Photos Falklands War Photos

[BravoZulu]

From the Imperial War Museum -

A Royal Navy Westland Wessex HU.5 (XT755) of 'B' Flight, 847 Naval Air Squadron delivers mortar ammunition to the front line during mountain battles above Port Stanley.

Also a colour version of it for anyone interested - https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205190432

EDIT - it's actually a slightly different photo, but was taken at the same time.

Thanks @Gaz post fixed!

 

[guest0001]

Back when I was a kid, my local library had a copy of this - https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/1205373316 - and I checked it out a lot when I was young and fascinated by such books (And yes, I think it explains the Paraquet/Paraquat thing).
Covers the whole thing from the Argentine invasion and the local Marines beating the S**t out of the Guerrico with - I think - a Bren gun and a Carl Gustav (As well as the senior RM NCO taking aim at the bridge with an L42), to the Argentines taking the Marines prisoner and being scared s**tless when they found one guy had some fire-axes stashed about his person, to the attack on the Santa Fe (First ever attack on a submarine entirely carried out by helicopter) to the eventual retaking of the Island.

Can't speak for the accuracy of the book but was fascinated by it as a teenager - probably not worth spending 94 quid on though!

It's an excellent book though. I bought it at Foyles, at Charing X, when it came out. I spent all my summers as a teenager with my aunt's in northern London, I always came home with a truckload of books from Foyles and the Motor Book Shop in the Westend.

 

[guest0001]

June 20th: The Royal Marines who have captured Southern Thule are none other than "Mills Marauders" the original defenders of South Georgia who fought the epic defence on April 3rd. Here's them in -20 with 60mph winds and a wind chill factor of -52 on this day in 1982.
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A Seppo I know bought a Ballester-Molina from Keith Mills. Mills told him that he had taken it from an Argentinian POW.

 

[Royal]

Thanks @Gaz post fixed!

I'm not going to argue that the guys on the left are SF but given the location I'd suggest that they're more likley to be D Sqn SAS or M&AWC (not strictly SF but close enough for government work)...

A Seppo I know bought a Ballester-Molina from Keith Mills. Mills told him that he had taken it from an Argentinian POW.

Keith 'nearly famous' Mills - an absolute legend and a thoroughly nice bloke to boot.

 

[BravoZulu]

D Squadron 22 SAS troopers shown with a group of commandos from 148 Forward Observation Battery Royal Artillery (NGSFO)

 

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"To the South Atlantic - Quick March “ was the order given to 42_commando as we left our barracks, loaded onto the SS Canberra and sailed from Southampton 8000 nautical miles to take back the Falkland Islands

 

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Harrier GR.3 aircraft of 1 Squadron parked alongside Royal Navy Sea Harriers and a Sea King helicopter on the flight deck of HMS Hermes on 19 May 1982, the day that 1 Squadron joined with Hermes in the South Atlantic. The Sea Harrier FRS.1 differed from the RAF's GR.3 in having extensive corrosion- proofing, a cockpit that was raised to provide the pilot with a better view, and a multi-mode radar called Blue Fox, which could search for targets in the air or on the sea

 

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Aircraft carrier HMS Hermes at Portsmouth Harbour on its return from the Falklands on 21 July 1982. Hermes is surrounded by small boats which sailed out to welcome it home and large crowds can be seen on the quayside.

 

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Avro Vulcan XM607 made the almost 8,000 mile trip non stop flying 15hrs & 45 mins to drop 21 1000lb bombs across the runway at Port Stanley, captained by Flight Lieutenant Martin Withers

 

[uktabber]

That chap on the right looks like Freddie Mercury!!

 

[BravoZulu]

1 May 1982 "The Day of the Sea Harrier". Flight deck operations on board HMS Hermes. A Sea Harrier takes off from the ski-jump while various missiles, helicopters and vehicles crowd the flight deck of the carrier. The arms front to back include: 1000lb GP bombs with type 114 'Slick' tails, 1000lb GP Bombs with Type 117 parachute 'retarded' tails, Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and Sea Skua air-to-surface missiles.

BOMBARDMENT

The RAF opened proceedings with the legendary long-range raid by a Vulcan bomber which dropped a stick of bombs across the runway at Stanley's airport.

But Saturday May 1st was really the day of the Sea Harrier.

From first light to last, the jets hounded ground and air defences around the Falklands capital.

With the Harrier lethality supported by the guns. of HMS Glamorgan, Alacrity and Arrow - 'The Three Musketeers' which joined in the bombardment, the Argentine forces were firmly on the backfoot.

AVOIDANCE

There was a response from the Fuerza Aerea Argentina, as it sent Daggers - Israeli-built copies of French Mirages aloft, alongside Mirages and veteran A4 Skyhawks - bought second-hand from the USA.

The first dogfight proved inconclusive though, with the Argentines attempting to avoid battle.

By Saturday afternoon, however, Sea Harriers had accounted for four enemy aircraft: two Mirages, an ageing Canberra bomber and one Dagger.

FOX TWO AWAY

Flight Lieutenant Paul Barton - one of several RAF men flying with 801 Naval Air Squadron - was the first to score a hit with a Sidewinder air-to-air missile. With "Fox two away" crackling over the airwaves, squadron CO Lieutenant Commander Nigel Sharkey' Ward watched on:"The missile thundered off the rails like an express train and left a brilliant white smoke trail as it curved up towards the heavens, chasing after the Mirage, which was now making for the stars. "As the Sidewinder made intercept, the Argentine jet exploded, disintegrated and twisted its way. down to the cloud and sea below."

ALL OUT, ALL BACK

Back aboard HMS Invincible that evening, Ward told the carrier's commanding officer, Captain JJ'

Black:"I believe we have given them a good lesson today."

The first raids had been followed by the media aboard HMS Hermes too-acting under wartime censorship guidelines, giving the Falklands war its most famous soundbite, courtesy of the BBC's Brian Hanrahan: "I'm not allowed to say how many planes joined the raid, but counted them all out and I counted them all back."

 

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Atlantic Conveyor at anchor at Ascension Island. A Sea Harrier can be seen over head & a landing craft alongside the starboard hatch. The hatch was used to offload stores for redistribution elsewhere. The Canberra can also be seen.

 

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18 May 1982, the arrival of MV Atlantic Conveyor meant that embarked combat air reached its peak of 31 fast jets. The 8 Sea Harriers of 809 NAS were split equally between the 2 aircraft carriers. The 6 Harrier GR3s of 1(F) Squadron embarked on HMS Hermes.

 

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SS Atlantic Conveyer packed with Harrier jets on the way to the South Atlantic, 1982. 40 years ago today she was hit by Exocet missiles, and later sunk, depriving the troops on shore of important heavy lift helicopters, apart from one survivor

 

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Landing craft sail past HMS Fearless, carrying men of 2 Para

 

[santana]

On May 25, 1982, the Atlantic Conveyor was hit by 2 (two) Exocet AM.39 missiles. One of the missiles locked on the signal derived from a destroyer making "radar picket". The destroyer used electronic countermeasures and managed to fool the missile, but it latched onto the nearest and largest signal, the "Atlantic Conveyor". The destroyer's crew was stunned and stunned at the good fortune, but had to watch the disaster on the container ship, where an impressive amount of war material was lost, along with countless lives. After the Harriers had already landed, The Atlantic Conveyorit was hit by two Exocet missiles. The impact caused 12 deaths and the loss of three CH-47s, six Wessex and one Lynx in addition to a large quantity of ammunition and spare parts. The loss of the helicopters caused great damage to the offensive operations planned by the British who had to move on foot for much of the operations due to the scarcity of helicopters and the nature of the terrain.

 

[santana]

Atlantic Conveyor

 

[santana]

A Sea Harrier flying from the Atlantic Conveyor. Note the parking area created with containers to try to limit the effects of wind and sea water.

 

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June 25th 1982: 3 Commando Brigade begin to sail home, with 40 & 42 Commando RM on SS Canberra, 2 Para & 3 Para on MV Norland and 45 Commando RM on RFA Stromness. First stop: Ascension.

 

[BravoZulu]

July 11th 1982: Flight Lieutenant Jeff Glover, the sole British prisoner taken by Argentina, is returned after being shot down over West Falkland on May 21st. The day he was captured, he still agreed to a blood transfusion to keep a wounded Argentine alive.