Falklands War: Ben Fogel reveals the document
Forty years ago today, Mario Menendez (Islas Malvinas in Spanish), commander of the Argentine garrison in Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands, surrendered to the British. It took 74 days for British troops to conquer Argentina, with only 80 Royal Marines stationed on the island, when President Leopold Galtieri ordered his troops to withdraw what Argentina claimed. For the British, it was a decisive victory; For Argentina, an embarrassment goes against the Argentine military’s code of conduct, which says not to surrender until more than 50 percent of the soldiers have died – 649 of the more than 10,000 soldiers killed – and at least 75 percent of the ammunition used.
One of the ships that played a significant role in the war for the British was the commanded P&O cruise ship, the SS Canberra.
Royal Marine drummer Brian Shirt, who was on Easter holiday when he was called back and instructed to travel to the Falklands to help with the war effort, told Express.co.uk: “We believed we would make the trip from Southampton, a few weeks away, Efforts will be successful and we will be back in a few weeks with tans, medals and stories. But that is not how it happened. “
A few stops along the equator and Canberra led to the landing of battlefield troops in the Falklands’ San Carlos Bay – which did not include shirts – and then moved to South Georgia where there were about 4,000 POWs living and living in Argentina. Of them
Chhoto and his colleagues were tasked with protecting him, and at the anniversary of Argentina’s surrender, he described how Argentine soldiers living in a military dictatorship reacted to the news of losing the war.
Falklands War: Brian Shirt (pictured left) Protects Argentine POWs during the short war (Image: Brian Shirt / GETTY)
British Military History: A depiction of British troops arriving in the Falklands (Image: GETTY)
He said: “One of them did not believe in starting it. Some cried. Once we were going home, their mood changed and they were worried that they were going to be welcomed.
At the time, Argentina was ruled by a military junta led by General Leopoldo Galtieri, whose government was notorious for its so-called “dirty war” – a campaign in which 9,000 to 30,000 people were subversive and communist. It was often lost to society through torture and mass executions.
Argentina’s economy was failing, and Galtier’s rule was at the end of the day, both in terms of repression and lack of financial management.
The military junta, led by Commander-in-Chief of the Argentine Navy Jorge Anaya, planned the Falklands invasion as a means of diverting attention from domestic illusions by embarking on a wave of aggressive nationalism in support of the regime.
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Brian Short: A Royal Marine Bandman, Short (left) was required to defend the Argentine POWs. (Image: Brian Short)
Shirt said that as more and more Argentine troops were sent to Canberra, he began to realize that they were in no way trained, as were the British troops, who went some way to explain why the war ended so quickly.
He said that the age of POWs is different, some have reached the age of 18 and some have reached the age of 40.
Following the surrender, the Argentine government requested that the British army withdraw its POWs, a incident which was briefly described as “disappointing”: a British ship heading into the country’s waters to fire rockets and bombs at its colleagues a few days earlier.
The British agreed, and Canberra arrived in the port city of Porto Madrid in Patagonia for a “mute” reception.
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Canberra: P&O cruise ship commanded for war effort, pictured here from South Georgia (Image: GETTY)
San Carlos Bay: Ship enters Gulf to land British troops to fight (Image: GETTY)
Short described: “There was only an army, and a line of ambulances and lorries and buses to meet him. “We lost to Malvinas.”
“We can say that the POWs were worried about what kind of reception they would receive at home, and they did not get along well.
“I think they were happy to be alive, happy to be treated well, but there was a feeling that ‘we have lost the Malvinas.’
“They were living in a country where people were missing, and the junta was still in power. I can’t put words in their mouths and say they were scared, but they must have felt frustrated that they had to face them all.”
Argentine troops: Brian says Argentine troops (pictured) were not well trained (Image: GETTY)
“On the other hand, we arrived home in Southampton a few weeks later to welcome the heroes. The two reception worlds were different.
After Sart handed over the power to the Argentine POWs, he forged close ties and friendships with many of them.
Some of them spoke broken English, and a POW asked him for a pen and a piece of paper – the only paper on hand was the menu at a restaurant in Canberra.
He took it and after a while returned to the menu with the signature of 24 POWs, “All sorts of wonderful things, like ‘Good people, good people, thank you for taking care of me'”.
Prisoners of War: Wounded Argentine POWs in Canberra (Image: Brian Short)
Luxury: Canberra was considered a luxury cruise liner, and there were many fancy restaurants and bars. (Image: GETTY)
Express.co.uk is looking for a shirt card for a piece to be in line with the 40th anniversary of Canberra’s return on July 11, but in the meantime spoke to Argentine amateur historian German Stosel who hit the shirt’s menu card online and tracked Argentine POWs who signed it. Made it his duty to find 21 of the 24 signatories.
From Argentina’s point of view, Stocel agreed with Short’s assertion that the mood of the POWs returning to Argentina was gloomy and uncertain.
He said: “We are a country with little war. This was the first time that our soldiers were returning with a necklace on their backs. I think they have paid a fair price here.
“That price was placed on their backs. And it was a kind of insult to them. It was unfair: they were just soldiers doing their job. In my case, I commend them for working for our country – winning or losing. But I think that Those men in battle deserve respect and all the big hugs we can share with them and give them.
General Leopoldo Galtieri: Argentina junta leader portrayed in January before the war (Image: GETTY)
Returning home: Argentine POWs leave Canberra, photographed in Puerto Madryn (Image: Brian Short)
Asked what it meant to pay an “unfair price”, Stossell continued: “For soldiers, it was PTSD and suicide. And for our country, we call it the time of demalvinización (de-malvinisation).
De-Malvinization was a completely white-washed period of the Falklands War, which Stocel described as “out of history for many years” and “hiding facts.”
The process saw the media avoid mentioning the war, and, as Stosell indicated, the returning soldiers and the stories and wounds they inflicted were eventually ignored.
This was quite different from the months leading up to the war in which anti-British and nationalist sentiments pervaded the country.
Band in War: Brian’s book is available for purchase online and in-store (Image: Pen and Sword Military)
Re-malvinización: In recent years, the notion that the Falklands belong to Argentina has re-emerged. (Image: GETTY)
But things seem to be changing: in 2012, just before the 30th anniversary of the war, what appeared to be a redevelopment of Malvinas appeared, with the Argentine government and society returning to the idea that the Falklands are and should be. To be ruled by them.
Some political commentators have suggested that this re-enactment of Malvinas – a member of Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner who has promised to be a central part of his presidency – is a way to ignore the social injustices and economic failures that have plagued him recently. Country
When the shirt suggested that the returning Argentine POWs had been received by the empty city, Stocel said that many residents of Porto Madrid later came out to greet them at home.
He said: “The first thing they did was to go for them, to hug them, to welcome everyone. 40 years ago, all the people of the city went to the docks, and saw Canberra and waited. Soldiers. They were welcomed by the people of that city. But that special moment. After all, they were forgotten. “
Express.co.uk is working on a story of shirts protecting Argentina’s POWs. He has written a book documenting his unique encounter and work as a Royal Marine Bandman in The Band the One to War: The Royal Marine Band in the Falklands War, published by Penn and Sword Military. You can buy a copy here.