality about
dealer Constantino Davidoff had – more than a dozen in all, half
The dockyard would be severely
power in Buenos Aires, ruthlessly
of a staff car on a bitterly cold the planning: the generals and
paid £100,000 to a British firm to the Armada Republica Argentina
pared by John Nott’s defence cuts;
stamping out political opposition.
winter’s night after a “hammer and admirals were convinced invasion
dismantle disused whaling stations – began to slip their moorings and
HMS Intrepid was about to go into
In December 1981, the latest
tongs” argument between Nott and was an ultima ratio; they expected
at Leith in South Georgia. head south. It was a fine, bright
reserve, Invincible would soon be
junta, led by General Leopoldo
the First Sea Lord. Britain to cave in to diplomatic
The deal would run out in autumn day. Morale was high.
sold to Australia.
Galtieri, head of the country’s
The admiral did everything he pressure.
March 1982 and with the deadline “Those of us who knew where
The shops were gearing up for
Army, had seized power.
could to dissuade the politician from This was an operation –
nearing, Davidoff finally sent his we were going were very proud,”
Easter; much of the Navy had
If not quite a puppet on a string,
selling the carrier to Australia... codenamed Rosario – burned into ship Bahia Buen Suceso to Leith to Carlos Büsser recalled. “We felt
already headed off on leave.
Leopoldo Galtieri was neither the
which didn’t even have any jump their souls, however. begin the work. lucky to have the opportunity to
The city’s principal organ, the
brains nor the force behind the
jets to fly from her. They had studied it, practised it, On March 17 the men began regain the Malvinas.”
Portsmouth News, presented a mish-
junta.
Nott was not for turning. longed for it, for decades. moving ashore to prepare to tear
mash of stories on its front page:
Almirante Jorge Anaya was the
Invincible would be sold. And if it came to war, then down the old huts and machinery. The ears of GCHQ – the
Prince Andrew had taken a break
real power in Argentina. He was also
Sir Henry Leach was not done. Argentina should strike in the They also erected a makeshift Government Communications
from Naval training to host a dinner
an ardent Malvinista, clamouring
He lobbied intensely to save the depths of the austral winter when flagpole and raised their national Headquarters – in Cheltenham are
party for a dozen people at Windsor
for the return of the Malvinas.
Fleet. The Prime Minister and her the weather would be too foul flag. ever-listening.
Castle; gruff Scotsman Frank
The admiral despised Britain not
deputy Willie Whitelaw were all for for Britain to respond and when Whitehall was not amused. A successor to the fabled
Burrows was sacked as the manager
merely for her ‘occupation’ of the
dismissing the admiral. the Nott axe had fallen upon the When it learned of the scrap metal Government Code and Cypher
of Portsmouth FC that lunchtime;
islands off Argentina’s coast.
John Nott intervened. He didn’t Fleet. workers’ actions it ordered them to School which had cracked
Ronald Reagan was urging Soviet
He despised Britain because she
want to sack a man of honour who leave immediately. Germany’s Enigma machine,
leader Leonid Brezhnev to talk
was a nation in decline, a nation
had dutifully served his nation for Colonel Stephen Love, Britain’s The Argentine flag was lowered. GCHQ continued to eavesdrop
about arms reductions.
without moral courage, a nation
more than four decades. military attaché in Buenos Aires, Davidoff’s ship left promptly... but on the world’s radio traffic and
And, almost buried on the front
without balls.
And, as the Defence Secretary scoured the Argentine papers with the workers stayed behind. pass the relevant information to
page, a snippet in one column: the
As von Plehve had convinced
observed, “it might have meant that growing concern. Whitehall was distinctly not MI5, MI6, the military and the
Argentinian foreign minister was
Nicholas II eight decades earlier,
he would have retired in glory as a Almost daily, editors beat the amused this time. government.
not amused by British sabre rattling
what Argentina needed was a
naval martyr.” drums of war. The English-language It ordered Endurance with a On March 31 1982 it picked up
over the Falkland Islands. By the
short, victorious war to counter
John Nott had apparently newspaper Buenes Aires Herald party of Royal Marines to sail a signal from an Argentinian naval
time the paper appeared on the
the regime’s unpopularity, Anaya
saved Sir Henry Leach. In turn, made no secret of Argentinian forthwith from the Falklands and force heading south: the invasion of
city’s streets, Argentina was poised
argued.
the admiral would save Nott’s intentions. An invasion “would no eject the Argentinians. the Falklands had been postponed
to strike.
Galtieri concurred. And so as
government. doubt succeed as there are very few Far from complying, the junta until April 2; the force was being
1981 died – and the core of the
British troops on the islands”. responded with a military move of buffeted by a storm.
The loudspeaker aboard the Cabo
Royal Navy with it – intellects
their own. The signal found its way into the
San Antonio crackled as the voice
vast and cool and unsympathetic
They dispatched the supply ship hands of John Nott, who forlornly
of Carlos Büsser echoed around
slowly and surely drew their plans
Bahia Paraiso with 14 marines to walked into the Prime Minister’s
the ship.
against us.
O
N a blustery day in late Col Love agreed. The Falklands
January, the ceremonial were “a ripe plum waiting to fall
gun of HMS Endurance into the hands of any professional
thundered 21 times as the military machine”. As was his South Georgia... and put them office in the House of Commons.
“We have been chosen by destiny
survey ship entered Ushuaia, the duty, he warned Whitehall of the ashore. The pessimistic Nott warned
to carry out one of the dearest
Perhaps Jorge Anaya was right.
picture-postcard Argentinian port increasingly bellicose stance in And far from ejecting the MargaretThatcher of the impending
ambitions of the Argentine people:
Britain was a nation in decline.
at the foot of the Americas. Buenos Aires. Argentinians forcibly from South invasion – and of Whitehall’s view
to recover the Malvinas Islands,”
Nineteen eighty-two opened
It had been two months since The Foreign Office mandarins Georgia, Endurance and her green that once taken by Argentina, the
he declared.
ominously. It was one of the most
Capt Nick Barker had brought his treated Love’s warning almost berets merely observed them. islands could not be re-taken by
“Tomorrow you will be victorious
bitter winters in memory.
ship alongside in an Argentinian with contempt. It says nothing that In Buenos Aires, British Britain’s Armed Forces.
but disciplined and carry out your
But the country was not merely
harbour. we don’t already know, one official Ambassador Anthony Williams Mrs Thatcher shook her head. duty with the blessing of Our Lord.
in the grip of a cold snap, it was still
Then, at Puerto Belgrano, scrawled in the margin. urged caution. Removing the scrap “If they are invaded,” she told Nott, God save Argentina.”
in the grip of recession.
Endurance had been warmly Lord Carrington took the metal workers and marines at Leith “we have got to get them back.”
DeLorean cars and Laker
welcomed. The reception at warnings from the South Atlantic could be the “trigger for armed In Government House in Stanley,
Airways were teetering on the brink
Ushuaia was downright icy. rather more seriously. action by the Argentines”. Sir Henry Leach had reached the the Falklands’ capital, a telegram
of collapse.
Most Argentinians declined an HMS Endurance was the crux But the trigger had already been same conclusion. After a day in was handed to Rex Hunt, the
Unemployment had reached a
invitation to a party aboard the of the problem, as he saw it. pulled. Portsmouth visiting the ASWE islands’ governor.
post-war high: more than three
survey ship, the Navy refused to Carrington implored John Nott to research establishment, the admiral Argentina would invade in the
million Britons were out of work.
take on Endurance at football and think again. Alarmed by Britain’s ‘bellicose’ had returned to London to find morning. “You will wish to make
This was a world where television
even refused to allow the Brits to To the Defence Secretary the response to events in South a host of reports concerning the your dispositions accordingly,”
started at mid-day (apart from
play local civilians. survey ship’s loss was a trifling Georgia, the junta feared London South Atlantic on his desk. Whitehall helpfully advised.
programmes for schools), where
Only Capitán Russo, a jovial, affair in light of the much heavier would send a naval task force south The reports, Sir Henry Dispositions? Hunt mused. All he
a 20in colour television would
rotund Armada Republica Argentina axe he was about to wield. to protect the Falklands. concluded, were unduly pessimistic. had was a Royal Marine detachment
set you back £240 and a video
officer had warm words for How could he justify sparing Buenos Aires saw no alternative. What the hell was the point in having fewer than 80 men strong, led by
recorder £470, where a terraced
Endurance. The two captains the aged Endurance while he paid It brought forward its plans for a Navy if it was not used for this sort Major Mike Norman.
house could be snapped up in
toasted each other’s good health, off more potent frigates – “serious invasion. It had to strike now before of thing? Norman had been on the islands
Falklands1a.indd 2 21/3/07 11:50:27 Falklands1a.indd 3 21/3/07 11:51:02
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