Falklands War

[Alan Briggs]

There is a discussion in Australia about officers getting medals for the Afghanistan conflict when they were safely holed up in Dubai.

[j.sabourn]

#6 A total war today John as regards the MN at least, which would not be many vessels under the British flag, and if no changes have been made since 1991 when I left the shores of old blighty the Polly’s would have very little say so , and decisions would be made by the ongoing senior officers of these vessels. Up until 1991 every ship carried in the masters safe being of comic stuff title if you want to look at it that way , was a sealed package entitled to be. Opened in the case of war. It comprised all the cyphers if ever there was a need for them , but for those who have done the MN Defence Course and the year that they did it, and can remember ,the first thing that would disappear was all electronic and Radio communications . Depending on what part of the world you were in , depended your instructions . And various other viable actions to take , in other words you were more or less a free agent and do what most merchant seamen do in the first place and take the action they see fit . Your chances of survival the odds were against , so a good idea would be to find a nice little coral atoll and have a barbi on the beach if there was one. Best not to entertain any type of nuclear warfare as there are no winners and will be the end of mankind and the time for the other animals to take over. Cheers JS
PS Climate Change would be the least of our worries . JS

[William Kean]

The Guards were obeying regulations, troops, and ammunition not "equipment" should not be moved in the same LC, Ewen Southby-Tailor was the RM officer involved, and he was quite right but ignored. More to the point was the fitness of the Welsh Guards, who had just come off public duties and had 10 or so days exercise in Brecon to prepare for embarkation. Most of the problems were due to logistics, the Atlantic Conveyor had most of our kit on and all but one heavy lift helicopters. The available Sea King's could only lift 60 rounds per flight for the 105's which reduced the available artillery support. Do remember you are looking back with 20/20 hindsight, through the eyes of a TV company, did we get it right, well plan to get your task force to sea within 4 days with all the right kit on the right ship and in the right order. We did bloody well considering the distance and the brief planning period and the political interference and the lack of intelligence.