SCREAMING IN SILENCE BY TONY MCNALLY

Falklands hero denied Victoria Cross because ‘too many were given out’

IT WAS one of the most controversial military decisions in recent times – not to award a Victoria Cross to a Falklands hero because too many of the medals had been given out already. Now a new book has argued that Stephen Illingsworth, who died during the battle for Goose Green on May 28, 1982, may not have been awarded the highest honour for gallantry because he lacked friends in high places. The 20-year-old private had already risked almost certain death to rescue a wounded comrade earlier on the same day. The man had been shot in the back by Argentine forces and was lying injured in no man’s land when Ilingsworth, of B company, 2 Para, left the safety of his own lines and braved enemy fire to give the wounded man first aid. Together with another soldier, he managed to remove the man’s webbing, which included spare ammunition, and carry him to safety. Read more Here

DONT EXPECT ME TO BE NORMAL

DEFEATING FASCISM IN THE FALKLANDS

Recalling Falklands' conflict: “Farewell to Argentina's Mirages, ”but glory is forever”

The ceremony took place last Sunday at the VI Air Brigade stationed in Tandil, Buenos Aires province, with the attendance of active and retired pilots, Malvinas war veterans, members of Air Force families, officials from the three services and security forces, and locals.
The event under the heading of 'Argentina farewells its Mirages, but Glory is forever' was an air and landing display from four different Mirage models from the Argentine Air Force. They were supported by a pass-by from other aircraft such as the IA-63 Pampa; IS-58 Pucará; Hercules C130; Fokker F-27; DHC-6 Twin Otter; Grob 120 and Embraer-312 Tucano plus helicopters Mi-171; Bell 212 and Hughes 500.
The Mirage III model was designed as a supersonic interceptor by the French Dassault in the mid fifties and was followed by the Mirage V, which became a fighter bomber. They helped Israel win an astounding victory during the Six days war in 1967, and based on this international performance, Argentina five years later incorporated the first units which started flying in 1973.Read more HERE   



(RG)  Whenever I think of the Mirage aircraft I think of the one I shot down in the Falklands War in 1982,

THREE DAYS IN JUNE THE MOVIE?

TOM HARDY would be the ideal man to play Cpl McLaughlin in 'THREE DAYS IN JUNE'

WHISPERS

Snow flakes….

Gently fall and melt

Crossing from this realm

It’s beautiful

No pity please

Valhalla awaits

Read my name

On granite walls

Listen for a soldier coming home

 On a name whispered in the wind

Across the Glen

Remember us….

We lived we loved

We fell….

We will always be

Soldiers…..

©  Tony McNally

Falklands clearance of Argentine mines takes off to a flying start

Most of the work is concentrated in areas surrounding the capital Stanley which were planted 33 years ago by the retreating Argentine forces that invaded the Falklands in April 1982.
Phase 4B which involves work on five areas commenced just over ten days ago and minefield number 33 (opposite Pony’s Pass) is expected to be completed this week.
Mr Marot said the Bactec (*) team was operating about four times faster than in 2010 when the project started and this was mainly due to techniques having improved as well as the understanding of how the mines have been laid.
“The Argentine records have been quite consistent throughout,” he said.
Works by the Bactec team of de-miners are taking place in the area south of Sapper Hill near the water tanks, Pony’s Pass as mentioned above, at Eliza Cove Bay near the rubbish tip, general area clearance on the south side of Wall Mountain and between Eliza Cove Road and the Mile Pond.Read more HERE 

Thatcher memoirs detail PM's anger at foreign secretary over Falklands

Previously unpublished memoirs reveal that Thatcher thought Frances Pym was combining with the Americans in attempt to outmanoeuvre her.Margaret Thatcher strongly suspected that her foreign secretary, Francis Pym, was combining with the Americans to outmanoeuvre her at the height of the Falklands war, according to her previously unpublished handwritten memoir of the conflict.

The memoir, written a year after the 1982 war with Argentina, details two key crunch points in the diplomatic phase of the conflict when she clashed with her foreign secretary over attempts involving the Americans to end it peacefully.

In the second key moment – over the Peruvian peace proposals – Pym succeeded in outmanoeuvring her and rallying the cabinet against her – much to Thatcher’s fury.

The remarkable Falklands memoir is one of three personal written by the former prime minister that have been “gifted to the nation” by her estate in lieu of £1m of inheritance tax under an Arts Council England scheme.

The bulk of Thatcher’s private papers were donated to the nation in her lifetime and held at the Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge. Cambridge University said that Thatcher had stressed she had always wanted her archive to stay in the United Kingdom.

The newly released papers include a personal memoir of the 1984 European summit, where she won her battled for a British rebate, her visit to Moscow for a state funeral in 1985, and the text of her “No Turning Back” speech at the Tory party conference.

Arts Council England described the Falklands memoir as “probably the single most significant historical document Margaret Thatcher ever wrote”.

Chris Collins, historian of the Margaret Thatcher Foundation, said its main historical value came from laying out her long and detailed case against Pym – the one cabinet colleague she did not cover with praise for his role in the war.

“Peeping through the pages of the memoir is the uncomfortable thought from MT’s perspective that the foreign secretary was combining with the Americans to outmanoeuvre her during the phase of Falklands diplomacy, not without success,” says Collins.

The first clash came on 24 April on the eve of the war, when Pym returned from Washington with American peace proposals, which he supported and tried to urge on his colleagues. Thatcher says: “This was to be one of the most crucial days in the Falklands story and a critical one for me personally. Early on Saturday morning Francis came to my study in No10 to tell me the results of his efforts. The document he brought back was a complete sellout.”

She told him so in the most direct terms, telling him they would rob the Falklanders of their freedom and was angered to discover he still insisted on putting them before the key cabinet committee: “A former defence secretary & present foreign secretary of Britain recommending peace at that price. Had it gone through the committee I could not have stayed,” she wrote. The row was defused by the simple expedient of putting the plan to the Argentinians first, who refused to accept the terms.Read more HERE

(RG)They all stabbed her in the back in the end.

Problems with comments on Facebook

Somebody posted some interesting photos of the Falklands from 82 on our Regimental Face book group. He made a comment about the terrible conditions those poor Argentinian lads had to live in. He was with our sister battery that took over from us after the War. I made a jokey comment saying “It wasn't too cushy for us lads either,” Someone else jumped in and escalated everything by casting doubts on how many aircraft we hit, saying maybe we should have taken photographs to prove our kills. Nowhere was anything said disrespectful towards our sister battery, I have no doubt that if hostilities has continued that they would have continued the air defence of the Falklands with utmost professionalism. I think this proves how things said on Face book can be taken the wrong way. If that soldier was recounting his time in the Falklands in a bar with me, and I said the same thing, with a smile on my face, we would have laughed and got the next round and continued the crack. I am used to other Regiments and know it all civilians attacking our Record in the War, but when it comes from someone in the same Regiment it is harder to take. While I am on a rant I might as well continue. Someone put a photograph on the 12 Regt group of my Rapier showing Mickey Quinn, who is no longer with us, on the anniversary of the attack on the Galahad. You can tell how many people had seen the image it was over 80. only one person commented. Now if someone puts a photograph of a big breakfast, there are dozens of comments. I was extremely saddened by this. I know some people in the Regiment don’t like me, but that is no excuse for not respecting one of our own. That is the difference between a Royal Artillery Battery like ours compared to say a Facebook group of the Parachute Regiment, where a photo of a fallen Para would rightly so have received hundreds of comments. The truth is the camaraderie and brotherhood is far stronger in the Para’s the Marines and other infantry Regiments. (Above is the photo of Mickey Quinn R.I.P. )Well that’s how I see things anyway. That gentleman concludes my thoughts for today.

Falklands: “We are an Overseas Territory, very content with the status and endorsed in the 2013 referendum”

The Falkland Islands are very pleased with their current political and democratic status based on the UN charter and confirmed in the 2013 referendum, enjoy a prosperous economy with emphasis on social policies and environment conservation and have good neighborly relations with nearby countries, except for Argentina that “continues to ignore our people's right to self-determination and covet our territory”.Words belong to MLA Phyl Rendell, MBE, Falklands elected member of the Legislative Assembly which rules Islands affairs, except for defense and foreign affairs, addressing on Wednesday the UN Pre-C24 Assembly currently taking place in Managua, Nicaragua.
MLA Rendell added that “if there was no threat from Argentina to claim our country, and the Government of that country recognized our existence and respected our right to self-determination, we would not require British troops at all”.Read more HERE 

Time to respect the wishes of the Falkland Islanders

Thirty-three years ago, Argentina invaded the Falklands and the British liberated it - not the other way around.Thirty-three years ago today, Argentina illegally invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands, a British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic.
Against the odds, the then British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, mobilised a task force and successfully liberated the islands two months later. This tragic war ended up needlessly costing the lives of 255 British and more than 649 Argentine soldiers.
Today, Argentina has not given up on its tenuous claim to the islands. This is because it offers a convenient distraction to Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s political and economic woes at home.Spurious claims

Argentina pushes its claim over Falklands
Argentina claims that the Falkland Islands are theirs for two reasons: geographical proximity and the (incorrect) belief that they inherited the islands from Spain upon receiving independence. Both of these claims are spurious.
A quick glance at the globe explains why the first claim is ridiculous. Using the argument of geographical proximity would mean that, if it wanted, Morocco could have a claim on the Canary Islands, for example.
The second claim defies historical facts. The last Spanish settlement on the Falkland Islands left in 1811. What we today call Argentina declared independence from Spain in 1816.
Therefore, at the time of Argentine independence and the collapse of the Spanish Viceroyalty, Argentina could not inherit what Spain did not have to give.
 Read more HERE 


(RG) A very well balanced and factual article written by Luke Coffey

Grantham man returns to Falklands where 13 shipmates died in battle

A former Royal Navy seaman has returned to the Falkland Islands for the first time in 33 years since his ship was hit by an Argentine missile. Phil Davy, of Walton Gardens, Grantham, counts himself lucky as he says, but for circumstances, the exocet missile that was fired at his ship could well have killed him. Thirteen of his shipmates died in the attack.At the end of march he had the chance to go back with his company, Cathodic Protection Co Ltd, based in Grantham, which won a contract to test equipment at the RAF base on the Falklands. Although not directly part of the testing team, Phil was given the opportunity to travel with them to carry out the work and visit the various memorials around the island dedicated to the military personnel lost in the conflict on both sides. Phil was a weapons engineering mechanic on the ship. At 6.35am on June 12 Glamorgan was hit by a missile fired from a makeshift launcher on the back of a lorry. The ship was 18 miles out to see and was turning away when she was hit, avoiding an even worse fate. She returned to England after the war. On his return to the islands, Phil visited the various battle sites, including the spot where the Exocet missile was fired at his ship. But it was the many memorials that Phil found moving, as it brought back many memories of the conflict and friends lost. Phil said: “It was very moving and I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to go down there.” He added: “I was fortunate enough to be able to drive round East Island, where most of the fighting during the conflict took place. It was hard to imagine that amongst the serene solitude of this isolated and beautiful landscape, hard battles were fought. Read more HERE   R.I.P.


WE WILL REMEMBER THEM

When the Falklands Were Forgotten - Life on the Islands in the 1960s

Blow a raspberry at Argentinian imperialism over the Falklands

The deluded neo-imperialists in Argentina have no claim whatsoever to the Falklands. Their bizarre behaviour over oil finds should be met with a very big raspberry blown right in their faces. The Falklands are British, and that's that.ntina isn't the last country in the world not to have realised that the imperial era is over. But its own brand of neo-imperialism over the Falkland Islands is surely the daftest.

Practically no-one from Argentina has ever lived there -- certainly not for any significant period of time -- and if it comes down to proximity, London is much closer to Paris (213 miles) than Buenos Aires is to Port Stanley (1,182 miles). Perhaps Britain should make a territorial claim for France on the same basis.

The latest nonsense from Argentina has been sparked by oil finds earlier in April by two British companies. The Argentinians went through the roof threatening to indict the companies' employees to "protect the resources of its 40 million citizens".

There's talk of extradition, and of 5-15 year jail sentences. Where do these people get off?

Argentina itself is an imperial construct. The majority of the population descended from European colonists. Maybe there's something in the DNA.

There was certainly something seriously pathological in the statement made by Argentina's ambassador to the UK, Alicia Castro. Speaking of British sovereignty over the islands she said: "It's like if the inhabitants of Soho decide that Chinatown belongs to China. It's exactly the same thing."Read More HERE 

(RG) My raspberry has been blown towards Argentina.

Paratroopers set for second march on Downing Street in campaign for Falklands hero to be formally recognised

Anger over government's refusal to award gallantry medal to Cpl Stewart McLaughlin.Hundreds of paratroopers are planning a second march on Downing Street in support of an ongoing campaign for a Wirral Falklands hero to be formally recognised for gallantry. More than 1,000 supporters are expected to join Cpl Stewart McLaughlin’s family on the march, on Friday July 3, to back calls for him to be posthumously honoured. The Wallasey paratrooper died during the battle of Mt Longdon in June 1982, and his family have been campaigning for 33 years for him to be recognised for his bravery. Though an original hand written citation was mislaid, his commanding officer in the Falklands Lieutenant-General Sir Hew Pike has since rewritten it, stating his actions fell “firmly in the Victoria Cross bracket” Read more HERE


(RG) They should do the right thing and grant the medal, but I don't hold out much hope, amazingly the same Government has been handing out South Atlantic medals like sweets, some soldiers who were sat at home watching the War on TV ,  can have medals, I have read quite a lot about the Vietnam War and watched loads of movies , so can I have a purple heart ?!

Britain to send more troops to the Falklands to counter 'heightened' invasion threat from Argentina

Michael Fallon, the defence secretary, will announce plans to bolster the Falkland Islands garrison amid fears of a renewed threat from Argentina.
The south American nation is feared to be increasing military expenditure. Senior ministers in the country have also made a series of increasingly aggressive statements about the islands in recent years.
Michale Fallon said: "The threat remains. It is a very live threat. We have to respond to it."
He said reports that Russia is working on an agreement to lease 12 long-range bombers to Argentina which could be used to support a renewed attack are unconfirmed.
"We do need to modernise our defences to ensure that we have sufficient troops there and that the islands are properly defended in terms of air defence and maritime defence.
"The threat, of course, to the islands remains but so does our commitment to being absolutely clear that islanders have the right to remain British and the right to proper protection by our forces.
"It is our general view that the threat has not reduced. Argentina still, sadly, maintains its claim to the islands 30 or more years after the original invasion and the war and we have to respond to that."
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence added: "There is a defence review and an announcement will be made about it. There will be a full statement by Michael Fallon."
Military analysts have previously argued that without an aircraft carrier, Harrier jump jets or the ability to deploy a task force, the islands could be seen as an easy target for Argentina.Read more   HERE 

(RG) I don't think this is any kind of saber rattling on the part of the British government, this is just good housekeeping and sending a message to the Argentinians that like in 1982 will will be prepared to use force to defend the Islands from aggression. We have as much right to send extra troops to the Falklands as we do to send extra troops to Blackpool. The Argentinians can buy or borrow as many jets from China or Russia or anywhere else, but think about it our Forces are battle hardened from fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan and  even if they could invade again which they cannot they would be defeated yet again.

REVEALED: The Falklands war DEATH RAY Margaret Thatcher planned to use on Argentina

Although the weapon was never used, prime minister Margaret Thatcher was so impressed she ordered tests to perfect it for possible use against the Soviet Union.

Governments had been keen to come up with a death ray since the 1920s, when £1,000 was offered for the invention of a ray that could kill a sheep at 100 yards.

During the Second World War Jasper Maskelyne, a conjuror employed by British Forces in North Africa as a camouflage and deception expert, used powerful searchlights to dazzle Luftwaffe pilots targeting the Suez Canal.When the Falkland Islands were invaded in 1982, scientists decided to employ the same trick by using lasers to blind enemy pilots Read more   HERE 


(RG) Ha Ha , the press love to use the words Death Ray and Margaret Thatcher in the same sentence.

Secret death toll of SAS war in the Falklands

FIFTEEN Argentine soldiers died in gun battles with British Special Forces in Argentina during the Falklands campaign, a book endorsed by Prince Andrew claims.The secret war has been covered up by both sides but the book’s author says he was contacted by Argentinian conscripts who were desperate to have their story told.

Special Forces helicopter pilot Col­onel Richard Hutchings says: “They claim their war against the British enemy took place on the Argentinian mainland in Patagonia, where 3,000 conscripts operated alongside regulars to protect airfields and aviation fuel dumps at Rio Grande and Rio Gallegos air bases from covert sabotage operations by British Special Forces.

“These conscripts alleged they fought against the SAS and SBS on Argentina’s mainland and say their war service has never been recognised because the very existence of British Special Forces on Argentine soil has long been denied.”Read more   HERE 

(RG) I knew of an aborted mission on mainland Argentina by Special Forces, but I have my doubts about this?

Falklands veteran Andy McGregor from Ashington to return to islands for marathon

Falklands veteran Andy McGregor from Ashington is to return to the islands for a marathon to raise money for three charities.Running a marathon is not something many of us would feel is beyond us.

Running a marathon at the age of 57 is something even more of us would find a less than appealing prospect.

Especially when the literature for said event warns that “gradients, wind and the threat of bad weather make this one of the toughest marathon courses!”

The concept of a 57 year old who is a war veteran running a marathon in such conditions is one most of us would find hard to believe.

Even more so perhaps when the event is taking place in the country in which that veteran served.

Yet it is the very fact that as a 57-year-old war veteran, he is able to run a marathon that has inspired Andy McGregor to participate.

Many war veterans carry the physical scars of battle which would render running 26 miles impossible. Not to mention the mental scars which might make returning to the land in which they fought unthinkable.

Andy considers himself fortunate to fall in neither category and is taking part in the event for those who are not so lucky.

He is raising money for charities which supports veterans of the conflict in which he served and ex-soldiers and their families.The conflict in which Andy was involved was Margaret Thatcher’s war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands of 1982..Read more  HERE 

(RG) Note how the left wing newspaper calls the it  Margaret Thatcher’s war   the haters cant help them selves, what about the illegal Wars by Tony Blair's Labour Government ?