'It was a close run thing'

THEY are said to have been first spotted by a Dutchman, a chap called Sebald de Weerdt, in around 1600. Then Captain John Strong entered the fray, or rather the sound, between the islands and named it Falkland Sound. He landed. It was 1690. For the next 130 years, the Falkland Islands changed hands between the British, French and Spanish. Then, in 1820, the newly independent Argentina claimed them. They became known as the Malvinas. Thirteen years later, the British grabbed them back.

And so it remained, until a gang of scrap metal workmen, who had been hired to dismantle a disused whaling station, landed on South Georgia Island, a dependency of the Falklands, and hoisted an Argentinian flag on March 19, 1982.

In Britain, the Conservative government had been in power for just over three years. According to opinion polls, the Tories were trailing third on 19 per cent behind Labour and the Liberals. By the time war broke out on April 2, a similar poll would see their popularity rise to 23 per cent. By June 1982 it was at a staggering high of 68 per cent. But before the war, there was rising unemployment, a decline in British industry and cuts being made to the welfare system. Margaret Thatcher was widely regarded as the most unpopular Prime Minister of all time.

In Argentina, the military junta led by General Leopoldo Galtieri was facing widespread political opposition. The country was in economic meltdown. It needed a good invasion, decided the general, to boost the country's nationalism. It came on April 2, 1982.

In Buenos Aires, there were cheers on the streets the day after Argentinian troops seized the islands of South Georgia and the South Sandwich group. But as the Argentinians went in pursuit of patriotism, the first Royal Air Force transport aircraft was being deployed.

When news of the invasion broke in Britain, all forces' leave was cancelled. Crowds of people lined the docks at Portsmouth, waving their Union flags as the Royal Navy vessels set off for the Ascension Islands in the mid-Atlantic, for preparation before heading south. Most people thought the Falklands were off the Scottish coast. They soon found out where they were.

"It was jingoism," says Dr Martin Farr, lecturer in 20th Century history at Newcastle University. "For many people, the Falklands War was a moral issue and a question of defence. It did bring the country together.

"Diplomacy failed because the Argentinians couldn't be seen to back down and the British couldn't be seen to concede anything."

By April 25, a small British commando force had re-taken South Georgia and days later British planes attacked the Port Stanley airfield, shooting down three Argentinian planes.

Any chances of a peace deal were lost when the Argentine cruiser General Belgrano was torpedoed by British submarine HMS Conqueror, killing 400 of its crew. 'Gotcha' screamed The Sun newspaper. The Argentinians hit back with force. Air attacks sank the British destroyer HMS Sheffield, killing 20 men, and the bombing of Port Stanley began.

The war grew more ferocious throughout May. Sheffield was the first of six British ships lost, swiftly followed by the sinking of HMS Ardent; the loss of HMS Antelope when an unexploded bomb was detonated; the bombing of HMS Coventry and SS Atlantic Conveyor and, on June 8, the loss of the landing ship Sir Galahad (killing around 50 before it had had chance to land its men and ammunition).

Air power proved to be of critical importance during the 74-day conflict with all of the UK losses at sea caused by air or missile strikes.

After attacks on Sir Galahad and Sir Tristram, UK forces took key defensive positions around Stanley and soon captured Mount Tumbledown and Wireless Ridge. The Argentinian resistance was fierce but poor food and clothing sapped their morale.

On June 14, the Argentinian garrison at Port Stanley was defeated. Argentine commander Mario Menendez signed a surrender document, 74 days after the Argentinians had invaded.

Altogether, 255 British men were killed during the Falklands War. The Argentinians lost 655 and the British took about 10,000 prisoners of war. Hundreds of wounded British were flown home for treatment, but many men still carry the mental scars today and feel they were left to deal with the after-effects themselves, developing post traumatic stress disorder or drinking problems.

The surge in popularity the war gave Margaret Thatcher and her government carried on until the next General Election in 1983 when they emerged victorious.

"She was regarded as been a great war leader and seen as being decisive," says Dr Farr. "Many people felt that Britain had reaffirmed its place in the world, as being respected rather than being regarded as a has-been."

One North-East academic believes massive political changes such as the privatisation of the railways and the miners' strike would never have happened had it not been for the Falklands War.

Dr Nick Megoran, lecturer in human geography at Newcastle University, says: "Of course the military government in Argentina fell because it lost the war and if the British had lost, the Conservative government would have clearly fallen and Mrs Thatcher would have had to resign.

"Instead, the Falklands War changed the whole political landscape. A socialist government would have won in 1983 if we hadn't had the war. I don't believe we would have had the privatisation of the railways and utilities, or even see the emergence of New Labour."

Twenty years after the war, Admiral Sir John "Sandy" Woodward said the conflict had been "a close run thing." The British losses had been mounting and rations and ammunition were running low. Had the Argentinians not surrendered, there could have been a different outcome within days, he said.

Today, Argentina shows little sign of relinquishing its claim and the Falklands are reported to cost Britain £75m a year to defend.

"There's now the question of should there be joint sovereignty? It's like Gibraltar, the debate will go on forever," says Dr Farr. "Most politicians would love to be rid of them both, but anything which smacks of that would be betraying those who died, so it's unlikely to happen."

In tomorrow's Northern Echo: 'The war cost me my marriage and career'.