The Falklands files

As we approach the thirtieth anniversary of the Falklands War, Britain’s victory is justly recalled. That the war came near to disaster is conveniently forgotten. How well-placed are we to hold the islands today?

When the 127 ships of the Task Force — a number that could not be assembled now  — returned in triumph to the home ports in 1982 no one wished to talk about how near the venture had come to grief. Without detracting from the courage and skill of the British forces, victory came because of three unpredictable weaknesses on the Argentine side: they ran out of Exocet missiles, many of their 1000lb bombs failed to explode, and they foolishly attacked the warships instead of the troop transports at San Carlos Bay. But for these flukes the rate of attrition on British warships would soon have passed tipping point.

Another crucial factor that is conveniently forgotten is how handicapped the Task Force was by Britain being a member of NATO.