MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Falkland Islanders recall invasion trauma
Brave Falkland Islanders have been re-telling the stories of their resistance to the 1982 Argentine invasion, in the last of a series of programmes called “Falkland Families”, on BBC Radio Four in the United Kingdom.
Among the dramatic events recalled is how Islanders helped British troops in the front line and the traumatic moment, fraught with danger, when armed Argentine soldiers burst into the radio station in Stanley. The Manager of Falklands Broadcasting, Patrick Watts, who was broadcasting live at the time, re-tells the story with historic recordings of the excited Argentine invaders and him calmly but firmly telling them: "Take that gun out of my back. Take the gun away. I am not speaking with a gun in my back". Patrick Watts says he felt quite belligerent because they had illegally taken over this small, quiet, peaceful country which did not bother anyone, and had torn it apart. He ordered them out of his radio station. "I just basically told them to get out of the studio if they could not be quiet and stop yelling and shouting because they were very exuberant and excited". Another dangerous moment was when an Argentine entered, extremely upset because his friend had been killed in the assault on Government House. He said the Argentines did not want bloodshed, to which Patrick replied: "If you did not expect to have anyone be killed, you should not have come at all because we did not want you".
For the General -- a cup of tea! Patrick tried to alert the British that Stanley airport was still operational and troop reinforcements still being flown in but he was stopped at the point of a gun. He tells how his house and others were searched for radio equipment and people were being taken into custody and detained because the Argentines were afraid people were communicating with the Task Force. At the start of the invasion, he had asked Islanders to telephone him and describe what was happening. He continued broadcasting through the trauma of the invasion and kept islanders informed with his broadcasts throughout the occupation. He was awarded an MBE. One of his most interesting anecdotes is of the Argentine surrender to General Jeremy Moore. Patrick Watts was proud to be the only islander to witness the historic surrender. Then General Moore turned to him and said : "Where to now? ?.What I would like is a good cup of tea". Patrick immediately invited him and his fellow officers to his home for tea made by his mother. General Moore remarked: "Well, best cup of tea I've had since we set out".
"A very brave lady" At Brookfield farm, Trudi McPhee (formerly Trudi Morrison), described as "a very brave lady" who risked her life helping the British troops, tells how the Islanders mobilised themselves and used their tractors, landrovers and local knowledge to cross the bogs and mountains at night, over minefields and dodging mortar fire, to carry troops, arms, ammunition and medical supplies to the front line at Mount Longdon, and bring back badly wounded men. Paratroop Major Roger Paton told her the situation was serious and everyone in the convoy should write a letter and leave it behind. Her son, Mark, wrote a prize-winning essay on what she did. She read out the military recommendation she was awarded, signed by the overall Task Force Commander, Admiral Sir John Fieldhouse. Trudi McPhee is angry that all the others who helped and risked their lives have not had the same recognition. She says she has tried very hard ever since the war to get recognition specifically for two men, saying it is never too late to show appreciation. The men are not named in the programme.
Goose Green incarceration Tony and June McMullen and others tell how 114 Islanders were incarcerated in Goose Green Community Hall, and of the terrible mess the Islanders had to clear up after the surrender. Also featured in the programme is the Argentine officer, Carlos Bloomer Reeve, who had previously been posted in the islands for two years as the Argentine Government's communication officer. The programme says the Islanders have a real fear, as the British Government try to do a deal with Spain on Gibraltar, that a future British Government may do the same with Argentina over the Falklands. Patrick Watts urges that Argentina should recognise the Islanders' right to self-determination and their desire to remain British, and acknowledge them as a population in their own right. Perhaps then they could become friends and have better relations with Argentina, with student, cultural, sporting and other exchanges. The programme includes interviews with children not then born. One of them, Christine Hewitt, says the Argentines are "different people now and wont be mean to us again. The Argentines should take all the bombs and mines away. And then lots of people would be happy about the Argentines. They should not have done it. There was no need".
Harold Briley (MP) London
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