Another one O/T - The Falklands 30 years on - genuine views please

[Trufflehound]

Yes, it's for another piece I'm writing.

I know some of you served in HM Forces in the Falklands, either in 1982 or subsequently.

What I'm interested in hearing is how you genuinely feel about the situation and towards Argentina 30 years on.

Please PM your views as posting them here is bound to end up in a binfest, which is not the intention - this will be a balanced piece and bigotry/chest-beating will be ignored. I was in Argentina in March and managed to get some pretty honest and balanced opinions from them. I'm hoping to achieve the same fairness from the British side..

Cheers

 

[Falkor]

Was a bit shocked earlier seeing we are sending out best war ship around that way, i know we are not giving it back but i feel where being a bit provocative at the moment

 

[Cadiz Seagull]

Geographically the Falklands should be Argentinian but the be all and end all is that the people there want to stay British.

I'm sure the UK would be happy to give the Islands to Argentina as they cost a fortune to maintain with the military presence there. Unlike Gibraltar which earns money for the UK, the Falklands cost money.

But, as with Gibraltar, the locals overwhelmingly want to remain British so that's pretty much the end of the discussion as far as any British Government is concerned.

To me, one of my main memories of the conflict was how quickly the UK was able to organise the task force. This was in the days when the unions were all powerful, we were considered the sick man of Europe and generally couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery, let alone send an efficient fighting force to the other side of the world. But everybody involved pulled together, especially the unions, and the task force was assembled and sailed virtually over one weekend.

 

[vegster]

TBH, we should have negotiated some kind of dual agreement over sovereignty or independence before The Falklands war. As the Argies decided to just take them by force and we took them back, in my eyes they have blown their right to them.

It would be wrong for bullies to prosper and get what they want by negotiation what they could not take by force, unless of course we do the bullying.

 

[clapham_gull]

Geographically the Falklands should be Argentinian but the be all and end all is that the people there want to stay British.

I'm sure the UK would be happy to give the Islands to Argentina as they cost a fortune to maintain with the military presence there. Unlike Gibraltar which earns money for the UK, the Falklands cost money.

But, as with Gibraltar, the locals overwhelmingly want to remain British so that's pretty much the end of the discussion as far as any British Government is concerned.

To me, one of my main memories of the conflict was how quickly the UK was able to organise the task force. This was in the days when the unions were all powerful, we were considered the sick man of Europe and generally couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery, let alone send an efficient fighting force to the other side of the world. But everybody involved pulled together, especially the unions, and the task force was assembled and sailed virtually over one weekend.

No idea whether this is true or not but I read in the paper tonight that if you win a place in a UK university as a Gibraltarian student, the Gibraltaria Government pays all the fees.

.. and they throw in the return flights home as well.

 

[8ace]

There's not that much oil there anyway.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

There should be a negotiated deal with Argentina. It is costing us a fortune.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

100 years from now it'll be Argentinian, same as Hong Kong is now Chinese.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

There should be a negotiated deal with Argentina. It is costing us a fortune.

Indeed. For a population that is smaller than Ringmer or West Chiltington, the expenditure is unsustainable.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Indeed. For a population that is smaller than Ringmer, the expenditure is unsustainable.

Until they discover oil.

 

[skipper734]

Did you watch the Max Hastings thing on BBC2 Monday night. Summed the whole thing up for me.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Until they discover oil.

At least the Iraq war was about real oil. In the case of the Falklands, it could easily be that the British interest in retaining the territory is based on nothing much more than a hope that oil might be found.

Explorers fail to strike oil in test sites off Falklands - Business News - Business - The Independent

 

[drew]

Geographically the Falklands should be Argentinian but the be all and end all is that the people there want to stay British.

I'm sure the UK would be happy to give the Islands to Argentina as they cost a fortune to maintain with the military presence there. Unlike Gibraltar which earns money for the UK, the Falklands cost money.

But, as with Gibraltar, the locals overwhelmingly want to remain British so that's pretty much the end of the discussion as far as any British Government is concerned.

To me, one of my main memories of the conflict was how quickly the UK was able to organise the task force. This was in the days when the unions were all powerful, we were considered the sick man of Europe and generally couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery, let alone send an efficient fighting force to the other side of the world. But everybody involved pulled together, especially the unions, and the task force was assembled and sailed virtually over one weekend.

For the life of me I cannot fathom why people quote the 'geographical' factor. Based on that, Ireland should be part of England but then again England should be part of France. The islands are also outside any recognised international territorial waters. They were uninhabited when discovered by europeans. They could have been discovered by the Spanish or maybe the English, it doesn't seem clear. What is known is that Patagonians did not inhabit the islands.

Part was settled by the Spanish and another part by the British. Seems the interesting times were in the 1820s and 1830s when it pirate claimed the lands for the United Provences of the River Plate, (or something similar) but was actually only interested in piracy, the United Provences of the River Plate not actually knowing anything about his claim. At the time, seemed nobody was really interested until the Brits re-established authority in 1833. Now, I suggest you take a look at maps of the world and national boundaries and note how different most places are, whether they be the numerous states that made up the germanic area of Europe, the vast number of Italian states, areas of Greece/Turkey, the separate parts of the US etc etc. In the history of the islands, there has never actually been an Argentinian/Patagonian long term settlement. Next, they will be claiming Antartica?

With regard to your assertion that the UK would be happy to give the islands to Argentina, how did you arrive at that. You are aware that oil is now believed to be down there and of course that has no bearing on the Argentinian (or for that matter our) desire to have sovereignty. At least you seem to accept the right of self determination by the actual Falkland Islanders themselves.

100 years from now it'll be Argentinian, same as Hong Kong is now Chinese.

Hong Kong was part of a lease that was handed back when the lease expired.

 

[smudge]

I saw something on BBC World News the other day & hadn't realized it was 30 years ago, blimey! I remember a copper knocking on the door & asking my Mum if Naval Airman Smith of HMS Invincible was in. I thought I was right in the shit! Anyway, clerical f*** up cos I was leave on draft from Invince, it was Easter, so ended up with a very cushy number compared to my mates on grey funnel's as I was sent on the QEII to work on the flight decks, (one fwd, one aft). It was all very exciting, until I heard of ships getting sunk & friends getting killed & injured. Made friends with a lot of the Welsh Guards & Scots Guards on the way down; many tinnies were sunk with great banter between the services, (which the RN always won of course). I remember transferring some of the Taffs at South Georgia to Canberra & Norlund, only to find out a few days later how many had perished onboard Sir Galahad. Makes you think I can tell you. As does air raid warning red!

What I think of today is how would my best mate from those days be now if he hadn't died. Budgie Marsden from Blackburn, one of the funniest blokes you'd ever meet & a run ashore oppo that I got in to so many scrapes with. I wonder what he'd be doing now; like I say, makes you think.

Was it right, was it wrong? Don't know. Waste of young lives though.

 

[The Maharajah of Sydney]

Have some clear memories in the lead up to this .
On the Sunday night , the day before I left the UK to fly to Australia for the 1st time I recall a small item towards the end of the nightly BBC News about an ensuing dispute between Britain & Argentina about of all things - scrap metal .
Like a lot a people at the time I'd never really heard of The Falkands before and thought nothing more of it . That was until 15 hours later when in transit in Kuala Lumpur I read that the conflict has escalated all out of proportion , gunboats are on their way South and there is serious talk of conscription for 18 - 21 year old males ( my demographic at the time ) . Felt like I'd just dodged a bullet - literally !!

 

[Emily's Mum]

Agreed, it costs a great deal of money to maintain a presence there. However, having been there, it is without doubt that 99.99% of the Falkland Islanders want to remain British. Therefore the british Government will support the Islanders. Our presence has also benefited the Islanders immensley, improving their transport links, providing limited employment, improving their health care, providing a cinema, but most importantly, making the owners of the Globe very rich indeed.

Cadiz Seagull is right, hundreds, if not thousands of people worked around the clock over the Easter weekend to get the task force ready; many of the dockyard workers in Portsmouth did it with their redundancy notices in their pockets. It really was a team effort, and I am proud to say, it included me.

 

[Emily's Mum]

Forgot to say, our presence their also gives employment opportunities to residents of St Helena and Ascension Island, who make up the majority of the contract workers on the Islands. Most are employed by British companies. There is very little direct employment by the British Government of locals.

 

[Tricky Dicky]

Of course this is all about money, now. Everyone wants a bit of the potential oil revenue. Without that factor, the only reasonable stance is one of negotiation and compromise in some way, I don't know, shared sovereinty or some-such. The money complicates things.

Whilst I remember the confict well and supported it at the time, I can't say that I can get too interested in it either way really. We owe something to "our" people over there, but having a colony so far away is such an out-dated concept to me.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

There should be a negotiated deal with Argentina. It is costing us a fortune.

Indeed. For a population that is smaller than Ringmer or West Chiltington, the expenditure is unsustainable.

Given the islanders want to remain British I'd suggest it's wrong to just look it from a financial perspective. Indeed after so many young men lost their lives, many suffering the horror of burning alive, it would be repugnant to consider the future of the islands because of the financial cost.

 

[User removed 4]

I saw something on BBC World News the other day & hadn't realized it was 30 years ago, blimey! I remember a copper knocking on the door & asking my Mum if Naval Airman Smith of HMS Invincible was in. I thought I was right in the shit! Anyway, clerical f*** up cos I was leave on draft from Invince, it was Easter, so ended up with a very cushy number compared to my mates on grey funnel's as I was sent on the QEII to work on the flight decks, (one fwd, one aft). It was all very exciting, until I heard of ships getting sunk & friends getting killed & injured. Made friends with a lot of the Welsh Guards & Scots Guards on the way down; many tinnies were sunk with great banter between the services, (which the RN always won of course). I remember transferring some of the Taffs at South Georgia to Canberra & Norlund, only to find out a few days later how many had perished onboard Sir Galahad. Makes you think I can tell you. As does air raid warning red!

What I think of today is how would my best mate from those days be now if he hadn't died. Budgie Marsden from Blackburn, one of the funniest blokes you'd ever meet & a run ashore oppo that I got in to so many scrapes with. I wonder what he'd be doing now; like I say, makes you think.

Was it right, was it wrong? Don't know. Waste of young lives though.

very poignant post smudge.