“Radio Atlántico Sur”, Britain's propaganda station during the Falklands' war to demoralize Argentine combatants

Tuesday, March 29th 2022 - 10:04 UTC

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'Radio Atlántico Del Sur', with Spanish-speaking UK military personnel tried to persuade their Argentine counterparts to surrender, broadcasting in Spanish.

It has been forty years since the Falklands, a conflict fought between April and June 1982 and which claimed the lives of 649 Argentines, 255 British service personnel, and three civilian Falkland Islanders. While the UK sent a task force to reclaim the Falklands following the Argentine military invasion, there was a top-secret operation launched at the same time.

It involved the creation of a radio station as part of a psychological warfare mission – those involved were sworn to secrecy. Precisely, “My Secret Falklands War: When Britain's Military Took to the Airwaves”, explores one of Margaret Thatcher's strangest operations.

Airwaves', journalist Stewart Purvis, who covered the Falklands conflict in 1982, tells the inside story of one of Margaret Thatcher's most unusual operations to recover the Falklands from occupying Argentine forces –'Project Moonshine'.

After he discovered a list of people involved in Project Moonshine from top-secret documents stored in the French Alps, Stewart spent eight years trying to track them down and speak to them.

Now is the first time their experiences have been spoken about.

The operation involved the creation of a propaganda radio station, 'Radio Atlántico Del Sur', through which Spanish-speaking UK military personnel tried to persuade their Argentine counterparts to surrender while broadcasting to the Falklands and Argentina in Spanish.

After much dispute between top civil servants on its potential success, on 19 May 1982, the very first program went out from the UK with a Royal Navy lieutenant and squadron leader speaking in Spanish over the airwaves.

The radio station had two clear aims: to persuade Argentine personnel to hesitate before firing on British forces; and to persuade them of the merits of surrender. The station was a mix of news, music, and features – all with a nuanced psychological aim.

Watch 'My Secret Falklands War: When Britain's Military Took To The Airwaves' on Forces TV (Freeview channel 96, Sky channel 181, Virgin channel 274, Freesat channel 165) at 20:00 UK time on Monday 4 April and at the same time on the Forces News YouTube Channel, and at 20:10 UK time on BFBS Extra.