Monday, April 02, 2007

Memories of the Falklands

What follows is an updated version of the introduction to my book MEMORIES OF THE FALKLANDS, which was published five years ago.

Twenty five years ago today I was on holiday, visiting friends, the Weber family, in the German spa town of Bad Wildungen. I was 19, and was on an Easter break from my degree course in German at the University of East Anglia in Norwich. After dinner, we sat down to watch TV. I watched incredulously as the newsreader told us of the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands. Unlike most people in Britain, I had a vague idea of where the Falklands were, due to my childhood stamp collection. My German friends assumed they lay off the coast of Scotland. Herr Weber, a veteran of the Russian front in the Second World War, said: ‘It’ll all be settled by diplomacy’.

I remember vividly replying: ‘I doubt it very much. Margaret Thatcher is not known as the Iron lady for nothing. I think there’ll be a war’. ‘No, no,’ replied Herr Weber. ‘There will be a compromise. They’ll bring in the United Nations. People don’t fight wars over small colonies any more’. ‘Trust me,’ I said. ‘You don’t know Margaret Thatcher.’

A few weeks later, back at university, I was asleep in my room one morning when there was a knock at the door. ‘Oh, you’re still alove then,’ an anyonymous voice said. Still half asleep, I didn’t really think anything of it and dozed off again. A few minutes later, the same thing happened. ‘Glad to see you’re still with us,’ said my next door neighbour, Dave Larg. Strange, I thought. Later on in the communal kitchen someone asked if I had seen the papers yet. I said I hadn’t. ‘You ought to,’ came the reply.

I remember as if it were yesterday: turning to page two of the Daily Mail and seeing my name. Killed in action in the Falklands. But it wasn’t me. It was Welsh Guardsman Ian Dale, aged 19 from Pontypridd. It was like being hit in the solar plexus. Tears streamed down my face, as they were to do many times over the next few weeks. Nothing else could have brought home to be the terrible waste of war like this did. I was the same age. It could have been me.

Not long afterwards, I attended a debate at the university between the President of the Students Union and leading light in the University Labour Club, Mark Seddon (now UN Correspondent with Al Jazeera), and someone whose name I now forget but who was also on the extreme left. I was horrified that suchg a debate could take place between the soft left and hard place with no other viewpoint being put forward. So up I stood and defended the sending of the Task Force and our right to retake British sovereign territory from a Fascist regime. That was my first real experience of the cut and thrust of political debate. And I enjoyed it. It was the catalyst for getting involved in politics.

For me, the Falklands War was a formative experience. My father was a teenager during the Second World War and even now he is happiest when he is reading about it or watching a TV documentary on it. I remain fascinated by the political, military and personal consequences of the Falklands War. I remember watching the TV pictures of HMS Sheffield in flames, of the helicopter rescues from the burning ships with tears welling in my eyes. I remember the sleep-inducing tones of the Ministry of Defence spokesman Ian McDonald at his daily press conferences. I remember the fury that overcame me as I watched the BBC’s Panorama programme which sought to pour scorn on the war. I remember John Nott announcing the retaking of South Georgia late at night in Downing Street and Margaret Thatcher urging journalists present not to ask more questions but to ‘rejoice’ at the news.

But most of all, I remember the sense of relief, national pride and joy that most of the country felt as they watched the Union Jack being hoisted again over Government House in Port Stanley. It was a day that helped Britain regain its national pride, which many felt had been lost 26 years earlier in the depths of the Suez Canal. In my opinion, 14 June 1982 will be seen by future historians as a turning point in British history. It was a day which showed that Britain was no longer a soft touch and had the ability to stand up against aggressors. Most important of all, it demonstrated a resolve to the Communist world and the Soviet Union in particular, which they thought we had lost years before.

See my 30 minute interview with Sir John Nott on the Falklands HERE.

On April 17th at 9am on 18 Doughty Street you'll be able to see a programme on life in the Falklands today.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree! I was quite young then and had some arguments with friends on this war.Thay all admitted to a great sense of pride at the end of the conflict but great sadness at the number of deaths.

We felt that as a nation we would not be pushed around any more.

Wonderful!!

Then along came Bliar.

Anonymous said...

"Most important of all, it demonstrated a resolve to the Communist world and the Soviet Union in particular, which they thought we had lost years before."

I remember reading in DC Confidential that some Russian official delievered a formulaic protest note to Christopher Meyer, as he then was, condemning British imperialist aggression, and then ad libbed, "when are you going to drive those bastards into the sea? For goodness sake, hurry up".

Commie doubletalk is always amusing.

Anonymous said...

I can't believe that Beckett moron made her statement yesterday. Is it possible it was an April Fool? How the heck can we make statements like that, it's like saying we regret that Nazi's got shot on D-Day. This government is singularly lacking in any balls.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm. Ok.

Surely a Nations pride is better articulated by its willingness to go someone else's aid rather than just its own?

It's a fair point that Britain prided itself on regaining what was already ours. Point proven.

Poland in 1939 was not ours, it was theirs. Our willingness to sacrifice the flower of England's/Britain's/Empire youth stands as a testimony to our standing alone. Point better proven.

Blair in going to Iraq/Kosovo/Yugoslavia is best recited by people like me, rather than people like you(?) as I reckon that those that stand up to bullies who bully strangers is a far greater act than those who will only protect themselves.

This is why a flip flop will always remain one.

Gary

Anonymous said...

Yes, but you have to give the other side. We were already toying with the idea of pulling the plug on the Falklands - they were costing us too much money.

I agree that once they were invaded, then we had to protect our citizens.

But I don't think anyone can justify the loss of lives and amount of money expended on the Falklands in terms of the payback we have had from there in the last 25 years.

The education system there is poor, there are few facilities [no cinema!] and had the Argies offered us plenty of oil upfront rather than invaded them, we would have bitten their hands off. Patriotism is rarely a good justification for decisions such as this. It has been tremendously beneficial for the sheep, but if the people there want a lifestyle of splendid isolation, then there are plenty of Scottish islands desperate for people to go and live there.

Anonymous said...

"Mark Seddon (now UN Correspondent with Al Jazeera), and someone whose name I now forget but who was also on the extreme left."

I think it is unforgivably rude to refer to someone as intelligent and with the journalistic integrity of Mark Seddon as belonging to the 'extreme left'. That is something which we as readers can make our own minds up about. After all, he stood for that obvious bastion of left-wing moonbattery, the Conservative party in the well known 'extreme left' stronghold area of, er, Buckingham.

And the rather facile attempt to try and use his work for Al-Jazeera linked into the same sentence looks a bit like a smear tactic to me.

Are you going to be as disrespectful to other journalists because they oppose war, or have journalistic integrity ? You could start with those obvious commie firebrands working for Al-Jazeera, like, er, David Frost and Rageh Omaar.

Martin Curtis said...

Really enjoyed reading this post Iain.

Even as the son of a soldier, the Falklands and its aftermath touched me in a huge way. My brother was on HMS Antelope when it exploded. He was lucky and survived and got to sail home on the QE2. I was in the Army at the time as an apprentice and was unable to get to see him arrive back, but I remember watching it with tears in my eyes.

I remember my mother telling me how the church in Detmold (a Garrison in Germany) had "for those in peril on the sea" on the list of hymns every week just to support her whilst she was there, and her telling me of the comfort it provided her, it remains a Hymn I struggle to sing now.

I remember seeing the change on my normally laisse faire brother's face when he sat watching a re-run of the Welsh Guards on Sir Galahad.

The thing I remember most, however, is the fantastic way the people of Whittlesey (where I am a Councillor now) treated my returning brother as the War Hero he was. We had a party for him and my mum ordered a big welcome home cake which the local bakery wouldn't accept payment for. Then the local working men's club had a fund raising night for the South Atlantic Fund and invited my brother as guest of honour. He got a fantastic reception, and never had to buy a drink all night.

I live in a great town.

Iain Dale said...

Anonymous, no smear intended at all. Mark would himself admit he is on the extreme left of the Labour Party. He is also a good friend of mine, so please don't over-interpret.

Anonymous said...

Ah, fair enough - but extreme left 'of the Labour party' is a slightly different thing, so apologies.

David Anthony said...

Being less than a year old at the time, it's difficult for me to have this much emotional attachment to the Falklands War. Nicely written piece though.

Anonymous said...

Like you Iain, right from hearing the news of the invasion I was completly sure that it would come down to war, and soon.

At no time did I think otherwise. So all that happened with the constant speculation over the run up to combat, seemed futile and not a little strange.

To find out later that the likes of the foreign and defence ministers thought there was ever a chance of a diplomatic settlement, forces me to come to the conclusion that.

Either they are lieing, or that I must have a sixth sense about these types of things.

OR

That the then Thatcher government was compiled of public school boy, wishfull thinking, weak minded idiots, not capable of even commanding a Boy Scout platoon. Never mind, working out what the Girl Guides were going to do and WHY, in advance of time.

Still all's well that ends well. Which is more then can be said about Britains involvement in the Middle East.

Anonymous said...

I agree that the Falklands war did show we were no longer a 'push over' nation. A good friend of mine did not come home and is still there, lying close to 'H' Jones. But what does the present situation say to people who died and were injured then?

We have been sold down the river by our present leadership.

Anonymous said...

What nauseous bollocks but then, Tories will always be Tories, it's to be expected. War is never glorious Iain, and when people actually have to fight they quickly drop their "heroic" ideas. If you care to listen to the archive accounts of the Falklands vets having to bayonet young Argentinean conscripts you will notice that some of these guys were moved to tears. Real tears, not the crocodile tears that you blubbed - oh you poor dear - in your safe university rooms when you were 19 years old.

Iain Dale said...

Captain Spaulding, I have probably read more first accounts of this conflict than you think. Your remarks are insulting and uncalled for. I could say something more inflammatory but will restrain myself beyond expressing the hope that you don't bother coming back here again.

Anonymous said...

I remember in the lower sixth protesting at the left wing head of sixth rubbishing the purpose of the war and the Government - and getting my request to express a balanced opinion squashed. So I wrote to the local paper and told them what had happened. A conspiracy then developed involving parents, school head and the group editor of the local papers to put a gag on me. I should have got on my bike and gone to my MP - but at 16 you don't think of these things. I left the school out of protest and went on to get 4 good A levels else where - scumbags.

trinitylaw said...

I had to laugh when you mentioned that your German friends thought the Falklands were off the coast of Scotland. If I recall rightly from my childhood, that's exactly what Adrian Mole's dad thinks when Adrian breaks the news to him in The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 and 3/4.

The Falklands will always remain one of my enduring childhood memories (I was 13 at the time), along with with the Miners' Strike and Mrs Thatcher's speech to the Party Conference after the Brighton Bombing. I thought Maggie behaved bloody brilliantly in each of those three dramas.

Have purchased a copy of The Flaklands Play on DVD and plan to watch it this week. I can't wait ...

Andrew Allison said...

Spot on Iain. Margaret Thatcher would never see Britain humiliated. Watching the latest scenes in Iran, I just wish this government would stand up to them. I know what I would do. As you said in another post, Iran can never have a nuclear capability. NO, no, no!

Terry Hamblin said...

I was in Boston Mass. when the news of the Argie invasion came through. The Americans and I both thought that Britain's decline was so complete that it would all be settled by some face saving diplomacy. I remember being uplifted by the backbone that the Blessed Margaret instilled in out people. It was certainly a turning point in our history. Remember how low we had sunk. In 1979 rubbish lay on rat-infested street corners, the dead were unburied, and labour were clinging to power in the hope that something would turn up. We had a prime minister who had made a hash of all four great offices of state. Then when the Tories returned, the state of the public finances was so poor that severely deflationary budgets were necessary. The nation was at its lowest ebb. 25 years ago Margaret Thatcher turned the ship around and instilled confidence in the country.

Alas, this present excuse for a government is in the business of squandering all the capital we gained.

Anonymous said...

Ho hum, it is a bit precious to “hope that you don't bother coming back here again”, Iain – I’m sorry I upset you, but you’re running a political blog, not a house party.

Clearly, the Falklands anniversary has awakened an element of crude jingoism on the Tory right. Witness Margaret Beckett’s harmless expression of 'continuing regret' over both Argentinean and British casualties during the twenty-five year old war being turned into the Daily Mail’s outrageously distorted headline “Beckett insults Britain's Falkland dead.”

It was an ill-considered decision to go to war - in Iraq - which partly led to Britain’s lack of influence in Iran and the problems with the captured service personnel at the moment. David Cameron understands the unpopularity of the Iraq war and is trying to distance himself from the original decision to support the Government, but Tory headbangers on the right won’t let him.

I believe that once the troops are home Labour will probably hold a full enquiry and the Tory splits will become obvious at this point. I thought it was just their crazy EU policy which would be the Tories' undoing, but their foreign policy generally is all over the place too.

Anonymous said...

What struck me forcefully on the BBC re-run of the Falklands Conflict archives of Question Time, Newsnight and the News was the Parliamentary debate. Dignity, intelligence, statesmanship, experience from most of the speakers. What a contrast with the boys, girls and parish councillors that for the most part we have today. Can I vote for a David Owen or a Michael Hesltine today? Cameron, Osbourne, Milliband, Alexander.....I have to exercise my right to vote but it will be with a heavy heart.

Anonymous said...

I fail to see any great pride in defending an obscure island in the South Atlantic that was stolen from Argentina in the first place.

Then again to me the Empire is a source of shame. Conquering other nations & forcing them to adopt the British way of life? Very noble!

Anonymous said...

Another fine article, which reminds me I should keep a more frequent eye on this blog.

I am the same age as Iain and was also a student at the time and I recall the strong emotions raised. But I do think it is with rose tinted hindsight that we recall the country as being more patriotic and united then. I remember listening to that incredible Saturday debate in the House and how - to use Edward Pearce's almost contemprary words - 'our foreign policy as hijacked to the other side of the planet'. It was certainly not an inevitable reaction at the time and came as a surprise to many who, even then, thought that we had ceased to be capable of such things with Suez. Whilst the events in Iran were awful, the case was very different. I'd like to hope that a more similar scenario would lead to the same united reaction across the country. But then we seem perfectly happy to give up Ulster to the bigots and the bomb throwers, so perhaps our threshold for outrage is pretty high these days.

Anonymous said...

"But then we seem perfectly happy to give up Ulster to the bigots and the bomb throwers, so perhaps our threshold for outrage is pretty high these days."

And Northern Ireland is much happier being run by the "bigots and bomb throwers". That's their choice - and probably the choice of most people in the UK.