The French have a lot to answer for selling them the super etendard and the exocet, and we should have made them pay
To be fair, we trained loads of the Argentine pilots and army officers. We also sold them two Type 42 Destroyers with the usual AA missiles plus Exocet launchers and Lynx helicopters. Three days before the invasion Argentina was negotiating with UK embassy staff about buying a squadron of bombers - if new these might have been Hawks and maybe Jaguars; if second hand we might have sold them Buccaneers. Thatcher’s government had also approved export licenses for a Vulcan bomber, Centaur armored cars, a Vickers battle tank, eight more Lynx helicopters, a Stingray torpedo, a ship-borne torpedo launching system, airborne surveillance equipment and spares for Canberra bombers. The only reason this equipment wasn't delivered was because Argentina invaded the Falklands first. The export licenses had all been given ministerial approval even though they violated HMG’s own guidelines about not selling eqpt that could be used against the Falklands. Just think, these were the signals we were sending out to Argentina alongside the Nott gutting of our armed forces. We were bloody lucky that Argentina's economy was so crap the Junta couldn’t wait a year!
If you ever go there and find yourself heading towards Goose Green I think it was just before Darwin, there is a small hill with a plaque on it It’s where Col Jones was killed There is a tin of brasso and a cloth beside it If you see it give it a clean Having said that it was the most prestine plaque I had ever seen , when you think about the weather down there
Well, I watched the program last night on the Falklands and can say that I'm sad at the loss of life but bloody proud of everyone who took part in the making of it and who went to do their job in the South Atlantic all those years ago... There are no words big enough to allow me to show my respect, admiration and feelings towards those whos took part in the Falklands. All I can do is give a little bit louder cheer and a longer clapping in November at the Cenotaph.
