FALKLAND
ISLANDS
FALKLAND
ISLANDS
4,700 square miles (about 85% the size of Northern Ireland) with a population (3,060) about that of a small town (1/500 that of Northern Ireland!). Possibly our most renowned Crown Colony.
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1592: Falkland Islands first sighted by British sailors.
1640: Named for Lucius Viscount Falkland, a politician and soldier in English Civil War who started out supporting parliament but changed sides as their demands became more extreme during 1641, and died at the First Battle of Newbury in 1643.
1764: French make first settlement at Port Louis on East Falkland.
1766: British settlement established at nearby Port Stanley.
1767: French sell Port Louis to Spain.
1770: Spanish commander of Buenos Aires sends fleet to take islands. British ships driven off.
1771: British political pressure and preparations for a counter-invasion lead to a Spanish withdrawal.
1810: Spain drops all claim to the Falkland Islands. During its war with France against Great Britain, it hands over Rio del Plata (roughly Chile, Paraguay, Argentina and parts of Uruguay and Bolivia) to the French. Rio del Plata now claims to break from French rule, knowing the overstretched French are too busy to challenge this.
1828: After most outlying areas break away, the rump UPRdP begins to call itself Argentina.
1829-33: Small Argentinian settlement on island ended by arrival of British warship. More British settlers arrive.
1976: Argentina establishes an illegal base at Southern Thule on the South Sandwich Islands and claims them. The British do nothing to remove the base.
1977: Rumours of invasion lead the Callaghan government to assemble a fleet of warships just off the Falklands. The Argentinians take the hint.
1979: Mrs. Thatcher becomes prime minister. The Argentine junta are sure she would not defend the islands. After all, she is only a woman!
1980: The Falkland Islanders unsurprisingly reject the laughable 'Hong Kong Compromise' - giving the islands to Argentina in return for a short British leaseback.
1981: Scrap-metal dealter Constantino Davidoff pays an arranged visit to South Georgia to look at three former whaling stations he has a contract to demolish. The Argentine junta are already planning for a 1982 invasion, and Davido will, unwittingly, give them just the opportunity they need.
1982:
March: a Hercules aircraft operated by Argentine military airline LADE, supposedly on a mail run to an Antarctic base, lands at Stanley Airport, falsely claiming a fuel leak, and carrying several senior Argentine officers whom the local LADE commandant takes on a tour of Stanley and its environs. Mrs. Thatcher asks the Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence for contingency plans in case of an Argentine blockade or invasion of the Islands. Davidoff sends 40 workmen on naval vessel Bahia Buen Suceso to dismantle Leith whaling station on South Georgia. Upon arrival the workmen hoist the Argentine flag. Mrs. Thatcher sends Endurance (a survey ship, and the only permanent British presence in the South Atlantic) with 24 Royal Marines from Stanley to South Georgia. The Bahia Buen Suceso and 30 workmen sail from Leith. Argentina restates its claim to the Falkland Islands and Dependencies, telling Great Britain there will be no negotiations on South Georgia. It cancels leave for military and diplomatic personnel, sends stores and equipment to the naval bases of Puerto Belgrano and Comodoro Rivadavia, and begins overflights of Stanley. Five Argentine warships are sighted near South Georgia. Great Britain begins contingency planning for the sending of a task force to the Islands. Mrs. Thatcher orders 3 nuclear submarines south to the Islands. Royal Fleet Auxiliary Fort Austin sails south to provide support for Endurance. A new Royal Marine detachment arrive Stanley aboard research ship John Biscoe.
April 2nd: Argentina occupies the 'Malvinas'.
April 21st: South Georgia operation begins.
April 25th: South Georgia recaptured by Royal Marines - Mrs. Thatcher tells Great Britain to "rejoice".
May 1st: Initial SAS and SBS landings on the Islands.
May 2nd: Cruiser General Belgrano skirts the southern edge of the exlcusion zone near Birdwood Bank, preparing for a run across it to attack the British fleet (the shadowing submarine, Conqueror, could not follow in such low water without being detected). When it gets too near the bank the Belgrano is sunk by Conqueror's torpedoes on the orders of War Cabinet. 368 Argentines die, primarily because the two escorting frigates do not pick anyone up.
May 4th: British destroyer Sheffield hit by an Exocet missile and later sinks - 20 die. The French company that builds the Exocet praises its effectiveness, and is surprised when people turn on them. Irish defence minister Patrick Mower says 'the British are very much the aggressors now'. Guards and Gurkhas.
May 14th: SAS attack the Argentine base on Pebble Island and destroy supplies and 11 Pucara aircraft.
May 21st: San Carlos landings begin, codenamed Operation Sutton. British frigate Ardent sunk in San Carlos Water by air attack.
May 24th: British frigate Antelope explodes and sinks when a bomb disposal officer attempts to defuse a bomb.
May 25th: British destroyer Coventry sunk by air attack. British container ship Atlantic Conveyor is abandoned with 3 vital Chinook helicopters aboard after an exocet missile hit sets the ship on fire.
May 27th: 45 Commando and 3 Para set out for Douglas and Teal Inlet. SAS land in strength on Mount Kent, cutting off Port Stanley on its landward side. British forces are furious when BBC World Service report 2 Para are advancing on Darwin, thus aiding the enemy.
May 28th: 2 Para launch attack early in the morning, and by evening surround Goose Green - 17 British and 250 Argentines die. The high number of casualties is because, at one point, Argentinian soldiers wave a white flag then kill the British soldier who comes to accept their surrender. Colonel H Jones is killed during the attack and subsequently awarded the Victoria Cross.
May 29th: 1400 Argentines surrender Goose Green to 600 British soldiers. The islanders imprisoned at Goose Green by the Argentines are released; they return to find the Argentinians have looted their homes and smeared excrement over the floors. The Organisation of American States condemns Great Britain's military action and calls on the US to stop helping Great Britain.
May 30th: 45 Commando take Douglas and 3 Para take Teal Inlet. 42 Commando advance on Mount Challenger. General Moore arrives at San Carlos.
May 31st: The British now control east Falkland up to the mountains around Port Stanley. Ronald Reagan asks Mrs. Thatcher not to inflict too serious a defeat on the Argentines. Her reply is unprintable.
June 8th: Sir Galahad and Sir Tristram are bombed at Fitzroy while the Welsh Guards are waiting to disembark - 51 die and 55 are seriously wounded. Sir Galahad sinks.
June 11th: Battle for Port Stanley begins on Mount Longdon, Mount Harriet and Two Sisters.
June 14th: By daylight Argentine troops are fleeing in disarray, by mid-morning white flags are flying in Stanley, and by noon the British have marched to the outskirts of Port Stanley. Mrs. Thatcher informs the Commons at 10.15pm UK time that the Argentines have surrendered. General Menendez surrenders to General Moore at 9pm FI time. 9,800 Argentine troops put down their arms.
June 20th: British forces land on South Thule - Argentines surrender without a fight. EEC lifts economic sanctions against Argentina (they just couldn't wait).
June 26th: Service of Thanksgiving and Remembrance at St. Paul's Cathedral in London. The Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie calls on people not to celebrate the victory. Yes.
For information on how the BBC tried to rewrite the Falklands history, follow this link.
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