What lessons were learned from the Falklands War?

BritinBritain

BritinBritain

Per Ardua Ad Astra
Off the top of my head:-

Decent boots for the army, importance of a Carrier Fleet and the reduction of flammable material used in warships.

Any more?
 
That forced marches are still a viable mode of making your way to an objective area, and that troops trained to force march can still be viable after reaching the objective.
 
Del Boy said:
For Britain, always to maintain our advantages of ,and dedication to , Yomping and Gurkhas.
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At Infantry Training Bn in the USMC the yomping and tabbing (we call it humping) of the Para's and the Royal Marines in the Falklands were held up as what could be accomplished by a motivated light force. At least it was covered in the 80's and 90's.
 
Don't know if it was the case with the Brits in the Falklands but rest by day and movement by night is a real multiplier of surprise.
The Chinese used it to absolute devestating effect in the Korean War.
Again, you can achieve this only if you can do forced marches over terrain the enemy would never imagine you to be able to traverse, all in a meaningful time frame.
 
Don't give the wrong signals to the enemy (that you aren't bothered about that little piece of land) same with the US and Kuwait.

(more cynical) if you want to win an election against the odds, do give the wrong signals, let them invade, then go to war!
 
Argentine soldiers later reported that they were scared the Gurkhas were going to eat them.


O3USMC - interesting that; Round about 1950 they were doing much the same to us, regarding those who they considered had conducted just about impossible forced marches; I forget now which country had produced that at the time, did the Japanese once perform some great feat in that respect? Anyway, we were given to understand the importance in that it could make such a difference. Is surprise the greatest weapon still?

And Perseus, as you have taken it off-topic, a question for you? What are you gonna do next time?
 
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Del Boy said:
Argentine soldiers later reported that they were scared the Gurkhas were going to eat them.
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From all accounts I have heard, the Gurkha's were somewhat peeved that the Argentines surrendered. For the Argentine troops to be terrified of the Gurkha's, their reputation obviously proceeded them and is well known around the world. All I can say is, “Thank God the Gurkha's are on our side!”

From other accounts I have read, the Japanese were terrified if Gurkha's were heard to be in their area. Fantastic fighting men, and among the finest jungle fighters in the world.

Some amazing stories have been told about the Gurkha's abilities of stealth and fighting spirit.

A story told to me by an ex WW2 soldier. I cannot confirm or deny this story as I cannot find any evidence. Nonetheless its still a good story.
.
Gurkha's would creep up on a sentry and feel the mans boot laces, if they were crossed as worn by US and German troops, they would then feel the rim of the mans helmet, if it was found to be a German helmet, the man died. If the laces were as worn by British troops ie straight across, the Gurkha would stand up and say “Hello Johnny” scaring the wits out of the sentry.


O3USMC - interesting that; Round about 1950 they were doing much the same to us, regarding those who they considered had conducted just about impossible forced marches; I forget now which country had produced that at the time, did the Japanese once perform some great feat in that respect? Anyway, we were given to understand the importance in that it could make such a difference. Is surprise the greatest weapon still?

In my opinion yes, The Japanese were, for all their viciousness, good fighting troops. While the British General Staff in Singapore believed that the jungle in Malaya was impassable, the Japanese proved otherwise and used the jungle to good effect.
 
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Put a muzzle on the press, the BBC announced that the Para's were going to attack Goose Green about a day before it happened. The Argies had re-enforced Goose Green with extra men so by when the Para's arrived they were out numbered by about 6 to 1. The troops got so niggled about this they had threatened to shoot a few reporters to even the score. The threats were taken that seriously that most of the reporters were moved of the island on to Royal Navy ships
 
LeEnfield said:
Put a muzzle on the press, the BBC announced that the Para's were going to attack Goose Green about a day before it happened. The Argies had re-enforced Goose Green with extra men so by when the Para's arrived they were out numbered by about 6 to 1.
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I understand that Colonel H, Jones was intending to take legal action against the BBC after the war, but unfortunately was killed.

Regarding Thatcher.

She did more damage to British industry then the Luftwaffe during WW2. Thanks to her and her government, British heavy industry has faded almost totally, if not completely. The vast majority of coal mines were closed down with approximately with 2 to 3 hundreds years of coal left to be mined, saying it was cheaper to get coal from overseas. Thousands of miners were thrown out of work, and the resulting knock on effect of small business going to the wall, causing massive unemployment. Once a coal mine is closed for any period of time, it can never be re-opened. It was her government that was considering selling the Royal Navy carriers just before the Falklands War broke out. Thanks to her and her government Britain has to rely more and more on imports of heavy equipment, a situation that could prove very dangerous.

This is only the tip of the iceberg, I could go on and on about the sort of damage she and her government were responsible for.

No, she wasn't a wonderful woman, she was bloody dangerous.

I am still not convinced that the Argentine invasion was such a huge surprise as she claimed.
 
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We are aiming to present a million signature petition to the government to demand that our Gurkhas be allowed to settle here as should be their right. So far our government has refused to do so. The petition is headed by Joanna Lumley, the actress, whose father was a Gurkha officer. Justice for Gurkhas is the campaign.
 
Del Boy said:
We are aiming to present a million signature petition to the government to demand that our Gurkhas be allowed to settle here as should be their right. So far our government has refused to do so. The petition is headed by Joanna Lumley, the actress, whose father was a Gurkha officer. Justice for Gurkhas is the campaign.
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Damn right, count me in.
 
BritinAfrica said:
Regarding Thatcher.

She did more damage to British industry then the Luftwaffe during WW2. Thanks to her and her government, British heavy industry has faded almost totally, if not completely. The vast majority of coal mines were closed down with approximately with 2 to 3 hundreds years of coal left to be mined, saying it was cheaper to get coal from overseas. Thousands of miners were thrown out of work, and the resulting knock on effect of small business going to the wall, causing massive unemployment. Once a coal mine is closed for any period of time, it can never be re-opened. It was her government that was considering selling the Royal Navy carriers just before the Falklands War broke out. Thanks to her and her government Britain has to rely more and more on imports of heavy equipment, a situation that could prove very dangerous.

This is only the tip of the iceberg, I could go on and on about the sort of damage she and her government were responsible for.

No, she wasn't a wonderful woman, she was bloody dangerous.

I am still not convinced that the Argentine invasion was such a huge surprise as she claimed.
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Ah but be fair BritinAfrica, she did help to deregulate the finance industry and make Britain the cente of the banking world with all those secure jobs. Remember her catchphrase "good housekeeping".
;)
 
Del Boy said:
We are aiming to present a million signature petition to the government to demand that our Gurkhas be allowed to settle here as should be their right. So far our government has refused to do so. The petition is headed by Joanna Lumley, the actress, whose father was a Gurkha officer. Justice for Gurkhas is the campaign.
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I suppose these are one class of immigrants which we all agree should be allowed citizenship, and consistent terms of employment with their rest of the army.
 
British Industry...........It was running up huge losses and the unions would not change their work practises and expected the Government to Nationalise it all so that they could carry on in the same old way
 
perseus said:
Ah but be fair BritinAfrica, she did help to deregulate the finance industry and make Britain the cente of the banking world with all those secure jobs. Remember her catchphrase "good housekeeping".
;)
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The finance industry didnt help the blue collar workers who were unemployed.

Its smacks to the old days of "You've never had it so good."

I agree with LeEnfield to a point regarding trade unions. I was called out on strike all too often over silly things. However, when the Falklands War hit the fan, trade unionists threw all previous agreements out of the window and backed the government to the hilt to get the Task Force ready for deployment. Change was needed, I agree, but not to the point of destroying British industry.

Having to rely on foreign imports of weapons, ammunition and other equipment is a dangerous position to be in, it should be remembered that in 1982 Belgium refused to supply ammunition to British forces as they prepared to sail to the South Atlantic.

Source

http://www.defense-aerospace.com/cg...n8AAAEAADV0J5EAAAAU&modele=feature&prod=75595



Before the Falklands War, Thatcher and her government were at an all time low. After the conflict she called an early general election in June 1983 and gained a massive 58 seats because of her popularity over the Falklands, taking 61% of the seats in Parliament.


I have often asked the question, why did Thatcher call an early election? Many replies I received were, “She rode on the lives and the backs of the troops to gain a political advantage.” Others included, "If the truth were told, she didnt give a toss about the Falklands, she saw the war as a political tool used for her and her party policies."

As I said before, I am not convinced that the Falklands War was a huge surprise to her.
 
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Thatcher did what she thought was right and that was to take the Falklands back. Now it could have all so easily gone tits up, it was a huge gamble to send a task force so far with so little air support. Okay she called an election a bit early to take advantage of the polls, just like Gordon Brown failed to call one last year when he thought he wouldn't win, well that is politics the world over
 
perseus said:
I suppose these are one class of immigrants which we all agree should be allowed citizenship,.
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Yes, and that applies to many categorities of immigrants, provided our borders are secure from illegals, that no illegals are allowed to stay, that it is understood that no one who has passed through the countries of Europe can possibly claim political asylum genuinely, and that they are prepared to demean themselves by being prepared to be good citizens. Alien and non-integratable cultures - no thank you. And we have to know how many we genuinely have room for. Gurkhas who have served many years with the British Army should be treated as British. 17,000 young Nepalese apply to join the Gurkhas every year, only 3000 are accepted. We love our Gurkhas, and so we should.

GENERAL responses:-

As far as Maggie is concerned, she is still rated as our best Prime Minister, next to Churchill, and she dragged our nation up by its boot-straps. Isecond Le's position.

And by the way - McMillens's slogan 'you've never had it so good' was absolutely right, and has proved so since, and I say that as someone who did not understand that and support him at the time. How about 'you've never had it so bad' for now?
 
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