THE
FALKLANDS WAR
Up until the
invasion of the Falkland Islands by Argentina in the spring of 1982
was anyone even aware of their existence and that they were a British
colony? According to Thatcher's daughter, Carol, on the night of the
invasion her father had to search for an atlas to find out where
exactly these islands were, begging the question: did his good lady
wife initially even know where they were?
On being announced
on the news that the Falklands had been invaded (and having
established they weren't somewhere off the north coast of Scotland)
things moved incredibly quickly with Thatcher suddenly coming into
her own; it seemingly being the ideal opportunity to show what mettle
the Iron Lady was made of.
A so-called 'war
cabinet' was immediately formed consisting of the greatest
militarist/conservative minds in the country: Willie Whitelaw,
Francis Pym, Cecil Parkinson and other such luminaries. Within days a task force of
aircraft carriers, destroyers, submarines, frigates and landing craft
was setting sail from Portsmouth harbour, cheered on by crowds of
Union Jack-waving supporters and naval workers' families. Whilst two
nuclear-powered submarines would be at the Falklands within a matter
of days so as to be able to enforce a maritime exclusion zone around
the islands, it would take three weeks for the whole task force to
get there, providing time enough to consider the situation and for a
potential diplomatic solution to be reached.
Governed by a
military Junta headed by General Leopoldo Galtieri as President,
Argentina at that time was suffering huge political, economic and
social problems. Without question, the Junta was a Fascist one and
due to its inherent corruption, its involvement in a domestic 'dirty
war' against its own population, as well as the complete mishandling
of the economy it was massively unpopular with Argentinians.
The ownership of the
Falkland Islands (or the Malvinas, as the Argentinians called them)
was historically an extremely populist issue that the Argentine
public felt very passionate about. In a cynical ploy to win favour
with his people, Galtieri had instigated the Falklands invasion
believing there would be little or no opposition from Britain or
America. Galtieri's big mistake, however, was his failing to take
into account Thatcher's personality and her own precarious political
position.
Having based her
reputation on being strong-willed in the face of huge unpopularity
and opposition, if Thatcher allowed herself to be seen to be
humiliated by a common or garden dictator, her political and national
defence policies would have been made a complete mockery of. Thatcher
had no choice but to defend her political honour though inevitably
she saw it not as her own but the nation's honour at stake.
It was a serious
state of affairs but at the same time a quite ludicrous exercise. As
war had not yet actually been declared, the launching of the task
force was seen by many as grand but laughable posturing, more to be
derided than seriously opposed.
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CRASS
SHEEP FARMING IN THE FALKLANDS
A derisory stance
(fused with ample anger and abuse, of course) was the initial
position taken by Crass over the whole situation, ably illustrated by
Sheep Farming In The Falklands, released anonymously as a
one-sided flexi-disc; 40000 copies of which were given away for free
all around the country.
Starting with a
radio pastiche comparing a summit meeting between Thatcher and
Foreign Secretary
Lord Carrington to a
full-blown sexual encounter between the two - the decision to launch
the task force being Thatcher's orgasm - this was Crass at their most
malicious, the like not heard since Hurry Up Garry on their Stations
album.
"England
expects every man to do his best. I know nothing of failure."
Thatcher is quoted as saying before Crass enter with a chorus that
pretty much set the tone for the rest of the song: "Sheep
farming in the Falklands, re-arming in the Fucklands, fucking sheep
in the homelands, the Royal Marines are cumming."
As with Hurry Up
Garry, no analysis is offered, just angry, frustrated abuse: "When
we finish with the sheep in the Falklands battle, we'll invade
Argentina and fuck the cattle."
And just as Hurry Up
Garry ends in a final riposte of "Piss off, you fucking
stink. Bastards." so too does Sheep Farming end in a similar
fashion with a torrent of insults: "You're old and you're ill
and you're soon gonna die, you've got nothing to lose if you fill up
the sky. You'd take us all with you, yeah it's tough at the top. You
slop bucket, shit-filled, puss-ridden, death pimp snot."
Then lastly, as though there were no more words to express the
contempt: "You FUCK!"
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Though calls for
peace and restraint were emanating from a variety of quarters,
without question the most vociferous was from Crass and their very
simple but very effective throwaway flexi-disc release. In stark
contrast to this, however, stood tabloid newspaper The Sun;
identifying, tapping into and giving voice to a latent patriotism
that to many came as a shock for even existing at all.
Having always been
staunchly supportive of Thatcher, with the Falklands crisis this
support reached its zenith as The Sun suddenly morphed into an
incredibly loud and very effective cheerleader for the war.
At one point, as the
task force steamed steadily toward its destination, America brokered
a peace deal which Thatcher outrightly rejected but just as
importantly so too did The Sun with the quite ingenious headline,
'Stick it up your Junta'. And just to reinforce its position, The Sun
printed up thousands of T-shirts bearing the same slogan which were
then sold to its readers. With headlines such as this and the coining
of such terms as 'Argies' and 'our boys', along with Page Three bare
breasts and bingo, The Sun was on to a winner.
With the rejection
of the peace deal, the task force continued unimpeded before
eventually reaching the island of South Georgia where the Argentinian
army had set up a base. Following an Argentine submarine being
attacked and immobilized by British helicopters, the island was
recaptured with relative ease.
Appearing outside 10
Downing Street, Thatcher and Defence Secretary John Nott announced
the successful recovery of one of 'our' islands to waiting
journalists. "Are we going to declare war now on Argentina,
Mrs Thatcher?" one of the journalists enquired, to which
Thatcher retorted: "Just rejoice at that news and
congratulate our forces and the marines. Rejoice!"
If this was a war
that dare not speak its name, then the rejoicing of it as urged by
Thatcher held no such inhibitions as illustrated perfectly by what
was to be the most famous of The Sun's headlines of that whole
period: 'Gotcha!'
Having taken South
Georgia, the task force moved full steam ahead to the Falkland
Islands where a 200 mile total exclusion zone was immediately
enforced. Orders were then given to bomb the runway of the airport at
Port Stanley and other Argentine positions elsewhere on the
Falklands. In response, the Argentine Air Force launched a major
attack upon the British ships. Though there were no reports of
casualties, the battle had obviously been joined.
Aware of the threat
of the Argentine fleet and the capacity of its aircraft carriers,
cruisers and destroyers to carry Exocet missiles, orders were also
given to attack on sight any Argentine ship seen within the exclusion
zone.
So, on Sunday 2nd of
May, the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano was torpedoed by British
submarine HMS Conqueror and was sunk with a loss of some
321 lives.
'Gotcha!' cried The
Sun, as though a score was being gained in some mad game where life
and death held no bearing. Suddenly, however, nothing was in the
slightest bit funny.
This was no game.
This was no joke.
There was
nothing to laugh about.
This was fucking
war.
For all those
conscious of the realities of war, whether it be through experience,
education, or even through Crass and Discharge records, the sinking
of the Belgrano came as a shocking outrage.
Just what the fuck
was Thatcher and her so-called fucking 'war cabinet' doing? Just what
the fuck was there now to rejoice?
Just a few months
earlier these scrappy, wind-blasted islands of the Falklands held no
meaning in the slightest to anyone outside of Argentina and now
people were being killed over them. What did it matter to the
Thatcher government that the Falkland islanders were British? It was
hardly as though everyone born under the Union Jack was viewed or
treated equally by Thatcher, particularly if their political beliefs
clashed with her own. If the Falklands were a British but solidly
socialist enclave would Thatcher still have been so passionate in her
defence of them?
What did it matter
to the Thatcher government that the Argentine Junta was a Fascist
one? What did Thatcher care? It had never
stopped Britain trading with them or stopped America being a good
friend or stopped France selling them Exocet missiles. Just
what the fuck?
In her own words,
Thatcher was fighting and standing up for "the right to
self-determination, for our territory, for our people, for
international law". Fighting and standing up for "all
those small territories and peoples the world over who, if someone
doesn't stand up and say 'Enough, stop', would be at risk".
Future events as
well as history would show this to be a selective lie although at the
time it was enough to give the British electorate an invigorating
boost of national pride. Abetted by the daily jingoistic outpourings
of The Sun, this fervent patriotism was unsettling in its intensity;
forging an atmosphere where anyone speaking out against the war was
branded 'traitor'.
Although the deaths
of 321 Argentinians aboard the Belgrano came as a shocking wake-up
call to the fact that this was real war being waged, it was to be the
event two days later that would be the real test of the resolve and
support of the British public.
Sinking the Belgrano
had the unexpected effect of causing all other Argentine naval
vessels to head back to port but this still left an extremely
formidable Argentine air force to contend with. On Tuesday 5th of May
this threat was realised when Argentine jet fighters launched an
Exocet attack resulting in British destroyer HMS Sheffield being hit.
Twenty British sailors were killed and the ship abandoned before
finally sinking some six days later due to raging fire caused by the
missile impact.
This was the point
of no return. For both Thatcher and Galtieri it was now imperative
that they neither lose nor back down as anything less than total
victory would ultimately spell the end of their political lives.
While the world looked on incredulously as negotiations between the
two sides stumbled on for another two weeks, everyone knew that the
chance of a peaceful solution had now gone and that only a land
battle would be the deciding factor. So, on Friday 21st of May, just
as Thatcher dined on fresh poached salmon and Black Forest gateau
with members of her constituency, the battle for the Falkland
Islands commenced in earnest.
Under cover of
darkness, 4000 troops landed successfully at San Carlos on the
north-western coast of the Falklands losing two helicopters and their
crews in the process. As morning broke, however, the Argentine air
force struck again, sinking the British frigate HMS Ardent and badly
damaging two other ships - frigate HMS Argonaut and the destroyer HMS
Brilliant.
Over the next few
days as British troops fortified their position, more ships came
under punishing attack from Argentine jet fighters resulting in the
loss of frigate HMS Antelope, destroyer HMS Coventry and container
ship Atlantic Conveyor. Along with the loss of lives and horrific
injuries a number of helicopters and vital supplies being transported
on the Atlantic Conveyor were lost also, meaning the troops would no
longer be able to be flown over the Falklands terrain and instead
would have to march.
Truth, as in any
other war was also another major casualty. Being 8000 miles away from
the British mainland, all journalists covering the story were totally
dependent on the Ministry Of Defence to not only get anywhere near
the islands but to also file a report back to Britain via the
navy's satellite communication system.
All news concerning
the war was being heavily censored, firstly on the actual naval
vessels and then back in London again by the MOD resulting in highly
sanitised versions of events. When the BBC started to take an
impartial stance on the war by referring to the two warring sides as
'British' and 'Argentinian' instead of 'us' and 'them', Thatcher
accused the Corporation of being unsupportive and unpatriotic. The
Sun went further by accusing the BBC of treason.
Under such
conditions confusion reigned, no better illustrated than when the
taking of Goose Green was announced on the BBC World Service one
whole day prior to it actually happening; potentially forewarning the
Argentinians but possibly even worse, igniting the fury of Thatcher.
The battle of Goose
Green would turn out to be the most historic of the Falklands' land
battles due primarily to the bravery of 500 British troops pitting
themselves against 1500 Argentinian conscripts. Outnumbered,
out-gunned and out-positioned the soldiers of the 2nd Parachute
Regiment - although suffering relatively heavy casualties - emerged
victorious, giving a morale boost not only to their fellow troops but
to Thatcher and her cohorts back in Britain.
Following this,
however, as preparations were being made for the final assault upon
the capital town of Port Stanley that morale was shattered by the
sinking of two landing ships, the Sir Tristram and the Sir Galahad.
The sinking of the
Sir Galahad was a particularly devastating blow as it resulted in the
deaths and terrible burn injuries of 48 troops, the most famous of
those casualties being Welsh Guardsman Simon Weston whose name (or
picture, at least) would in the near future be forever linked with
Crass. Three days later, another ship - the destroyer HMS Glamorgan -
was hit by yet another Exocet missile, killing 13 and injuring many
others.
For all this, for
the British army there was no turning back and after a gruelling
march over treacherous terrain the troops entered into full-scale
battles in the mountainous areas surrounding Port Stanley. One by one
the mountains fell, leaving the Argentinians defeated or causing them
to retreat. Finally, on Monday 14th of June the announcement came
over the news that white flags were flying over Port Stanley. The
Argentinian army had lain down its arms and the Falkland Islands were
once again under British rule.
Britain had won the
war.
Three days later,
President Galtieri was cast out from office and within a year a new
civilian President would be elected, banishing forever the military
Junta to the dustbin of history.
Back in Britain - at
a cost of 907 lives (258 British, 649 Argentinian), 1845 wounded (777
British, 1068 Argentinian), 6 ships (with another 10 badly damaged),
34 aircraft and more than £1.6billion - Thatcher was victorious.
The Falklands war
had started suddenly and ended after 11 weeks relatively quickly,
delivering a short, sharp shock to the body politic of Britain. When
the task force first set sail from Portsmouth in April the support
from the general public was extremely high, almost evoking memories
of D-Day and the fleets of boats setting sail for Dunkirk. When
British troops started to get killed, public support for the war
didn't waver but became much more serious.
At first, the reason
for going to war with Argentina was to liberate the Falkland Islands
from an occupying Fascist power. That reason remained but then it
also became about principle, national pride and Britain's
self-confidence and standing in the world. These notions struck a
chord with the general public, forging a national identity that
people could unite around. For her own political ends, Thatcher
exploited these notions to the hilt and labelling them 'the Falklands
factor' used them to project her vanity upon the world.
Thatcher had shown
that she was a very strong leader who had no qualms about unleashing
the full power of the State that as Prime Minister was at her
disposal, even when knowing that the end result would be destruction
and death. Whether or not this made Thatcher seriously mad was
something for psychologists to decide and there were probably quite a
few who would have liked to have had her as a patient. What was
without question was that this made her seriously dangerous and
somebody to be extremely wary of.
If Thatcher was
willing to go to war over some scrappy islands of sheep somewhere
8000 miles away from home in the South Atlantic, then what else might
she be willing to do? What else might she be capable of? World
leaders, particularly in Russia and America, looked on and took note
of the many lessons to be learned from this Falklands 'crisis'.
The tragedy,
however, was that not enough people within Britain itself would take
heed of these lessons and that many would even believe that Thatcher
had policies and qualities of such worth so as to warrant her being
re-elected in the next General Election...
