Mount Pleasant Open Day aims to reassure

Monday, January 31st 2005 - 20:00 UTC

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On Sunday, the British military base at Mount Pleasant in the Falkland Islands played host to the civilian population at an Open Day.

This event, the first for some years, drew a bigger than expected attendance, despite the climate, which provided everything from hail and torrential rain to bright sunshine with blue skies and white scudding clouds.

Fortunately, the weather was worst in the morning, when the majority of activities, displays and exhibitions put on by the various military units at the base, were held inside the main hangar, the Falklands biggest building, which is designed to hold wide-bodied passenger jets. Here and outside on the apron, the enthusiastic and energetic had a choice of aircraft to explore, static displays to inspect, go-karts to ride and soldier-sized hot turkey and pork sandwiches to eat.

Later in the day, the focus of interest switched to Mare Harbour, which is the port facility through which the base is supplied and where the ships of the Royal Navy, which guard the Falklands, are docked. Here and available to be boarded and inspected by the general public were the current guard ship, HMS Gloucester, a Type 42 Destroyer, together with the patrol ship, HMS Dumbarton Castle and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel, Gold Rover.

The day concluded with a simulated assault from the sea, designed to demonstrate the integrated nature of the tri-service military operation in the Falklands. HMS Dumbarton Castle provided covering fire to the attacking army units and support came from the RAF in the form of a sea rescue by helicopter and a supply drop from a Hercules C-130 plane.

The initial reconnaissance for the attack and the first landings on the beach by Rigid Raider were carried out by men of the FIDF (Falkland Islands Defence Force), demonstrating that while only a part-time army, they can more than hold their own with the full-time professionals.

Earlier, in an interview with Mercopress, the Commander of British Forces South Atlantic, Air Commodore Richard Lacey, paid this tribute to them:

"I see the FIDF as a very important complementary capability to our own; they have a number of what I would call ?niche capabilities', which we don't have and they dovetail very well with our general operation. I have always been delighted with the level of support we receive from the FIDF and always been hugely impressed with the capability that they continually demonstrate."

Asked what the motivation behind the Open Day had been, Air Commodore Lacey said that it was very simply to demonstrate to the local population that the British forces on the Falkland Islands could provide the security against attack, which was their prime responsibility.

As he explained, "We are here to provide a deterrent against any potential military threat against the Islands. The subtext of that is that if deterrence fails, we have to be able to defend the complex. I think it is very important that because we are here to guarantee the security of those who live in the Islands that from time to time they should have the opportunity to meet the guys who are providing that security and that they should look at some of the equipment?????.What I want to do is convince them that we are doing the job properly and that we are here with their best interests at heart."

John Fowler (MP) Stanley

Categories: Falkland Islands.

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