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{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Falklands War
| partof =
| image = [[File:Falklands, Campaign, (Distances to bases) 1982.jpg|300px|Photo montage of the Falklands War.]]
| caption = Map outlining the British recapture of the islands
| date = {{start-date|2 April 1982}}{{ndash}} {{end-date|14 June 1982}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/FactSheets/Falklands25BackgroundBriefing.htm|title=Falklands 25: Background Briefing|publisher=[[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]]|accessdate=1 November 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mindef.gov.ar/veteranos%20Malvinas.html|title=:: Ministerio de Defensa – República Argentina ::|publisher=www.mindef.gov.ar|accessdate=1 November 2009|language=Spanish}}</ref>
| place = [[Falkland Islands]]<br>[[South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands]]<br>and surrounding sea and airspace
| territory =
| result = British victory
*''[[status quo ante bellum]]'' in South Georgia and the Falklands
*Argentine occupation of [[Southern Thule]] ended
*collapse of the [[National Reorganization Process|military junta]] in Argentina
*consolidation of the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] Government, led by Prime Minister [[Margaret Thatcher]], in the United Kingdom
| combatant1 = {{flag|Argentina}}
| combatant2 = {{flag|United Kingdom}}
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| commander1 = [[Military junta]] ([[President of Argentina|President]] Lieutenant General [[Leopoldo Galtieri]], Admiral [[Jorge Anaya]] and Brigadier General [[Basilio Lami Dozo]])<br />Vice-Admiral [[Juan Lombardo]]<br />Brigadier [[Ernesto Horacio Crespo|Ernesto Crespo]]<br />Brigade-General [[Mario Menéndez]]<br />Rear Admiral Carlos Busser
| commander2 = [[War Cabinet#Falklands War, 1982|War Cabinet]]
-->
<ref name="Freedman2005">{{cite book|author=Lawrence Freedman |authorlink=Lawrence Freedman|title=The Official History of the Falklands Campaign: War and diplomacy|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=PSsxmXWChqIC&pg=PP7|accessdate=8 January 2012|volume=2|date=9 August 2005|publisher=Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group|isbn=978-0-7146-5207-8|pages=21–22}}''day-to-day oversight was to be provided by...which came to be known as the War Cabinet. This became the critical instrument of crisis management''</ref>
<!--
 chaired by [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] [[Margaret Thatcher]]<br/>[[Chief of the Defence Staff (United Kingdom)|Chief of the Defence Staff]] [[Terence Lewin, Baron Lewin|Admiral Terence Lewin]]</br>Admiral [[John Fieldhouse, Baron Fieldhouse|Sir John Fieldhouse]]<br />Rear-Admiral [[Sandy Woodward|John “Sandy” Woodward]]<br />Major-General [[Jeremy Moore]]<br />Brigadier [[Julian Thompson]]<br /> Brigadier Tony Wilson<br />Commodore Michael Clapp|
-->
| strength1 =
| strength2 =
| casualties1 = 649 killed <!-- 633 military + 16 civilian sailors killed --><br />1,068 wounded<br />11,313 taken prisoner<br />---------<br />1 [[cruiser]]<br />1 submarine<br />4 cargo vessels<br />2 [[Argentine Naval Prefecture|patrol boats]]<br />1 spy trawler<br />---------<br />25 [[helicopter]]s<br />35 [[fighter aircraft|fighters]]<br />2 [[bomber]]s<br />4 [[Cargo aircraft|transports]]<br />25 [[Counter-insurgency aircraft|COIN aircraft]]<br />9 armed [[trainer (aircraft)|trainers]]
| casualties2 = 258 <!-- 255 military + 3 civilians killed on the Falklands Islands --> killed<ref name="autogenerated1982">{{cite web|url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/falklands/rollofhonour.html |title=Falkland Islands – A history of the 1982 conflict |publisher=Raf.mod.uk |date=1 October 2004 |accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref><br />775 wounded<br />115 taken prisoner <!-- 2 April: 57 Royal Marines, 11 Royal Navy & 23 Falkland Islands Defence Force (FIDF), 3 April: 22 RM, 21 May: 1 RAF, 10 June: 1 SAS. --><br />---------<br />2 [[destroyer]]s<br />2 [[frigate]]s<br /> 1 [[Landing Ship Logistics|LSL]] landing ship<br />1 [[Landing Craft Utility|LCU]] amphibious craft<br />1 [[container ship]]<br />---------<br />24 [[helicopter]]s<br />10 [[fighter aircraft|fighters]]
| notes =
| campaignbox = {{Falklands War}}
}}
<!-- The lede evolved as a painful compromise between editors; as such, please do not alter the balance of political viewpoints or the balance of English and Spanish language names in the lede without first discussing it on the talk page.  Please do not remove this message either.  Thank you. -->
The '''Falklands War''' ({{lang-es|Guerra de las Malvinas}} or ''Guerra del Atlántico Sur''), also known as the '''Falklands Conflict''' or '''Falklands Crisis''', was a 1982 [[limited war]] between [[Argentina]] and the [[United Kingdom]]. The conflict resulted from the long-standing [[Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute|dispute over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands]] and [[South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands]], which lie in the [[Atlantic Ocean|South Atlantic]], east of Argentina.

The Falklands War began on Friday 2 April 1982, when Argentine forces invaded and [[occupation of the Falkland Islands|occupied the Falkland Islands]] and South Georgia. The British government dispatched a naval [[task force]] to engage the [[Argentine Navy]] and [[Argentine Air Force|Air Force]], and retake the islands by [[amphibious warfare|amphibious assault]]. 
The resulting conflict lasted 74 days and ended with the Argentine surrender on 14 June 1982, which returned the islands to British control. 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel and three Falkland Islanders died during the conflict. 
It remains the most recent external conflict to be fought by the UK without any allied states and the [[Military history of Argentina|only external Argentine war]] since the 1880s.

The conflict was the result of a protracted [[History of the Falkland Islands|historical confrontation]] regarding the sovereignty of the islands. 
Argentina has asserted that the Falkland Islands are Argentinian territory since the 19th century and, as of 2012, shows no sign of relinquishing the claim.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cancilleria.gov.ar/portal/prensa/rssfeed.php?id=4215/ |title=Argentine Foreign Office 11&nbsp;feb&nbsp;2010 |publisher=Cancilleria.gov.ar |date= |accessdate=9 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16320959 |title=Falklands sovereignty is "non-negotiable", says PM |publisher=BBC |date= 23 December 2011|accessdate=24 December 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalturk.com/en/argentina-to-reaffirm-sovereignty-rights-over-the-falkland-islands-15712 |title=Argentine to reaffirm Sovereignty Rights over The Falkland Islands |publisher=National Turk |date= |accessdate=7 January 2012}}</ref> The claim was added to the [[Constitution of Argentina|Argentine constitution]] after its reformation in 1994.<ref>[http://www.senado.gov.ar/web/interes/constitucion/cuerpo1.php Constitución Nacional:] "La Nación Argentina ratifica su legítima e imprescriptible soberanía sobre las Islas Malvinas, Georgias del Sur y Sandwich del Sur y los espacios marítimos e insulares correspondientes, por ser parte integrante del territorio nacional"</ref> As such, the Argentine government characterised their initial invasion as the re-occupation of its own territory, whilst the British government  saw it as an invasion of a [[British dependent territory]]. 
However, neither state officially [[Declaration of war|declared war]] and hostilities were almost exclusively limited to the territories under dispute and the local area of the South Atlantic.{{Citation needed}}

The conflict had a strong impact in both countries. Patriotic sentiment ran high in Argentina, but the outcome prompted large protests against the [[Proceso de Reorganizacion Nacional|ruling military government]], which hastened its downfall. In the United Kingdom, Prime Minister [[Margaret Thatcher]]'s government was bolstered by the successful outcome, although its level of support fell in the [[United Kingdom general election, 1983|1983 general election]]. 
The war has played an important role in the culture of both countries, and has been the subject of several books, films, and songs. 
Over time, the cultural and political weight of the conflict has had less effect on the British public than on that of Argentina, where the war is still a topic of discussion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.clarin.com/suplementos/zona/2007/04/01/z-03415.htm |title=Cómo evitar que Londres convierta a las Malvinas en un Estado independiente |publisher=Clarin.com |date= |accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref>

Relations between the United Kingdom and Argentina were restored in 1989 under the ''umbrella formula'' which states that the islands' sovereignty dispute would remain aside. {{Citation needed|date=March 2012}}

==Lead-up to the conflict==
[[File:Jorge Anaya.JPG|thumb|upright|Admiral [[Jorge Anaya]] was the driving force in the Junta's decision to invade.<ref>{{Cite book | last = White | first = Rowland  | title = Vulcan 607 | publisher=Bantam Press | year = 2006 | location = London | pages = 13–14 | isbn = 9780593053928 |quote=The price for Anaya's blessing was approval for the navy's plan to seize Las Malvinas, the Falkland Islands}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | last = Bicheno| first = Hugh| title = Razor's Edge | publisher=Phoenix | year = 2006 | location = London | page = 25 | isbn = 9780753821862|quote=A basic assunmption underlying the conflict was that the British were, in the opinion of the war's main architect, Admiral Jorge Anaya, unworthy heirs to a glorious heritage, the men mainly ''maricones''...to call a man a ''maricón'' does not question his heterosexuality; but it definitely impugns his physical and moral courage. 
Anaya was Naval Attaché in London from January 1975 to January 1976...He returned to Argentina, making no attempt to conceal his contempt for all things British.}})</ref><ref>{{Cite book | last = Middlebrook| first = Martin| title = Argentine Fight for the Falklands| publisher=Pen & Sword Books | year = 1989| location = London |authorlink=Martin Middlebrook | page = 1 | isbn = 9781844158881|quote=He was an ardent 'Malvinist'...Anaya was enthusiastic, and his orders in the last days of 1981 were to set in train that tragic series of events.}}</ref>]]
{{Main|Events leading to the Falklands War}}

In the period leading up to the war, and especially following the transfer of power between military dictators General [[Jorge Rafael Videla]] and General [[Roberto Eduardo Viola]] in late-March 1981, Argentina had been in the midst of a devastating [[economy of Argentina|economic crisis]] and large-scale [[civil disorder|civil unrest]] against the [[military government|military]] [[Military dictatorship|''junta'']] that had been governing the country since 1976.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.radionetherlands.nl/currentaffairs/arg060330mc |title=Argentina – the horrors of a dictatorial past live on – Radio Netherlands Worldwide – English |publisher=Radionetherlands.nl |date=30 March 2006 |accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref> In December 1981 there was a further change in the Argentine military regime bringing to office a new ''junta'' headed by General [[Leopoldo Galtieri]] (acting president), Brigadier [[Basilio Lami Dozo]] and Admiral [[Jorge Anaya]]. Anaya was the main architect and supporter of a military solution for the long-standing claim over the islands,<ref>{{Cite book|first1=Oscar | first2 = Roger | last2 = Kirschbaum |first3=Eduardo |last3= Van Der Kooy| title = Malvinas, La Trama Secreta | publisher=Sudamericana/Planeta | location = Buenos Aires | language=Spanish |year = 1983 | isbn = 9789503700068 }} {{Page needed|date=August 2010}}</ref> calculating that the United Kingdom would never respond militarily.<ref>"{{lang|es|''Que tenía que ver con despertar el orgullo nacional y con otra cosa. '''La junta —Galtieri me lo dijo— nunca creyó que los británicos darían pelea.''' Él creía que Occidente se había corrompido. Que los británicos no tenían Dios, que Estados Unidos se había corrompido... Nunca lo pude convencer de que ellos no sólo iban a pelear, que además iban a ganar.''}}" ("This was neither about national pride nor anything else. The junta —Galtieri told me— never believed the British would respond. He thought the Western World was corrupt. That the British people had no God, that the US was corrupt... I could never convince him that the British would not only fight back but also win [the war].") {{cite web| author=[[La Nación]] / Islas Malvinas Online | title = Haig: "Malvinas fue mi Waterloo"|url = http://www.malvinasonline.com.ar/index.php/el-conflicto/articulos/articulos-posteriores/63-haig-qmalvinas-fue-mi-waterloo.html|accessdate = 25 October 2010 }} {{es icon}}</ref> 

In doing so the Galtieri government hoped to mobilise Argentines' long-standing patriotic feelings towards the islands and thus divert public attention from the country's chronic economic problems and the regime's ongoing human rights violations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.me.gov.ar/curriform/publica/sirlin_conv_dictadura.pdf |title=Ministerio de Educación, Ciencia y Tecnología de la Nación |format=PDF |date= |accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref> Such action would also bolster its dwindling legitimacy.  
The newspaper [[La Prensa (Buenos Aires)|''La Prensa'']] speculated in a step-by-step plan beginning with cutting off supplies to the Islands, ending in direct actions late in 1982, if the UN talks were fruitless.<ref name="Jimmy Burns,1987">Jimmy Burns: ''The land that lost its heroes'', 1987, Bloomsbury Publishing, ISBN 0-7475-0002-9.</ref>

The ongoing tension between the two countries over the islands increased on 19 March when a group of Argentine scrap metal merchants raised the [[Flag of Argentina|Argentine flag]] at South Georgia, an act that would later be seen as the first offensive action in the war. 
The Argentine military junta, suspecting that the UK would reinforce its South Atlantic Forces,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.portierramaryaire.com/arts/malvinas_1.php |title='&#39;En Buenos Aires, la Junta comenzó a estudiar la posibilidad de ocupar las Islas Malvinas y Georgias antes de que los británicos pudieran reforzarlas'&#39; |publisher=Portierramaryaire.com |date= |accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref> ordered the [[1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands|invasion of the Falkland Islands]] to be brought forward to 2 April.

Britain was initially taken by surprise by the Argentine attack on the South Atlantic islands, despite repeated warnings by Royal Navy captain Nicholas Barker and others. Barker believed that the intention expressed in Defence Secretary [[John Nott]]'s 1981 review to withdraw the Royal Navy ship {{HMS|Endurance|1967|6}}, Britain's only naval presence in the South Atlantic, sent a signal to the Argentines that Britain was unwilling, and would soon be unable, to defend its territories and subjects in the Falklands.<ref>{{Cite news|first=Harold|last=Briley|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-captain-nicholas-barker-1266075.html|title=Obituary: Captain Nicholas Barker|work=The Independent |location=UK|page=16|date=9 April 1997|accessdate=2 March 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3724/is_199705/ai_n8781734 |title=high cost of cuts, The &#124; Spectator, The &#124; Find Articles at BNET.com |publisher=Findarticles.com |date= |accessdate=7 February 2010 | first=Correlli | last=Barnett | year=1997 | deadurl=yes}} {{Dead link|date=January 2012|bot=RjwilmsiBot}}</ref>

==Argentinian invasion==
{{Main|1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands|Invasion of South Georgia|Argentine air forces in the Falklands War}}

On 2 April 1982, Argentine forces mounted amphibious landings of the [[Falkland Islands]], following the civilian occupation of [[South Georgia Island|South Georgia]] on 19 March, before the Falklands War began. The invasion met a nominal defence organised by the [[Governor of the Falkland Islands|Falkland Islands' Governor]] [[Rex Hunt (governor)|Sir Rex Hunt]] giving command to Major Mike Norman of the [[Royal Marines]], the landing of [[Lieutenant Commander]] Guillermo Sanchez-Sabarots' [[Amphibious Commandos Group]], the attack on Moody Brook barracks, the engagement between the troops of Hugo Santillan and Bill Trollope at [[Stanley, Falkland Islands|Stanley]], and the final engagement and surrender at [[Government House (Falkland Islands)|Government House]].

===Initial British response===
[[File:The empire strikes back newsweek.jpg|thumb|The cover of ''[[Newsweek]]'' magazine, 19 April 1982, depicts {{HMS|Hermes|R12|6}}, flagship of the British Task Force.]]
{{further|British naval forces in the Falklands War|British ground forces in the Falklands War|British air services in the Falklands War}}

Word of the invasion first reached Britain from Argentinian sources.<ref name=Margolis>{{Cite news|last=Margolis |first=Laurie |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6514011.stm |title=UK &#124; How BBC man scooped invasion news |publisher=BBC News |date=2 April 2007 |accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref> A [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]] operative in London had a short, but vague [[telex]] conversation with Governor Hunt's telex operator, who confirmed that Argentinians were on the island and in control.<ref name=Margolis/><ref name = "Duncan">Duncan, Andrew, ''The Falklands War'', Marshall Cavendish Books Limited, ISBN 1-84415-429-</ref> Later that day,  BBC journalist [[Laurie Margolis]] was able to speak with an islander at Goose Green via [[amateur radio]], who confirmed the presence of a large Argentinian fleet and that Argentinian forces had taken control of the island.<ref name=Margolis/>

The British government had taken action prior to the 2 April invasion.  In response to events on South Georgia the [[SSN (hull classification symbol)|SSN]] {{HMS|Splendid|S106|6}} and {{HMS|Spartan|S105|6}} were ordered to sail South on 29 March, whilst the [[Royal Fleet Auxiliary]] (RFA) [[RFA Fort Austin (A386)|''Fort Austin'']] was ordered to support HMS ''Endurance''.<ref name="Freedman2007">{{cite book|author=Lawrence Freedman|title=The Official History of the Falklands Campaign, Volume 1: The Origins of the Falklands War|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=KTgIOAAACAAJ|accessdate=5 February 2012|date=15 August 2007|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-41912-3|pages=202–203}}</ref> Lord Carrington had wished to send a third SSN but the decision was deferred due to concerns about the impact on operational commitments.<ref name="Freedman2007"/>  Co-incidentally on 26 March, the SSN {{HMS|Superb|S109|6}} left [[Gibraltar]] and it was assumed in the press it was heading south. There has since been speculation that the effect of those reports was to panic the Argentine junta into invading the Falklands before nuclear submarines could be deployed.<ref name="Freedman2007"/>

The following day, during a crisis meeting headed by Thatcher, the Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Sir [[Henry Leach]], advised them that "Britain could and should send a task force if the islands are invaded". On 1 April Leach sent orders to a [[Royal Navy]] force carrying out [[Military exercise|exercises]] in the Mediterranean to be prepared to sail south. 
Following the invasion on 2 April, after an emergency meeting of the cabinet, approval was given for the formation of a task force to retake the islands. 
This was backed in an emergency session of the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] the next day.<ref name=falkislands>{{cite web|accessdate=24 December 2011|publisher=Falkland Islands Information|title=A Chronology of events during the Falklands Conflict of 1982|url=http://www.falklands.info/history/82timeline.html}}</ref>

On 6 April, the British Government set up a [[War Cabinet#Falklands War, 1982|War Cabinet]] to provide day-to-day political oversight of the campaign.<ref name="Freedman2005"/>  This was the critical instrument of crisis management for the British with its remit being to "keep under review political and military developments relating to the South Atlantic, and to report as necessary to the Defence and Overseas Policy Committee." Until it was dissolved on 12 August, the War Cabinet met at least daily.  
Although Margaret Thatcher is described as dominating the War Cabinet, Lawrence Freedman in the Official History of the Falklands Campaign notes that she did not ignore opposition or fail to consult others.  However, once a decision was reached she ''"did not look back"''.<ref name="Freedman2005"/>

===Position of third party countries===
On the evening of the 3 April, Britain's [[United Nations]] ambassador Sir [[Anthony Parsons]] put a draft resolution to the [[United Nations Security Council]].  The resolution, which condemned the hostilities and demanded immediate Argentine withdrawal from the Islands was adopted by the council the following day as [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 502]], which passed with ten votes in support, one against and four abstentions (China, the Soviet Union and Spain among them).<ref name=falkislands/><ref>{{cite book | first=Peter | last=Gold | title=Gibraltar, British or Spanish? | publisher=Routledge | year=2005 | isbn=0415347955 | url=http://books.google.es/books?id=u9YH_fLPu1MC&lpg=PA37&vq=Falklands&hl=es&pg=PA39#v=onepage&q=Falklands/Malvinas&f=false | pages=39}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | first=Peter | last=Gold | title=Gibraltar, British or Spanish? | publisher=Routledge | year=2005 | isbn=0415347955 | url=http://books.google.es/books?id=u9YH_fLPu1MC&lpg=PA37&vq=Falklands&hl=es&pg=PA37#v=onepage&q=Falklands/Malvinas&f=false | pages=37}}</ref> The UK received further political support from the [[Commonwealth of Nations]] and the [[European Economic Community]]. 
The EEC also provided economic support by imposing economic sanctions on Argentina. Argentina itself was politically backed by a majority of countries in Latin America and the [[Non-Aligned Movement]].{{citation needed|date=February 2012}} 

The war was an unexpected event in a world strained by the [[Cold War]] and the [[North–South divide]]. The response of some countries was the effort to mediate the crisis and later as the war began, the support (or criticism) based in terms of anti-colonialism, political solidarity, historical relationships or [[realpolitik]]. In other cases it was only verbal support.

The United States initially tried to mediate an end to the conflict.  However, when Argentina refused the U.S. peace overtures, U.S. Secretary of State [[Alexander Haig]] announced that the United States would prohibit arms sales to Argentina and provide material support for British operations. Both Houses of the U.S. Congress passed resolutions supporting the U.S. action siding with the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite web|first=Richard F. |last=Grimmett |url=http://fpc.state.gov/6172.htm#President_as_Initiator |title=Foreign Policy Roles of the President and Congress |publisher=U.S. Department of State |date=1 June 1999 |accessdate=24 February 2010}}</ref>

An important factor was military support. The USA provided the United Kingdom with military equipment ranging from submarine detectors to the latest missiles.<ref>Caspar Weinberger, ''In the Arena: A Memoir of the Twentieth Century'', with Gretchen Roberts (Washington, DC: Regnery, 2001), [http://books.google.com/books?id=8ct2KNqfWHEC&lpg=PA374&dq=caspar%20weinberger%20%2Bfalklands%20%2BKnighthood%2C&pg=PA374#v=onepage&q=Knighthood&f=false 374].</ref><ref>Paul Reynolds, "[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4854962.stm Obituary: Caspar Weinberger]," ''BBC News'', 28 March 2006.</ref><ref>Graham Jenkins, "[http://automaticballpoint.com/2010/05/07/reagan-thatcher-and-the-tilt/ Reagan, Thatcher, and the Tilt]," ''Automatic Ballpoint'', 7 May 2010.</ref> France provided [[Dissimilar air combat training|dissimilar aircraft training]] so Harrier pilots could train against the French aircraft used by Argentina.<ref>{{Cite web |quote=As soon as the conflict began Hernou (French Defence Minister) got in touch with me to make available a Super-Etendard and Mirage aircraft so our Harrier pilots could train against them before setting off to the South Atlantic. (John Nott, defence minister during the Falklands war) |first=Nott|last=John |title=Here Today, Gone Tomorrow |url=http://www.falklands.info/history/hist82article17.html|year=2002}}</ref> 
French and British intelligence also worked to prevent Argentina from obtaining more [[Exocet]] missiles on the international market.<ref>{{Cite web |quote=A remarkable world-wide operation then ensured to prevent further Exocets being bought by Argentina. I authorised our agents to pose as bona fide purchasers of equipment on the international market, ensuring that we outbid the Argentineans. 
Other agents identified Exocet missiles in various markets and covertly rendered them inoperable, based on information from the French. (John Nott, defence minister during the Falklands war) |first=Nott|last=John |title=Here Today, Gone Tomorrow |url=http://www.falklands.info/history/hist82article17.html|year=2002}}</ref> [[Chile]] gave support to Britain in the form of Intelligence about Argentine military and radar early warning.<ref>Interview with [[Chilean Air Force]] Chief during the Falklands War Fernando Matthei [http://edant.clarin.com/diario/2005/09/01/elpais/p-01201.htm Malvinas: "Hice todo lo posible para que Argentina perdiera la guerra"] in [[Clarin]], Buenos Aires on 1. September 2005, retrieved on 11 Jule 2011</ref><ref>{{Cite book | last = Freedman | first = Lawrence | title = The Official History of the Falklands Campaign | publisher=Routledge | location = New York | year = 2005 | isbn = 9780415364317 }} [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=PSsxmXWChqIC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA397 p. 397]</ref>

While France overtly backed the United Kingdom, a French technical team remained in Argentina throughout the war. French government sources have said the French team was engaged in intelligence-gathering; however, it simultaneously provided direct material support to the Argentines, identifying and fixing faults in Exocet missile launchers.<ref>{{Citation | last=Thomson | first=Mike | title=How France helped both sides in the Falklands War | newspaper=BBC | date=5 March 2012 | url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17256975}}</ref>

According to an article in ''[[La Nación]]'' and quoting from a book ''Operation Israel'', advisors from [[Israel Aerospace Industries]] were already in Argentina and continued their work during the conflict. The article also says that Israel sold weapons and [[drop tank]]s in a secret operation in Peru.<ref>Hernán Dobry in article [http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1366080-la-ruta-secreta-de-las-armas "La ruta secreta de las armas"] in Argentine newspaper ''[[La Nación]]'' on 17 April 2011</ref>

Peru also openly sent "Mirages, pilots and missiles" to Argentina during the war.<ref>[http://edant.clarin.com/diario/2010/03/24/elpais/p-02165910.htm "Tras el pedido de perdón y en medio de elogios, Cristina regresó de Perú"] in Argentine newspaper ''[[Clarín (newspaper)|Clarín]]'' on 24 March 2010 {{es icon}}</ref>
Through [[Libya]], under [[Muammar Gaddafi]], Argentina received 20 launchers and 60 [[SA-7]] missiles, as well as machine guns, mortars and mines, all in all, the load of four trips of two [[Boeing 707]] of the AAF, refuelled in [[Recife]] with the knowledge and consent of the Brazilian government.<ref>Hernan Dobry in article [http://www.diarioperfil.com.ar/edimp/0551/articulo.php?art=27476&ed=0551 Kadafi fue un amigo solidario de la dictadura durante Malvinas], in Argentine newspaper ''[[Perfil]]'' on 27 February 2011, in Spanish language</ref>

==British Task Force==
[[File:HMS Invincible (R05) Norfolk.jpg|thumb|{{HMS|Invincible|R05|6}}, part of the task force.]]
[[File:899 Shar Yeovilton.jpg|thumb|Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm [[BAE Sea Harrier|Sea Harrier FRS1]]. The gloss paint scheme was altered to a duller one en route South.]]

The government had no contingency plan for an invasion of the islands, and the task force was rapidly put together from whatever vessels were available.<ref name=GS>{{cite web|accessdate=25 December 2011|publisher=Global Security|title=The Falkland Islands Conflict, 1982|url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1984/HJA.htm}}</ref> The nuclear submarine {{HMS|Conqueror|S48|2}} set sail from France on the 4 April, whilst the two aircraft carriers {{HMS|Invincible|R05|2}} and {{HMS|Hermes|R12|2}}, in the company of escort vessels, left [[Portsmouth]] only a day later.<ref name=falkislands/> Upon its return to Southampton from a world cruise on 7 April, the ocean liner {{SS|Canberra}} was requisitioned and set sail two days later with [[3 Commando Brigade]] aboard.<ref name=falkislands/> The ocean liner {{RMS|Queen Elizabeth 2}} was also requisitioned and left [[Southampton]] on 12 May with [[5th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)|5th Infantry Brigade]] on board.<ref name=falkislands/> The whole task force eventually comprised 127 ships; 43 [[Royal Navy]] vessels, 22 [[Royal Fleet Auxiliary]] ships and 62 [[Merchant Navy (United Kingdom)|merchant ships]].<ref name=GS/>

The retaking of the Falkland Islands was considered extremely difficult: the main constraint being the disparity in deployable air cover. 
The British had  total of 28 [[Sea Harriers]] and 14 [[Hawker Siddeley Harrier|Harrier GR.3s]] available for air combat operations,<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/av-8-ops.htm |title= AV-8B Harrier Operations |publisher=GlobalSecurity.org |accessdate=21 April 2010}}</ref> against approximately 122 serviceable jet fighters, of which about 50 were employed as [[air superiority fighter]]s and the remainder as [[strike aircraft]], in [[Argentine air forces in the Falklands War|Argentina's air forces during the war]].<ref name="airpower.maxwell.af.mil">[http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/apj/apj02/fal02/corum.html Argentine Airpower in the Falklands War]</ref> The U.S. Navy considered a successful counter-invasion by the British to be 'a military impossibility'.<ref>''One Hundred Days'' Woodward, Admiral Sandy (1992) Annapolis, Md.: [[United States Naval Institute|Naval Institute Press]], p.72. ISBN 9781557506511; ISBN 9781557506528. Cited in ''To Rule The Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World'' Herman, A (2004) [[Harper Collins]], New York, p. 560.</ref>

By mid-April, the [[Royal Air Force]] had set up the airbase of [[RAF Ascension Island]] co-located with Wideawake Airfield (USA) on the mid-[[Atlantic Ocean|Atlantic]] British overseas territory of [[Ascension Island]], including a sizeable force of [[Avro Vulcan|Avro Vulcan B Mk 2]] bombers, [[Handley Page Victor|Handley Page Victor K Mk 2]] [[aerial refuelling|refuelling aircraft]], and [[F-4 Phantom II|McDonnell Douglas Phantom FGR Mk 2]] [[fighter aircraft|fighters]] to protect them. Meanwhile the main British naval task force arrived at Ascension to prepare for active service. A small force had already been sent south to recapture South Georgia.

Encounters began in April; the British Task Force was shadowed by [[Boeing 707]] aircraft of the [[Argentine Air Force]] during their travel to the south.<ref>{{webarchive |url=http://www.aeroespacio.com.ar/site/anteriores/538-550/548/site/fotos/b707.gif |title=FAA map |date=20071024064142}}</ref> Several of these flights were intercepted by Sea Harriers outside the British-imposed exclusion zone; the unarmed 707s were not attacked because diplomatic moves were still in progress and the UK had not yet decided to commit itself to armed force. On 23 April a Brazilian commercial [[McDonnell Douglas DC-10|Douglas DC-10]] from [[VARIG]] Airlines en route to South Africa was intercepted by British Harriers who visually identified the civilian plane.<ref>Brown, 1987, p. 110.</ref>

===Recapture of South Georgia and the attack on the ''Santa Fe''===
The South Georgia force, ''[[Operation Paraquet]]'', under the command of Major Guy Sheridan RM, consisted of Marines from [[42 Commando]], a troop of the [[Special Air Service]] (SAS) and [[Special Boat Service]] (SBS) troops who were intended to land as [[reconnaissance]] forces for an invasion by the Royal Marines. All were embarked on [[RFA Tidespring (A75)|RFA ''Tidespring'']]. First to arrive was the {{sclass|Churchill|submarine}} {{HMS|Conqueror|S48|6}} on 19 April, and the island was over-flown by a radar-mapping [[Handley Page Victor]] on 20 April.

The first landings of SAS troops took place on 21 April, but—with the southern hemisphere autumn setting in—the weather was so bad that their landings and others made the next day were all withdrawn after two helicopters crashed in fog on [[Fortuna Glacier]]. On 23 April, a submarine alert was sounded and operations were halted, with the ''Tidespring'' being withdrawn to deeper water to avoid interception. On 24 April, the British forces regrouped and headed in to attack.

On 25 April, after resupplying the Argentine garrison in South Georgia, the submarine [[ARA Santa Fe (S-21)|ARA ''Santa Fe'']] was spotted on the surface<ref name="handle.dtic.mil">{{cite web|url=http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA279554 |title=Submarine Operations during the Falklands War – US Naval War College |date= |accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref> by a [[Westland Wessex|Westland Wessex HAS Mk 3]] helicopter from {{HMS|Antrim|D18|6}}, which attacked the Argentine submarine with [[depth charge]]s. {{HMS|Plymouth|F126|6}} launched a [[Westland Wasp|Westland Wasp HAS.Mk.1]] helicopter, and {{HMS|Brilliant|F90|6}} launched a [[Westland Lynx|Westland Lynx HAS Mk 2]]. The Lynx launched a [[torpedo]], and [[strafing|strafed]] the submarine with its [[pintle]]-mounted [[L7 (machine gun)|general purpose machine gun]]; the Wessex also fired on the ''Santa Fe'' with its GPMG. The Wasp from ''Plymouth'' as well as two other Wasps launched from {{HMS|Endurance|1967|6}} fired [[Aerospatiale SS.12/AS.12|AS-12]] [[Air-to-surface missile|ASM]] [[anti-ship missile|antiship missiles]] at the submarine, scoring hits. ''Santa Fe'' was damaged badly enough to prevent her from diving. The crew abandoned the submarine at the jetty at [[King Edward Point]] on South Georgia.

With the ''Tidespring'' now far out to sea and the Argentine forces augmented by the submarine's crew, Major Sheridan decided to gather the 76 men he had and make a direct assault that day. After a short forced march by the British troops and a naval bombardment demonstration by two Royal Navy vessels (''Antrim'' and ''Plymouth''), the Argentine forces surrendered without resistance. 
The message sent from the naval force at South Georgia to London was, "Be pleased to inform Her Majesty that the [[White Ensign]] flies alongside the [[Union Flag|Union Jack]] in South Georgia. God Save the Queen."
The Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, broke the news to the media, telling them to "Just rejoice at that news!"<ref name="fn_1">{{Cite news| title = 1982: Marines land in South Georgia |publisher=BBC | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/25/newsid_2503000/2503977.stm | accessdate = 20 June 2005  | date=25 April 1982}}</ref>

===Black Buck raids===
{{Main|Operation Black Buck}}
[[File:Avro Vulcan Bomber RAF.JPEG|thumb|RAF [[Avro Vulcan]] B.Mk.2 [[strategic bomber]].]]

On 1 May British operations on the Falklands opened with the "Black Buck 1" attack (of a series of five) on the airfield at Stanley. A Vulcan bomber from Ascension flew on an {{convert|8000|nmi|adj=on}} round trip dropping conventional bombs across the runway at Stanley and back to Ascension. The mission required repeated [[aerial refueling|refuelling]], and required  several Victor tanker aircraft operating in concert, including tanker to tanker refuelling. The overall effect of the raids on the war is difficult to determine, and the raids consumed precious tanker resources from Ascension.<ref>Ward 2003, p. 186 "...&nbsp;to get twenty-one bombs to Port Stanley is going to take about one million, one hundred thousand pounds of fuel – equalled{{sic}} about 137,000 gallons. 
That was enough fuel to fly 260 Sea Harrier bombing missions over Port Stanley. Which in turn meant just over 1300 bombs. Interesting stuff!"</ref> 

The raids did minimal damage to the runway and damage to radars was quickly repaired. Commonly dismissed as post-war propaganda,<ref>Ward 2003, pp. 247–48  "Propaganda was, of course, used later to try to justify these missions: 'The Mirage IIIs were redrawn from Southern Argentina to Buenos Aires to add to the defences there following the Vulcan raids on the islands.' Apparently the logic behind this statement was that if the Vulcan could hit Port Stanley, the<sub>[''sic'']</sub> Buenos Aires was well within range as well and was vulnerable to similar attacks. I never went along with that baloney. A lone Vulcan or two running in to attack Buenos Aires without fighter support would have been shot to hell in quick time."-"Mirage IIIs were in evidence near the islands on several occasions during the conflict, either escorting the Neptune reconnaissance missions or on 'interference' flights that attempted to draw CAP attention away from air-to-ground attacks."-"Suffice it to say that you didn't need more than one or two Mirage IIIs to intercept a Vulcan attack on Buenos Aires"-"It would have taken much more than a lone Vulcan raid to upset Buenos Aires"</ref> Argentine sources originally claimed that the Vulcan raids influenced Argentina to withdraw some of its Mirage IIIs from Southern Argentina to the Buenos Aires Defence Zone.<ref>{{cite web|title=Offensive Air Operations Of The Falklands War |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1984/DWF.htm |work=Globalsecurity.org |quote="As a result of these heavy losses...it was decided to pull the Mirage III's back to the mainland to stand alert for a possible Vulcan attack."}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Falkland Islands Conflict, 1982: Air Defense Of The Fleet |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1984/HJA.htm |work=Globalsecurity.org |quote= "Finally, the bombing raids caused the Argentines to fear an air attack on the mainland, causing them to retain some Mirage aircraft and Roland missiles for defense."}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.aeroespacio.com.ar/site/anteriores/520-528/520/mirage.htm |title=La familia Mirage |work=Aeroespacio |publisher=Fuerza Aerea Argentina | issn=0001-9127 |language=Spanish |quote="Los M III debían defender el territorio continental argentino de posibles ataques de los bombarderos Vulcan de la RAF, brindar escolta a los cazabombarderos de la FAA, e impedir los ataques de aviones de la Royal Navy y de la RAF sobre las Malvinas."<br /> ("The M III would defend the Argentine mainland against possible attacks by Vulcan bombers from the RAF, providing escort of fighter bombers to the FAA, and to prevent attacks by aircraft of the Royal Navy and RAF on the Falklands.") |postscript=<!--None-->}}{{dead link|date=July 2011}}</ref> 
The effect of this action was, however, watered down when British officials made clear that there would be no strikes on air bases in Argentina.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Falkland Islands Conflict, 1982: Air Defense Of The Fleet |url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1984/HJA.htm |work=Globalsecurity.org |quote="Unfortunately the British Secretary of State for Defence announced sometime later that Britain would not bomb targets on the Argentine mainland. This statement was undoubtedly welcomed by the Argentine military command because it permitted the very limited number of Roland SAM's to be deployed around the airfield at Stanley."}}</ref>

Of the five Black Buck raids, three were against Stanley Airfield, with the other two anti-radar missions using [[AGM-45 Shrike|Shrike]] [[anti-radiation missile]]s.

===Escalation of the air war===
[[File:Super Etendard ARA 204.jpg|thumb|French-built [[Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard|Super Étendard]] of the [[Argentine Naval Aviation]].]]
The Falklands had only three airfields. The longest and only paved runway was at the capital, [[Stanley, Falkland Islands|Stanley]], and even that was too short to support fast jets. Therefore, the Argentines were forced to launch their major strikes from the mainland, severely hampering their efforts at forward staging, [[combat air patrol]]s and [[close air support]] over the islands. The effective loiter time of incoming Argentine aircraft was low, and they were later compelled to overfly British forces in any attempt to attack the islands.

The first major Argentine strike force comprised 36 aircraft ([[Douglas A-4 Skyhawk|A-4 Skyhawks]], [[IAI Nesher|IAI Daggers]], [[English Electric Canberra]]s, and [[Dassault Mirage III|Mirage III]] escorts), and was sent on 1 May, in the belief that the British invasion was imminent or landings had already taken place. Only a section of Grupo 6 (flying IAI Dagger aircraft) found ships, which were firing at Argentine defences near the islands. The Daggers managed to attack the ships and return safely. 
This greatly boosted morale of the Argentine pilots, who now knew they could survive an attack against modern warships, protected by radar ground clutter from the Islands and by using a late ''pop-up'' profile.

Meanwhile, other Argentine aircraft were intercepted by [[BAE Sea Harrier]]s operating from {{HMS|Invincible|R05|6}}. A Dagger (piloted by [[Osvaldo Ardiles]]' cousin José<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.mercopress.com/2002/05/01/argentine-air-force-remembers-its-baptism-of-fire-twenty-years-on |title=Argentine Air Force remembers its "baptism of fire" twenty years on |publisher=En.mercopress.com |date=1 May 2002 |accessdate=9 June 2010}}</ref>) and a Canberra were shot down.

Combat broke out between Sea Harrier FRS Mk 1 fighters of No. 801 Naval Air Squadron and [[Dassault Mirage III|Mirage III]] fighters of Grupo 8. Both sides refused to fight at the other's best altitude, until two Mirages finally descended to engage. One was shot down by an [[AIM-9 Sidewinder|AIM-9L Sidewinder]] [[air-to-air missile]] (AAM), while the other escaped but was damaged and without enough fuel to return to its mainland air base. The plane made for Stanley, where it fell victim to friendly fire from the Argentine defenders.<ref>Rodríguez Mottino, Horacio: ''La Artillería Argentina en Malvinas''. Ed. Clío, 1985. P. 170.</ref>

As a result of this experience, Argentine Air Force staff decided to employ A-4 Skyhawks and Daggers only as strike units, the Canberras only during the night, and Mirage IIIs (without air refuelling capability or any capable AAM) as decoys to lure away the British Sea Harriers. The decoying would be later extended with the formation of the [[Escuadrón Fénix]], a squadron of civilian jets flying 24 hours-a-day simulating strike aircraft preparing to attack the fleet. On one of these flights, an Air Force [[Learjet]] was shot down, killing the squadron commander, Vice Commodore Rodolfo De La Colina, the highest-ranking Argentine officer to die in the war.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fuerzaaerea.mil.ar/conflicto/caidos/baja01.html |title=Fuerza Aérea Argentina |publisher=Fuerzaaerea.mil.ar |date= |accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.madryn.gov.ar/noticias.php?newsid=3213 |title=noticias |publisher=Madryn.gov.ar |date=2 April 2009 |accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref>
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:PookRescued.jpg|thumb|A Royal Navy [[Westland Sea King|Sea King helicopter]] rescues Sqn Ldr Jerry Pook, after he was forced to bail out over the sea. His Harrier GR.3 had been hit by ground fire west of Stanley on 30 May.]] -->

Stanley was used as an Argentine strongpoint throughout the conflict. Despite the Black Buck and Harrier raids on Stanley airfield (no fast jets were stationed there for air defence) and overnight shelling by detached ships, it was never out of action entirely. 
Stanley was defended by a mixture of [[surface-to-air missile]] (SAM) systems (Franco-German [[Roland (missile)|Roland]] and British [[Sea Cat|Tigercat]]) and Swiss-built [[Oerlikon 35 mm twin cannon|Oerlikon 35 mm twin anti-aircraft cannons]]. [[Lockheed C-130 Hercules|Lockheed Hercules]] transport night flights brought supplies, weapons, vehicles, and fuel, and airlifted out the wounded up until the end of the conflict.

The few Royal Navy Sea Harriers were considered too valuable by day to risk in night-time blockade operations, and their Blue Fox radar was not an effective look-down over land radar.<ref>Ward, 2003 {{Page needed|date=September 2011}}</ref>

The only Argentine Hercules shot down by the British was lost on 1 June when TC-63 was intercepted by a Sea Harrier in daylight<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fuerzaaerea.mil.ar/conflicto/dias/jun01.html |title=Fuerza Aérea Argentina |publisher=Fuerzaaerea.mil.ar |date= |accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19820601-0&lang=en |title=ASN Aircraft accident description Lockheed C-130H Hercules TC-63 – Pebble Island |publisher=Aviation-safety.net |date= |accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref> when it was searching for the British fleet north-east of the islands after the Argentine Navy retired its last [[Lockheed P-2 Neptune|SP-2H Neptune]] due to airframe attrition.

Various options to attack the home base of the five Argentine [[Dassault-Breguet Super Étendard|Etendards]] at Río Grande were examined and discounted ([[Operation Mikado]]), subsequently five Royal Navy submarines lined up, submerged, on the edge of Argentina's {{convert|12|nmi|adj=on}} territorial limit to provide early warning of bombing raids on the British task force.<ref>{{Cite news|first=Michael |last=Evans |title=Underwater and undercover: how nuclear subs were first line of Falklands defence |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2950936.ece |work=The Times |location=London |date=27 November 2007 }}</ref>

===Sinking of ARA ''General Belgrano''===
{{See also|ARA General Belgrano#Sinking of ARA Belgrano|l1=Sinking of ARA General Belgrano}}

[[File:ARA Belgrano sinking.jpg|thumb|The [[ARA General Belgrano|ARA ''General Belgrano'']], sinking.]]

Two separate British naval task forces (one of surface vessels and one of submarines) and the Argentine fleet were operating in the neighbourhood of the Falklands, and soon came into conflict. The first naval loss was the World War II-vintage Argentine [[light cruiser]] [[ARA General Belgrano|ARA ''General Belgrano'']]. The [[nuclear power|nuclear-powered]] [[submarine]] {{HMS|Conqueror|S48|6}} sank the ''Belgrano'' on 2 May. Three hundred and twenty-three members of ''Belgrano''{{'}}s crew died in the incident. 
Over 700 men were rescued from the open ocean despite cold seas and stormy weather. The losses from ''Belgrano'' totalled nearly half of the Argentine deaths in the Falklands conflict and the loss of the ARA ''General Belgrano'' hardened the stance of the Argentine government.

Regardless of [[ARA General Belgrano#Controversy over the sinking|controversies over the sinking]], it had a crucial strategic effect: the elimination of the Argentine naval threat. After her loss, the entire Argentine fleet, with the exception of the conventional submarine [[ARA San Luis|ARA ''San Luis'']],<ref name="handle.dtic.mil"/> returned to port and did not leave again for the duration of hostilities. 
The two escorting [[destroyer]]s and the battle group centred on the aircraft carrier [[ARA Veinticinco de Mayo (V-2)|ARA ''Veinticinco de Mayo'']] both withdrew from the area, ending the direct threat to the British fleet that their [[pincer movement]] had represented.

In a separate incident later that night, British forces engaged an Argentine patrol gunboat, the [[ARA Alferez Sobral (A-9)|ARA ''Alferez Sobral'']]. At the time, the ''Alferez Sobral'' was searching for the crew of the Argentine Air Force Canberra light bomber shot down on 1 May. 
Two Royal Navy [[Westland Lynx|Lynx]] helicopters fired four [[Sea Skua]] missiles at her. Badly damaged and with eight crew dead, the ''Sobral'' managed to return to [[Puerto Deseado]] two days later, but the Canberra's crew were never found.

===Sinking of HMS ''Sheffield''===
{{See also|HMS Sheffield (D80)#The sinking of HMS Sheffield|l1=Sinking of HMS Sheffield}}

On 4 May, two days after the sinking of ''Belgrano'', the British lost the [[Type 42 destroyer]] {{HMS|Sheffield|D80|6}} to fire following an [[Exocet]] missile strike from the Argentine [[2da Escuadrilla Aeronaval de Caza y Ataque|2nd Naval Air Fighter/Attack Squadron]]. 
''Sheffield'' had been ordered forward with two other Type 42s to provide a long-range radar and medium-high altitude missile [[picket (military)|picket]] far from the British carriers. She was struck amidships, with devastating effect, ultimately killing 20 crew members and severely injuring 24 others. The ship was abandoned several hours later, gutted and deformed by the fires that continued to burn for six more days. She finally sank outside the [[Total Exclusion Zone|Maritime Exclusion Zone]] on 10 May.

The incident is described in detail by Admiral [[Sandy Woodward]] in his book ''One Hundred Days'', Chapter One. Woodward was a former commanding officer of ''Sheffield''.<ref>{{cite book |authorlink=Sandy Woodward |first=Sandy |last=Woodward |title=One Hundred Days |page=8 |ISBN=9780007134670}}</ref>

The tempo of operations increased throughout the second half of May as United Nations attempts to mediate a peace were rejected by the British, who felt that any delay would make a campaign impractical in the [[South Atlantic tropical cyclone|South Atlantic storms]]. The destruction of ''Sheffield'' had a profound impact on the British public, bringing home the fact that the "Falklands Crisis", as the [[BBC News]] put it, was now an actual "shooting war".

===SAS operations===
Given the threat to the British fleet posed by the Etendard-Exocet combination, plans were made to use SAS troops to attack the home base of the five Etendards at [[Río Grande, Tierra del Fuego]]. 
The operation was code named "[[Operation Mikado|Mikado]]".The operation was later scrapped, after acknowledging its chances of success were limited, and replaced the use of C-130s with a plan to lead [[HMS Onyx]] to drop SAS operatives several miles offshore at night for them to make their way to the coast aboard rubber inflatables and proceed to destroy Argentina's remaining Exocet stockpile.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eliteukforces.info/articles/sas-versus-exocets.php#prof |title=The SAS vs the Exocet |publisher=www.eliteukforces.info |date=27 October 2007 |accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref> 

An SAS reconnaissance team was dispatched to carry out preparations for a seaborne infiltration. A [[Westland Sea King]] helicopter carrying the assigned team took off from HMS ''Invincible'' on the night of 17 May, but bad weather forced it to land {{convert|50|mi|km}} from its target and the mission was aborted.<ref>{{Cite document |first1= Michael |last1=Evans |first2=Alan |last2=Hamilton |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article537842.ece |title=Thatcher in the dark on sinking of Belgrano |publisher=Times Online |date=27 June 2005 |postscript= <!-- Bot inserted parameter. Either remove it; or change its value to "." for the cite to end in a ".", as necessary. -->{{inconsistent citations}}}}</ref> The pilot flew to [[Chile]] and dropped off the SAS team, before setting fire to his helicopter and surrendering to the Chilean authorities. The discovery of the burnt-out helicopter attracted considerable international attention at the time.

On 14 May the SAS carried out the [[raid on Pebble Island]] at the Falklands, where the Argentine Navy had taken over a grass airstrip <sup>[http://maps.google.com/maps?t=h&q=-51.308889,-59.610278&ie=UTF8&ll=-51.308887,-59.610271&spn=0.022964,0.055189&z=14 map]</sup> for [[FMA IA 58 Pucará]] light ground attack aircraft and [[T-34 Mentor]]s. The raid destroyed the aircraft there.<ref group=notes>[6 Pucaras, 4 T-34 Mentor and 1 Short Skyvan]</ref>

==Land battles on the Falkland Islands==
===Landing at San Carlos—Bomb Alley===
[[File:A-4C Tte casco.jpg|thumb|An [[Argentine Air Force]] [[Douglas A-4 Skyhawk|A-4C Skyhawk]] flying to the islands. Note the 494&nbsp;kg [[unguided bomb|bomb]].]]
{{Main|Operation Sutton|Battle of San Carlos (1982)|l2=Battle of San Carlos}}

During the night on 21 May the British Amphibious Task Group under the command of Commodore Michael Clapp (Commodore, Amphibious Warfare – COMAW) mounted ''[[Operation Sutton]]'', the amphibious landing on beaches around [[San Carlos Water]],<ref group=notes>{{map-loc|showname=Bomb Alley|locality1=San Carlos Water|locality2=Falkland Islands|section=#Landing at San Carlos—Bomb Alley}}</ref> on the northwestern coast of [[East Falkland]] facing onto [[Falkland Sound]]. The bay, known as ''Bomb Alley'' by British forces, was the scene of repeated air attacks by low-flying Argentine jets.<ref>{{Cite book| last = Yates | first = David | title = Bomb Alley – Falkland Islands 1982 | publisher=Pen and Sword | year = 2006 | isbn = 9781844154173 }}{{Page needed|date=August 2010}}</ref><ref name = "BBC">{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/297414.stm |title=Americas &#124; Charles ends Falklands tour on sombre note |publisher=BBC News |date=15 March 1999 |accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref>

The 4,000 men of [[3 Commando Brigade]] were put ashore as follows: [[2nd Battalion, Parachute Regiment]] (2 Para) from the [[RORO]] ferry ''[[Norland (ferry)|Norland]]'' and [[40 Commando]] [[Royal Marines]] from the amphibious ship {{HMS|Fearless|L10|6}} were landed at San Carlos (Blue Beach), [[3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment]] (3 Para) from the amphibious ship {{HMS|Intrepid|L11|6}} were landed at [[Port San Carlos]] (Green Beach) and [[45 Commando]] from [[RFA Stromness (A344)|RFA ''Stromness'']] were landed at [[Ajax Bay]] (Red Beach). Notably the waves of 8 [[Landing Craft Utility|LCU]]s and 8 [[Landing_craft_of_the_Royal_Marines#LCVP_Mk2|LCVP]]s were led by Major [[Ewen Southby-Tailyour]], who had commanded the Falklands detachment only a year previously. [[42 Commando]] on the ocean liner {{SS|Canberra}} was a tactical reserve. Units from the [[Royal Artillery]], [[Royal Engineers]] etc. and armoured reconnaissance vehicles were also put ashore with the landing craft, the [[Round Table class landing ship logistics|Round table class]] [[Landing Ship Logistics|LSL]] and [[mexeflote]] barges. [[Rapier missile]] launchers were carried as underslung loads of [[Westland Sea King|Sea King]]s for rapid deployment.

By dawn the next day they had established a secure beachhead from which to conduct offensive operations. From there [[Brigadier]] [[Julian Thompson]]'s plan was to capture [[Darwin, Falkland Islands|Darwin]] and [[Goose Green]] before turning towards Port Stanley.
Now, with the British troops on the ground, the [[Argentine Air Force]] began the night bombing campaign against them using [[English Electric Canberra|Canberra]] bomber planes until the last day of the war (14 June).

[[File:HMS Antelope 1982.jpg|thumb|250px|{{HMS|Antelope|F170|6}} smoking after being hit, 23 May]]
At sea, the paucity of the British ships' anti-aircraft defences was demonstrated in the sinking of {{HMS|Ardent|F184|6}} on 21 May, {{HMS|Antelope|F170|6}} on 24 May, and [[MV Atlantic Conveyor|MV ''Atlantic Conveyor'']] (struck by two AM39 Exocets) on 25 May along with a vital cargo of [[helicopter]]s, runway-building equipment and tents. The loss of all but one of the [[Boeing Chinook (UK variants)|Chinook]] helicopters being carried by the Atlantic Conveyor was a severe blow from a logistics perspective.

Also lost on this day was {{HMS|Coventry|D118|6}}, a sister to {{HMS|Sheffield|D80|2}}, whilst in company with {{HMS|Broadsword|F88|6}} after being ordered to act as decoy to draw away Argentine aircraft from other ships at San Carlos Bay.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Rumley |first=Leesa |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6705387.stm |title=Captain Hart Dyke, Commanding Officer of '&#39;HMS Coventry'&#39; |publisher=BBC News |date=1 June 2007 |accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref> {{HMS|Argonaut|F56|6}} and {{HMS|Brilliant|F90|6}} were badly damaged. However, many British ships escaped terminal damage because of the Argentine pilots' bombing tactics.

To avoid the highest concentration of British air defences, Argentine pilots released ordnance from very low altitude, and hence their bomb [[fuze]]s<!--For anyone tempted to correct the "mis-spelling", 'fuze' is a component of a bomb, 'fuse' is an electrical component, 'fuze' is correct in this instance --> did not have sufficient time to arm before impact. The low release of the [[retarded bomb]]s (some of which had been sold to the Argentines by the British years earlier) meant that many never exploded, as there was insufficient time in the air for them to arm themselves. A simple free-fall bomb will, during a low altitude release, impact almost directly below the aircraft which is then within the lethal fragmentation zone of the resulting explosion. 

A retarded bomb has a small parachute or air brake that opens to reduce the speed of the bomb to produce a safe horizontal separation between the two. The <!--For anyone tempted to correct the "mis-spelling", 'fuze' is a component of a bomb, 'fuse' is an electrical component, 'fuze' is correct in this instance -->fuze for a retarded bomb requires a minimum time over which the retarder is open to ensure safe separation. The pilots would have been aware of this, but due to the high concentration levels required to avoid [[Surface-to-air missiles|SAM]]s and [[Anti-Aircraft Artillery]] (AAA), as well as any British [[BAE Sea Harrier|Sea Harrier]]s, many failed to climb to the necessary release point. The problem was solved by the improvised fitting of [[Gravity bomb|retarding devices]], allowing low-level bombing attacks as employed on 8 June.

In his autobiographical account of the Falklands War, Admiral Woodward blames the [[BBC World Service]] for these changes to the bombs. The World Service reported the lack of detonations after receiving a briefing on the matter from a [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]] official. He describes the BBC as being more concerned with being "fearless seekers after truth" than with the lives of British servicemen.<ref name="Woodward">{{Cite book|authorlink=Sandy Woodward |first=Sandy |last=Woodward |title=One Hundred Days: The Memoirs of the Falklands Battle Group Commander|publisher=HarperCollins|year=2003|isbn=0-0071-3467-3; ISBN 9781557506511; ISBN 9781557506528.}}{{Page needed|date=September 2011}}</ref> [[Colonel]] [['H'. Jones]] levelled similar accusations against the BBC after they disclosed the impending British attack on Goose Green by 2 Para.

Thirteen bombs hit British ships without detonating.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.naval-history.net/F62brshipslost.htm |title=British Ships Sunk and Damaged – Falklands War 1982 |publisher=Naval-history.net |date= |accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref> [[David Craig, Baron Craig of Radley|Lord Craig]], the retired [[Marshal of the Royal Air Force]], is said to have remarked: "Six better {{sic|fuses|hide=y|nolink=y}} and we would have lost"<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=291&id=365372002|title=Would British forces be able to retake the Falklands today?|date=5 April 2002|work=The Scotsman |location=UK|archiveurl=http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2003&res_dat=xri:pqil:res_ver=0.2&res_id=xri:newsuk&rft_id=xri:newsuk:newsart:112991016|archivedate=5 April 2002|format=subscription required to access archive service|page=12|author=Gethin Chamberlain}}</ref> although ''Ardent'' and ''Antelope'' were both lost despite the failure of bombs to explode. 
The fuzes<!--For anyone tempted to correct the "mis-spelling", 'fuze' is a component of a bomb, 'fuse' is an electrical component, 'fuze' is correct in this instance -->  were functioning correctly, and the bombs were simply released from too low an altitude.<ref name="Woodward"/>
<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.3956 |title=The Falklands Conflict 1982|publisher=Royal Navy |date=2 April 1982 |accessdate=7 February 2010 |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080409233735/http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.3956 |archivedate=2008-04-09}}</ref>  The Argentines lost 22 aircraft in the attacks.<ref group=notes>[21/27 May: 9 Dagger, 5 A-4C, 3 A-4Q, 3 A-4B & 2 Pucara ]</ref>

===Battle of Goose Green===
[[File:Land.ops.2.en.svg|thumb|500px|Infantry deployment in East Falklands after Landing in San Carlos]]

{{Main|Battle of Goose Green}}
From early on 27 May until 28 May, 2 Para, (approximately 500 men) with artillery support from 8 (Alma) Commando Battery, Royal Artillery, approached and attacked [[Darwin, Falkland Islands|Darwin]] and [[Goose Green]], which was held by the Argentine 12th Infantry Regiment. 
After a tough struggle that lasted all night and into the next day, the British won the battle; in all, 17 British and 47 Argentine soldiers were killed. In total 961 Argentine troops (including 202 Argentine Air Force personnel of the ''Condor'' airfield) were taken prisoners.

The BBC announced the taking of Goose Green on the [[BBC World Service]] before it had actually happened. It was during this attack that [[Lieutenant Colonel (United Kingdom)|Lieutenant Colonel]] [[H. Jones]], the commanding officer of 2 Para was killed at the head of his battalion while charging into the well-prepared Argentine positions. He was posthumously awarded the [[Victoria Cross]].

With the sizeable Argentine force at Goose Green out of the way, British forces were now able to break out of the San Carlos bridgehead. On 27 May, men of 45 Cdo and 3 Para started a [[loaded march]] across [[East Falkland]] towards the coastal settlement of [[Teal Inlet]].

===Special forces on Mount Kent===
Meanwhile, 42 Commando prepared to move by helicopter to Mount Kent.<ref group=notes>{{map-loc|name=Mount Kent|locality1=Mount Kent|locality2=Falkland Islands|section=#Special forces on Mount Kent}}</ref> Unknown to senior British officers, the Argentine generals were determined to tie down the British troops in the Mount Kent area, and on 27 May and 28 May they sent transport aircraft loaded with Blowpipe surface-to-air missiles and [[commando]]s (602nd Commando Company and 601st National Gendarmerie Special Forces Squadron) to [[Stanley, Falkland Islands|Stanley]]. This operation was known as Operation AUTOIMPUESTA (Self-Determination-Initiative).

For the next week, the SAS and the [[Mountain Leader Training Cadre|Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre]] (M&AWC) of [[3 Commando Brigade]] waged intense patrol battles with patrols of the volunteers' 602nd Commando Company under Major [[Aldo Rico]], normally 2nd in Command of the 22nd Mountain Infantry Regiment. Throughout 30 May, Royal Air Force Harriers were active over Mount Kent. One of them, Harrier ''XZ963'', flown by Squadron Leader Jerry Pook—in responding to a call for help from D Squadron, attacked Mount Kent's eastern lower slopes, and that led to its loss through small-arms fire.  Pook was subsequently awarded the [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)|Distinguished Flying Cross]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=49134 |supp=yes |startpage=12854 |date=8 October 1982 |accessdate=19 February 2010}}</ref>

The Argentine Navy used their last AM39 Exocet missile attempting to attack {{HMS|Invincible|R05|6}} on 30 May. There are claims the missile struck,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britains-smallwars.com/Falklands/Exocet.html |title=Argentine Aircraft in the Falklands |publisher=Britains-smallwars.com |date= |accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.skyhawk.org/2e/argentina/argentina-af4th5th.htm |title=Argentine Air Force – Group 5 |publisher=Skyhawk.org |date= |accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref> however the British have denied this, some citing that {{HMS|Avenger|F185|6}} shot it down.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.operationcorporate.com/p1_equipment_super_etendard.php |title=Super Etendard |publisher=Operationcorporate.com |date=29 May 2007 |accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=HMS Yarmouth, Captains Diary|url=http://www.hms-yarmouth.com/falklands/captains%20diary.htm |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20090321152518/http://www.hms-yarmouth.com/falklands/captains%20diary.htm |archivedate=2009-03-21 |postscript=<!-- Bot inserted parameter. Either remove it; or change its value to "." for the cite to end in a ".", as necessary. -->{{inconsistent citations}}}}</ref>

On 31 May, the M&AWC defeated Argentine Special Forces at the [[Battle of Top Malo House]]. A 13-strong Argentine Army Commando detachment (Captain José Vercesi's 1st Assault Section, 602nd Commando Company) found itself trapped in a small shepherd's house at Top Malo. 
The Argentine commandos fired from windows and doorways and then took refuge in a stream bed {{convert|200|m|ft|-2}} from the burning house. 
Completely surrounded, they fought 19 M&AWC marines under Captain Rod Boswell for forty-five minutes until, with their ammunition almost exhausted, they elected to surrender.

Three Cadre members were badly wounded. On the Argentine side there were two dead including Lieutenant Ernesto Espinoza and Sergeant Mateo Sbert (who were decorated for their bravery). Only five Argentines were left unscathed. As the British mopped up Top Malo House, down from Malo Hill came Lieutenant Fraser Haddow's M&AWC patrol, brandishing a large [[Union Flag]]. One wounded Argentine soldier, Lieutenant Horacio Losito, commented that their escape route would have taken them through Haddow's position.

601st Commando tried to move forward to rescue 602nd Commando Company on Estancia Mountain. Spotted by 42 Commando, they were engaged with [[L16 81mm Mortar|81mm mortars]] and forced to withdraw to Two Sisters mountain. 602nd Commando Company on Estancia Mountain realised his position had become untenable and after conferring with fellow officers ordered a withdrawal.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britains-smallwars.com/Falklands/David/kent2.html |title=The Argentine Commandos on Mount Kent |publisher=Britains-smallwars.com |date= |accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref>

The Argentine operation also saw the extensive use of helicopter support to position and extract patrols; the [[601 Assault Helicopter Battalion|601st Combat Aviation Battalion]] also suffered casualties. At about 11.00&nbsp;am on 30 May, an [[Aérospatiale Puma|Aerospatiale SA-330 Puma]] helicopter was brought down by a shoulder-launched [[stinger missile|Stinger]] [[surface-to-air missile]] (SAM) fired by the SAS in the vicinity of Mount Kent. Six [[Gendarmeria Nacional Argentina|National Gendarmerie]] Special Forces were killed and eight more wounded in the crash.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.mercopress.com/2002/04/12/argentine-puma-shot-down-by-american-stinger-missile#prof |title=Argentine Puma Shot Down By American "Stinger" Missile |publisher=En.mercopress.com |date=12 April 2002 |accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref>

As Thompson commented, "It was fortunate that I had ignored the views expressed by Northwood that reconnaissance of Mount Kent before insertion of 42 Commando was superfluous. 
Had D Squadron not been there, the Argentine Special Forces would have caught the Commando before de-planing and, in the darkness and confusion on a strange landing zone, inflicted heavy casualties on men and helicopters."<ref name="NoPicnic">Julian Thompson, ''No Picnic'', p. 93, Cassell & Co, 2001.</ref>

===Bluff Cove and Fitzroy===
{{Main|Bluff Cove Air Attacks}}

[[File:RFA Sir Tristram.1982.jpg|thumb|The abandoned hulk of RFA ''Sir Tristram'' in Fitzroy.]]
By 1 June, with the arrival of a further 5,000 British troops of the 5th Infantry Brigade,<!-- landed at [[San Carlos, Falkland Islands|San Carlos]] from {{SS|Canberra|2}}, ''[[Norland]]'' and ''Stromness'' having transferred from the liner [[RMS Queen Elizabeth 2|''Q.E.II'']] at [[South Georgia]] --> the new British divisional commander, Major General [[Jeremy Moore]] RM, had sufficient force to start planning an offensive against [[Stanley, Falkland Islands|Stanley]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2007}}

During this build-up, the Argentine air assaults on the British naval forces continued, killing 56. Of the dead, 32 were from the [[Welsh Guards]] on [[RFA Sir Galahad (1966)|RFA ''Sir Galahad'']] and ''[[RFA Sir Tristram (L3505)|RFA Sir Tristram]]'' on 8 June. According to Surgeon-Commander Rick Jolly of the Falklands Field Hospital, more than 150 men suffered burns and injuries of some kind in the attack, including, famously, [[Simon Weston]].<ref>Rick Jolly, ''The Red & Green Life Machine'', p. 124.</ref>

The Guards were sent to support a ''dashing'' advance along the southern approach to Stanley. On 2 June a small advance party of 2 Para moved to Swan Inlet house in a number of Army [[Westland Scout]] helicopters. Telephoning ahead to Fitzroy, they discovered the area clear of Argentines and (exceeding their authority) commandeered the one remaining [[RAF Chinook]] helicopter to frantically ferry another contingent of 2 Para ahead to [[Fitzroy, Falkland Islands|Fitzroy]] (a settlement on Port Pleasant) and [[Bluff Cove]] (a settlement confusingly, and perhaps ultimately fatally, on Port Fitzroy).

This uncoordinated advance caused planning nightmares for the commanders of the combined operation, as they now found themselves with a {{convert|30|mi|km}} string of indefensible positions on their southern flank. Support could not be sent by air as the single remaining Chinook was already heavily oversubscribed. The soldiers could march, but their equipment and heavy supplies would need to be ferried by sea. 
Plans were drawn up for half the Welsh Guards to march light on the night of 2 June, whilst the Scots Guards and the second half of the Welsh Guards were to be ferried from San Carlos Water in the [[Landing Ship Logistics]] (LSL) ''Sir Tristram'' and the [[amphibious transport dock|landing platform dock]] (LPD) ''Intrepid'' on the night of 5 June. ''Intrepid'' was planned to stay one day and unload itself and as much of ''Sir Tristram'' as possible, leaving the next evening for the relative safety of San Carlos. Escorts would be provided for this day, after which ''Sir Tristram'' would be left to unload using a Mexeflote (a powered raft) for as long as it took to finish.

Political pressure from above to not risk the LPD forced Commodore Clapp to alter this plan. Two lower-value LSLs would be sent, but without suitable beaches on which to land, ''Intrepid'''s [[landing craft]] would need to accompany them to unload. A complicated operation across several nights with ''Intrepid'' and her sister ship {{HMS|Fearless|L10|2}} sailing half-way to dispatch their craft was devised. 
The attempted overland march by half the Welsh Guards failed, possibly as they refused to march light and attempted to carry their equipment. They returned to San Carlos and were landed directly at Bluff Cove when ''Fearless'' dispatched her landing craft. ''Sir Tristram'' sailed on the night of 6 June and was joined by ''Sir Galahad'' at dawn on 7 June. Anchored {{convert|1200|ft|m}} apart in Port Pleasant, the landing ships were near Fitzroy, the designated landing point.

The landing craft should have been able to unload the ships to that point relatively quickly, but confusion over the ordered disembarcation point (the first half of the Guards going direct to Bluff Cove) resulted in the senior Welsh Guards infantry officer aboard insisting his troops be ferried the far longer distance directly to Port Fitzroy/Bluff Cove. The alternative was for the infantrymen to march via the recently repaired Bluff Cove bridge (destroyed by retreating Argentine [[combat engineering|combat engineers]]) to their destination, a journey of around seven miles (11&nbsp;km).

On ''Sir Galahad''{{'}}s stern ramp there was an argument about what to do. The officers on board were told they could not sail to Bluff Cove that day. They were told they had to get their men off ship and onto the beach as soon as possible as the ships were vulnerable to enemy aircraft. It would take 20 minutes to transport the men to shore using the LCU and Mexeflote. They would then have the choice to walk the 7 miles to Bluff Cove or wait until dark to sail there. The officers on board said they would remain on board until dark and then sail. 
They refused to take their men off the ship. They possibly doubted that the bridge had been repaired due to the presence on board ''Sir Galahad'' of the [[Royal Engineer]] Troop whose job it was to repair the bridge. The Welsh Guards were keen to rejoin the rest of their Battalion who were potentially facing the enemy without their support. They had also not seen any enemy aircraft since landing at [[San Carlos, Falkland Islands|San Carlos]] and may have been over confident in the air defences. [[Ewen Southby-Tailyour]] gave a direct order for the men to leave the ship and go to the beach. The order was ignored.

The longer journey time of the landing craft taking the troops directly to Bluff Cove and the squabbling over how the landing was to be performed caused enormous delay in unloading. This had disastrous consequences. Without escorts, having not yet established their air defence, and still almost fully laden, the two LSLs in Port Pleasant were sitting targets for two waves of Argentine [[Douglas A-4 Skyhawk|A-4 Skyhawks]].

The disaster at Port Pleasant (although often known as Bluff Cove) would provide the world with some of the most sobering images of the war as TV news video footage showed [[Royal Navy|Navy]] helicopters hovering in thick smoke to winch survivors from the burning landing ships. 
British casualties were 48 killed and 115 wounded.<ref>{{Cite document |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/8/newsid_2500000/2500607.stm |publisher=[[BBC News]] |title=1982:Fifty die in Argentine air attack |postscript=<!-- Bot inserted parameter. Either remove it; or change its value to "." for the cite to end in a ".", as necessary. -->{{inconsistent citations}} }}</ref> Three Argentine pilots were also killed. However, Argentine General [[Mario Menendez]], commander of Argentine forces in the Falklands, was told that 900 British soldiers had died. He expected that the losses would cause enemy morale to drop and the British assault to stall.

===Fall of Stanley===
[[File:Stanley.falklands.war.svg|thumb|500px|The road to Stanley]]

On the night of 11 June, after several days of painstaking reconnaissance and logistic build-up, British forces launched a brigade-sized night attack against the heavily defended ring of high ground surrounding Stanley. Units of 3 Commando Brigade, supported by naval gunfire from several Royal Navy ships, simultaneously assaulted in the [[Battle of Mount Harriet]], [[Battle of Two Sisters]], and [[Battle of Mount Longdon]]. Mount Harriet was taken at a cost of 2 British and 18 Argentine soldiers. At Two Sisters, the British faced both enemy resistance and friendly fire, but managed to capture their objectives. The toughest battle was at Mount Longdon. British forces were bogged down by assault rifle, mortar, machine gun, artillery fire, sniper fire, and ambushes. Despite this, the British continued their advance.

During this battle, 13 were killed when {{HMS|Glamorgan|D19|6}}, straying too close to shore while returning from the gun line, was struck by an improvised trailer-based [[Exocet]] MM38 launcher taken from the destroyer ARA ''Seguí'' by Argentine Navy technicians.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.fuerzasnavales.com/itb.html |title=An interview with CL (R) Ing. Julio Pérez, chief designer of Exocet trailer-based launcher |language=Spanish |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080302010742/http://www.fuerzasnavales.com/itb.html |archivedate=2008-03-02 |postscript=<!-- Bot inserted parameter. Either remove it; or change its value to "." for the cite to end in a ".", as necessary. -->{{inconsistent citations}}}}</ref>  On this day, Sgt [[Ian McKay]] of 4 Platoon, B Company, 3 Para died in a grenade attack on an Argentine bunker, which earned him a posthumous [[Victoria Cross]]. 
After a night of fierce fighting, all objectives were secured. Both sides suffered heavy losses.

The night of 13 June saw the start of the second phase of attacks, in which the momentum of the initial assault was maintained. 2 Para with [[Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked)|CVRT]] support from The Blues and Royals, captured Wireless Ridge at the [[Battle of Wireless Ridge]], at a loss of 3 British and 25 Argentine dead, and the 2nd battalion, [[Scots Guards]] captured Mount Tumbledown at the [[Battle of Mount Tumbledown]], which cost 10 British and 30 Argentine lives.
[[File:Discarded weapons, Stanley 1982.JPG|thumb|A pile of discarded Argentine weapons in Port Stanley.]]
With the last natural defence line at [[Mount Tumbledown]] breached, the Argentine town defences of [[Stanley, Falkland Islands|Stanley]] began to falter. In the morning gloom, one company commander got lost and his junior officers became despondent. Private Santiago Carrizo of the 3rd Regiment described how a platoon commander ordered them to take up positions in the houses and "if a [[kelpers|Kelper]] resists, shoot him", but the entire company did nothing of the kind.<ref name="fn_4">Hastings and Jenkins: ''The Battle for the Falklands'', p. 307.</ref>

A cease fire was declared on 14 June and the commander of the Argentine garrison in Stanley, Brigade General Mario Menéndez surrendered to Major General Jeremy Moore the same day.

{{See also|Argentine surrender in the Falklands War}}

==Recapture of South Sandwich Islands==
On 20 June the British retook the [[South Sandwich Islands]], (which involved accepting the surrender of the [[Southern Thule]] Garrison at the ''[[Corbeta Uruguay]]'' base) and declared hostilities to be over. 
Argentina had established Corbeta Uruguay in 1976, but prior to 1982 the United Kingdom had contested the existence of the Argentine base only through diplomatic channels.

==Casualties==
[[File:Argentinegraveseastfalkland.jpg|thumb|The [[Argentine Military Cemetery]], on [[East Falkland]].]]
[[File:San-Carlos-Cemetery.JPG|thumb|[[Blue Beach Military Cemetery at San Carlos|The British Military Cemetery at San Carlos on East Falkland.]]]]
In total 907 were killed during the 74 days of the conflict:
*'''Argentina''' – 649<ref>{{cite web |title=list |url=http://gvgva.ar.tripod.com/gvgva/leyes/ley-n-24950_98.html |publisher=Gvgva.ar.tripod.com |date= |accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref>
**[[Argentine Army|Ejército Argentino]] (''Army'') – 194 (16 officers, 35 [[Non-commissioned officer]]s (NCO) and 143 [[conscript]] privates)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ejercito.mil.ar/InMemori/ListadeCaidosporMalvinas.asp |title=list |publisher=Ejercito.mil.ar |date= |accessdate=7 February 2010|archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20100406011315/http://www.ejercito.mil.ar/InMemori/ListadeCaidosporMalvinas.asp |archivedate = 6 apr 2010|deadurl=yes}}</ref>
**[[Argentine Navy|Armada de la República Argentina]] (''Navy'') – 341 (including 321<!--total of 323 is with 2 civilians--> in [[ARA General Belgrano|''Belgrano'']] and 4 naval aviators)
***[[Naval Infantry Command|IMARA]] ( ''Marines'' ) – 34<ref>[http://www.escueladeim.mil.ar/ list]{{Dead link|date=February 2010}}</ref>
**[[Argentine Air Force|Fuerza Aérea Argentina]] (''Air Force'') – 55 (including 31 pilots and 14 ground crew)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fuerzaaerea.mil.ar/conflicto/caidos.html |title=list |publisher=Fuerzaaerea.mil.ar |date= |accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref>
**[[Argentine National Gendarmerie|Gendarmería Nacional Argentina]] (''Border Guard'') – 7
**[[Argentine Naval Prefecture|Prefectura Naval Argentina]] (''Coast Guard'') – 2
**Civilian sailors – 16
*'''United Kingdom''' – A total of 255 British servicemen and 3 female Falklands Island civilians were killed during the Falklands War.<ref>[http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Databases/Falklands/ According to]</ref>
**Royal Navy – 86 + 2 Hong Kong laundrymen (see below)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/falklands/navyroll.html |title=list |publisher=Raf.mod.uk |date=1 October 2004 |accessdate=7 February 2010 | archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20110606074719/http://www.raf.mod.uk/falklands/navyroll.html |archivedate = 6 jun 2011|deadurl=yes}}</ref>
**Royal Marines – 27 (2 officers, 14 NCOs and 11 marines)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/falklands/marineroll.html |title=list |publisher=Raf.mod.uk |date=1 October 2004 |accessdate=7 February 2010 | archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20110606075557/http://www.raf.mod.uk/falklands/marineroll.html |archivedate = 6 jun 2011|deadurl=yes }}</ref>
**Royal Fleet Auxiliary – 4 + 4 Hong Kong laundrymen<ref name=rafetcroll>{{cite web|url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/falklands/rafetcroll.html |title=Falkland Islands – A history of the 1982 conflict |publisher=Raf.mod.uk |date=1 October 2004 |accessdate=7 February 2010|archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20090321125256/http://www.raf.mod.uk/falklands/rafetcroll.html |archivedate = 21 mar 2009|deadurl=yes }}</ref>
**Merchant Navy – 6 + 2 Hong Kong sailors<ref name=rafetcroll/>
**British Army – 123 (7 officers, 40 NCOs and 76 privates)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/falklands/pararoll.html |title=Para |publisher=Raf.mod.uk |date=1 October 2004 |accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/falklands/sasroll.html |title=SAS |publisher=Raf.mod.uk |date=1 October 2004 |accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/falklands/armyroll.html |title=rest of army |publisher=Raf.mod.uk |date=1 October 2004 |accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref>
**Royal Air Force – 1 (1 officer)<ref name=rafetcroll/>
**Falklands Islands civilians – 3 women killed by [[friendly fire]]<ref name=rafetcroll/>

Of the 86 Royal Navy personnel, 22 were lost in {{HMS|Ardent|F184|6}}, 19 + 1 lost in {{HMS|Sheffield|D80|6}}, 19 + 1 lost in {{HMS|Coventry|D118|6}} and 13 lost in {{HMS|Glamorgan|D19|6}}. 
Fourteen naval cooks were among the dead, the largest number from any one branch in the Royal Navy.

Thirty-three of the British Army's dead came from the Welsh Guards, 21 from the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, 18 from the 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, 19 from the Special Air Service, 3 from [[Royal Signals]] and 8 from each of the Scots Guards and Royal Engineers. The 1st battalion/[[7th Duke of Edinburgh's Own Gurkha Rifles]] lost one man killed.

Two more British deaths may be attributed to [[Operation Corporate]], bringing the total to 260:
* Captain Brian Biddick from [[SS Uganda#Falklands War Service|SS ''Uganda'']] underwent an emergency operation on the voyage to the Falklands. Later he was repatriated by an RAF medical flight to the hospital at Wroughton where he died on 12 May.<ref>{{cite web|author=Peter |url=http://www.merchantnavyofficers.com/KenUg.html |title=HMHS Uganda History |publisher=Merchantnavyofficers.com |date= |accessdate=9 June 2010}}</ref>
* Paul Mills from HMS ''Coventry'' suffered from complications from a skull fracture sustained in the sinking of his ship and died on 29 March 1983; he is buried in his home town of Swavesey.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Cambridgeshire/SwaveseyStAndrew.html |title=Swavesey St Andrew Roll of Honour |publisher=Roll-of-honour.com |date= |accessdate=9 June 2010}}</ref>

There were 1,188 Argentine and 777 British non-fatal casualties.

Further information about the field hospitals and hospital ships is at [[Ajax Bay]] and [[List of hospitals and hospital ships of the Royal Navy]]. On the Argentine side beside the Military Hospital at Port Stanley, the [[Argentine Air Force Mobile Field Hospital]] was deployed at [[Comodoro Rivadavia]].

===Red Cross Box===
Before British offensive operations began, the British and Argentine governments agreed to establish an area on the high seas where both sides could station hospital ships without fear of attack by the other side. This area, a circle 20 nautical miles in diameter, was referred to as the Red Cross Box ({{coord|48|30|S|53|45|W|scale:10000000}}), about {{convert|45|mi|km}} north of [[Falkland Sound]]). Ultimately, the British stationed four ships ([[HMS Hydra (A144)|HMS ''Hydra'']],
[[HMS Hecla (A133)|HMS ''Hecla'']] and [[HMS Herald (H138)|HMS ''Herald'']], and the primary hospital ship ''Uganda''), within the box, while the Argentinians stationed three ([[ARA Almirante Irízar (Q-5)|''Almirante Irizar'']], [[ARA Bahia Paraiso|''Bahia Paraiso'']] and [[ARA Puerto Deseado (Q-20)|''Puerto Deseado'']]).

[[File:HMS Hecla 1982 Gibraltar.jpg|thumb|250px|''Hecla'' at HM Naval Base Gibraltar, during conversion to a hospital ship for service during the Falklands War]]
The hospital ships were actually non-warships converted to serve as hospital ships. The three British naval vessels were survey vessels and ''Uganda'' was a passenger liner. ''Almirante Irizar'' was an icebreaker, ''Bahia Paraiso'' was an Antarctic supply transport and ''Puerto Deseado'' was a survey ship. The British and Argentine vessels operating within the Box were in radio contact and there was some transfer of patients between the hospital ships. For example, the British hospital ship SS ''Uganda'' on four occasions transferred patients to an Argentinian hospital ship. The British naval hospital ships operated as casualty ferries, carrying casualties from both sides from the Falklands to ''Uganda'' and operating a shuttle service between the Red Cross Box and Montevideo.

Throughout the conflict officials of the [[International Committee of the Red Cross]] (ICRC)  conducted inspections to verify that all concerned were abiding by the rules of the Geneva Convention. On 12 June some personnel transferred from the Argentine hospital ship to the British ships by helicopter. Argentine naval officers also inspected the British casualty ferries in the estuary of the [[Río de la Plata|River Plate]].

===British casualty evacuation===
''Hydra'' worked with ''Hecla''<ref group=notes>http://freepages.military.rootsweb.com/~cyberheritage/hec.jpg</ref> and ''Herald'', to take casualties from ''Uganda''<ref group=notes>[http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://freepages.military.rootsweb.com/~cyberheritage/hosp2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://freepages.military.rootsweb.com/~cyberheritage/&h=600&w=900&sz=65&hl=en&start=35&tbnid=yRE83vhLfJlyHM:&tbnh=97&tbnw=146&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhospital%2Bship%26start%3D21%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26rls%3DRNWH,RNWH:2005-14,RNWH:en%26sa%3DN Redirect Notice<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> to [[Montevideo]], [[Uruguay]],<ref group=notes>http://www.country-data.com/frd/cs/uruguay/uy03_00a.gif</ref> where a fleet of Uruguayan ambulances would meet them. [[Royal Air Force|RAF]] [[VC10]] aircraft then flew the casualties to the [[United Kingdom|UK]] for transfer to the Princess Alexandra [[Royal Air Force]] Hospital at [[RAF Wroughton]], near [[Swindon]].

==Aftermath==
{{Main|Aftermath of the Falklands War}}

This brief war brought many consequences for all the parties involved, besides the great loss of human life and [[materiel]].

In the United Kingdom, Margaret Thatcher's popularity increased. The success of the Falklands campaign was widely regarded as the factor in the turnaround in fortunes for the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] government, who had been trailing behind the [[SDP-Liberal Alliance]] in the opinion polls for months before the conflict began, but after the success in the Falklands the Conservatives returned to the top of the opinion polls by a wide margin and went on to win the following year's [[United Kingdom general election, 1983|general election]] by a landslide.<ref>{{Cite news |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/vote_2005/basics/4393313.stm |title= 1983: Thatcher triumphs again |publisher=BBC News |accessdate=8 June 2010 | date=5 April 2005}}</ref>

Subsequently, Defence Secretary Nott's proposed cuts to the Royal Navy were abandoned.

The islanders subsequently had full British citizenship restored in 1983, their lifestyle was improved by investments Britain made after the war and the liberalisation of economic measures that had been stalled through fear of angering Argentina.{{Citation needed|date=March 2010}} In 1985, a new constitution was enacted promoting self-government, which has continued to devolve power to the islanders.

In Argentina, the Falklands War meant that a [[Beagle conflict|possible war with Chile]] was avoided. More importantly, Argentina returned to a democratic government in the [[Argentine general election, 1983|1983 general election]], the first free general election since 1973. 
It also had a major social impact, destroying the military's image as the ''moral reserve of the nation'' that they had maintained through most of the 20th century.

===Memorials===
[[File:Malvimasmemorial.jpg|thumb|'Monumento a los Caídos en Malvinas' (Monument for the fallen in the Falklands) in [[Plaza San Martín (Buenos Aires)|Plaza San Martín]], Buenos Aires; a member of the historic ''Patricios'' regiment stands guard.<ref group=notes>Buenos Aires War Memorial is at coordinates {{Coord|-34.59373|-58.374782|type:landmark|name=Buenos Aires War Memorial}}</ref>]] In addition to memorials on the islands, there is a memorial to the British war dead in the crypt of [[St Paul's Cathedral]], London.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.stpauls.co.uk/page.aspx?theLang=001lngdef&pointerid=33482Ddydm53CFIDyVPL1jOMfZOSZUUk |title=Lady Thatcher marks Falklands anniversary at St Paul's |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080303174702/http://www.stpauls.co.uk/page.aspx?theLang=001lngdef&pointerid=33482Ddydm53CFIDyVPL1jOMfZOSZUUk |archivedate=2008-03-03 |postscript=<!-- Bot inserted parameter. Either remove it; or change its value to "." for the cite to end in a ".", as necessary. -->{{inconsistent citations}}}}</ref> In Argentina, there is a memorial at [[Plaza San Martín (Buenos Aires)|Plaza San Martín]] in [[Buenos Aires]],<ref group=notes>{{wayback|url=http://www.gregoryferdinandsen.com/EZE2001/Falklands_Memorial.htm |title=Falklands (Las Malvinas) War Memorial Wall |date=20070716141025}}</ref> [[:File:Malvinas, por siempre argentinas 1.jpg|another one]] in [[Rosario, Santa Fe|Rosario]], and [[:File:UshuaiaFalklandsWarVictimsMonument.jpg|a third one]] in [[Ushuaia]].

During the war, British dead were put into plastic [[body bag]]s and buried in mass graves. After the war the bodies were recovered; 14 were reburied at [[Blue Beach Military Cemetery at San Carlos|Blue Beach Military Cemetery]] and 64 were returned to Britain. 

The Argentine dead are buried in the [[Argentine Military Cemetery]] west of the Darwin Settlement. The United Kingdom offered to return the dead to Argentina, but Argentina refused, knowing that the remains would ensure a continuing Argentine presence on the islands.<ref>{{Cite episode |title=1982 Falklands |episodelink= |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007t0w9 |accessdate=20 October 2011 |series=20th Century Battlefields |serieslink=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007npgp/episodes/2007 |credits=Peter Snow, Dan Snow |network=BBC |station= |city= |airdate=16 July 2008 |began=21:00 |ended=22:00 |language=English}}</ref>

===Minefields===
[[File:Falklands-Minefield.JPG|thumb|Although some have been cleared, a substantial number of [[minefield]]s still exist in the islands, such as this one at [[Port William, Falkland Islands|Port William]] on [[East Falkland]].]]
There are still 117 uncleared minefields on the Falkland Islands and [[Unexploded ordnance|UXO]]s are scattered all over the battlefields due to the soft peat ground. No human casualties from mines or UXO have been reported in the Falkland Islands since 1984, and no civilian mine casualties have ever occurred on the islands. The UK reported six military personnel were injured in 1982 and a further two injured in 1983. Most military accidents took place while clearing the minefields in the immediate aftermath of the 1982 conflict or in the process of trying to establish the extent of the minefield perimeters, particularly where no detailed records existed.<ref>[http://www.the-monitor.org/index.php/publications/display?act=submit&pqs_year=2009&pqs_type=lm&pqs_report=uk&pqs_section= Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

==Press and publicity==
===Argentina===
[[File:Gentemayo1982.jpg|thumb|''Gente''{{'}}s "Estamos ganando" headline ("We're winning")]]
Selected war correspondents were regularly flown to Port Stanley in military aircraft to report on the war. Back in Buenos Aires newspapers and magazines faithfully reported on "the heroic actions of the largely conscript army and its successes".<ref name="Jimmy Burns,1987"/>

Officers from the intelligence services were attached to the newspapers and 'leaked' information confirming the official communiqués from the government. The glossy magazines ''Gente'' and ''Siete Días'' swelled to sixty pages with colour photographs of British warships in flames – many of them faked – and bogus eyewitness reports of the Argentine commandos' guerrilla war on South Georgia (6 May) and an already dead Pucará pilot's attack on HMS ''Hermes''<ref name="Jimmy Burns,1987"/> (Lt. Daniel Antonio Jukic had been killed at Goose Green during a British air strike on 1 May). Most of the faked photos actually came from the tabloid press. One of the best remembered headlines was "Estamos ganando" ("We're winning") from the magazine ''Gente'', that would later use variations of it.<ref>[http://www.minutouno.com.ar/minutouno/nota/20414/ El periodismo argentino y su papel en la Guerra de Malvinas] {{es}}</ref>

The Argentine troops on the Falkland Islands could read ''Gaceta Argentina''—a newspaper intended to boost morale among the servicemen. Some of its untruths could easily be unveiled by the soldiers who recovered corpses.<ref>Middlebrook (1989), p. 94, "First of May. Menéndez ordered the publication of a newspaper for the troops on the Falkland Islands called ''Gaceta Argentina''. It stated that one of the Mirages lost 1 May had collided with a Sea Harrier and the Argentine pilot survived. In fact Argentine AAA at Stanley shot down the Mirage when it tried to emergency land there. It was a blatant lie for all those Argentine servicemen who had seen the Mirage being shot down by Argentine guns and had removed the dead pilot from the crashed aeroplane. Similar the junta’s press office in Buenos Aires informed that Lieutenant Antonio Jukic, who actually was killed in his Pucará on the ground at Goose Green, had perished in a gallant, single-handed Pucará attack on HMS ''Hermes'', setting it on fire. This statement was illustrated with dramatic sketches. The men at Goose Green knew that Lieutenant Jukic had died on the ground there.<br />
''Gaceta Argentina'' summed up the British losses up to 25 May as: 5 warship sunk (correct number 3), 3 transport ships including SS ''Canberra'' (1; ''Atlantic Conveyor''), 14 Sea Harriers (2 shot down & 3 accidents) and many ships damaged, including HMS ''Hermes''. ''Gaceta Argentina'' even wrote: 'All of these details refer only to proven claims and not to estimated or unproven claims...'."</ref>

The ''Malvinas course'' united the Argentines in a patriotic atmosphere that protected the junta from critics, and even opponents of the military government supported Galtieri; [[Ernesto Sabato]] said: "Don't be mistaken, Europe; it is not a dictatorship who is fighting for the Malvinas, it is the whole Nation. Opponents of the military dictatorship, like me, are fighting to extirpate the last trace of colonialism."<ref>{{lang-es|No se engañen en Europa. No es una dictadura la que lucha por Malvinas, es la Nación entera. 
Opositores a la dictadura militar, como yo, estamos luchando por extirpar el último resto de colonialismo.}} La Nación, 1982.</ref> The ''[[Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo|Madres de Plaza de Mayo]]'' were even exposed to [[death threat]]s from ordinary people.<ref name="Jimmy Burns,1987"/>

HMS ''Invincible'' was repeatedly sunk in the Argentine press,<ref name=Harris>Harris {{Page needed|date=September 2011}}</ref> and on 30 April 1982 the Argentine magazine ''Tal Cual'' showed UK's PM Thatcher with an eyepatch and the text: ''Pirate, witch and assassin. Guilty!''<ref>{{cite web|title=Margaret Thatcher portrayed as a pirate, 30&nbsp;April 1982. |work=Science and Society Picture Library |url=http://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/results.asp?image=10438336&wwwflag=2&imagepos=12 |accessdate=2011-07-01}}</ref>

Three British reporters sent to Argentina to cover the war from the 'other side' were jailed until the end of the war.<ref>{{Cite news|first=Ian |last=Mather |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/falklands/story/0,,2047324,00.html |title=I went as a reporter but ended up a prisoner of war |work=The Observer | location=London |date=1 April 2007}}</ref>

===United Kingdom===
[[File:The Sun (Gotcha).png|thumb|''The Sun''{{'}}s "Gotcha" headline]]
Seventeen newspaper reporters, two photographers, two radio reporters and three television reporters with five technicians sailed with the Task Force to the war. The Newspaper Publishers' Association selected them from among 160 applicants, excluding foreign media. 
The hasty selection resulted in the inclusion of two journalists among the war reporters who were interested only in Queen Elizabeth II's son [[Prince Andrew, Duke of York|Prince Andrew]], who was serving in the conflict.<ref>Freedman, "two journalists on ''Invincible'' were interested in no issue other than what Prince Andrew, a helicopter pilot as well as the Queen's son, was up to".</ref>

Merchant vessels had the civilian [[Inmarsat]] uplink, which enabled written [[Teletypewriter message|telex]] and voice report transmissions via satellite. {{SS|Canberra}} had a [[fax|facsimile machine]] that was used to upload 202 pictures from the South Atlantic over the course of the war. The Royal Navy leased bandwidth on the US [[Defense Satellite Communications System]] for worldwide communications. 
Television demands a thousand times the data rate of telephone, but the Ministry of Defence  was unsuccessful in convincing the US to allocate more bandwidth.<ref name="Freedman">Freedman, 2005, Vol. 2 p. 36.</ref>

TV producers suspected that the enquiry was half-hearted; since the [[Vietnam War]] television pictures of casualties and traumatised soldiers were recognised as having negative propaganda value. 
However the technology only allowed uploading a single frame per 20 minutes – and only if the military satellites were allocated 100% to television transmissions. Videotapes were shipped to Ascension Island, where a broadband satellite uplink was available, resulting in TV coverage being delayed by three weeks.<ref name="Freedman"/>

The press was very dependent on the Royal Navy, and was [[censorship|censored]] on site. Many reporters in the UK knew more about the war than those with the Task Force.<ref name="Freedman"/>

The Royal Navy expected [[Fleet Street]] to conduct a Second World War-style positive news campaign<ref>Harris, "You must have been told you couldn't report bad news ...You were expected to do a 1940 propaganda job."</ref> but the majority of the British media, especially the BBC, reported the war in a neutral fashion.<ref>Hastings and Jenkins: ''The Battle for the Falklands'' {{Page needed|date=August 2010}}</ref> These reporters referred to "the British troops" and "the Argentinian troops" instead of "our lads" and the "Argies".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/F/falklands/imagesofwar.html |title=When Britain Went to War |publisher=Channel 4 |date= |accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref> The two main tabloid papers presented opposing viewpoints: ''[[Daily Mirror|The Daily Mirror]]'' was decidedly anti-war, whilst ''[[The Sun (newspaper)|The Sun]]'' became well known for headlines such as "Stick It Up Your Junta!", which, along with the reporting in other tabloids,<ref name="Dawn"/> led to accusations of xenophobia<ref name=Harris />
<ref name="Dawn">{{Cite web |url=http://www.psa.ac.uk/journals/pdf/5/2010/280_630.pdf |accessdate=9 February 2011 |author=Dawn Fowler |title=Margaret Thatcher And Falklands War Drama}}</ref><ref name="McKenzie">{{Cite web |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2002/feb/25/pressandpublishing.falklands |accessdate=9 February 2011 |author=The Guardian |title=A new Britain, a new kind of newspaper}}</ref> and jingoism.<ref name=Harris />
<ref name="McKenzie"/><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.forfurtherdetails.net/chronicles-of-conflict/termpapers/StefanieHauk.pdf |accessdate=9 February 2011 |title=Between censorship and rude sensationalism - Falkland and "the information war" |author=Stefanie Hauk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=gnxWaFyEE0QC&pg=PA425&dq=The+sun+falklands+jingoistic&hl=en&sa=X&ei=4JYnT6rSKeTosQK1kY3NAg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=jingois&f=false |accessdate=9 February 2011 |page=425 |first1=George |last1=Kassimeris |first2=John D. |last2=Buckley |title=The Ashgate research companion to modern warfare |quote=The Falklands conflict was no different, although the excessively jingoistic headlines of The Sun newspaper ('UP YOURS GALTIERI!', 'ARGIE BARGEY' and 'GOTCHA') resulted in a downturn in readership.}}</ref> ''The Sun'' was condemned for its "Gotcha" headline following the sinking of the [[ARA General Belgrano|ARA ''General Belgrano'']].<ref>{{Cite news|author=Close |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/falklands/story/0,11707,657850,00.html |title=The Sun newspaper on the Falklands &#124; Media |work=The Guardian | location=London |date= 25 February 2002|accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Douglas |first=Torin |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3654446.stm |title=UK &#124; Magazine &#124; Forty years of The Sun |publisher=BBC News |date=14 September 2004 |accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-library.uk/learning/histcitizen/fpage/conflict/conflict.html |title=War |publisher=British-library.uk |date=4 May 1982 |accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref>

==Cultural impact==
{{Main|Cultural impact of the Falklands War}}

There were wide-ranging influences on popular culture in both the UK and Argentina, from the immediate postwar period to the present. The words ''[[yomp]]'' and ''[[Exocet]]'' entered the British vernacular as a result of the war. The Falklands War also provided material for theatre, film and TV drama and influenced the output of musicians.

==See also==
*[[Argentine ground forces in the Falklands War]]
*[[Argentine naval forces in the Falklands War]]
*[[Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute]]
*[[Re-establishment of British rule on the Falklands (1833)]]
*[[Beagle conflict]] between Chile and Argentina in 1978
*[[Operation Soberanía]] Argentine Military Planning against Chile
*[[British logistics in the Falklands War]]
*[[Operation Algeciras]] – A failed plan conceived by the Argentine military to send some [[Montoneros]] to sabotage the British military facilities in [[Gibraltar]].
*[http://es.wikisource.org/wiki/Informe_Rattenbach Informe Rattenbach], an (initially) secret and exahustive official report about the causes, circumstances and lessons of the Argentine defeat in the war issued by the Argentine Armed Forces in 1983.
{{clr}}

==References==
{{Reflist|3}}

===Notes===
{{Reflist|3|group=notes}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin|2}}
* [[Anthony Barnett (writer)|Barnett, Anthony]], ''IRON BRITANNIA Why Parliament waged its Falklands war''. Allison & Busby, 1982. ISBN 0-85031-493-3
* [[Hugh Bicheno|Bicheno, Hugh]],"Razor's Edge: The Unofficial History of the Falklands War (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2006) ISBN 0-297-84633-7 and (Phoenix 2007) ISBN 978-0753821862
* Blakeway, Denys, ''The Falklands War''. Sidgwick & Jackson, 1992. ISBN 0-283-06101-4
* Brown, David, ''The Royal Navy and the Falklands War''. Leo Cooper, 1987. ISBN 0850520592
* [[Tam Dalyell|Dalyell, Tam]], ''One Man's Falklands''. Cecil Woolf, 1982. ISBN 0-900821-65-5.
* Dalyell, Tam, ''Thatcher's Torpedo''. Cecil Woolf, 1983. ISBN 0-900821-66-3.
* Femenia, Nora,  ''National Identity in Times of Crises: the scripts of the Falklands-Malvinas War''. Nova Science Publishers, Inc, 1996. ISBN 1-56072-196-0.
* Franks et al., ''Falkland Islands Review, Report of a Committee of Privy Counsellors''. HMSO, January 1983. Cmnd. 8787.
* [[Lawrence Freedman|Freedman, Sir Lawrence]]. ''Official History of the Falklands Campaign: Vols 1 & 2''. Frank Cass, 2005. ISBN 0-7146-5206-7 and ISBN 0-7146-5207-5.
* Gavshon, Arthur and Rice, Desmond, ''The Sinking of the Belgrano''. Secker & Warburg, 1984. ISBN 0-436-41332-9.
* Harris, Robert, ''GOTCHA! The Media, the Government and the Falklands Crisis''. Faber and Faber, 1983. ISBN 0-571-13052-6.
*{{Cite book| last1 = Hastings | first1 = Max |last2=Jenkins |first2=Simon |authorlink1=Max Hastings |authorlink2=Simon Jenkins | title = The Battle for the Falklands | publisher=Norton | location = New York | year = 1984 | isbn = 0393301982 }}
* {{cite book | last1 = Hobson | first1 = Chris |first2= Andrew |last2= Noble | editor1-first=Bob |editor1-last= Munro |title = Falklands air war | publisher = Midland Pub. North American trade distribution, Specialty Press Publishers & Wholesalers | location = Hinckley, England. North Branch, NM | year = 2002 | isbn = 9781857801262 }}
* [[Rex Masterman Hunt|Hunt, Sir Rex]]: ''My Falkland Days'', Politico's Publishing, 1992, ISBN 978-1842750179
* Kon, Daniel, ''Los Chicos de la Guerra, The Argentine conscripts' own moving accounts of their Falklands War'' (English translation). New English Library 1983. ISBN 0-450-05611-2.
* Little, Walter. "The Falklands Affair: A Review of the Literature," ''Political Studies,'' (June 1984) 32#2 pp 296–310; historiography
* McManners, Hugh, ''[[Forgotten Voices of the Falklands]]'', [[Random House|Ebury Press]], 2007, ISBN 9780091908805
* Middlebrook, Martin. ''Operation Corporate: The Story of the Falklands War, 1982'', Penguin Books Ltd, 1985, ISBN 0-670-80223-9
* Middlebrook, Martin: ''The Argentine fight for the Malvinas – The Argentine Forces in the Falklands War'', Pen and Sword Books, 1989, ISBN 0-670-82106-3
* Norton-Taylor, Richard. ''The Ponting Affair''. Cecil Woolf, 1985. ISBN 0-900821-73-6.
* Ponting, Clive. ''The Right to Know: The Inside Story of the Belgrano Affair''. Sphere Books, 1985. ISBN 0-7221-6944-2
* Sunday Times Insight Team. ''The Falklands War''. Sphere Books, 1982. ISBN 0-7221-8282-1.
* Tinker, Lieut. David, R.N. ''A Message from the Falklands, The Life and Gallant Death of David Tinker, Lieut. R.N. from his Letters and Poems''. Penguin, 1982. ISBN 0-14-006778-7.
* Thornton, Richard C. ''The Falklands Sting''. Brassey's, 1998. ISBN 1-57488-155-8.
* Underwood, Geoffrey. ''Our Falklands War, The Men of the Task Force Tell Their Story''. Maritime Books, 1983. ISBN 0-907771-08-4.
*{{cite book | last = Ward | first = Commander Nigel "Sharkey" | authorlink=Nigel Ward | title = Sea Harrier Over The Falklands | publisher = Cassell | location = London | year = 2003 | isbn = 9780304355426 }}
* {{cite book |title= One Hundred Days: The Memoirs of the Falklands Battle Group Commander |edition= |last= Woodward|first= Sandy with Patrick Robinson|year= 1992|publisher= Naval Institute Press|location= Annapolis|isbn= 1-55750-652-3}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{external links|date=March 2012}}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons category|Falklands War}}
*[http://www.raf.mod.uk/falklands/rollofhonour.html Falkland Islands History Roll of Honour]
*[http://webstorage3.mcpa.virginia.edu/poh/falklands/transcripts/falklands_2003_0515.pdf Falklands Roundtable—Ronald Reagan Oral History Project, Scripps Library]
*[http://www.falklands.info/history/hindex.html Falklands War History, containing articles, documents and timeline]
*[http://www.falklandswar.org.uk Falklandswar.org.uk]
* [http://www.dradio.de/dlf/sendungen/einewelt/485782/ Film ''Iluminados por el fuego'' regarding Argentine veterans suicide] {{de icon}}
*[http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/InDepth/TheFalklands25YearsOn.htm MoD 25th Anniversary]
*[http://www.sama82.org.uk/ South Atlantic Medal Association 1982 (SAMA82)]
*[http://www.naval-history.net/NAVAL1982FALKLANDS.htm Naval-History.Net&nbsp;– "Battle Atlas of the Falklands War 1982"]
*{{London Gazette|issue=49134|startpage=12831|endpage=12861|supp=yes|date=8 October 1982|accessdate=10 December 2007}} Victoria Cross and other decorations
*{{London Gazette|issue=48999|supp=yes|startpage=7421|endpage=7422|date=3 June 1982|accessdate=14 August 2009}} Decorations specifically for the defence of South Georgia
*[http://web.archive.org/web/20080302010742/http://www.fuerzasnavales.com/itb.html An interview with CL (R) Ing. Julio Pérez, chief designer of Exocet truck-based launcher] {{es icon}}
* [http://www.cescem.org.ar/informe_rattenbach/home.html Comisión de Análisis y Evaluación de las responsabilidades en el conflicto del Atlántico Sur] (Rattenbach Report). Report of the Argentina Armed Forces about the War. {{es icon}}
* [http://knol.google.com/k/nora-femenia-ph-d/brinkmanship-decision-making-and-hidden/3pbxoslyphya5/10# Brinkmanship Decision-Making and Hidden Grief:Argentina and the Falklands/Malvinas, 1982]
* [http://www.cecim.org.ar/ ex-7th Argentine Infantry Regiment veterans] {{es icon}}
* [http://knol.google.com/k/nora-femenia-ph-d/emotional-actor-foreign-policy-decision/3pbxoslyphya5/11# Emotional Actor: Foreign Policy Decision-Making in the 1982 Falklands/Malvinas War]
*[http://www.radiotapes.com/ Extensive CBS Radio newscasts plus recordings from shortwave stations during the war including the BBC, Radio Atlantico del Sur and an Argentina clandestine station (Liberty)].

{{Argentina topics}}
{{Falkland Islands topics}}
{{Margaret Thatcher}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2011}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2010}}

[[Category:Falklands War| ]]
[[Category:Territorial disputes of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:20th-century military history of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Margaret Thatcher]]
[[Category:Territorial disputes of Argentina]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1982]]
[[Category:Wars involving the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Wars involving Argentina]]
[[Category:Blockades]]
[[Category:Naval battles post-1945]]

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