MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Looking back with the advantage of hindsight

Air Force Pablo Carballo in 1982

Twenty five years alter the end of the Falklands War Argentine Air Force Comodoro Pablo Carballo still defines himself as a combatant, as opposed to being “a former or ex combatant” of the 1982 war. “Ex-combatant would mean that I no longer fight on” he explains.

Speaking last night to a full house at a lecture held at the Argentine Air Force library in downtown Buenos Aires, announced as "Malvinas â€" The Air Battle"Carballo gave his views on a whole range of topics, mainly about the war itself, but also reaching out into his personal and family history, his friends, his views on politics, ethics and religion and his current views on the events of 1982. With the rank of Captain in 1982, Carballo was one of Argentina "hawks," a young fighter pilot who flew Skyhawks on numerous combat missions for the Air Force's Group 5. After the war he continued within the Air Force raising the rank of Group Captain before retiring and taking up a career teaching at the Air Force Academy. Arguably Carballo is one of the most prolific authors on the 1982 war, his best known work "Halcones sobre Malvinas"(Hawks over Malvinas) has appeared in several versions and is one of the most read Argentine books on the subject. Carballo approached the presentation - in his own words - as if he were talking to a group of friends and was thus extremely informal, jumping from subject to subject while analysing different aspects of the events of 1982. It was extremely interesting to hear his first hand description of events about which so much has been written and also to note how much this particular speaker has moved over the last 25 years. Gone is much of the vitriolic anti-British slamming for which he was well known immediately after the war, and while upholding - in no uncertain terms â€" what he sees as Argentina's right to the sovereignty of the disputed islands and the honourable role of most of its armed forces played during the war, he continues to slam those who fail to stand up for the principles of defending what one sees rightly or wrongly as a national cause. Among the shifts it was refreshing to hear Carballo speak warmly of his former adversaries and talkl about his exchange of correspondence with former crew members of HMS Antelope,a ship he contributed to sink in 1982. On several occasions he quoted British sources to uphold different points he was trying to make during his presentation. On the other hand it is interesting to note how certain events continue to remain distorted despite the time elapsed and the new evidence that has surfaced since 1982. Just to mention several events about which further investigation uncovered new evidence since the end of the conflict, that Carballo seems not to have noticed are,for example, his references to "a pair of Scout helicopters" being shot down near Camilla Creek House by Argentine Pucara aircraft on 28 May 1982 about which history has shown since the 1980s that only one was in fact downed. The same thing happens with his recollection of the attack by Skyhawks in the closing hours of the war on 3rd Commando Brigade HQ on the western slopes of Mount Kent, HQ of General Jeremy Moore and his senior officers and not of Admiral Woodward as Carballo holds. Later in his talk he incurred in very much the same error in describing the white flag incident in which Lt James Barry was killed in Goose Green as having involved Lt. Col. H. Jones. While several of these errors may be attributed to Carballo speaking off the cuff, it nonetheless shows that there is still much scope for further research and cross checking of Argentine and British versions of the events of 1982. Ironically, prominent in a bookcase behind where Carballo was speaking was a copy of the "Falklands â€" The Air War"the magnificent 1986 Arms and Armour Press "bible" on the 1982 air war in which several of these matters were duly clarified a decade back.. Despite any shortcomings Carballo's talk was extremely interesting as a way of gauging how people who played key roles in 1982 have evolved over the last 25 years. While Carballo â€" an often bombastic devout Catholic - is no moderate on matters in which he deeply believes, whether religion, politics, sovereignty, honour or love for one's country, it is in the changes in his views where one sees the passing of time. Asked at the end of the conference whom he today defined as being "the enemy" he responded that they were the "bad Argentines, the bad British, the bad Americans, the bad Chileans, etc." and so on a far cry from some of his own uncompromising rhetoric of the post war years, As if to illustrate this point view Carballo has not changed his opinion about the then head of 801 Naval Air Squadron, Lt. Cdr. Nigel "Sharkey" Ward ,for the way in which he shot down a Hercules C130 transport plane on 1 June 1982, claiming that having mortally damaged the aircraft with a Sidewinder missile, Ward pressed on the attack on the damaged aircraft with cannon fire killing the crew of seven, an action that Carballo claims was totally unnecessary and that Ward will have to live with for the rest of his life. Scattered among the audience was the widow of the Hercules pilot, as well as numerous 1982 war veterans and making one of the post talk questions, journalist Nicolas Kasanzew, who spent the war on the islands, writing later about his experiences. After the war Kasanzew had to seek work overseas after unjustly being accused of all manner of sins. All in all, Carballo offered a rare opportunity to see how much has really changed in Argentina's Malvinas culture, but also how much has not altered at all in the last quarter of century. Nicholas Tozer - Buenos Aires

Categories: Politics, Argentina.

Top Comments

Disclaimer & comment rules

Commenting for this story is now closed.
If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page!