Twelve Reasons Why the Falklands War Was A Closer Call Than You Think

[mapuc]

I thought it was a strait ahead victory for the Brits. Well The Argentines fought brave.

The Falklands War is looked back on by many as a forgone conclusion. Lasting only ten weeks, and it resulted in clear British victory. But this war between Argentina and Britain could have gone either way. As Major-General John Jeremy Moore, commander of the British land forces in the war, put it, “It was a very close-run thing.”

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/ins...ar-closer.html

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[tmccarthy]

Originally Posted by mapuc

I thought it was a strait ahead victory for the Brits. Well The Argentines fought brave.



https://www.warhistoryonline.com/ins...ar-closer.html

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The one I remember hearing in a documentary was that Argentina also got something like 6 bomb hits on British ships that failed to detonate because the bombs were dropped to low to have time to arm themselves. I want to say it was a British naval officer who said that if just two of those bombs had detonated and two more ships were lost the Royal Navy could not have continued at that time. (A temporary set back of course)
And the Ultra Long Range bombing mission flown from England against the Argentine airfield where the recon photo looked like there was just one (very crucial) hit!

[tmccarthy]

[tmccarthy]

[Kapitan]

Ahhh war history online have to say some of their writers can be a bit jubious bit like national interest, war is boring etc.

the British put up little defence.

According to the Argentines it was a good defense and cost them men and equipment including atleast 1 AMTRACK initially.
The outcome was always going to be surrender for the British forces given the overwhelming odds.

Unrealistic operation, not really there were war games done based around the Falklands and yes the majority came back unfavorably, however what wasn't in doubt was the logistical situation, the UK maintains (even to today) the largest strategical logistical network of any nation and yes that does include the USA (they use a lot of our network)


The Black buck raids were meant to be a show piece, a moral booster and to signal to Argentina that the UK meant business, in that respects it succeeded.

Plans to attack the air base at Tierra del Fuego, on the Argentine mainland, were abandoned before they even began

More of a political move than a practical one, reason being if they attacked the mainland then it opens up the conflict to a wider audience mainly countries sympathetic to Argentina and could result in them joining on Argentina's side.

The losses to the fleet were expected and if you hear Sandy Woodward speak at all (he has since passed) he has always said " We knew we were going to loose ships, it was a question of which ones and how many"

Moral from the argentine forces was not high a lot of those who were interviewed after the conflict recall a lot of incidents where they simply didn't want to fight, the cold hunger and waiting had got to them long before the British arrived.
There was also another big mis balance in that most of the troops Argentina fielded were conscripts while the British forces were professional soldiers.

Conducting a war so far from home, the British could not easily be resupplied. By the end of the war, they were low on food and ammunition, many down to a handful of bullets. If the Argentine forces had held out a little longer, the British troops would have run out of resources with which to fight.

While ammunition was low and food was low the reality was they were far from running out, a lot of people often forget that while the RFA helps supply the fleet and ground forces they are backed up by a substantial merchant fleet, by wars end there were ships in the supply fleet still laden with food and munitions to continue the fight for at least a month with other ships being readied to relieve. (from the case studies I've read).

The article seems a little thin on facts and doesn't really have much meat beyond the click bait adverts

[mapuc]

Thank you for your answer Kapitan. I myself can only rely on what they tell me. I can recall some of the news from then.

Here's something I have only READ once in a Swedish newspaper and it was a little notice in the middle of the newspaper.

The British government had two Vulcan bomber plane loaded with nukes in case of loosing the war against Argentina.

This was posted a few years after the war.

Not heard any confirmation about this thereafter.

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