Falklands War

The Falklands War was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The United Kingdom had held the Falklands since 1831, but in support of a long-standing territorial claim, Argentina invaded on 2 April. The British government of Margaret Thatcher despatched a naval task force which succeeded in taking back control of the islands on 14 June; 649 Argentine and 258 British forces were killed in the war, along with three Falkland Island civilians.

Sourced

• The Empire Strikes Back.
  • Newsweek front page (19 April 1982) in reference to the British Empire.

• What really thrilled me, having spent so much of my lifetime in Parliament, and talking about things like inflation, Social Security benefits, housing problems, environmental problems and so on, is that when it really came to the test, what's thrilled people wasn't those things, what thrilled people was once again being able to serve a great cause, the cause of liberty.
  • Speech to the Scottish Conservative Party Conference, 14 May 1982.
  • Margaret Thatcher.
    • Often misquoted as: "When you've spent half your political life dealing with humdrum issues like the environment, it's exciting to have a real crisis on your hands."

• Two bald men fighting over a comb.
  • Julian Barnes, "The worst reported war since the Crimean", The Guardian, 25 February 2002.
  • Jorge Luis Borges.

• I'm not allowed to say how many planes joined the raid, but I counted them all out, and I counted them all back. Their pilots were unhurt, tearful and jubilant, giving thumbs up signs.
  • BBC News, 1 May 1982.
  • Brian Hanrahan, BBC reporter, who was on board HMS Hermes aircraft carrier, reporting on an air raid on Goose Green.

• In the course of its duties within the Total Exclusion Zone around the Falkland Islands, HMS Sheffield, a type 42 destroyer, was attacked and hit late this afternoon by an Argentine missile. The ship caught fire, which spread out of control. When there was no longer any hope of saving the ship, the ship's company abandoned ship. All who abandoned her were picked up.
  • John Witherow, "Argentine missile destroys HMS Sheffield", The Times, 5 May 1982, p. 1
  • Statement at an MOD press conference by Ian McDonald. This was the first British ship to be sunk; 20 sailors were killed. McDonald's slow and deliberate delivery was noted.